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HomeMy WebLinkAbout09-16-2008 NA n MINUTES NUISANCE ABATEMENT HEARING CITY OF LAKE ELSINORE 183 NORTH MAIN STREET LAKE ELSINORE, CA 92530 TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2008 ****************************************************************** CALL TO ORDER The regular Nuisance Abatement Hearing was called to order by Robin Chipman, Code Enforcement Manager at 4:35 PM. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE The Pledge of Allegiance was led by Robin Chipman. ROLL CALL PRESENT: BOARD MEMBER: FAGAN n PRESENT: PLANNING MANAGER: WEINER PRESENT: CODE ENFORCEMENT MANAGER: CHIPMAN Also present were: Code Enforcement Officer Shawn Slater and Office Specialist Joyce Teyler. PUBLIC COMMENTS None. CONSENT CALENDAR 1. The following Minutes were approved: A. Minutes for August 19, 2008 PUBLIC HEARINGS Code Enforcement Manager Chipman opened the Public Hearing at 4:36 p.m. D 2. VACANT LOT ACROSS FROM 18102 CHAMPION. APN 375-334-091. LAKE ELSINORE. CA Agenda Item No Page of PAGE 2 - NUISANCE ABATEMENT MINUTES - SEPTEMBER 16,2008 n Code Enforcement Manager Chipman asked Code Enforcement Officer Slater to give us a run down. n Code Enforcement Officer Slater indicated he responded to a complaint from a resident who walked his dog in the area. He stated he pointed out a hillside with lots of debris dumped over the hill off a roadway. He commented on March 7, 2008 he had sent a Notice of Violation to the property owner regarding all the broken rubble on the property. He indicated he had not received a favorable response. He stated he had received a telephone call, gave some extensions but no action to move forward on the property was gained. He said he contacted Public Works for assistance with the property. He commented there were two parcels in the area which were affected with the same conditions each property was owned by a separate property owner. He indicated the other property owner which would be the next item on the Agenda was contacting him regularly and was experiencing financial distress. He indicated he contacted Public Works to do an assessment of the area to see how much was public right of way and how much was private property. He stated Julian from Public Works agreed to check the area and remove as much rubble as he could with the arm on the back hoe tractor. He commented Julian had removed as much as he could reach with the arm. He stated in light of not receiving any communication from the property owner to move forward, he would recommend the property for a nuisance. He indicated he was there that morning taking updated photos when he was flagged down by the. owner of the property. He stated the owner indicated he had a hearing tonight and he would probably be there to follow up. He commented he had told him.what the procedures were and how the hearing worked. He stated he indicated to him if he did not have good cause to why it should not be declared a nuisance it would most likely be declared a nuisance. He indicated the owner wanted to know if he would have any time to rectify the problem and he told him if the property was declared a nuisance he would have ten to fifteen days to file an appeal or completely abate it. He stated he thought he would return to City Hall to meet him but he did not show up and he was not in the audience today. He commented based on all the elements that remained on the property he requested the Abatement Board declare the property a public nuisance in order for us to abate the property. Code Enforcement Manager Chipman thanked Code Enforcement Officer Slater. He indicated, he had a couple of questions. He asked if the person listed on the tax roll, Alvin Adams, was the owner of the property. Code Enforcement Officer Slater indicated that was correct. He stated Alvin and Sharon Adams. n Agenda Item No Page of PAGE3 - NUISANCE ABATEMENT MINUTES - SEPTEMBER 16,2008 n Code Enforcement Manager Chipman asked if they failed to receive the correspondence. He stated he took that back because they had signed for it. He inquired if the property owner was aware of the action. Code Enforcement Officer Slater stated he was aware because we had received a signed notification back in the mail and he verbally identified himself today as the owner. Code Enforcement Manager Chipman asked even though he had signed for letters, Officer Slater did not have any correspondence with the individual prior to the hearing. . Code Enforcement Officer Slater indicated he had no correspondence. He commented he had called City Hall on April 16, 2008, one month and a day after he had initially wrote the property up. He stated he was given a thirty day extension at that time. He commented on June 2, 2008 he had called again in which another extension was granted. He stated no noticeable changes were made to the property and no improvements were visible. n Code Enforcement Manager Chipman asked if the property owner at anytime had explained why the concrete was dumped there. He asked if the property owner had dumped the concrete there or did someone else dump it. Code Enforcement Officer Slater indicated he had not been given any insight as to how the concrete got there whether the owner was responsible or even if he was aware it was there. Code Enforcement Manager Chipman asked if any other Board members had any questions. Board Member Fagan asked if they could give a person a thirty day extension without any kind of penalty. Code Enforcement Manager Chipman indicated the way it would work would be if they were given a thirty day continuance and then not declare them a nuisance, they would not then be liable for the fee for the nuisance hearing. He stated as long as they do not declare them a nuisance then no fee was due. Code Enforcement Officer Slater concurred. He indicated if they were not declared a nuisance they were not responsible for the fee. n Code Enforcement Manager Chipman indicated it sounded like the City had gone out of their way to do half the work for that individual already. He asked Code Enforcement Officer Slater if the pictures were from today after Julian had already removed a good deal of the concrete. Agenda Item No Page of PAGE 4 - NUISANCE ABATEMENT MINUTES - SEPTEMBER 16,2008 n Code Enforcement Officer Slater stated that was correct. Code Enforcement Manager Chipman commented in his mind we had already done that guy a favor. He stated we had done a lot of work for him already. Board Member Fagan agreed. He commented he just wanted that one question answered. He stated he had his mind made up if the property owner had showed up for the hearing. Code Enforcement Manager Chipman indicated he would have had a different attitude also if the property owner had showed up and represented himself. MOVED BY BOARD MEMBER FAGAN, SECONDED BY CODE ENFORCEMENT MANAGER CHIPMAN AND CARRIED BY UNANIMOUS VOTE OF THOSE PRESENT TO DECLARE THE VACANT LOT AT APN 375-334-091, LAKE ELSINORE, CA A PUBLIC NUISANCE. 3. VACANT LOT ACROSS FROM 18102 CHAMPION. APN 375-334-063. LAKE ELSINORE. CA n Code Enforcement Manager Chipman asked if that property was also off Champion. Code Enforcement Officer Slater stated it was. Code Enforcement Manager Chipman asked Officer Slater to give us a run down. n Code Enforcement Officer Slater indicated the property was in the same condition as the first case we just heard. He stated the properties were side by side. He commented same problem, same conditions. He indicated that property owner had been responsive to all emails, telephone calls and correspondence trying to stay in communication. He indicated she stated she was the owner and she indicated she did not know how the rubble got there. He indicated she understood she was liable. He indicated she was experiencing financial distress. He stated he had given her several thirty day extensions. He commented she finally replied she needed four or five more months to take care of that. He said under normal circumstances procedurally we did not extend that far. He indicated when he explained to her he would work with Public Works to have it done she was extremely grateful that Public Works had done that for her. He stated when he told her he would put the case in the Nuisance Abatement Hearing via email, she had seemed more pleased with that outcome indicating she would have more time to pay the bill on her own rather than pay up front to a contractor. He commented she stated she would wait for the notices in the mail Agenda Item No Page of PAGE 5 - NUISANCE ABATEMENT MINUTES - SEPTEMBER 16, 2008 n and respond accordingly. He said we had received the signed certified mail receipts but had not heard from her since we notified her of the hearing. Board Member Fagan asked if the picture had been taken that day. He indicated he thought he had seen the lamp post knocked over. Code Enforcement Officer Slater indicated the photograph he had shown him that day with the car accident right down the hill that lamp post was at the bottom of the hill on another street. Code Enforcement Manager Chipman stated he was having trouble differentiating between the pictures for the lot and the pictures from the last lot. He commented basically it was the same conditions, concrete rubble dumped over the edge. Board Member Fagan concurred. Code Enforcement Officer Slater stated exactly. In ! Code Enforcement Manager Chipman asked again if we had known where the concrete rubble had come from. He stated we did not know if the last property owner was responsible for it. Code Enforcement Officer Slater indicated the property was up way out of the way on its own little street that goes to the top of the mountain with one house with all the windows boarded up. He stated the only traffic would have been the occupants of that house that was now vacant. He commented it was a prime spot for illegal dumping to occur. Code Enforcement Manager Chipman indicated in light of the last case even though the woman had been more responsive it seemed to be the same basic condition as the other property and we had already taken steps to do what we could as far as Public Works. Board Member Fagan indicated he moved to declare the property a public nuisance. Code Enforcement Officer Slater stated he could see how the pictures seemed so similar because these two parcels were literally side by side and it was one dumping site divided over two parcels. He indicated he tried to split the two photographs, two pictures for the first parcel and the two they had looked at for the case he tried to maintain it on her parcel. n Code Enforcement Manager Chipman stated they were very similar. Agenda Item No Page of PAGE 6 - NUISANCE ABATEMENT MINUTES - SEPTEMBER 16,2008 n Code Enforcement Officer Slater commented on the photograph where the old City light standard sticking up. Code Enforcement Manager Chipman concurred. Code Enforcement Officer Slater indicated her property began right in front of him and continued 25' to 50' forward, draw a line across the street at that point and the next parcel continues on another 25' to 50' with the additional rubble. He stated the top pictures you were looking at both parcels, the bottom pictures were her property. Code Enforcement Manager Chipman indicated he saw the tree in the same picture. He asked if Planning Manager Weiner had any comments. Planning Manager Weiner asked if the notification was made to the P.O. Box in Wildomar and if that was the mailing address we had for the property or was he looking at the wrong one. Code Enforcement Officer Slater indicated the mail had gone to a P.O. Box 467, Wildomar, Califomia. n Code Enforcement Manager Chipman stated the problem with that was not notification or that the property owner was not aware of the situation they just did not have the means or they claimed to not have the means to be able to remove the rubble. Code Enforcement Officer Slater concurred. MOVED BY BOARD MEMBER FAGAN, SECONDED BY CODE ENFORCEMENT MANAGER CHIPMAN AND CARRIED BY UNANIMOUS VOTE OF THOSE PRESENT TO DECLARE THE VACANT LOT AT APN 375-334-063, LAKE ELSINORE, CA A PUBLIC NUISANCE. 4. VACANT LOT ADJACENT TO 210 N. LEWIS. APN 374-132-007. LAKE ELSINORE. CA Code Enforcement Manager Chipman asked Officer Slater to give us the background. o Code Enforcement Officer Slater indicated the case was a vacant lot with a split wood rail fence that was falling apart and unsightly dead debris, overgrown vegetation. He stated he had gone by there that day and the property was clean, Agenda Item No Page of PAGE 7 - NUISANCE ABATEMENT MINUTES - SEPTEMBER 16,2008 n the fence was repaired and it no longer appeared unsightly. He stated he recommended it be removed from the Agenda. Code Enforcement Manager Chipman commented he was a little discouraged there was no picture of the finished product. Board Member Fagan indicated it looked okay to him. He stated he wrote a question down what were we complaining about. Code Enforcement Manager Chipman asked if Officer Slater's recommendation was to just dismiss the case. Code Enforcement Officer Slater concurred. Code Enforcement Manager Chipman stated they had no problem with that. He indicated they did not need to make a Motion regarding that. 5. VACANT LOT ADJACENT TO 18040 SUMNER. APN 375-341-013. LAKE ELSINORE. CA D Code Enforcement Manager Chipman addressed Officer Slater. Code Enforcement Officer Slater indicated again it was a vacant lot located at the end of West Sumner near the intersection of West Palm Drive. He stated it was where a blacktop road intersected with a dirt road. He commented there was a small parcel of property that was a bit sunken from the roadway with some overgrown palms. He indicated at the beginning of January he had gone around initiating numerous cases in that area for overgrown vegetation and palm trees along Lakeshore Drive. He stated that was one of the properties he had written up. He commented a lot of the debris from people's properties ended up on that property. He stated he mailed the notices out and all notices were returned. He indicated he accessed the computer system and tried to locate the registered owner, through the County, through our City files and even through Nicole in Engineering who had contacts with the County Assessors Office through the Weed Abatement program. He stated he could not find anything new as far as a way to contact the property owner. He commented all our notices had come back returned, with no new address, attempted not known, unable to forward. He indicated having no other recourse to take care of the problem; he recommended we declare the property a nuisance in order to remove the piles of wood, dead palm fronds and any other debris and rubble that remained on the property. D Code Enforcement Manager Chipman indicated he saw a vehicle in one of the photographs and asked if that was still there. Agenda Item No Page of PAGE 8 - NUISANCE ABATEMENT MINUTES - SEPTEMBER 16, 2008 n Code Enforcement Officer Slater indicated the vehicle belonged to 18040 West Sumner. He commented he had not determined if they were encroaching on the vacant lot or if they were parked within their own limits. He stated they had an odd shaped driveway at that address. Code Enforcement Manager Chipman stated he understood the Weed Abatement Crew would not pursue action if there was a structure on the property however that was a vacant lot. He asked was it more weed abatement than Code Enforcement. Code Enforcement Officer Slater indicated it could have been handled that way but he did not know if it had ever been addressed in weed abatement unless the Weed Abatement Crew had that parcel in their database. Board Member Fagan indicated there was a lot of trash there. Code Enforcement Manager Chipman stated he saw there was a lot of trash, metal and some wood. Board Member Fagan indicated there were sheets of plywood. n Code Enforcement Officer Slater stated early last year when he was dealing with issues at residences on the street, the conditions on the property remained the same which led him to the conclusion that Weed Abatement either had no knowledge or had never done any enforcement on the parcel. Code Enforcement Manager Chipman stated the parcel was not associated with the house at that address. Code Enforcement Officer Slater indicated that was correct. Board Member Fagan asked if we had ever contacted the owner. Code Enforcement Officer Slater stated he had not been able to find any means to reach any property owner or responsible parties. Code Enforcement Manager Chipman asked if no response was received from Thomas and Ramona Kepley. Code Enforcement Officer Slater indicated that was correct. He stated he even tried to use internet search engines, located another address on Grand Avenue and tried that one but again no success. n Agenda Item No Page of PAGE 9 - NUISANCE ABATEMENT MINUTES - SEPTEMBER 16, 2008 n Board Member Fagan stated he recommended they declare the property a nuisance. Code Enforcement Manager Chipman indicated he agreed. He asked Planning Manager Weiner if he had any comments. Planning Manager Weiner commented they were behind on their property taxes and the property would probably go back to the County soon. Code Enforcement Manager Chipman stated he had a feeling it was a delinquent property owner and Officer Slater was right since it had never been cleaned Weed Abatement does not have it on their program. He indicated they would do the job for them. n MOVED BY BOARD MEMBER FAGAN, SECONDED BY CODE ENFORCEMENT MANAGER CHIPMAN AND CARRIED BY UNANIMOUS VOTE OF THOSE PRESENT TO DECLARE THE VACANT LOT AT APN 375-341-013, LAKE ELSINORE, CA A PUBLIC NUISANCE. 6. VACANT LOT ADJACENT TO 424 ELLIS. APN 377-282-002. LAKE ELSINORE. CA Code Enforcement Manager Chipman asked Code Enforcement Officer Slater to speak regarding 424 Ellis Street. Code Enforcement Officer Slater indicated it was a vacant lot near the corner of the 400 block of Ellis at intersection of Flint. He stated the case was initiated by his partner Code Enforcement Officer Salazar who responded to it on a complaint. He said she wrote the violation on December 12, 2007, mailed the Notice of Violation with instruction to remove all discarded concrete, rubble, trash, debris, furniture and any garbage that remained on the property. He commented upon the follow up inspections indicating there had been no changes. He indicated she mailed five day notices, issued citations. and receptionist's notes indicate we had received signed certification card from a responsible party. He stated she mailed additional cites returned with a signed certification card. He commented additional warning notices were sent and again additional citations were written. He said the receptionist forwarded the citations to collections with no contact, no code enforcement phone calls and no written correspondence. He stated the case was going no where just racking up citations. He said it was a good candidate to clear up all the rubble and debris with nuisance abatement. n Board Member Fagan stated he had never spoken with the owner. Agenda Item No Page of PAGE 10 - NUISANCE ABATEMENT MINUTES - SEPTEMBER 16, 2008 n Code Enforcement Officer Slater indicated that was correct. Board Member Fagan indicated the officer then could not help him pronounce the owner's name. Code Enforcement Officer Slater stated no sir. Board Member Fagan indicated he had gone by there and the property looked exactly as the photographs. Code Enforcement Manager Chipman asked if it looked just like the pictures. Board Member Fagan stated yes. Code Enforcement Officer Slater indicated those pictures had been taken that morning. n MOVED BY BOARD MEMBER FAGAN, SECONDED BY CODE ENFORCEMENT MANAGER CHIPMAN AND CARRIED BY UNANIMOUS VOTE OF THOSE PRESENT TO DECLARE THE VACANT LOT AT APN 377-282-002, LAKE ELSINORE,CA A PUBLIC NUISANCE. 7. VACANT LOT ADJACENT TO 31074 KANSAS STREET, APN 379-214- 006. LAKE ELSINORE. CA Code Enforcement Manager Chipman addressed 31074 Kansas Street. Board Member Fagan stated he believed that address was incorrect. . Code Enforcement Officer Slater asked if it was 31074 Kansas Street. Code Enforcement Manager Chipman indicated that was what was on the Agenda. Board Member Fagan apologized and indicated that was the correct address. Code Enforcement Manager Chipman asked if it was 31704. Code Enforcement Officer Slater stated it was 31074. n Code Enforcement Manager Chipman indicated the Agenda item was correct the cover sheet for the Staff Report was incorrect. He asked Officer Slater to address 31074 Kansas Street. Agenda Item No Page of PAGE 11 - NUISANCE ABATEMENT MINUTES - SEPTEMBER 16, 2008 n Code Enforcement Officer Slater indicated it was a small vacant parcel of property near the area of four corners on Kansas Street. He stated last year he began initiating the clean up of that area during the nets. He indicated some areas of the city did not get as much attention as they should and that was one of the areas. He commented while cleaning up some of the other properties that one was pointed out by another resident. He stated it was a single vacant parcel surrounded by a dilapidated chain link fence. He indicated within the boundaries of the chain link fence were overgrown trees, limbs nearly touching the ground, dead vegetation, dead tree branches, tire, trash, debris, miscellaneous items creating an unsightly appearance. He commented during the time the property had existed in that manner other properties around it had been weed abated. He said you could see in the pictures a parcel on the left side of the parcel was clean and manicured. He commented the parcel on the right side of the parcel had also been weed abated and manicured. Code Enforcement Manager Chipman asked Officer Slater if he had any idea why Weed Abatement was not taking care of that particular lot. n Code Enforcement Officer SI.ater indicated he did not. He stated he had subsequent conversations with the Weed Abatement Lead Person Chris. He commented when GIS gives them all the data for weed abatement, they only specifically go after the APN's with no assigned addresses. He stated the assigned addresses signify to them there is or once was a residence or dwelling on that property. He indicated they usually stay away from properties with dwellings. He stated according to the information on Win2Data it had a property designation of 31074 so at one time there may have been a dwelling there and why they had excluded it from their database. Board Member Fagan asked if Weed Abatement would cross over a fence line. Code Enforcement Manager Chipman stated he was not quite sure. He commented Officer Slater was probably right that it had a structure on the property at one time and therefore if it had an address so they took it out of their database. He stated he believed it should be put back in the database. Code Enforcement Officer Slater indicated all the notices and citations the receptionist received, all the certified mail receipts back with a signature in file, yet no written or verbal communication was received in any form from a responsible party. n Code Enforcement Manager Chipman asked if Officer Slater had known the dates for the weed abatement, the final date to be cleared. He commented it had already come and gone, was that correct. Agenda Item No Page of PAGE 12 - NUISANCE ABATEMENT MINUTES - SEPTEMBER 16,2008 In I Code Enforcement Officer Slater indicated he could not accurately state that. Code Enforcement Manager Chipman stated he was thinking the cost of nuisance abatement, $427.92 versus the $500.00 per lot that the City charges to abate it as weed abatement. He commented we should turn it one over to the City and let them handled it through the weed abatement versus nuisance. He stated with a case like that if we declared it a nuisance and we had to get a contractor to basically mow and do trees it would be the same as weed abatement. He commented it was not trash and debris that needed to be cleaned up. Board Member Fagan stated that was like the question he had on his mind, was weed abatement authorized to do that. He asked could they cross the fence line and would they pick up tires, big rocks and stuff like that. Code Enforcement Manager Chipman stated he did not know. He asked Officer Slater if he could answer that question. He asked if Weed Abatement could do that kind of work if they found rocks, tires and that kind of thing. In Code Enforcement Officer Slater stated they could. He commented typically when they did weed abatement on a lot, they removed all trash and debris. He indicated by design they did tree branches, overgrown vegetation and he believed they charge three or four cents per square foot. Code Enforcement Manager Chipman stated it was not charged per lot but per square foot now. Code Enforcement Officer Slater concurred. He stated there was a set fee for administrative cost to initiate the proceedings and following that it was three or four cents per square foot. Code Enforcement Manager Chipman indicated he foresaw an issue in terms of the property indicating if they declared it a nuisance, how would they describe the scope of work to the contractor. He stated he would have them remove the fence, take the tire and the debris but how far would they trim the trees. Board Member Fagan asked would Weed Abatement remove the fence. Code Enforcement Manager Chipman indicated he did not believe Weed Abatement would remove the fence. He stated they could do that under nuisance. He commented they should declare the lot a nuisance, remove the fence, remove all the debris and then get it back on weed abatement list. n Code Enforcement Officer Slater concurred. He indicated no one was maintaining the fence and the lot was just sitting there. Agenda Item No Page of PAGE 13 - NUISANCE ABATEMENT MINUTES - SEPTEMBER 16,2008 n Code Enforcement Manager Chipman indicated the fence was falling apart in some areas. He stated it looked like it had been crawled and climbed over so many times it was all bent down. Board Member Fagan agreed the fence was all tore up. Code Enforcement Manager Chipman asked Planning Manager Weiner if he had any comments. Planning Manager Weiner stated he had no comments. He stated if the fence was not there and it was just weeds, but since the fence was there, he indicated it should be back on the weed abatement list. MOVED BY CODE ENFORCEMENT MANAGER CHIPMAN, SECONDED BY BOARD MEMBER FAGAN AND CARRIED BY UNANIMOUS VOTE OF THOSE PRESENT TO DECLARE THE , VACANT LOT AT APN 377-282-002, LAKE ELSINORE, CA A PUBLIC NUISANCE. 8. Code Enforcement Comments: n None.. 9. Nuisance Abatement Board Comments: Planning Manager thanked the Board for allowing him to sit in on the hearil')g. ADJOURNMENT MOVED BY CODE ENFORCEMENT MANAGER CHIPMAN TO ADJOURN THE NUISANCE ABATEMENT HEARING AT 5:03 P.M. er, Jack Fagan Respectfully Submitted, n Joyce M. Teyler Office Specialist Agenda Item No Page of PAGE 14 - NUISANCE ABATEMENT MINUTES - SEPTEMBER 16, 2008 l; ATTEST: ~K.~ Robin Chipman, Secretary to the Board n n Agenda Item No Page of