HomeMy WebLinkAboutCity Council Resolution 04-018 - establishing Code enforcement policy
RESOLUTION NO. 04-018
RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF SARATOGA
ESTABLISHING A CODE ENFORCEMENT POLICY
A. The City of Saratoga recognizes that its residents desire to have provisions of the
City Code be enforced. To enable citizen participation, the City has in place a
system whereby residents may make complaints of alleged Code violations. No
anonymous complaints are accepted.
B. Limited funds are available for all City services, including Code Enforcement.
Depending on the number and type of pending complaints, Code Enforcement
staff may not be able to respond promptly to all complaints.
C. The first priority of the City is to respond to complaints concerning alleged
violations that present an immediate threat to public health and safety or the
environment and to next respond to complaints of activities of limited duration
that are in process, present a clear violation of the City Code, and that can be
resolved through immediate action.
D. The City has found that in many cases, enforcement of the Code does not fully
address the circumstances that may have led to the filing of a complaint.
E. To make the most effective use of City Code Enforcement resources and to foster
comprehensive solutions to community concerns, the City will encourage informal
resolution of Code violation complaints by encouraging each complainant and the
alleged violator to participate in mediation pursuant to this policy.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the City Council hereby adopts the following
policy:
Prior to enforcement action by the City on a complaint, each complainant and alleged
violator shall be requested to participate in mediation unless Code Enforcement staff, in
its sole discretion, determines the complaint concerns an immediate threat of danger to
health, life, safety, or irreparable environmental damage, or for another reason is not
appropriate for mediation.
Code Enforcement will follow the procedures outlined below when receiving a complaint
of a Code violation.
Step 1: Evaluation. Code Enforcement will evaluate the complaint to determine
whether immediate action is necessary because it involves an immediate threat of danger
to health, life, safety, or irreparable environmental damage. Code Enforcement will also
evaluate whether the alleged violation is preventable and requires an immediate "Stop
Work Order." Code Enforcement retains the complete discretion to determine when an
alleged violation requires immediate action.
Step 2: Notify parties of mediation. Within 10 days after receiving the complaint,
Code Enforcement shall request the County of Santa Clara Mediation Service to contact
the complainant and the alleged violator to encourage their participation in mediation
within 30 days from the date of the complaint or as soon thereafter as a mediator is
available.
Step 3: Mediation. The mediation process shall be as follows:
(a) The parties shall attempt to mediate a solution in front of an impartial mediator. The
mediator shall be a trained mediator from the County of Santa Clara Mediation Service or
another mutually agreeable mediator.
(b) The mediation meeting may be informal. The mediation process may include the
hearing of viewpoints of interested neighbors or other persons. Parties are encouraged to
contact immediate neighbors and solicit input.
(c) The mediator shall consider the purposes and policies set forth in the applicable
ordinance in attempting to resolve the dispute. The mediator will outline options and set
time frames based on the issues relevant under the code in question.
(d) The mediator shall not have the power to issue binding orders for restorative action,
but shall strive to enable the parties to resolve their dispute by written agreement in order
to expedite the corrective action and eliminate the need for further involvement by Code
Enforcement staff. lfthe alleged violation can be solved through the outlined options, to
the satisfaction of the parties and the City, the parties shall enter into a signed and dated
compliance agreement which sets forth specific compliance requirements and schedule.
(e) If a signed and dated compliance agreement satisfactory to the City is consummated
through this mediation process, the violation is corrected and the case is closed.
Step 4: Code Enforcement Prioritization. Code Enforcement will in its sole and
complete discretion prioritize the complaint into the levels listed below. The response
time will depend on the priority level of the alleged code violation.
1st Priority: Alleged violations which Code Enforcement determines to involve
health, life, safety, or irreparable environmental damage concerns or in which
significant environmental damage or costly remediation can be avoided by
issuance of an immediate Stop Work order.
2nd Priority: Alleged violations which Code Enforcement determines to directly
affect the complainant or the complainant's property.
3rd Priority: Alleged violations other than priority levels 1,2, and 4.
4th Priority: Alleged violations made by a complainant who refuses to
participation in mediation.
In determining the priority of a specific enforcement action within Priority Level 3, Code
Enforcement staff may consider any and all factors it deems relevant, including but not
limited to whether resources are best spent on one violation or another; whether Code
Enforcement is likely to succeed if it acts; whether the particular enforcement action
requested best fits the City's overall policies; and whether Code Enforcement has enough
resources to undertake the action at all.
PASSED AND ADOPTED by the City Council of the City of Saratoga, State of
California, this 4TH day of Febmary 2004, by the following vote:
AYES:
Councilmembers Stan Bogosian, Norman Kline, Nick Streit,
Vice Mayor Kathleen King, Mayor Ann Waltonsmith
NOES: None
ABSENT: None
ABSTAIN: None
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Ann Waltonsmith, Mayor
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