Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout10-21-2008 NA n MINUTES NUISANCE ABATEMENT HEARING CITY OF LAKE ELSINORE 183 NORTH MAIN STREET LAKE ELSINORE, CA 92530 TUESDAY, OCTOBER 21,2008 ****************************************************************** CALL TO ORDER The regular Nuisance Abatement Hearing was called to order by Robin Chipman, Code Enforcement Manager at 4:33 PM. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE The Pledge of Allegiance was led by Vanessa Lopez. ROLL CALL I PRESENT: BOARD MEMBER: FAGAN , , n , , PRESENT: . CHAIR WOMAN: WATTS I PRESENT: CODE ENFORCEMENT MANAGER: CHIPMAN Also present were: Code Enforcement Officer Shawn Slater, Code Enforcement Officer Fred Lopez and Office Specialist Joyce Teyler. PUBLIC COMMENTS None. CONSENT CALENDAR 1. The following Minutes were approved: A. Minutes for September 16, 2008 PUBLIC HEARINGS Chairwoman Loraine Watts opened the Public Hearing at 4:35 p.m. D 2. 16510 LAKESHORE. APN 378-302-002. LAKE ELSINORE. CA Agenda Item No Page of i PAGE 2 - NUISANCE ABATEMENT MINUTES - OCTOBER 21, 2008 n Chairwoman Watts asked Code Enforcement Officer Lopez to address the case. n Code Enforcement Officer Lopez indicated the property was originally issued a Notice of Violation on April 1, 2008. He stated at the time the NOV was issued the property was vacant and posted for sale. He commented there existed on the property a large amount of junk, trash, debris and graffiti on the side of the building which was noticeable to the public driving on Lakeshore. He indicated there was some old tires and construction type material. He commented he had gotten in contact with the realtor who had given him the address where the property owner was staying which was around the corner on Brown Street. He stated that began the notification progress. He indicated at one point the property was kind of cleaned up. He said approximately one month ago some tenants moved in to the home. He stated once the tenants moved in there started to be a large amount of tires, roughly forty to fifty old tires, in the back portion of the house and along the side and the graffiti remained. He commented there was also an old refrigerator on the side of the house. He said the notices were sent but we had not received any response. He said some of the citations that were sent had been signed for; so they had received the notices. He indicated when he had gone by last week to take the pictures which were in the packets, he spoke with an individual who identified himself as the uncle of the property owrler and he was aware of the notices because he asked us to stop sending them. He stated the individual felt the City was harassing him and he felt there was no problem with the graffiti on the side of the wall because it was not that noticeable. He commented the individual stated the tenants were attempting to make a living by selling old tires. He said he told him it was unacceptable, it was not allowed in the City and he would be getting a notice regarding the upcoming Nuisance Abatement Hearing. He stated his recommendation was to declare the property a public nuisance freeing the way for the City to go in and clean it up. He indicated we were going to notice not only the property owner but the tenants as well to give them the opportunity to get some ofthe stuff cleaned up. He commented he would like the property to be declared a public nuisance but also notify the tenants as well in order to give them the opportunity to get some of the stuff out there. Board Member Fagan asked if the property had been sold. Code Enforcement Officer Lopez stated the property was not sold. He indicated the sign had been taken down and the people there now were tenants. Board Member Fagan asked if the pictures were taken a week ago. Code Enforcement Officer Lopez indicated approximately a week and a half ago. n Board Member Fagan indicated the property looked just like the pictures last Friday. . Agenda Item No Page of PAGE 3 - NUISANCE ABATEMENT MINUTES - OCTOBER 21, 2008 n Code Enforcement Officer Lopez indicated he had been by there the day before and there had been no change. He stated the property owners failed to notify the tenants or just did not care enough or the tenants just did not care. He commented that was why we should officially notify the tenants to see if they would take any action on their own. Chairwoman Watts asked if it would still be the owner's responsibility. Code Enforcement Officer Lopez stated it would come down to being the owner's responsibility but he would still feel more comfortable in giving the tenants the opportunity because he was not sure if they had been notified as far as the property being taken to nuisance. He indicated when the properties were taken to nuisance it was the property owner's responsibility but he would still like to see the tenants get a notice as well. Chairwoman Watts indicated if it was declared a nuisance it would still be the same thirty days. ! , in Code Enforcement Officer Lopez indicated he was not sure of the time frame. He stated they could notify the tenants and give them an amount of time to clean it up themselves. Code Enforcement Manager Chipman stated he noticed on the return receipt "George Hernandez" signed and it was addressed to Manuel Hernandez he assumed it was a relative. Code Enforcement Officer Lopez indicated it was a brother. Code Enforcement Manager Chipman commented he had to believe he understood what was going on at the property. Code Enforcement Officer Lopez stated he did. He commented the individual he had spoken .to identified himself as a relative of the property owner and they knew what was going on they just did not feel like it was to the point wherein they needed to do anything about it. He indicated the property owner was not complying but he was not sure if the tenants had been notified. Code Enforcement Manager Chipman asked if there was another mailing address for the owner since there were tenants occupying the address. n Code Enforcement Officer Lopez stated the other mailing address was on Brown Street and that was the information he had received from the realtor. He stated the family members lived right around the corner on Brown Street so that was where he was sending the correspondence. Agenda Item No Page of PAGE 4 - NUISANCE ABATEMENT MINUTES - OCTOBER 21, 2008 II Code Enforcement Manager Chipman stated he did not see any reason why they should not declare it a nuisance. Board Member Fagan concurred. Code Enforcement Manager Chipman indicated the property owner was ultimately responsible for the property regardless of rather he occupied it or if he had tenants. MOVED BY CODE ENFORCEMENT MANAGER CHIPMAN, SECONDED BY BOARD MEMBER FAGAN AND CARRIED BY UNANIMOUS VOTE OF THOSE PRESENT TO DECLARE THE PROPERTY AT 16510 LAKESHORE DRIVE, APN 378-302-002, LAKE ELSINORE, CA A PUBLIC NUISANCE. 3. VACANT LOT AT ILLINOIS/PALM STREET. APN 375-041-024. LAKE ELSINORE. CA n Chairwoman Watts asked Code Enforcement Officer Slater to address this property. n Code Enforc,ement Officer Slater indicated the property involved a vacant parcel located off of Illinois Street intersection of Palm Drive. He stated they had a small collec\ion of rubble, trash and debris. He commented there were two separate parcels. He indicated on one parcel there was a house that was under construction when a fire brought it down and all that remained was the foundation. He said the victim in the case whose property was in question was surveying his property along with Rolfe Preisendanz, our former Community Development Director, when they observed the contractors of the burned home remove rubble from that property and place it on his property. He indicated on May 8, 2008 the owner of the property filed an online complaint with the Code Enforcement Division regarding this illegal activity. He stated he made contact with him and Rolfe, did an assessment on the property and on May 13, 2008 he left instructions for a Notice of Violation to be mailed to the property owner. He commented he had done a follow up inspection on May 27,2008 and no visible changes had been made to the property. He stated no communication whatsoever was received. He said he left instructions for the Code Enforcement Assistant to mail a five day warning notice in which he did a follow up on June 12, 2008. He commented there was no change so he issued a citation. He stated we mailed the citation on the seventeenth and on the twenty-third we received back the certified mail receipt signed with the property owner's name, so he had received the citation. He indicated again no written correspondence or telephone communication had been made since the case began. He stated Agenda Item No Page of PAGE 5 - NUISANCE ABATEMENT MINUTES - OCTOBER 21, 2008 n based on the ongoing communication with the property owner he had decided to take it to nuisance hearing because he was not getting a response from the property owner that was responsible for the mess and the victim in the case was very inquisitive about what was going on with his property. He stated he had done an inspection two days ago and the rubble remained. He requested the Board declare this property a nuisance in order to remove the rubble and debris. Code Enforcement Manager Chipman stated when tie looked at the vicinity map that was provided in the packet, the orange square that was outlined was in the area where the house was under construction had burned down and as he remembered the conversation he had with Officer Slater the week before the rubble from that was taken across Palm Street and placed on the other side of Palm, was that correct. Code Enforcement Officer Slater stated that right where the square was, that was the area where the house was burned down. He indicated directly to the left following Illinois Street to the left crossing over Palm heading toward Sunnyslope on the opposite corner where the two trees were was where the debris was dumped. He commented the distance was twenty yards. n Code Enforcement Manager Chipman indicated the question was the APN and the property we were declaring a nuisance was that in the orange square. Code Enforcement Officer Slater concurred. Code Enforcement Manager Chipman stated it was the one that contained the house that was partially destroyed. Code Enforcement Officer Slater indicated yes, he was the responsible party and approximately two hours ago he spoke with the property owner who was the victim in the ,case and he understood his property was part of this case but only as him being the victim. He stated he was completely supportive and he had an email transaction from him giving Code Enforcement full approval to take whatever actions necessary to make the property in compliance. Code Enforcement Manager Chipman asked if they declared the property a nuisance not only would he have to clear up the remains of the burned house that was under construction but the rubble that was taken across the street as well. Code Enforcement Officer Slater indicated he did not address the burned down house portion in this nuisance case. He stated just the rubble. n Code Enforcement Manager Chipman stated he was confused. He indicated he thought the intent was to remove the rubble from the lot across the street. Agenda Item No Page of PAGE 6 - NUISANCE ABATEMENT MINUTES - OCTOBER 21, 2008 n Code Enforcement Officer Slater commented the remains from the burned down house, contractors were on the property and manicured it, cleaned up the rubble around the remaining foundation but he did not know if they had planned to submit new plans to redevelop that property or not. He stated he was going to give him a six month window to see if he had any plans or improvements before he would ask him to remove it or start work. Board Member Fagan stated the foundation looked to be fire damaged. Code Enforcement Manager Chipman asked if the existing foundation that was damaged in house fire was done prior to the new code adoption that we were under now, that would be a separate issue. He stated if this was one in the same property why were we not going after the entire foundation and forcing the issue. He indicated he thought that was what they were doing. Code Enforcement Officer Slater stated it was just for rubble on the adjacent lot. Code Enforcement Manager Chipman asked so we were making the property owner of the burned down house responsible for rubble on the lot across the street. n Code Enforcement Officer Slater concurred because it was his contractor. Chairwoman Watts asked if we could do that. Code Enforcement Manager Chipman stated he did not know he was trying to think if they could do it that way. Code Enforcement Officer Slater asked if the Board had read the complaint letter from Joe Huband where he indicated he was with Rolfe Preisendanz when he made the observation and contacted the people dumping. He stated it was Hector the developer/builder and their clean up crew admittedly doing those actions. He commented he was going after the property owner of the burned down house holding them financially responsible. Code Enforcement Manager Chipman indicated he was in favor of getting the rubble removed from the property across the street but he was not sure if they could with this case of taking just that rubble. He stated he believed legally they would have to go after the property owner who owned the lot where the rubble was dumped even though it was not his fault. He commented what should have been done was to go after the burned down house and make the rubble across the street a part of that same case, making them responsible for the whole thing. o Agenda Item No Page of , I I PAGE 7 - NUISANCE ABATEMENT MINUTES - OCTOBER 21, 2008 n Board Member Fagan indicated he had assumed when he went to the property he saw in the square, he saw the house and it looked like some trash around it. He stated his assumption was they were going after the foundation because it was unsuitable. Code Enforcement Officer Slater stated it would include any remaining trash, debris and rubble around the burned down foundation that may have existed at the time we executed this and we would include the rubble that was hauled to the adjacent parcel. Code Enforcement Manager Chipman stated he was confused. He indicated he would like to go after the entire structure. Board Member Fagan agreed. Code Enforcement Officer Slater suggested they postponed it until next month and he would include the house too. n Code Enforcement Manager Chipman stated legally they would have to re-notify in order to include the foundation and all remaining construction debris on the lot. Code Enforc:ement Officer Slater indicated that was right we would have to re- notify them and let them know the nuisance case would be next month. Board Member Fagan commented he would have a tendency to give it back to Officer Slater and have him write it up like Manager Chipman stated. Code Enforcement Manager Chipman concurred. Code Enforcement Officer Slater stated he did not want that house there. Code Enforcement Manager Chipman indicated he felt they were attacking the smaller portion of the issue. He stated yes we wanted to get the rubble cleaned up but we needed to get the house where the rubble originated from as well. He commented he agreed with Board Member Fagan to have the case continued, go back and write it up as going after whatever remained on the property from the fire, force the issue with that and include the rubble across the street based on the letter that had come from the property owner. Code Enforcement Officer Slater indicated they could do that. He stated we did have an ordinance that stated any structure remaining that had not been working under an active building permit for six months was either destroyed, removed or permits pulled. n Agenda Item No Page of PAGE 8 - NUISANCE ABATEMENT MINUTES - OCTOBER 21, 2008 n Code Enforcement Manager Chipman stated it was easily expired, there was no question it had been more than six months. He indicated they had every right to go after it. He commented they should force the issue and if Hector wanted to rebuild that was fine but nothing had been submitted. Board Member Fagan addressed the letter that had been written by the guy that owned the property. Code Enforcement Manager Chipman asked Officer Slater if it was an email. Code Enforcement Officer Slater concurred and asked if they all had a copy. Code Enforcement Manager Chipman stated he had his there. Board Member Fagan indicated it was written by Shawn Slater. n Office Speciljllist Teyler indicated the letter was addressed to Shawn Slater. Code Enforcement Manager Chipman concurred. He indicated it was from the owner of the property. Code Enforcement Officer Slater stated on the top left corner of the page you would see Joyce Teyler's name because it was an email she received and printed. Board Member Fagan commented he understood. Code Enforcement Manager Chipman asked if it was our online email complaint form. Code Enforcement Officer Slater stated yes. He indicated it was confirmed via email and telephone conversations with the property owner. Code Enforcement Manager Chipman indicated he was not trying to run Officer Slater through the hoop but he felt they were not going to get the entire case solved by going after just the rubble. He said he felt they would be in a better legal standing if they were to go after the house and associate the rubble with the house instead of verse visa. Board Member Fagan indicated he would not second the motion in this particular case. D Code Enforcement Manager Chipman indicated he would continue the nuisance in order to go after the remainder of the construction debris that was left over from the fire including the foundation, everything cleared just like in an Agenda Item No Page of PAGE 9 - NUISANCE ABATEMENT MINUTES - OCTOBER 2 I, 2008 II abatement, then include the rubble across the street that was associated with the construction. MOVED BY CODE ENFORCEMENT MANAGER CHIPMAN, SECONDED BY CHAIRWOMAN WATTS AND CARRIED BY UNANIMOUS VOTE OF THOSE PRESENT TO CONTINUE THE NUISANCE ON THE VACANT LOT AT ILLINOIS/PALM STREET, APN 375-041-024, LAKE ELSINORE, CA 4. Code Enforcement Comments: None. 5. Nuisance Abatement Board Comments: Code Enforcement Manager Chipman discussed the recommendation on the Staff Report regarding the first case heard. Chairwoman Watts indicated she would not be available for the November 18,2008 nuisance hearing. ADJOURNMENT ~! MOVED BY CHAIRWOMAN WATTS TO ADJOURN THE NUISANCE ABATEMENT HEARING AT 4:54 P.M. ~rITWla3 ft;~' Chairwoman, Loraine Watts Respectfully Submitted, Joyce M. Teyler Office Specialist II ATTEST: n ~K-~ Robin Chipman, Secretary to the Board Agenda Item No Page of