OAKLAND — Residents of Oakland’s Salt Lick warehouse are being asked to leave their home, making the property the latest in a wave of evictions that have rocked the arts community in the wake of December’s deadly Ghost Ship fire that left 36 people dead.

The eviction notice came despite the city identifying the Oakland produce market location as one where its staff is working with the property owners to prevent displacement. Mayor Libby Schaaf issued an executive order in January directing staff to work cooperatively with landlords to bring commercial or industrial buildings up to residential code requirements.

But tenant Sam Lefebvre said his experience “flies in the face of language from the city around compassionately working with unpermitted residences.”

“I didn’t know our property had been identified as some kind of (expletive) token project property until (a reporter) told me,” he said. “It’s not like we’ve heard from anyone in the city in any kind of spirit of assistance.”

The Salt Lick was one of the first arts warehouses to come under scrutiny shortly after the deadly Dec. 2 Ghost Ship fire. The owners of nearby Everett and Jones Barbecue reported that the tenants were holding unpermitted parties at the second-floor warehouse near Jack London Square, and worried that a similar disaster could happen there and spread to their building.

That spat was smoothed over, but the Ghost Ship fire spurred many warehouse landlords throughout the city to consider whether they would be held accountable for allowing people to live in buildings not permitted for housing. Many have turned to evictions rather than make costly investments to bring their properties up to code.

The mayor’s executive order created new protocols for city staff to create abatement and compliance plans with property owners. The order asked staff to focus only on imminent safety hazards and to “generally work in the spirit of cooperation with property owners, tenants and master lessors.”

“While immediate life safety determinations rest in the sole professional judgement of the Fire Marshall or Building Official, these officials shall utilize problem-solving skills and tools … to maximize both safety and housing security,” the order states.

In a Feb. 21 report to the City Council, staff identified 18 properties as “potentially having unsanctioned occupancies that have both living and working spaces.” The report said all the buildings on the list had been inspected.

In at least two of those cases, property owners have asked tenants to leave, and in another case, tenants were displaced by a small fire. Since the Ghost Ship fire, evictions have also occurred at many other properties that weren’t identified in the city’s report.

Lefebvre confirmed that officials from the Fire Department walked through the building less than two weeks after the Ghost Ship fire following a Dec. 7 cease-and-desist letter warning the residents against holding any public gatherings at the space.

But, he said, a building department inspector didn’t show up until Wednesday, more than a month after Lefebvre and his two housemates received a 90-day move-out notice.

Representatives from the city administrator’s and mayor’s offices did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Judy Chu showed up Wednesday for the building inspection as a representative of the Oakland Produce Square Partnership, which owns the warehouse. She said the consortium is working with the city but declined to say why the partnership was moving forward with the eviction despite the city’s efforts to create an abatement and compliance plan.

“We are having a conversation with them,” Chu said of the city’s involvement, adding that she didn’t yet know what it would take to bring the building up to code. A spokeswoman for the city said staff was just beginning the process of working with the consortium to bring the building into compliance.

But, there’s not much the city can do to force a landlord’s hand, said Claudia Cappio, the assistant city administrator.

“While we have no legal role to play in the eviction process, the city does work to ensure that tenants know their rights and what, if any assistance for which they may qualify,” Cappio said in a statement.

As for the three people who call the Salt Lick home, and the other musicians who use the space to practice, Lefebvre said he has little confidence the city’s process will keep them housed. The tenants are reaching out to housing attorneys to assess their legal options, he said.