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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAGENDA REPORT 1994 0518 CC REG ITEM 11SITEM_ II.S A G E N D A R E P O R T C I T Y O F M O O R P A R R TO: The Honorable City Council FROM: Jaime Aguilera, Director of Community Development Deborah S. Traffenstedt, Senior Planner DATE: May 13, 1994 (CC Meeting of 5- 18 -94) SUBJECT: CONSIDER CODE ENFORCEMENT PRIORITIES IN RELATION TO NEIGHBORHOOD PRESERVATION PROGRAM Background In September 1992, the City Council approved code enforcement priorities (see attached Work Program). In response to those priorities, staff recommended to the Council in December 1992 various revisions to the Municipal Code and Zoning Ordinance and other education and enforcement options related to abatement of residential overcrowding and property maintenance. The Council provided direction to staff regarding work to be accomplished to discourage overcrowding and improve the appearance of residential neighborhoods, and that work included ordinance revisions related to property maintenance, parking, and setbacks (restrictions on vehicle storage). A Neighborhood Preservation Program concept was subsequently developed by staff and approved by Council. The intent of the Program is to develop a cooperative effort between City staff and residents to maintain and enhance neighborhoods. Implementation of the Program is discussed below. Discussion In March 1994, the Community Development Department initiated the Neighborhood Preservation Program. Staff is implementing this Program by focusing on one small neighborhood or area at a time. Notices are mailed to all dwelling units in the area of focus approximately two weeks prior to the time that Code Enforcement Officers will begin their inspection of that area. During the time that investigations are being conducted, all potential violations that can be viewed from a public area are identified. Abatement of serious violations, such as overcrowding and substandard and dangerous buildings, are given top priority in enforcement, consistent with the adopted Priority List. Also, Code Enforcement Officers continue to respond to all complaints received and g investigation is initiated within one day from receip� complaint, consistent with the Priority List. coU .'-TION: Q- The Honorable City Council May 13, 1994 Page 2 To further assist with the abatement of overcrowding and related violations, the Code Enforcement Officers are currently working a varied schedule, which includes early mornings, late evenings, and Saturdays, to assist in the identification of overcrowding problems or illegal use of non - residential structures for dwelling purposes. Since the Neighborhood Preservation Program was just initiated in March of this year, we do not yet have any data regarding its success. However, we do know that the number of overcrowding problems reported in 1993 (57 cases) was significantly less than the number reported in 1992 (116 cases) . We expect that the Neighborhood Preservation Program, with its focus on the upgrading and enhancement of residential neighborhoods, will further assist with the identification and abatement of overcrowding and substandard and dangerous buildings. The initial focus of the Program will be on residential areas where there is a history of overcrowding related complaints, consistent with the adopted priorities. Attachment 2 is a summary list of code enforcement cases opened in 1993. As of the end of 1993, 475 cases had been investigated, and 410 had been resolved. Also shown on the attached summary list is a general classification of the type of case investigated and a summary total for each category. We are currently working on implementation of a time accounting system to be used to track time spent on code enforcement case processing. Once that system is operational, we can identify more precisely time spent for the different types of cases that are investigated. It is our intent to present the Council with a rough estimate of hours spent for each of the categories listed on the attached 1993 summary table at the May 18 meeting. Recommendation Reconfirm code enforcement priorities as established in September 1992. Attachments: 1. Code Enforcement Work Program (Includes Priority List) 2. Summary Table of 1993 Code Enforcement Cases ATTACHMENT 1 ITEM I I • � . MOORPARK 0 799 Moorpark Avenue "Moorpark, ;affornia 93021 (805) 52 6 4 ":OR ?ARK. CALIFORNIA Cl*ty C0,2 C11 Meofing A ' /�_ 199? C710j /� M E M O R A N D U M `�! B TO: The Honorable City Council �S-C FROM: William Phelps, Director of Community Development W Q DATE: August 28, 1992 (CC Meeting of 9 -9 -92) SUBJECT: CODE ENFORCEMENT WORK PROGRAM Background Staff is requesting City Councii direction regarding the code enforcement work program and priorities. The City Council last considered code enforcement priorities at. your meeting of November 21, 1990. At that meeting, the Council took action to receive and file a Code Enforcement Activity Report and to consider code enforcement priorities when the City addressed the issue of City goals and priorities. Subsequently, the City Council did adopt a Mission Statement, Goals and Objectives for Fiscal Year 1991 -92 and has reviewed a draft Mission Statement, Coals and Objectives for Fiscal Year 1992 -93 ((Council action was to table discussion on 1992 -93 goals and objectives until after the State budget is adopted). Attached is an excerpt from the draft for Fiscal Year 1992 -93 which identifies code enforcement objectives. The Code Enforcement objectives listed constitute specific work tasks to be completed during the next year, and do not establish priorities for standard code enforcement responsibilities such as investigation work in response to complaints. Staff has, therefore, included in the Discussion section of this memorandum a draft list of priorities for consideration. For the Council's information, the Community Development Committee did discuss code enforcement priorities at a meeting on July 6, 1992. A memorandum addressed to the Code Enforcement Officers was subsequently prepared which outlined revisions to code enforcement procedures based on recommendations from the Committee (see attached memorandum dated August. 1992). The procedures listed in that memorandum were not r:lrnked numerically in order of priority. dst. -0d -2B -92111 :57dnK': \W?51 \CF.; ?`1,N9 - ,)C( i "till tN A•.YI;ASi)N Jli The Honorable City Council August 28, 1992 Page 2 Discussion The purpose of establishing code enforcement priorities is to determine how the Code Enforcement Officers' efforts should be targeted. Obviously, some discretion is necessary to allow Code Enforcement Officers to move quickly to deal with dangerous situations to protect the public health and safety. Also, there is a need to accomplish day -to -day responsibilities including, but not limited to, the processing of Home Occupation Permits; Peddlers, Itinerant Merchants and Solicitors Licensing; updating the Bail Schedule; assisting in ordinance revisions; and developing policies and procedures. Following is a draft list of priorities. Priority List for Code Enforcement Officers: 1. Investigate all complaints received. Goal should be to initiate investigation within one working day from the time the complaint is receiv d. 2. Investiaate.overcrowdina and related violations in residential areas of the City. Residential areas where there is a history of overcrowding related complaints, such as the downtown and other residential areas of the City where there is no controlling homeowners association, should receive the most attention. 3. Investigate and abate substandard and dangerous buildings with assistance from Building and Safety to obtain compliance in situations where there are substandard and dangerous buildings as determined by structural hazards, inadequate sanitation, faulty weather protection, and other unsafe housing conditions. 4. Coordinate enforcement efforts with other public agencies to resolve unsafe and /or unsightly conditions such as hazardous materials storage or disposal violations, and improper solid waste disposal. 5. Assist City police in the investigation and abatement of abandoned vehicles and illegally parked vehicles. Parking enforcement shall be targeted in residential areas surrounding Moorpark College at the beginning of each semester. Parking enforcement in commercial shopping areas will be done only if complaints are received, violations are observed while investigating other complaints or permit violations, or if determined necessary by the Director Df Community Development. dst- 08- 28- 92111:57amC: \NP51 \CSO \N9 -9CC ATTACHMENT 2 CODE ENFORCEMENT CASE FILES PROCESSED IN 1993 475 case files processed for 1993 consisted of the following: ID Illegal Dumping 9 GV Grading Violation 5 LS Landscape 15 BE Building Engineering 2 HZ Hazardous Violation 7 NV Noise Violation 4 HB Handbill 6 VP Permit Violation 14 PN Public Nuisance 20 DB Dangerous Building 1 MA Mosquito Abatement 1 SM Smoking 1 HOP Home Occupation Permit 94 PD Planned Development 13 VV Vehicle Violation 57 ZV Zoning Violation 46 SV Sign Violation 18 OC Overcrowding 55 AV Animal Violation 22 SH Substandard Housing 9 SW Solid Waste 33 BR Business Registration 43 Total: 475 A:\MAR.CM\C93.ATCH2