HomeMy WebLinkAboutAGENDA REPORT 2015 0520 CCSA REG ITEM 10J ITEM 10.J.
CITY OF MOORPARK,CALIFORNIA
City Council Meeting
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MOORPARK CITY COUNCIL
AGENDA REPORT BY:
TO: Honorable City Council
FROM: David A. Bobardt, Community Development Director`
DATE: May 11, 2015 (CC Meeting of May 20, 2015)
SUBJECT: Consider Update in Implementation of Improvements to Moorpark
Zoning Compliance, Tracking, and Reporting
BACKGROUND
On June 9, 2014, the Ventura County Grand Jury provided the City Council, City
Manager, and Community Development Director with a Final Report of its investigation
entitled, "Moorpark Zoning Compliance, Tracking, and Reporting." The City Council
considered and adopted a response to this report at its July 16, 2014 City Council
meeting. This report provides an update on the implementation of the Grand Jury
recommendations.
DISCUSSION
The following are the recommendations of the Grand Jury report (in italics), followed by
the current status for implementation.
R-01: City Council to re-examine its policies, procedures, and training materials to
include directives that emphasize the risks involved to the City in working out
inappropriate, undocumented agreements between the City and permit applicants or
Municipal Code violators.
Status: Policy 4.3 of the City Council Policies Resolution (currently Resolution No. 2015-
3378) has been updated to include direction for written documentation of a plan of
action for a code compliance case through the office hearing process.
R-02: City Council to direct the Community Development Department to develop and
adopt a unified and robust solution for maintaining permit and Municipal Code
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Honorable City Council
May 20, 2015
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compliance status information critical to producing current and historical status reports
and supporting independent audits of the Community Development Department.
Status: As an interim solution, Community Development Department logs for code
compliance and permits have been updated for cases beginning in 2015 to include
status information. On May 6, 2015, the City Council approved the purchase of finance,
permitting and code compliance software that will integrate these systems and provide
for improved current and historical status information. Implementation of the new
software is anticipated during the 2015-2016 fiscal year.
R-03: Community Development Department to use a centralized computer database
solution for maintaining status. This database should be based on a date-stamped log
of each significant transaction step during the processing of permits or Municipal Code
violations. For example the database should include memoranda and e-mails
sent/received; permit applications received; and permits granted. Copies of scanned
documents sent to or received from clients should be preserved in the database. Links
to these documents should be included in the corresponding status log record. Multiple
violations and compliance actions on a property should be tracked independently but
linked so that consolidated reports can be generated.
Status: All written communications have historically been maintained in paper files. The
current Community Development Department logs for code compliance and permits do
not have the capability of incorporating date-stamping and communication records as
recommended. On May 6, 2015, the City Council approved the purchase of finance,
permitting and code compliance software that will provide for date-stamping and the
incorporation of communications. Combined with the City's current electronic imaging
software, this new software will greatly improve the organization of computer records,
including memorandums, e-mails, applications, documents, correspondence, code
compliance actions, etc.. Implementation of the new software is anticipated during the
2015-2016 fiscal year.
R-04: Community Development Department-prepared status reports of Municipal Code
compliance-related issues should be automatically producible from the status log
database, without the need to manually cut and paste or manually enter/edit data into
the report files. Multiple violations on a property should be displayable independently as
well as consolidated.
Status: This will be addressed in the new code compliance software, approved for
purchase by the City Council on May 6, 2015. Implementation of the new software is
anticipated during the 2015-2016 fiscal year.
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Honorable City Council
May 20, 2015
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R-05: Community Development Department database solution to have the capability of
exporting selectable historical status log information to a file that can be off-line filtered
by common desktop computer software tools such as Microsoft Excel. This capability
will provide greater transparency of Community Development Department operations by
allowing more comprehensive auditing of activities recorded in the database.
Status: This will be addressed in the new code compliance and permitting software,
approved for purchase by the City Council on May 6, 2015. Implementation of the new
software is anticipated during the 2015-2016 fiscal year.
R-06: Community Development Department database solution to facilitate transparency
of the Community Development Department within the City. Reports generated should
always flag cases exceeding critical time-limit attributes such as original expected
compliance date or permit expiration date. The status should also indicate what the next
significant action necessary will be and what is holding up the compliance process.
Status: As an interim measure, the Community Development Department has included
permit expiration dates in its bi-monthly reports to the City Manager. The new code
compliance and permitting software, approved for purchase by the City Council on May
6, 2015, will expand the capability to track critical time limits. Implementation of the new
software is anticipated during the 2015-2016 fiscal year.
R-07: City Council to critically examine the job descriptions of City employees who
should be expected to have a role in monitoring or commenting on the effectiveness of
CDD permitting and Municipal Code compliance activities. Explicit oversight tasks
should be designated where appropriate in these job descriptions and employee
performance reviews should include a review of how well these duties were performed.
(Grand Jury Recommendation R-07)
Status: On July 2, 2014, the City Council adopted Resolution No. 2014-3309, amending
the Classification plan for the City Manager, Assistant City Manager, Deputy City
Manager, Community Development Director, Planning Director, Planning Manager, and
Principal Planner job descriptions, which included changes in language to more clearly
emphasize the requirement for expertise in relevant municipal code to implement this
recommendation. Employee performance reviews already have been based on the
performance of tasks identified in the job descriptions.
R-08: Community Development Department to change its processes to provide for an
independent critical review by a Municipal Code Subject Matter Expert (SME) of all
permits and correspondence sent to permit applicants and Municipal Code violators.
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May 20, 2015
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The independent reviewer could be a Community Development Department employee
or an outside consultant. However, this independent review should be done by an
individual who did not participate in any aspect of the subject permit application process
nor participate in the compliance process with the subject Municipal Code violator. The
name of the independent reviewer (i.e., the "SME Approver) should be recorded in the
status log database to establish accountability.
Status: The Community Development Department has updated its written
administrative policy that provides for oversight of different types of written
communication, including permit approval letters at a staff level. As noted in the
response to R-07, various job descriptions have been updated to address
responsibilities for administration of the Municipal Code.
STAFF RECOMMENDATION
Receive and file.
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