Report 2015-134 Recommendation 15 Responses

Report 2015-134: Residential Building Records: The Cities of San Rafael, Novato, and Pasadena Need to Strengthen the Implementation of Their Resale Record Programs (Release Date: March 2016)

Recommendation #15 To: Novato, City of

To ensure that property owners correct violations in a timely manner, Novato should develop a work plan by July 2016 to identify and address its enforcement backlog by April 2017, so that the city is up to date with its enforcement actions, such as issuing notice letters and monitoring property owners' actions to resolve violations.

1-Year Agency Response

The City has prepared a work program to address outstanding resale violations, provided under separate cover. Of the outstanding violations for the period of 2008-2012, 99% have been corrected through mailed notices (three successive warning notices) and voluntary compliance by owners. Since August 2016 a total of 26 cases have been scheduled for hearing before the Zoning, Housing and Building Codes Appeals Board for resolution. Additional Board hearings will be scheduled through June 2017 to eliminate the remaining unresolved cases. For the period between 2013 and 2015 there are 36 unresolved cases out of 2,186 inspections, which will be scheduled for Board action between April and July 2017.

California State Auditor's Assessment of 1-Year Status: Fully Implemented

Novato provided a work plan that identified and addressed its enforcement backlog. Therefore, we have assessed its response as fully implementing our recommendation.

6-Month Agency Response

The City continues to rectify outstanding resale violations. Of the outstanding violations for the period of 2008-2012, three successive warning notices have been sent to property owners. 8 of these have gone before the Zoning, Housing and Building Codes Appeals Board in August, 2016 for resolution. Additional Board hearings will be scheduled through January, 2017 to eliminate the remaining backlog of cases. For the period between 2013 and 2015 there are 60 unresolved cases, which will be scheduled for Board action between January and May 2017 to eliminate the backlog.

California State Auditor's Assessment of 6-Month Status: Partially Implemented

The city did not provide a workplan or indicate that it is developing a workplan. However, it did provide evidence of tracking the rectifying of violations and discussing these violations during a zoning board hearing.

60-Day Agency Response

Clerical staff have initiated Final Notices of Violation for all outstanding resale violations dating from 2008 to 2012 (see Attachment 5 for adopted procedures). These letters will require that owners secure necessary permits to correct violations within 30 days or these cases will be scheduled for resolution by the Zoning, Housing and Building Codes Appeals Board. At the current rate of completion, these notices will be mailed to all outstanding properties by the end of May, 2016. Staff anticipates bringing the unresolved high priority cases to the Appeals Board beginning in June. The length of time to send all unresolved cases to the Board will depend upon the number of outstanding cases remaining after the Final Notices are sent out.

California State Auditor's Assessment of 60-Day Status: Partially Implemented

All Recommendations in 2015-134

Agency responses received are posted verbatim.