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Building Inspectors Sweep In Santa Barbara Of Property Owner's Units Finds Health And Safety Issues

(City of Santa Barbara photo)
Santa Barbara builfing inspectors say this is a phone of the bathroom of a two bedroom in a two bedroom apartment owned by Dario Pini. The inspectors say they found 16 beds in the two unit apartment

A South Coast motel was red tagged, and its residents displaced as part of a sweep by building inspectors of more than 160 motel, and home units owned by a Santa Barbara County property owner.

City of Santa Barbara building inspectors say they launched the effort after hearing about issues with some properties owned by Dario Pini. Pini has been in legal trouble in the past over the condition of some of his housing units.

One 22 unit motel was red tagged, and its residents displaced because of what city officials say were hazardous modifications to a gas fired boiler system. Inspectors say they found unsanitary and unsafe conditions in a number of units. They say in one case, they found 16 beds in one two bedroom apartment.

Lance Orozco has been News Director of KCLU since 2001, providing award-winning coverage of some of the biggest news events in the region, including the Thomas and Woolsey brush fires, the deadly Montecito debris flow, the Borderline Bar and Grill attack, and Ronald Reagan's funeral.