SAN ANTONIO -- Illegal dumping sites are now in the crosshairs of the city following the massive recycling center fire that evacuated a west side neighborhood earlier this month.

Over the next two weeks, city officials plan to compile a list of businesses or sites considered public nuisances or that have received an extraordinary amount of code compliance complaints and citations.

“We need something statutory that says you’re a violator, you’re a nuisance to the community and you’re out of here,” said T.C. Broadnax, assistant city manager.

Jesus Isaac, the owner of the recycling plant on West Commerce Street that burned two weeks ago, was cited nine times for various violations, according to a city manager’s report.

Isaac had years worth of garbage at his site in the middle of the neighborhood near the intersection of Old Highway 90, and according to code compliance officials, the cost of cleanup from the fire will total about $200,000.

Even with the complaints, though, one city councilwoman said there are still legal roadblocks that need to be passed.

“There’s nothing legally that will say we’re going to shut you down because you have one, two, three, four, five offenses,” District 5 Councilwoman Lourdes Galvan said.

Four days after the fire, Isaac paid off his fines and cleared his outstanding arrest warrants.

Broadnax suggested using a business owner’s certificate of occupancy as an enforcement tool and said the city would be placing a lien on Isaac for the cost to clean up his property.

The City Council is expected to hear from city staff in the next 60 days to consider altering existing codes and regulations to make them tougher.