Board of Administrative Appeals

Agenda prepared by: City Clerk (925) 779-7009 BOARD OF ADMINISTRATIVE APPEALS ADMINISTRATIVE REVIEW PANEL Council Chambers 200 “H” Street AUGUST 7, 2014 3:00 P.M. REVISED 3:00 P.M. ROLL CALL Diana Busenbarrick, Chairperson Deborah Simpson, Vice Chairperson Andrew Schleder Mike Schneider Frederick Rouse Ademuyiwa “Ade” Adeyemi, Alternate PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE 1. CONSENT CALENDAR A. APPROVAL OF ADMINISTRATIVE APPEALS SPECIAL MEETING MINUTES FOR JULY 24, 2014 Recommended Action: Motion to continue MINUTES 2. APPEALS STAFF REPORT OATH for all intending to testify on an appeal A. CASE NO. CE1406-033 / APN NO. 056-190-005-1 – Appeal of Abatement Notice issued regarding Solid Waste and Recycling; Mandatory Service [§6-3.02(F)] and Solid Waste and Recycling Containers; Location [§6-3.03(C)] for Tony Vuong/Stephanie Tran, 5254 Prewett Ranch Drive, Antioch, CA 3. NEW ITEM – CODE ENFORCEMENT, ABATEMENT AND CITATION PRESENTATION Recommended Action: Motion to receive and file  PUBLIC COMMENTS—Only unagendized issues will be discussed during this time WRITTEN/ORAL COMMUNICATIONS ADJOURNMENT Notice of Availability of Reports This agenda is a summary of the discussion items/actions proposed to be taken by the Board of Administrative Appeals. Materials provided regarding the agenda items will be available at the following website: http://www.ci.antioch.ca.us/CityGov/Agendas/default.asp or at the City Clerk’s Office located on the 3rd floor of City Hall, 200 H Street, Antioch, CA 94509, Monday through Thursday, for inspection and copying (for a fee). Copies are also made available at the Antioch Public Library for inspection. The meetings are accessible to those with disabilities. Auxiliary aides will be made available for persons with hearing or vision disabilities upon request in advance at (925) 779-7009 or TDD (925) 779-7081. Notice of Opportunity to Address the Committee The public has the opportunity to address the Board on each agenda item. To address the Board, fill out a yellow Speaker Request form, available on each side of the entrance doors, and place in the Speaker Card Tray. This will enable us to call upon you to speak. Each speaker is limited to not more than 3 minutes. Comments regarding matters not on this Agenda may be addressed during the "Public Comments" section on the agenda. No one may speak more than once on an agenda item or during “Public Comments”. PLEASE TURN OFF CELL PHONES BEFORE ENTERING COUNCIL CHAMBERS. 1 CITY OF ANTIOCH Third and "H" Streets 2 P.O. Box 5007 Antioch, CA 94531-5007 3 925-779-7015 4 5 6 ABATEMENT HEARING 7 PURUSANT TO SECTION 1-5.05 OF ANTIOCH MUNICIPAL CODE 8 9 In re the Matter of: Case no: CE1406-033 (5254 Prewett Ranch Dr, ANTIOCH, CA) 10 Stephanie Tran [APPELLANT] [PROPOSED] DECISION OF BOARD OF 11 ADMINISTRATIVE APPEALS 12 13 14 I. GENERAL FINDINGS: 15 1. City of Antioch Abatement Invoice was upheld. 16 2. City of Antioch Abatement Invoice (5254 Prewett Ranch Dr, Antioch, CA) was duly issued on 17 June 17, 2014 citing two violations of the Antioch Municipal Code section §6-3.02(F) which states is unlawful to fail to subscribe for the collection of Solid Waste, Rubbish and Recyclable 18 Materials. 19 3. The Abatement Invoice concerns Municipal Code violations at 5354 Prewett Ranch Dr, Antioch, California. At all relevant times Appellant was the owner of the property and/or the responsible 20 party. 21 4. Appellant appealed the Abatement Invoice on June 17, 2014 22 23 5. An Administrative Appeals Board Hearing regarding the appeal was set August 7, 2014 at 3:00 24 p.m. at the Antioch City Council Chambers, and the Appellant was duly notified by the City Clerk. 25 6. Chapter 5 of Title 1 of the Antioch Municipal Code allows police officers, as well as other City 26 officials enumerated in the Municipal Code to issue enforcement actions to persons responsible for a violation of the Antioch Municipal Code. 27 28 1 1 II. SPECIFIC FINDINGS: 2 An Administrative Appeals Board Hearing regarding Appellant’s appeal of the Abatement Invoice was duly held on August 7, 2014, at 3:00 p.m. Evidence, both oral and documentary, was taken and 3 based on the preponderance of said evidence, the following specific findings are made: 4 1. On 5-30-14, Republic Services did a street review and sent notices of violation to all addresses on 5 Prewett Ranch Dr that did not have active waste removal service. 6 2. On 6-11-14, I spoke on the phone with Ms Tran. I explained that all occupied residences have to 7 have garbage service per AMC §6-3.02. I explained that sharing service was not allowed per 8 AMC§6-3.03(C). 9 3. On 6-16-14, Staff conducted a site inspection to verify occupancy and noted that there was a van 10 in the driveway. Additionally, the mailing address for the property with the Assessor’s is the site 11 address. The same is also true for the water account. 12 4. On 6-17-14, the Abatement Invoice was prepared. Since Ms Tran had attempted to file an appeal 13 with the City Clerk prior to the abatement, a note was written on the Abatement Invoice letting 14 Ms Tran know that now was the time to file, if she wished to do so. 15 5. On 6-18-14, Ms Tran hand delivered to Neighborhood Improvement Services, a letter explaining 16 why they do not need service and asking us to “reconsider our message”. In her letter, she argues 17 that they away from home every day for an extended period and share service with her brother, 18 nearby. 19 6. On 6-19-14 I mailed a reply to Ms Tran’s letter dated 6-16-14, explaining that sharing service 20 was not allowed per §6-3.03(C). 21 7. Additionally, staff cannot grant an exemption to mandatory garbage service as the property is 22 occupied. AMC§6-3.02(H) states that: 23 Any person, firm, corporation or other entity may apply for an exemption to the requirements of 24 this Article upon the showing that the premises are unoccupied. Such application shall be made 25 on any form supplied by the City. 26 8. On 6-24-14, Ms Tran filed for an appeal. Since this was done prior to the abatement going into 27 effect, the abated garbage service has been put on hold pending the scheduling of the hearing and the ruling from the Appeals Board. 28 2 1 Based on a preponderance of evidence, the Board finds that there was probable cause to abate the property and the 2 appeal is denied. 3 III. NOTICE: 4 Notice of this decision shall be given to the Appellant, by hand delivering a copy of these Findings 5 and Decision to Appellant or by mailing a copy by first class U.S. Mail, addressed to Stephanie Tran, 5254 Prewett Ranch Dr, Antioch, CA, 94531. 6 7 Dated: August 7, 2014 8 9 CHAIRPERSON OF THE BOARD 10 Notice of Right To Appeal Decision: Any person aggrieved by an Administrative Board of Appeals may obtain review of the decision by the Contra Costa Superior Court, 725 Court Street, Martinez, CA, 94553, pursuant to 11 Section 53069.4 of the California Government Code. 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 3