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12-06-1982 - Regular Meeting - MinutesM I N U T E S ADJOURNED REGULAR MEETING OF THE CITY COUNCIL CITY OF [;EST COVINA, CALIFORNIA December 6, 1982 The adjourned regular meeting of the City Council was called to order by Mayor Tice at 6:30 PM in the management Resource Center, Room 315, at City Hall, located at 1444 W. Garvey Avenue. ROLL CALL Present: Others Present: Mayor Tice, Mayor Pro.Tem Chappell, Councilmembers Shearer, Bacon, Tennant Fast, ?Tiller, Penfield, Fowler, Bonaparte, Southard, Eowith., Thomas, Eliot, McClelland, Meacham. REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY MEETING Mayor Tice recessed the council meeting at 6:34.PM for the scheduled -Redevelopment Agency meeting. Upon its completion, he reconvened the City Council meeting at 6:58 PM. STUDY SESSION ON PROPERTY. MAINTENANCE ISSUES City `Tanager Fast introduced the subject of property main- tenance. He indicated that this was a broad based study which had been started in early spring of 1982 pursuant to prior discussions with the City Council. These discussions • emphasized the need for this broad examination of current conditions, present procedures and policies and action options. Staff is seeking policy direction from the City Council in order to proceed with the development of an implementation program. Environmental Services Director Miller presented a. summary of the property maintenance survey which was the most com- prehensive study of existing field conditions. However, the survey was a windshield survey and has some subjectivity since several people recorded their observations using objective criteria. The results of the survey indicated there were: 1778 or 9% of the residential properties with recreational vehicles parked in view; 446 or 2% of the residential properties with inoperable vehicles in view; 638 or 3% of the resi- dential properties with home neglect; and 1201 or 6% of the residential properties with yard neglect. It should be noted. that this survey is a "snapshot". As 'the. City matures,,, changes will take place which will require close monitoring and actions taken in the future to address these changes. The current level. of enforcement by Information and Special Services was discussed and is summarized as follows for the first two months of 1982: AW1100 - vehicles on unpaved areas 381 - inoperable vehicles 380 - parkway/yard neglect 187 - trash/discards in public view 271 - garage/yard sales 5421 - signs removed from parkway 2860 - telephone inquires 1861 - written notices of violation 60 or 3.2% sent to District Attorney 10 or 0.5% sent to Court .CITY COUNCIL MINUTES December 6, 1982 Page Two Their effort is the result of the work of two field inspec- tors and a portion of a clerk/typist. The current man- power allocated to this effort is being used to the maxi- mum. In fact, an additional clerical person is needed just to address today's workload. The current enforcement program has several shortfalls which prevent it from being a complete program. These include: 1) Precise plan enforcement is reactive only 2) Sign enforcement is reactive, as time permits 3) Weekend enforcement is done on one or two weekends of a month only Related to this enforcement is the 2800 inspections con- ducted by the Fire Department and the handling of more than 3500 business licenses by the City Treasurer's Office. Staff's recommendations The staff's recommendation can -be summarized as follows: 1) Improve the code in specific areas 2) Integrate citations with existing enforcement program . 3) Intensify positive community programs 4) Commit:. to a firm but reasonable enforcement of reasonable codes at a more intense level • 5) Contract for graffiti removal 6) Contract for a City Prosecutor Slides were presented depicting the types of occurrences that were found in the field survey as they relate to residential and commercial property maintenance and graffiti. Maps were displayed and discussed which de- lineated the general areas in the City that experienced these property maintenance occurrences. Almost all portions of the City had `one such occurrence and several had more than one. At the end of the presentation, each type of occurrence and the options available to mitigate the situation were reviewed. Following is an analysis of the occurences and the mitigating options preferred by Council as indicated by the general discussion and on the option sheets. It should be noted that existing enforcement staff is operating at its fullest capacity. Implementation of many of these mitigating measures will require additidnal". staff. Residential Propert In the case of park. ngl-R,.-,V.•',s" an.'private -property;, the con- sensus, -Was to maintain the-stat:usquo with a strong commitment to enforcement. Some interest was expressed in limiting R.ecreationl Vehicles the number of recreational vehicles per household. In • addition, further study of limiting the parking and/or storage of converted buses was requested with a need to dis- tinguish between buses and recretaional vehicles of simi- lar size and weight., Staff was directed to develop criteria for restricting the Inoperative Vehicles number of inoperative vehicles stored on residential prop- erty combined with a time limitation for such storage. CITY COUNCIL MINUTES December 6, 1982 Page Three Enacting a city-wide overnight parking ban was rejected. Street Parking However, the general consensus was to develop a limited • overnight parking ban with a permit option available. Interest was also expressed in banning overnight parking on street -sweeping days and investigating the feasibility of limiting daytime parking in special situations. General concern was expressed over occurrences of yard Yard Neglect neglect. It was agreed that the City should prohibit the storage of trash and discards anywhere on residential property although enforcement could prove difficult. In addition, mandatory trash pickup was unanimously recommended. Development of an incentive program for yard maintenance and the provision of multi-lingual educational brochures was also endorsed. Finally, staff was directed to develop for review further-information-ron propertyr.m.ainteriance to address'Cspec fic; yard neglect,-problems:=with(.-clear;-, concise guidelines. Council was divided on the adoption of a property maintenance Structure Neglect' ordinance addressing structure neglect at this time.. Con- sensus was to develop an incentive program to culminate the clean-up, paint -up, fix -up effort in conjunction with educational/instructional brochures. Commercial Property In reviewing the occurrence of structure neglect of com- • Structure Neglect mercial property, Council again was divided on the adoption of a property maintenance ordinance at this time. There was agreement that there be a strong commitment to the enforcement of current code. Participation by the City in a public relations/award program with [Nest Covina .Beautiful and the Chamber of Commerce was also unanimously recommended. It was also suggested that consideration be given to including financial incentives in the program. Council agreed that the current status of parking lot neglect Parking Lot Neglect in some commercial areas is unacceptable. It was the consensus that the level of parking lot maintenance should be raised through precise plan review and the code modified to address those areas without the precise plan requirement. Utilization of zoning inspectors to augment the Special Services Officers in requiring adherence to precise plan was also approved. It was agreed that the current status of commercial property Landscaping Neglect landscaping neglect was unacceptable. Council was unani- mous in endorsing precise plan review with a strong com- mitment to enforcement. Modification of code to address areas not covered by precise plan was also considered but more information was desired before -further' City. Council,-_ action:, Interest was also expressed in the development of an incentive program to encourage landscape maintenance along with the preparation and dissemination of informa- tional/educational brochures. Implementation of precise plan review and an increase of Dumpsters Uniform Fire Code enforcement was unanimously recommended to address tre,problem of overflowing and improperly main- tained and unscreened dumpsters. Modification of code in areas without the precise plan requirement was also unanimously endorsed. 3 iI • CITY COUNCIL MINUTES Trash on Commercial" Properties Graffiti Removal Office of the City Prosecutor ADJOURNMENT ATTEST: ye, X'Samms, He ene M.- Mooney December 6, 1982 Page Four The increase of Uniform Fire Code enforcement was unani- mously recommended as a method of addressing trash on commercial properties. Council also agreed that the placement of additional trash containers in convenient locations in public areas near commercial properties would help alleviate the problem. It was also agreed that a citation program for the Information and Special Services Officers be implemented, especially to address the problem of one-time dumping by non-residents/transients. Council then addressed the problem of graffiti. Consensus was to have the City Maintenance Department continue to remove graffiti on public property and to contract out for private property removal. It was agreed that more infor- mation on costs, quality of work, and removal time was needed from the El Monte.Boys Club and the.Consortium before a decision could be reached to adopt a specific program. In reviewing options for increasing the level of enforce- ment, the consensus was to implement a_citation program with a warning system to be used to complement the current enforcement program. Any establishment of an Office of the City Prosecutor would be considered only at the time the need occurred. The consensus was to continue the current status of using the District Attorney's Office and City Attorney. Motion by Shearer, seconded by Tennant, and unanimously carried to adjourn the meeting at 9:24 PM to December 13, 1982 at 7:30 PM. Mayor Herb Tice - 4 -