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HomeMy WebLinkAbout06-16-2009 NA MINUTES NUISANCE ABATEMENT HEARING CITY OF LAKE ELSINORE 183 NORTH MAIN STREET LAKE ELSINORE, CA 92530 TUESDAY, JUNE 16, 2009 CALL TO ORDER j The regular Nuisance Abatement Hearing was called to order by Robin Chipman, Code Enforcement Manager at 4:32 PM. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE The Pledge of Allegiance was led by Jack Fagan. ROLL CALL PRESENT: BOARD MEMBER: FAGAN ! PRESENT: CODE ENFORCEMENT MANAGER: CHIPMAN PRESENT: ACTING COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR: WEINER Also present were: Code Enforcement Officer Shawn Slater and Office Specialist Joyce Teyler. PUBLIC COMMENTS None. CONSENT CALENDAR i 1. The following Minutes were approved. Minutes for February 17, 2009 2. The following Minutes were approved. Minutes for March 17, 2009 Acting Community Development Director Weiner abstains from approving Minutes. Agenda Item No Page of PAGE 2 - NUISANCE ABATEMENT MINUTES - JUNE 16, 2009 r , PUBLIC HEARINGS Code Enforcement Manager Chipman opened the Public Hearing at 4:34 p.m. I 3. 1001 W. HEALD, APN 374-131-021, LAKE ELSINORE, CA Code Enforcement Manager Chipman asked Code Enforcement Officer Slater to give a history on the case. I Code Enforcement Officer Slater indicated we were all there to discuss the property located at 1001 West Heald. He stated this property was previously notified, had gone through the Code Enforcement process back in 2007. He commented it was a 2007 case. He said the case was originally written up for trash, debris, storage in public view, overgrown vegetation, unsightly fences, buildings, facias, walls, storage structures maintained in the front setback and now a commercial vehicle. He indicated on August 21, 2007 this property was initially declared a Public Nuisance based on those conditions. He stated they had notified the property owner through all the proper steps. He commented all the paperwork was "Returned to Sender' or signed for with no reply or contact. He commented at the beginning of the case he did have contact, however after F1 the case would rest so had the efforts to bring the property into compliance. He said after citations had begun going out no more communication was made by the property owner and we had brought it to a nuisance hearing wherein the Board declared it a public nuisance. He indicated we had given the property owner a copious amount of time to abate all the violations and after a closer view during another sweep the property still had not been brought into compliance. He stated they had not exercised their executive privileges to obtain a warrant to abate those violations. He commented they had re-notified the property owner two weeks ago that the violations still existed and we were going back to the Board to show there had been no changes to the property asking the Board to re- certify the property was and still remained a public nuisance. i Code Enforcement Officer Slater presented a slide show. He indicated there was a commercial vehicle on the property wherein he had made contact with the occupant of the house who stated it was his truck. He stated the property owner understood he would receive a $1,000.00 fine if he did not remove the vehicle and yet it remained. He commented it was now worse due to storage in public view outside the driveway. He said you could see the storage on the left hand side with the view from the corner, it was a corner house. Board Member Fagan indicated he enjoyed the slide show. Agenda Item No Page of i PAGE 3 - NUISANCE ABATEMENT MINUTES - JUNE 16, 2009 Code Enforcement Officer Slater indicated there was a structure in the driveway. He stated he was worried about the trailer. He commented the canopy was identified by the California Building Code as a structure. He stated it was falling apart with lots of storage underneath it with no permit on file. Board Member Fagan indicated it looked like there was a lot of debris on top of it. Code Enforcement Officer Slater indicated there was a lot of debris on the patio and the side of the house. He commented it looked the same in 2007 as it did that day. He said now they were driving down the alley. He commented there was overgrown vegetation, the fence was leaning in and some parts leaning out. He stated he was still in his truck and that was what you could see from the alley. He commented there was chemicals, bags, household appliances, equipment, racks, plywood and construction material. He indicated previously in 2007 all that was done was stuff that was visible from the driveway was moved and put under the canopy and stored in the backyard. He said the paint on the fence was peeling, leaning in and if it was not for the vegetation it would be falling over. Code Enforcement Manager Chipman asked if the portion they were looking at was part of the same property. j Code Enforcement Officer Slater indicated it was. He stated it was the alley view at 1001 West Heald. He commented the property owner was same which he verified through RealQuest. He said the Tax Recorder indicated it was the same owner as it was previously. He commented there had been no contact even as of that day. He requested that the Nuisance Abatement Board re-certify that the violations still existed and the property remained a public nuisance. Board Member Fagan asked if the trash had been moved from the front to the back. Code Enforcement Officer Slater indicated in 2007 before the hearing he had moved a lot of the junk off of the driveway and put it in the backyard. Board Member Fagan asked if this had occurred before the March hearing or after we declared it a public nuisance. Code Enforcement Officer Slater stated before the hearing. Board Member Fagan inquired as to why they had to re-certify. Code Enforcement Officer Slater said it was due to the time lapse. He stated they still had a legal right to go through with it but he was just trying to afford the property owner all his rights to make sure he had ample time and the opportunity to correct the violations. He commented they were there one more time to Agenda Item No Page of PAGE 4 - NUISANCE ABATEMENT MINUTES - JUNE 16, 2009 examine the property and agree that the nuisance and the violations still existed. He indicated they would give it another fifteen days before the got a warrant. II Code Enforcement Manager Chipman asked Officer Slater if it was still the same owner as was in 2007. Code Enforcement Officer Slater it was. Ali Code Enforcement Manager Chipman asked if he had any contact with the property owner. Code Enforcement Officer Slater indicated he had had no contact whatsoever since 2007. He stated he had spoken with the tenant. He commented Inspector Belvin and him had been doing an inspection on a neighboring property approximately two or three weeks ago and explained all the violations to the occupant. He stated the occupant stated he did not know anything about it and was packing up his stuff and leaving. I Board Member Fagan asked if it was vacant now. Code Enforcement Officer Slater indicated it was still occupied. Code Enforcement Manager Chipman asked if there were any more questions. He indicated he did not see any reason not to declare it a nuisance again. He stated he agreed with Officer Slater that it had been over a year and this would just reaffirm the Board's action and if we had to get a warrant it would look that much better on record. MOVED BY BOARD MEMBER FAGAN, SECONDED BY CODE ENFORCEMENT MANAGER CHIPMAN AND CARRIED BY UNANIMOUS VOTE OF THOSE PRESENT TO DECLARE THE PROPERTY LOCATED AT 1001 WEST HEALD AVENUE, APN 374-131-021, LAKE ELSINORE, CA, A PUBLIC NUISANCE. 4. 1111 W. POTTERY. APN 374-024-014, LAKE ELSINORE, CA Code Enforcement Manager Chipman asked Officer Slater to address the case. I Code Enforcement Officer Slater indicated the property was a single family residence. He stated it was occupied by a man, brother and maybe a son or nephew. He said he had intermittent contact with them throughout the years. He commented the original Notice of Violation was written on the property approximately February of 2007 with trash, debris, lack of landscaping, inoperable vehicles, vehicles parked on parts of the property other than cement and the garage had been converted. He indicated according to the occupants of Agenda Item No Page of PAGE 5 - NUISANCE ABATEMENT MINUTES - JUNE 16, 2009 I I the dwelling, the garage had been converted into a residential habitable space without permits. He said back when he had done the initial inspections and write ups they had not wanted them to go inside the building to check it. He commented before the hearing and stating in the Minutes of the last hearing, the occupant stated it had been converted. He indicated this property was brought before the Nuisance Abatement Board September 18, 2007 for the same violations. He stated before the last hearing he had removed approximately ten vehicles from the property. He said the occupants made a valiant effort to get a lot of the stuff moved off but they had never completed the job. He commented throughout the time occupants and visitors still parked their vehicles on the front yard and front side yard. He indicated there was still debris on both the left and right side of house and also in the rear set back. Code Enforcement Officer Slater presented a slide show. He indicated front yard i was dead, side yard on the right side all dirt, left hand side there was a kitchen f sink, Board Member Fagan stated it looked they had cleaned up in the last day or so from what he had seen on Monday. He asked if there was a car parked in the back. ~I^ Code Enforcement Officer Slater commented that there was. I Code Enforcement Manager Chipman indicated there was still debris on the side of the house.as well. Code Enforcement Officer Slater stated there was debris on the side. He said there was an air conditioner in the photo. He indicated when he was towing the vehicles he had asked Paul Champaign, the eldest one living in the house, what j the air conditioner was for and he indicated it was a bedroom and the air i conditioner kept them cool when they slept there. He stated he had told him it was a garage and Mr. Champaign indicated he knew that. He commented on another view of the back and another view of the trash. He said the only thing that changed in that scenario were the different vehicles parked on the property. He indicated a car in the photo had been there for quite awhile and the debris would come and go. He stated he had caught people there camping and sleeping, homeless camp. He commented the stuff was visible from neighboring properties and parcels. He stated again it was brought before the Board September 18, 2007. He said no change in property ownership had taken effect. He commented the occupants had been aware. He indicated he had cited the occupants approximately $3,000.00 in fines so fiscally it had not appeared to be affecting them so he asked the Board to re-certify and recognize the conditions still existed. I Board Member Fagan asked if he had gotten any complaints from neighbors. Agenda Item No Page of PAGE 6 - NUISANCE ABATEMENT MINUTES - JUNE 16, 2009 Code Enforcement Officer Slater stated he had not. He indicated he had done a sweep in order to keep from getting conflicts from other neighbors. He explained he had gone from house to house to house. Code Enforcement Manager Chipman stated Officer Slater had said Paul Champaign was an occupant not owner, was that correct. Code Enforcement Officer Slater indicated that was correct. Code Enforcement Manager Chipman asked if we had had any contact from John Carr. Code Enforcement Officer Slater stated he had never in his five years with the City heard from John Carr. i { Code Enforcement Manager Chipman inquired if the notices were sent to that i address. Code Enforcement Officer Slater commented the notices had been sent to the address on RealQuest. Code Enforcement Manager Chipman indicated a P.O. Box. Code Enforcement Officer Slater stated it was the most current address the State Assessor had on that property.. Code Enforcement Manager Chipman commented he saw several names such as Credit West, Guy Swenson. Code Enforcement Officer Slater said Guy Swenson was somebody who appeared to be the owner back in the day. He indicated we had notified both Guy Swenson and John Carr and most recently John Carr was the only one who showed on record. He commented only John Carr was notified this time. He ( stated the old photographs from 2007 were still part of the file. Code Enforcement Manager Chipman asked if there were any comments from the Board. Board Member Fagan stated none except to recommend it be declared a nuisance. Code Enforcement Manager Chipman indicated he had a concern that this was the second case that had not been carried through the first time it was declared a nuisance. He stated he understood we tried to work with the owners to get them i Agenda Item No Page of I PAGE 7 - NUISANCE ABATEMENT MINUTES - JUNE 16, 2009 r- to clean up and apparently we had made some progress. He commented that was why it probably slipped through the cracks. MOVED BY BOARD MEMBER FAGAN, SECONDED BY CODE ENFORCEMENT MANAGER CHIPMAN AND CARRIED BY UNANIMOUS VOTE OF THOSE PRESENT TO DECLARE THE PROPERTY LOCATED AT 1111 WEST POTTERY STREET, APN I'I 374-025-014, LAKE ELSINORE, CA, A PUBLIC NUISANCE. 5. 15900 GRAND AVENUE, APN 381-050-001/381-050-002. LAKE ELSINORE, CA Code Enforcement Manager Chipman asked Officer Slater to address the case. Code Enforcement Officer Slater indicated the case had come before the Board approximately two months ago for trash, debris, overgrown vegetation, unsightly building, open and accessible building, fire hazards, unsecured property and Mr. Garrett was the responsible person for that property who was at the hearing. He stated the Board at that time declared it a public nuisance however they gave them an option to put plans in place to mitigate the violations to reduce the cost to the taxpayers. He commented since that time he had regular phone calls and email traffic back and forth with Mr. Garrett. He explained he had submitted his plan to secure the property, mitigate the open and accessible issue by boarding it up, secured the fence and cut down the vegetation to address the concerns of the neighboring properties and cosmetically for curb appeal. He indicated the most recent inspection had been that afternoon. Code Enforcement Officer Slater presented a slide show. He stated that was the front of the Academy. He explained there appeared to be a lot of clean up in the front. He commented all the windows were boarded up and doorways were secured. He said all the unsightly appearances which were visible from the street had been removed. He indicated on the side all the vegetation had been reduced. He stated tires, palm fronds and fire hazards that were in the room had been gutted and removed nothing flammable in there. Board Member Fagan asked if the inside of the building had been cleaned up. Code Enforcement Officer Slater explained it was the inside of the room where the tires and a lot of palm fronds were which created a fire hazard. Board Member Fagan said okay. Code Enforcement Officer Slater indicated they had asked them to remove all the r stuff and leave it open so they could check in there to make sure it was done properly. He stated it had been open and there was nothing in there flammable Agenda Item No Page of I PAGE 8 - NUISANCE ABATEMENT MINUTES - JUNE 16, 2009 other than the building itself. He commented there was a camper out there all tattered and torn that was now gone. He said all the windows had been secured. He indicated on the back patio all had been secured, firmly anchored. He stated all the trash, palm fronds and fire hazards had been removed from the patio. He said there was lots of vegetation laying around on the property. He said he was impressed they had even cleaned up outside as well including the pavement and the sidewalk. He indicated that was a picture of an owl he saw out there checking things. He stated that view used to be vegetation about three to four feet high, falling tree limbs, mattresses, box springs. He said the field there had been disked. He explained they boarded up the top floor. He pointed out that was the front in the photograph. He indicated this was a recap of what was done within the last two months to make the Board's decision to have the property abated. He stated he spoke to Mr. Garrett that afternoon and he still had the tires to get out of there and a couple piles of vegetation. He commented they had somebody out there regularly to monitor the property. He said any efforts to do big projects they would apply for permits for any improvements to the interior or exterior. He indicated his recommendation to the Board would be to continue this to a time they dictated appropriate to come back to make sure everything was done completely. Code Enforcement Manager Chipman indicated he had a couple of questions. He stated to Mr. Garrett that he appreciated his efforts. He commented it looked one hundred times better than it had. He said he was out there with Officer Slater two months ago before the last hearing and it now looked great. He explained part of what the Board requested from him last time was not only to get the property, cleaned up but some time of a plan on how he was going to maintain the property now and keep it secured from future vandalism. He indicated he noticed in the third or fourth picture there was a trailer. He stated he was not sure if that was a security guard on the site. He explained when the slide show started it was the third or fourth picture. He asked if that was on the property. Code Enforcement Officer Slater stated it was on the driveway. Code Enforcement Manager Chipman inquired if that was something that was being removed or was that a current security. Code Enforcement Officer Slater indicated he spoke to the person who was there and it was noted that no one had broken into the property since they had been there. He stated he did not speak to them as to what their role was. He said he assumed they were there as part of the people who were there to clean things up Code Enforcement Manager Chipman said okay. I Agenda Item No Page of PAGE 9 - NUISANCE ABATEMENT MINUTES - JUNE 16, 2009 Board Member Fagan indicated it looked like there was a camper parked out front. Code Enforcement Officer Slater stated that was it. Code Enforcement Manager Chipman asked Mr. Garrett to step up to the II podium. Mr. Garrett indicated it was a travel trailer. He stated they had people on site and since they brought them on site they have not had any break-ins. He commented they had seemed to control that problem. He said he had been in contact with the neighbors on Bonnie Bell. Code Enforcement Manager Chipman corrected Bonnie Lane. I Mr. Garrett stated they had called him a few times when there were problems and they had repaired all the holes in the fence, tried to work on that side, chopped up all the fallen trees. He stated they would be out there tomorrow again to start on the mustard out front. He said they were going to continue on the vegetation down by the Lake to get better visibility. He explained there were people coming from somewhere and they were going to lift up the Olive and Pepper trees so they could see what was going on down by the Lake. He indicated they were continuing to work on it and to make progress. He stated the F1 trailer was there as security. He commented once people knew someone was there, the problem was actually coming from across the street on Bonnie Lane. He indicated there was a group of young people who lived in a house who were out on the patio all times of the day and night. Board Member Fagan asked if he was talking about the street south of there. Mr. Garrett said yes. He stated the second or third house in, if you drove by there would be people recreating twenty-four hours a day. Code Enforcement Manager Chipman asked Officer Slater if the perimeter of the property was secure now. j Code Enforcement Officer Slater indicated the vehicle traffic, yes. He asked if Manager Chipman remembered contacting the two groups of kids in the 4x4's on the beach. Code Enforcement Manager Chipman concurred. Code Enforcement Officer Slater stated if you were standing on the property looking at the Lake, they were coming from the property off the left. i Agenda Item No Page of PAGE 10 -NUISANCE ABATEMENT MINUTES - JUNE 16, 2009 r Mr. Garrett indicated the north and concurred. Code Enforcement Officer Slater indicated they had told them they had no right to be there it was trespassing. Mr. Garrett commented that was why they wanted to lift those trees up which they had started trimming. He stated there was a lot of traffic which he assumed was just the neighbors. He commented by traffic he meant there was several well worn paths of vehicles and ATV's. Board Member Fagan asked if the fence on the south side of property was leaky. Mr. Garrett indicated they had patched the holes. He stated they had cut holes in it as quickly as they had repaired the holes. He commented now that they had someone on site he believed all the holes were taken care of. He said they were patched and no one had cut through them again as of Sunday. He explained he was just out there briefly before the hearing but he felt the people patrolled that side of the fence and the neighbors had been helpful to try and control it also. He commented it was not the greatest fence. Board Member Fagan indicated there were a couple of mattresses there that he had noticed that showed up. Mr. Garret inquired if they were on the street or on the slabs. Code Enforcement Officer Slater stated they were on the slabs. Board Member Fagan commented where the camper used to be. Mr. Garrett stated his guys would be out there the next day. He commented they were scheduled to be out there tomorrow and for the next few days to do maintenance. He explained they would be working on cleaning up the vegetation down where they were getting all the traffic. He indicated they believed it was the people who lived on the north side of the property. He stated people could not be coming onto the property without those people knowing. Board Member Fagan asked if he was stating on the north side of the property or the south side. Mr. Garrett said north. Code Enforcement Manager Chipman stated north toward the trailer park area. Agenda Item No Page of PAGE II - NUISANCE ABATEMENT MINUTES - JUNE 16, 2009 Mr. Garrett indicated there were a couple of houses that sat way off of Grand Avenue down by the Lake which had a very long driveway. He stated people who were coming in had to go by those people or it was those people. Board Member Fagan stated he was talking about the fence on the south side. Mr. Garrett said he understood on Bonnie Lane. He stated they had taken some of their temporary fencing panels and put them in front of where the holes in the fence were. Board Member Fagan indicated he was going to ask Officer Slater about some of the property back in there on the north side of the fence line that looked like j some of them would qualify themselves for code enforcement. Mr. Garrett asked if it was on the north side or the south side. I Board Member Fagan stated on the north side of the property line. Code Enforcement Manager Chipman explained the north side of the property j line was off of Kevin Place. i Code Enforcement Officer Slater showed where his hand was people were accessing the property from those houses. i Board Member Fagan commented it looked like some of those houses would qualify for code enforcement to take a look at them. Code Enforcement Manager Chipman indicated they rode down there. Code Enforcement Officer Slater stated when they were driving down there they were not addressing code enforcement due to the vantage point they had when they drove up to it. Code Enforcement Manager Chipman commented when you looked at the strip where Office Slater was indicating there were four or five structures there on private property on one parcel. He explained the structures were not in disrepair wherein they could do code enforcement action against them but they obviously had direct access to the beach and they were able to access the Academy property. Board Member Fagan indicated he had not looked at it closely. Mr. Garrett stated they were going to try to clean it so they could see in there. Agenda Item No Page of PAGE 12 - NUISANCE ABATEMENT MINUTES - JUNE 16, 2009 I- Code Enforcement Manager Chipman commented he agreed with Mr. Garrett that if they were to clean up the trees according to our code six feet from above the ground that would certainly increase the visibility and would give them less area to hideout. He indicated he would like to hear Mr. Garrett's comments on long term. He stated he appreciated that they were going to clean it up and it was almost to an acceptable fashion but how were they going to keep it that way. Mr. Garrett explained they were going to have their guys do regular maintenance and to have someone on site at all times. He indicated the combination of having someone on site and having his guys over there. He appreciated that he saw they made an effort. He stated he had two guys for two days or more on the front driveway and around the back with a straight edge taking the weeds out of the driveway. He commented they had swept and they would continue to do that. He said they would continue to monitor and would be there every couple of weeks just mowing. i Code Enforcement Manager Chipman indicated it might be worth an investment in a couple of gallons of weed killer. { Mr. Garrett stated the mustard and tumble weeds took off this time of year. He commented they would monitor and that was their program. Code Enforcement Manager Chipman inquired if there were any plans for long term such as development plans, rehabilitation plans or any thing that way. Mr. Garrett indicated in these times things were uncertain. He explained he had to be honest, they had a tremendous amount of people interested, every day he was there people were interested but he did not feel they understood the magnitude of what it would take to bring the building up to code. He stated they did have long term plans to develop the property but realistically they were a minimum of a couple of years off until the economy settles. He commented they were open to ideas and money to go behind it. He said people have plenty of ideas. Code Enforcement Manager Chipman stated it was a major project. Board Member Fagan asked if they were able to do anything about the roof. Mr. Garrett commented that was an add-on. He said they enclosed a patio at some point when the lady was living there. He asked if there was a picture. Code Enforcement Manager Chipman stated yes. i r- Mr. Garrett indicated that was originally outside and they had not done anything with that. Agenda Item No Page of PAGE 13 - NUISANCE ABATEMENT MINUTES - JUNE 16, 2009 Board Member Fagan stated the water seemed to be getting into the building. i Mr. Garrett explained he would double check but he believed that originally was not on the building. He indicated he would take a look. He stated they were certainly trying to protect the building. He commented he would take a look. He explained he knew where he was speaking of and believed it was kind of bootlegged at some point. He said it had sliding glass doors something that was not part of the original building. I Board Member Fagan indicated he felt encouraged with the progress he had made. He stated it seemed he had done a lot and whoever was working the property now seemed to be making progress. I Mr. Garrett stated they would continue. He commented they had put in a lot of time and they were going to continue to put in a lot time. He said they just had to pull his guys off to take care of some other stuff but tomorrow they would be out there and if time allowed they could continue to keep working. He indicated he wanted to come to them to get temporary power to get lighting around the outside. He stated one of the things they were going to work on that coordinated with the lighting was they were going to rent a lift to trim all the palm trees to get all the dead palm fronds taken away. He commented the electrician said as long as they had that there he could reach the lights to re-service them. Code Enforcement Manager Chipman indicated in light of the progress he had made he would be more inclined to work with him to get temporary power out there for security purposes like lighting and alarms. He asked if there were any other comments from the Board. Acting Community Development Director Weiner told Mr. Garrett to do his best. He indicated it had looked like he was making an effort and to please continue to do so. He stated we had saw enough damage to that site it would be a shame to see a fire or something like that happen. Mr. Garrett stated he thought they were doing good. He commented that Officer Slater and him were staying in contact and vocal neighbors had his phone number so they could call him and tell him what was going on so they could try to address it. Code Enforcement Manager Chipman indicated that was the key to the whole thing was just communication. He stated he would make a recommendation that code enforcement continue to monitor the site. He commented they would bring 1 it back for review in three or four months. Agenda Item No Page of PAGE 14 - NUISANCE ABATEMENT MINUTES - JUNE 16, 2009 RECOMMENDED BY CODE ENFORCEMENT MANAGER CHIPMAN, SECONDED BY ACTING COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR WEINER AND CARRIED BY UNANIMOUS VOTE OF THOSE PRESENT TO BRING BACK FOR REVIEW IN THREE OR FOUR MONTHS THE PROPERTY LOCATED AT 15900 GRAND AVENUE, APN 381-050-0011381- 050-002, LAKE ELSINORE, CA. 6. Code Enforcement Comments: Code Enforcement Officer Slater discussed the status of past cases. 6. Nuisance Abatement Board Comments: Acting Community Development Director Weiner thank Code Enforcement for their continued hard work. Code Enforcement Manager Chipman agreed. ADJOURNMENT MOVED BY CODE ENFORCEMENT MANAGER ROBIN CHIPMAN TO ADJOURN THE NUISANCE ABATEMENT HEARING AT 5:07 P.M. I Board M ber, Jack Fagan Respectfully Submitted, Joyce M. Teyler Office Specialist II ATTEST: Robin Chipman, Secretary to the Board Agenda Item No Page of