HomeMy WebLinkAbout2007-04-24 - AGENDA REPORTS - CODE ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS (2)Agenda Item: !—
CITY OF SANTA CLARITA
AGENDA REPORT
CONSENT CALENDAR City Manager Approval:
Item to be presented by: Dave Peterson
DATE: April 24, 2007
SUBJECT: RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO
ENTER INTO STIPULATED AGREEMENTS AS A PART OF
CODE ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS
DEPARTMENT: Community Development
RECOMMENDED ACTION
City Council adopt a resolution authorizing the City Manager, or designee, to enter into
Stipulated Agreements as part of Code Enforcement actions.
BACKGROUND
The current compliance process practiced by the Community Preservation Division includes the
issuance of two notification letters and as many as three citation letters to property owners and
tenants that are in violation. If little or no progress is made after this time period, often in excess
of 60 days, then the property owner and/or tenant is invited to an office conference with staff and
the City Attorney's office. A final compliance timeline is then established. If this timeline is not
followed, then the case can be brought to court.
An effective way to both shorten the compliance process while addressing any needs of the
property owner/tenant is to enter into a stipulated agreement. The City would enter into the
agreement with the property owner/tenant and the agreement would be filed with the court. This
enhances the City's ability to enforce the agreement and limits the ability of the property owner's
ability to not comply. At the same time, it establishes a future date in which compliance will be
achieved. Also, the time frame will be mutually agreed upon by the City and the property
owner/tenant. This will ensure that the property owner/tenant has ample time to comply with the
City's requirements. These agreements could be entered into at any time during the enforcement
process. Should the property owner/tenant violate the agreement, enforcement would fall under
the jurisdiction of the court.
Adopted: ApployEl
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In addition to stipulated agreements, there are two other options. The first would be to continue
without using stipulated agreements. This provides the City with limited control over the
timeliness of compliance by violating parties. The other option would be to strictly enforce the
City municipal code both in interpretation and timeline. The use of stipulated agreements falls
somewhere between the extremes of these two options and, in staff's view, provides maximum
control for the City while granting reasonable service to the needs of the violating party.
Staffs recommendation would provide the City Manager with the authority to enter into these
agreements. This will make the enforcement process both shorter and more efficient.
ALTERNATIVE ACTIONS
Other actions as determined by the City Council.
FISCAL IMPACT
There is no fiscal impact associated with this item.
ATTACHMENTS
Resolution