LAKEPORT >> The Lake County Code Enforcement Department will expand by two employees after a grant was unanimously approved by the Lake County Board of Supervisors during the Sept. 3 budget hearing.
The grant, which totals $250,000 over a two-year period, will help create a code enforcement program supervisor position, as well as a code enforcement officer position. When the positions are filled, planning department staff will be freed up to focus on updating the county housing element and zoning ordinance. The effort has been ongoing for a couple of years, Lake County Deputy Administrative Officer Alan Flora said.
“The reliance would be on them and the effectiveness of the program will increase,” Flora added.
However, existing building inspectors and the chief building official, who have conducted a significant amount of enforcement activity , will still be involved.
The positions” funding is similar to that of the community development technician, who began working with code enforcement under a one-year grant fund five months ago.
According to Lake County Code Enforcement Director Richard Coel, the department has generated a little more than $38,000 in the past five months “as a direct result of code enforcement efforts,” which include fines, permits and nuisance abatements. All money is being deposited into the nuisance abatement account.
“There are 70 cases we are working with right now. They are all ripe and have past the 30-day notice of nuisance,” Coel said, holding up a stack of papers. “Probably about half of these will have to be abated.”
A majority of the department”s chief building official”s time, and all of the technician”s time, is spent solely on code enforcement work, Coel explained.
“We”re putting a tremendous amount of energy into code enforcement,” Coel continued. “My goal is to have one of our office assistants, for at least half of a day, help orchestrate the paper trail with cases.”
The new positions would “more than double the horsepower behind the program,” Coel added.
“If we are successful and can generate the cost recovery ? we are increasing our likelihood of sustaining the positions in the long-term,” Coel said.
District 3 Supervisor Denise Rushing said the county”s “goal is to clean up communities, not necessarily to generate as many fines as we can ? the board has indicated that we want voluntary compliance if we can get it.”
“It”s not about a money-making opportunity,” Rushing added.
District 4 Supervisor Anthony Farrington asked how work is being divided between marijuana-related and scenic corridor cases.
“Sadly there is a lot of overlap,” Coel answered.
After marijuana has be removed from a property, Coel said that, more often than not, there are issues regarding grading and unpermitted construction. Investigations into these areas include onsite documentation and research into paperwork.
“That is eating up a lot of our time,” Coel said.
District 2 Supervisor Jeff Smith said that because the marijuana season is almost over, soon 100 percent of code enforcement focus will be on blight and scenic corridor issues.
“It”s the perfect time to get kicked off this year,” Smith said. “We”ll have a really good winter and spring to really get on top of all this stuff.”
Coel said he plans to focus on particular communities, starting with a commitment of approximately two months in Lucerne, then move around the lake.
“We expect to see voluntary compliance increase as we move forward,” Coel said.
Currently, approximately 30 percent of abatements are complied voluntarily.
Additionally, Coel thinks costs can be reduced by focusing on individual communities.
“A lot of our costs are for mobilization and transport to the landfill,” Coel said.
If each area is addressed on its own, Coel said local contractors can be hired to potentially lessen cost to the county.
Contact J. W. Burch, IV at 900-2022.
