Appeals Hearing Board Meeting

MINUTES APPEALS HEARING BOARD MEETING Friday, May 25, 2018 10:00 AM MONTEREY, CALIFORNIA Board members Present: Hawkins, Stocker, Millich (alternate) Absent: None Board Staff Assistant City Attorney Karin K. Salameh; Deputy City Attorney Ryan Present: Donlon; Chief of Inspection Services/Building Official John Kuehl and Recording Secretary Alicia Salas CALL TO ORDER Chair Stocker called hearing to order at 10:01 am CONSENT ITEMS Approval of Minutes 1. November 27, 2017 On a motion by Board Member Hawkins, seconded by Chair Stocker, and carried by the following vote, the Appeals Hearing Board approved the Minutes of November 27, 2017: AYES: 2 COMMISSIONERS: Stocker, Hawkins NOES: 0 COMMISSIONERS: None ABSENT: 0 COMMISSIONERS: None ABSTAIN: 1 COMMISSIONERS: Millich RECUSED: 0 COMMISSIONERS: None PUBLIC COMMENTS None. PUBLIC HEARING 2. Donald Prescott, III - 448 Ramona Avenue - APN: 013.081.011.000 Adopt Administrative Order for Failure to Comply with the Compliance Order Issued March 21, 2018 regarding the following violation: Monterey City Code § 9-0.1, California Residential Code R105.1 - Unpermitted Detached "Guest House" with Bathroom and Sink in "Kitchen" Area ACTION: The Appeals Board Adopted the Administrative Order for Failure to Comply with the Compliance Order issued March 21, 2018 and ordered property owner Donald Prescott, III to comply with the Amended Administrative Order. Deputy City Attorney Ryan Donlon gave the Board direction as to how the hearing should proceed. Board Member Daryl Hawkins recused himself from the proceedings due to a conflict of interest. Mr. Hawkins stepped down from the dais and took a seat in the audience. Appeals Hearing Board Minutes Friday, May 25, 2018 John Kuehl, Chief of Inspection Services/Building Official gave the staff presentation and took questions from the Board Members. Board Member Millich asked Mr. Kuehl when the structure was built and if the Building Department had checked the records at the County Assessor’s office. Mr. Kuehl said the Building Department had not checked in the Assessor’s Office. Ms. Salameh said the Planning Department’s procedure will do that along with check assessor’s maps once a complete application has been submitted along with the proper fees. She also said at this point in time an application has not been submitted to either the Building or Planning Departments. Ms. Salameh said the formal process has never been started. Mr. Kuehl requested the Board impose a fine for staff time and administrative costs involved with this Compliance Order. Appellant Donald Prescott, property owner of 448 Ramona Ave., gave his presentation. He said he was under the impression that this was his opportunity to show that the unit is legal. Mr. Prescott said there are two properties with the address 448 Ramona Ave. so to avoid further confusion he applied for a change of address and that is what started this whole process. He said attachment 4 of the packet did not show a record of the main house, which he believes is extremely important in proving the existence of the unit, in question. He also said the attachment also shows a lot line adjustment had been done but he insists that is incorrect. Mr. Prescott showed a diagram for the property and pictures of the guest house. He also went through his hand outs and gave a timeline of events and previous owners for the property at 448 Ramona Ave. Both Chair Stocker and Board member Millich asked Mr. Prescott, with all the information he has regarding the property, why he hasn’t applied to the Planning Department to legalize the unit. Board member Millich stated the property is worth more to Mr. Prescott if would get the unit legalized. He said Mr. Prescott would be able to rent out the unit once it is deemed legal by the Planning Department. Mr. Prescott said he did not apply because he disputes the fact that the unit is illegal. Chair Stocker asked Mr. Prescott if his goal was to make the unit legal. He said if that is so, then Mr. Prescott has to go to the Planning Department, because they have the resources to make the unit legal once he submits all the materials he presented at the hearing. Mr. Prescott said his goal is to establish that the units have been legal since the 1940’s. Chair Stocker said to Mr. Prescott, if we decided at the end of the hearing to throw out the Compliance Order, the unit still would not be legal. He went on to say that Mr. Prescott would still have to apply with the Planning Department to make the unit legal. Ms. Salameh said the violation is that Mr. Prescott did not compile with the Order. She said the Order stated Mr. Prescott had to go to either the Building or Planning Departments to apply to make the unit legal. Ms. Salameh said the issue here is that Mr. Prescott did not apply for proper permits. Chair Stocker said to Mr. Prescott that the records need to reflect that there is a legal unit on the property and the only way to do that is to apply in the Planning Department. 2 Appeals Hearing Board Minutes Friday, May 25, 2018 Board member Millich said to Mr. Prescott, when you sell the property you have to disclose the violations, which makes the property worth less. Mr. Prescott asked if all three units were illegal. Ms. Salameh pointed out attachment 4 of the packet and said the according to the Building records at the time, they indicate that only one residential unit was on the property. She said if Mr. Prescott would apply with Planning they can determine the legality of the units. Mr. Prescott said that he had reservation about signing the application to legalize the units because then it would be as if he was admitting that the units were illegal. Both Board Members disagreed with Mr. Prescott. Board member Millich said to Mr. Prescott there has not been a determination by the Planning Department to know if the units are illegal, so you would not be admitting anything. Board member Millich asked if the decision could be continued to give Mr. Prescott time to apply with the Planning Department. Chair Stocker said the Board has the ability to make the determination that if action is taken the fine will be waived but if no action is taken then the fine will be imposed. Chair Stocker said that Mr. Prescott should go to the Planning Department to make the unit legal. Ms. Salameh reminded the Board that the Administrative Order included in the packet is a draft and that the Board can either alter the amount of the administrative costs or the fines. She went on to say that staff asked for Administrative costs of $1819.56 and penalties be imposed if an application is not submitted by the July 9th, 2018 due date. Ms. Salameh also said if the Board chooses to impose the Administrative costs of $1,819.56, then that would also need to be paid by the July 9th, 2018 due date as well. Ms. Salameh said if the application is submitted to either Building or Planning and the Administrative cost are paid by the July 9th, 2018 due date then no penalties would accrue. Chair Stocker reiterated to Mr. Prescott that he should go to the Planning Department, submit the paperwork and pay the fines to avoid penalties. Public Comments None. Board Member Comments Mr. Kuehl asked that the order state that the application must be a complete application with all of the required information needed for the given process. Board member Millich made a motion for the date of noncompliance to be moved from May 25th, 2018 to July 9th, 2018 to accommodate Mr. Prescott due to the confusion over the hearing, and that the $50.00 a day fine be imposed from July 9th, 2018, if the application is not submitted. Chair Stocker seconds the motion. Chair Stocker restated the motion as follows: Approve the Compliance Order as amended, the Administrative Costs ($1,819.56) incurred by the City are to be paid and fines would not be imposed as long as a completed application is submitted to the Planning Department by the July 9th, 2018 due date. 3 Appeals Hearing Board Minutes Friday, May 25, 2018 Board member Millich made a motion to approve the Compliance Order as amended, Chair Stocker seconded. On a motion made by Board member Millich, seconded by Chair Stocker, and carried by the following vote, the Appeals Hearing Board approved the Administrative Order as amended. They ordered the property owner Donald Prescott, III to submit an application to the Planning Department and pay the Administrative costs incurred by staff by the July 9th, 2018 due date to avoid any penalties. AYES: 2 COMMISSIONERS: Stocker, Millich NOES: 0 COMMISSIONERS: None ABSENT: 0 COMMISSIONERS: None ABSTAIN: 0 COMMISSIONERS: None RECUSED: 1 COMMISSIONERS: Hawkins BOARD MEMBER COMMENTS None. ADJOURNMENT Chair Stocker adjourned the meeting at 11:19 am Respectfully Submitted, Approved, Alicia Salas David Stocker Recording Secretary Chair 4