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HomeMy WebLinkAbout10/28/04 CEAC CODE ENFORCEMENT ADVISORY COMMITTEE OCTOBER 28, 2004 6:00 PM COUNCIL CHAMBERS AT CITY HALL MINUTES Agenda Item II. Citizen Input: 1. Ms. Adams- Has noticed several violations of Dooley, Dunn and Independence. Wants to see something done about it. Iris states that she received Ms. Adams' 72 CRMs and many ofthem have either been written up or will be written up on Nov. 1 st when we start writing up junked vehicles which are not screened from public view. Iris will contact Ms. Adams tomorrow and advise her of the status. 2. Maria Solis- 6071 Dooley- She has the same concerns as Ms. Adams. The fences are in disrepair; there is a six-foot fence in someone's front yard. Trash and debris in various places. Also, the pavement in the alley on Dooley is very bad. Iris responds that that they will inspect tomorrow and view the complaint. Bill explains that we are on a campaign to clean up the city but it will take some time. Iris will forward the pavement in the alley to Public Works department. Agenda Item III. Acceptance or Correction of Minutes from September 30th meeting 1. Chris Italia made motion to approve minutes; Tom Handley seconds motion. Agenda Item IV. New Business 1. Iris Browder and Attorney Joe Gordifa reviewed the proposed ordinance for 19-29 "Parking on Improved Surfaces". Iris goes over the changes that were suggested by some of the CEAC members. Joe explains the changes and answers questions. Bill Longo is concerned about the Eastva1e area because the area has little or no hard surfaces. This is whom the ordinance will mostly affect. How will this be handled? This needs to be considered before ordinance is presented to City Council. 1 Cheryl- Biggest concern is paving of67% of property, maybe change to pavement can be the width of a car. Joe replies that 67% is just an estimate, least restrictive starting out. Harry mentions that a resident paving 67% of their property will increase surface run-off and create drainage problems. Joel asks about Grand Fathering the Eastvale area and Joe informed him that the ordinance addresses this already. John wants to know what is trying to be accomplished with this ordinance. Bill explains what the concerns of the residents are in regards to wetlands and grasslands and pollution. John and Bill discuss their opinions on the ordinance and why it is needed. Ultimate opinion is that Bill feels it is necessary, John feels it is redundant and feels it is not accomplishing anything. Bill again mentions the financial impact on the residents and suggests we decide how long we are going to give the residents to comply. Bill explains to John Fowler and Todd Routhier (new CEAC members) that right now we are just considering and fine-tuning the ordinance, nothing is being passed yet. Cheryl explains this is needed because our property values are falling and we need more tax dollars. John does not want to pay more taxes. Bill goes around table to get one on one input- Tom: There should be 6 months from appeal to hearing. Tom also mentions the school buses and Bill asks why the buses should be exempt. Joel mentions that the City will be the only entity exempt because they are not a private corporation. Barbara: We need to go through the ordinance line by line and be sure everything is correct. Rita: 67% should not be allowed considering how some residents have handled things in the past. Chris: 6 months for education period. Also, we need to consider the vegetation portion and what about winter and when shrubs die. Todd: Asks about the time period. Car width makes sense. He also understands the ordinance and feels that there is a need for distinction between necessary vehicles and vehicles for recreation. Joe: We can bring in more zoning like Richardson. John: Suggests not exceeding 67% or not cannot have more that 3 or 4 cars on the property. He also wants to know if the City is a Corporation. Joe Gordifa explains that the City is a municipal corporation and cities are exempt from their own ordinances. John disagrees that the City is imposing ordinances that they do not adhere to themselves. Joel explains that this is why the CEAC is here to consider the ordinances. Harry explains that they did not specifically exclude ourselves and Bill explains that this is state law that exempts the city from the ordinance. Bill Longo: Motion to table the item until the next meeting until new people fully understand the ordinance and the Code Enforcement procedures. Cheryl Mohrbacher 2nds the motion. Bill suggests that new members ride with enforcement officers to get a better understanding of the problems. 2. Harry Persaud presents the proposed program for the registration and inspection of rental properties for single family only. He explains that there is a 20% rental turnover in a 1 year time period in other cities, on average. Inspections will be done when the home is leased. If this program is done, it 2 must be able to pay for itself. A part-time customer service representative and on full-time inspector trained in property maintenance code would be needed. Estimated cost of total program is $70,000 per year. Harry then goes over three options of how we can charge the registration to fund this program. Todd asks if we can deal with problem properties only? Harry explains we need to find out which properties are the problems, some are not problems that we can see on the exterior. Todd asks why can we not just allow the minimum housing code to cover this? Joel and Cheryl explain that right now that can only be enforced on vacant homes, this will get us into the occupied homes. Bill explains that the two problems are: how many rental properties are in The Colony and ordinance to address problems with the single-family rentals and then eventually move on to multi-family units. Barbara mentions the Fire Department and Chris mentions long-term rentals. Harry explains that the tenant has the right to call in a long-term rental situation. Chris mentions that the tenant might be scared and Bill explains that the complaint must be legitimate. John suggests that we inspect every two years. John asks where Harry got the numbers and Harry explains that the numbers came from the 2000 Census. Chris wants to know what will make them inspect and Bill suggests if they do not they will get a fine. Bill also suggests they register with no fee. Tom suggests that the definition for' rental room mate' be stipulated and exclude owner occupied. Iris explains how Richardson does their registration. Tom suggests good education for 6 months. Todd suggests that we catch them when water service is turned on. To require a registration number before water can be turned on this is a way to get notices to owners. Joel suggests that they must register in 30 days. John verifies that there is no registration fee but there will be a fine if the landlord does not register. Motion to Accept: Tom Handley; 2nd Cheryl Mohrbacher. Discuss any Unfinished Business 1. No meeting scheduled for November, but next meeting is December 9, 2004. Todd explains that he cannot attend meetings when Thursdays fall on the last day of the month. Motion to Adjourn: 1. John Fowler motions, Rita Webster 2nds. 3