HomeMy WebLinkAbout2013/04/23 Item 10CITY COUNCIL
AGENDA STATEMENT
~~~~ CITY OF
~~"` CHULAVISTA
Apri123, 2013
Item No.:~
ITEM TITLE: UPDATE CITY COUNCIL ON THE PROGRESS OF THE
PROACTIVE SIGN EN$ORCEMENT PROGRAM
SUBMITTED BY: Assistant City Managevelopment Services Director
REVIEWED BY: City
4/STHS VOTE: YES ~ NO 0
SUMMARY
In September 2012, Code Enforcement reactivated its Proactive Sign Enforcement Program to
abate the proliferation of illegal signs. This report is an update to City Council on the outreach
and enforcement efforts.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
The Director of Development Services has reviewed the proposed activity for compliance with
the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and has determined that the activity falls
within the Class 21 Categorical Exemption pursuant to California Code of Regulations Title 14,
Chapter 3, Article 19 (the "State CEQA Guidelines") section 15321 and therefore is exempt from
environmental review; and notwithstanding the Class 21 Categorical Exemption, the Director of
Development Services has further determined that there is also no possibility that the activity
may have a significant effect on the environment; therefore, pursuant to section 15061(b)(3) of
the State CEQA Guidelines the activity is exempt From the provisions of CEQA. Thus, no
environmental review is required.
RECOMMENDATION
That City Council accept the report.
BOARDS/COMMISSION RECOMMENDATION
N/A
DISCUSSION
Background
As a result of reduction in resources and the need to focus remaining resources on the
enforcement cases that were deemed more critical at the time, Code Enforcement (CE) went
through a number of service reduction measures including, in 2009, shifting sign enforcement
from proactive to complaint driven. Absent proactive enforcement, illegal signs, mainly banners,
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fin/sail signs and window signs, proliferated throughout the City with greater concentration
along Third Avenue, Broadway and Main Street. During Fiscal Yeaz 2012/2013 (FY12/13)
budget deliberations, City Council voiced concern about the visual blight caused by the
proliferation of illegal signs and requested that staff address the problem and reinstitute proactive
sign enforcement. In September 2012, CE reactivated its proactive sign enforcement program.
Assiened Resources
The Code Enforcement Division has a total of six (6) Code Enforcement Officers (CEO's), one
(1) hourly CEO and two (2) Sr. Officers. Staffs current assignments aze as follows:
Apartments and Hotel/Motel Inspection Programs (AHMIP)
Two (2) CEO's are assigned to inspect 722 apartment buildings with 18,516 apartment units.
It takes between five and seven years to complete. In addition, the officers annually inspect
24 hotels/motels with a total of 1,583 rooms.
Mobile Home Parks Inspection Program (MHPIP)
Twenty percent (20%) of a Sr. Officer's time is spent on inspecting 33 mobile home parks
with 4,084 spaces. The inspections are performed at a rate of 5% per year taking
approximately 20 years to complete. The Sr. Officer also supervises the AHMIP.
Residential Abandoned Properties Program (RAPP)
One (1) CEO and one (1) hourly CEO are assigned to the RAPP which currently handle over
300 cases per year.
General Code Enforcement Program (GCEP)
Three (3) CEO's are assigned to general code enforcement complaints made on a range of
enforcement matters including building without a permit, illegal dwelling units, gazage
conversions, accumulation of refuse and garbage, substandard single-family housing
conditions, abandoned construction, illegal businesses and other code violations and blight.
The current case load is approximately 950 cases per year and covers the 50 squaze miles of
the City. A Sr. Officer supervises both the RAPP and the GCEP.
In order to reactivate proactive sign enforcement while keeping the City's response time in
general code enforcement complaints within our performance metrics, we have allocated 20% of
the general code enforcement staff to abating illegal signs. In addition we recently shifted the
one (1) hourly CEO from RAPP to work on proactive sign enforcement. The decline in the
number of RAP cases coupled with the increase in the number of complying properties presented
the opportunity for reassigning resources.
Proactive Sien Enforcement Outreach Efforts
With the assistance of the Office of Communications, CE developed an outreach letter
(Attachment A) which was mailed to nearly 2,500 businesses along Third Ave., Broadway and
Main St., and some businesses along Bonita Rd. The intent of the outreach letter was to inform
businesses of existing sign regulations and the commencement of proactive enforcement with the
hope that they would voluntazily take corrective action. Furthermore, the City partnered with the
Chula Vista Chamber of Commerce (Chamber) and the Third Avenue Village Association
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(TAVA) on reaching out to businesses. CE waited for approximately one (1) month after
mailing the letters so that businesses would have ample time to voluntarily take corrective action.
Due Process
To abate a sign violation, a CEO has to go through the process outlined in Chapters 1.40 and
1.41 of the Municipal Code (MC). The first step is to notify the business of the violation(s) by
issuing a Notice of Violation (Administrative Warning). The responsible party is given a
reasonable amount of time to voluntarily abate the violation before staff can start enforcement.
For sign enforcement, the responsible party is given 10 calendar days to abate the violation. In
some cases where the responsible party indicates he/she wants to legalize the sign, and the sign is
the type that can be legalized, he/she is given 30 days to comply.
In accordance with the MC, the amount of administrative fine that may be imposed for each
separate violation is $100 for the first violation; $200 for the second violation within 12 months
of the first violation; and $500 for each additional violation after the second violation and within
12 month of any prior violation. Before issuing a subsequent fine, the responsible party is given
10 calendar days to comply. In addition to the fines, staff may assess cost recovery based on
staff time and the cost of mail and recordation of any applicable documents. Furthermore, cases
where compliance is not achieved via administrative citations, staff may issue civil penalties
which may be assessed at a daily rate not to exceed $1,000 per violation per day, and not to
exceed $100,000 per property. At every step of the process, the responsible party is given 10
calendar days to request an administrative hearing to appeal or contest the proposed enforcement
action before it will become final (Notice of Violation, fines and penalties, recordation, liens
etc.). Unpaid fines and fees may be recorded as a lien against the property.
Because landlords are responsible for their properties and the legal compliance of their tenants,
landlords are also notified of the violation(s) and potential recordation against their property.
Responsible landlords play a major role in getting tenants to comply. Before recording a lien, the
business or property owner has 10 calendar days from receiving the notice to request an
administrative hearing to appeal or contest the fines and/or recordation.
Status as of Apri13, 2013
As shown below, in 88% of the abated cases the responsible party removed the illegal sign(s)
voluntarily after receiving an administrative warning, whereas 12% of all of the cases were
assessed an administrative citation(s).
:':Cases Number Percent
Opened 243 100%
Abated 161 66%
Active 82 34%
Voluntary Com fiance 141 88% of abated cases
Assessed Fines 29 12% of all cases
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Cost Recovery as of Aari13, 2013
As shown below, based on total assessed fines, only 18% of staff costs are recoverable.
Assessed Fines $6,893
Collected Fines $1,836
Staff Cost A rox. $38,000
Cost Recove 18% based on Assessed Fines
Previously, staff has been asked by members of the City Council to address the feasibility of
making proactive sign enforcement a fully cost recoverable program through additional fees or
penalties. Staff does not recommend pursuing full cost recovery for this program. Staffs
current low level proactive efforts are resulting in a significant improvement in the streetscape of
the tazgeted corridors. Almost 90% of all sign violation notices issued aze coming into
compliance without the need for fines and penalties. Increasing the level of sign code
enforcement and achieving full cost recovery would likely lead to complaints from businesses
without significant improvement in the streetscape over that being achieved under the current
level of proactive enforcement. Although limited in our current staffing, we would continue to
provide proactive code enforcement services on a limited basis with our three (3) existing full
time CEO's. The time available for proactive sign enforcement is limited by the resource
allocation needed to respond to reported general code enforcement cases.
However, should Council want to pursue full cost recovery for sign enforcement, some potential
sources of funding that could be explored include: levying an additional fee on business
licenses, assessing an additional fee to sign permits, or, assessing a larger fee to enable the use of
signs that are non-compliant with the Municipal Code. For the reasons stated previously, staff
does not recommend pursuing any of these funding options. The use of any of these funding
sources would require thorough analysis by the City Attorney's office.
Next Steas
CE will continue to focus its efforts in areas with high concentration of illegal signs along Third
Ave, Broadway, Main St. and E St./Bonita Rd. Based on the current level of assigned resources,
staff anticipates completing the sweep through these areas within a year. Afrer that, staff will
start addressing other areas with potential sign issues while at the same time having to maintain
the above noted areas. Proactive sign enforcement needs to be an on-going effort; otherwise the
proliferation of illegal signs will quickly reoccur.
DECISION MAKER CONFLICT
Staff has determined that the recommendations requiring Council action are not site specific and
consequently the 500 foot rule found in California Code of Regulations Section 18~04.2(a)(1) is
not applicable to this decision. Staff is not independently awaze, nor has staff been informed by
any City Councilmember, of any other fact that may constitute a basis for a decision maker
conflict of interest in this matter.
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CURRENT YEAR FISCAL IMPACT
No current fiscal year impact.
ONGOING FISCAL IMPACT
No ongoing fiscal impact.
ATTACHMENTS
A. Outreach Letter
Prepared by: Lou El-Khazen, Building Official/Code Enforcement Manager, Development Services
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Business Owners Encouraged to Know
City of Chula Vista Sign Standards
The City of Chula Vista is taking steps to reduce the use of illegal signs
throughout the City by proactively enforcing existing sign regulations. Starting
in August, Code Enforcement Officers will be visiting businesses in your area
distributing information, answering questions, and enforcing sign regulations.
The intent of this advance notice is to make you aware of the regulations, and
provide you with an opportunity to take corrective action. We aim for voluntary
compliance through this outreach effort and to enlist your assistance in
preserving and enhancing the aesthetics and traffic safety of our communities.
City of Chula Vista
Sign Compliance
TIPS
Se les alienta a los duenos de negocios conocer las
Normas Para flnuncios de la Ciudad de Chula Vista
La Ciudad de Ch ula Vista esta tomando medidas para reducir el use de anuncios
iiegales en todos Jos ambitos de la Ciudad al hater obedecer de manera afirmativa
los reglamentos de anuncios actualmente en vigor. A partir de agosto, los
Funcionarios de Aplicacion de Codigos (o inspectores municipales de anuncios)
visitaran los negodos en su area para distribuir information, responder a preguntas y
hater cumplir los reglamentos de anuncios. El objetivo de este aviso previo es
hacerle conocer los reglamentos y proporcionarle a usted la oportu nidad de tomar
medidas correctivas. Buscamos el cumplimiento voluntario mediante este esfuerzo
de d ifusion y alcance y solicitamos su ayuda para conservar y mejorar el aspecto
estetico y la seguridad del transito en nuestras comunidades.
Consejos sobre el Cumplimiento
de los Reglamentos de .Anuneios
de la Ciudad de Chula Vista