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HomeMy WebLinkAbout02-17-2009 NA MINUTES NUISANCE ABATEMENT HEARING CITY OF LAKE ELSINORE 183 NORTH MAIN STREET LAKE ELSINORE, CA 92530 TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2009 CALL TO ORDER The regular Nuisance Abatement Hearing was called to order by Robin Chipman, Code Enforcement Manager at 4:37 PM. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE The Pledge of Allegiance was led by Tom Weiner. ROLL CALL PRESENT: CHAIRWOMAN: WATTS PRESENT: PLANNING MANAGER: WEINER PRESENT: CODE ENFORCEMENT MANAGER: CHIPMAN Also present were: Code Enforcement Officer Fred Lopez and Office Specialist Joyce Teyler. PUBLIC COMMENTS None. CONSENT CALENDAR 1. The following Minutes were approved. Minutes for October 21, 2008 PUBLIC HEARINGS Chairwoman Loraine Wafts opened the Public Hearing at 4:39 p.m. 2. Vacant lot on Machado. APN 379-140-073. LAKE ELSINORE, CA Agenda Item No Page of PAGE 2 - NUISANCE ABATEMENT MINUTES - FEBRUARY 17, 2009 Chairwoman Watts asked Code Enforcement Officer Lopez to speak regarding I the case. Code Enforcement Officer Lopez indicated the property was brought to his attention by a neighboring property owner who stated there was a big Eucalyptus tree on the lot. He stated upon further inspection he had noted there was one big Eucalyptus tree that the property owner feared would fall over onto his property. He commented he initiated a case via a Notice of Violation which he mailed to the current property owner on record. He said the property owner was listed out of Glendale, California. He indicated after he received no response from the Notice of Violation and subsequent Warning Notice, he felt he had only one option but to take the property to nuisance to have the tree abated. He commented the City had adopted a new tree preservation ordinance which allowed the City to remove dead or diseased trees based on the fact they create a public hazard. He stated it was his recommendation to have the property declared a public nuisance and clear the way for the City to make arrangements to have the tree removed before any damage was caused. Chairwoman'Watts asked if he had heard from the owner. _ Code Enforcement Officer Lopez stated he had not. Code Enforcement Manager Chipman indicated he had spoke with the complainant,several weeks ago. He stated the lot with the tree was owned by an older, absentee owner. He commented the complainant had been taking care of the property and cleaning it up but was now tired of doing it. Chairwoman Watts asked if he was doing it on his own. Code Enforcement Manager Chipman indicated he was doing it on his own. He asked if it was adjoining his property. Code Enforcement Officer Lopez stated yes. He indicated you could not tell where one property line started and the other one ended. He commented the actual property runs through his property as well as neighboring properties behind him. He said upon looking at it, it appeared to be an easement and the neighboring property advised him it was an easement for the water district but he could not find any information to prove it so all the information was sent to the property owner of record. Code Enforcement Manager Chipman asked how big the tree was. Code Enforcement Officer Lopez indicated it was approximately forty-five to fifty feet. He stated he was going to contact the Public Works/Weed Abatement Agenda Item No Page__ of PAGE 3 - NUISANCE ABATEMENT MINUTES - FEBRUARY 17, 2009 n Program to check on the ordinance to see if we could use them for the tree removal. Code Enforcement Manager Chipman asked if there was any documentation which indicated the tree was dead or diseased. He also asked if it looked bad. Code Enforcement Officer Lopez indicated it looked dead. He commented there was a tree next to it that the property owner also complained about but it was green and the leaves were green. He stated the tree in question looked completely dead. He said there were no green leaves and it had the appearance of a dead tree. Code Enforcement Manager Chipman indicated from the complainant's side there were two trees in question not on his parcel. Code Enforcement Officer Lopez concurred. Code Enforcement Manager Chipman asked if he agreed the one was the biggest problem. Code Enforcement Officer Lopez indicated when he looked at the trees, one was clearly dead and the other was not. He stated he did not make the tree that was not dead an issue even though he wanted that one removed as well. He commented we were not in the business of removing live trees unless it created some type of hazard. Code Enforcement Manager Chipman indicated he was not sure if they needed to go an extra step to make sure. He stated he was not an arborist. He commented he could tell if something looked dead but he was not sure if they needed to go the extent of having the tree examined by an arborist to actually show it was diseased or dead before we removed it. Code Enforcement Officer Lopez stated that was why he was going to get with Public Work's. He indicated Public Works had been notified by the neighboring property owner but they felt it was not in their interest to address the situation so it was turned over to him. He commented he was going to go back to them with it being declared a nuisance. He stated according to our new ordinance the City was going to, have to do something to act upon it. Planning Manager Weiner indicated the tree team that worked over at the yard would have a good idea if the tree was diseased or damaged due to dealing with City trees. Code Enforcement Manager Chipman indicated we clearly had the right to remove the tree if it was diseased or dead. He commented him not being an Agenda Item No Page of PAGE 4 - NUISANCE ABATEMENT MINUTES - FEBRUARY 17, 2009 arborist he was not sure whose explanation would be that it was dead. He stated he felt Planning Manager Weiner was correct and we should be able to rely on our crew that dealt with trees all the time. He asked if it was a Eucalyptus. Code Enforcement Officer Lopez stated yes. MOVED BY BOARD MEMBER WATTS, SECONDED BY CODE ENFORCEMENT MANAGER CHIPMAN AND CARRIED BY UNANIMOUS VOTE OF THOSE PRESENT TO DECLARE THE VACANT LOT AT VACANT LOT ON MACHADO, APN 379-140- 073, LAKE ELSINORE, CA, A PUBLIC NUISANCE. 3. Code Enforcement Comments: None. 4. Nuisance Abatement Board Comments: Chairwoman Watts asked if we would get more cases with the weed abatement. Code Enforcement Manager Chipman indicated we would be bringing forth more nuisance cases. ADJOURNMENT MOVED BY CHAIRWOMAN LORAINE WATTS TO ADJOURN THE NUISANCE ABATEMENT HEARING AT 4:45 P.M. UNTIL MARCH 17, 2009. Chairwoman, Loraine Watts Respectfully, Submitted, i ,Joyce M. Teyler Office Specialist II Agenda Item No Page of PAGE 5 - NUISANCE ABATEMENT MINUTES - FEBRUARY 17, 2009 I I ATTEST: I Robin Chipman, Secrets to the Board I1 Agenda Item No Page of