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2 <br />• BOCC makes demand for payment of civil penalties after notice of zoning violation <br />has been communicated to the offending party <br />• Time-consuming procedure to process paperwork reduces actual field investigations and <br />enforcement. Each zoning enforcement case can take months to settle with significant <br />staff time, paperwork, attorney time, and eventually time demands on the BOCC agenda. <br />There are currently over 100 backlogged zoning complaints in process. <br />• Civil Penalties accrue at $100/day rate in Zoning Ordinance; $50/Day in Subdivision <br />Regulations <br />• Must reinitiate process over and over for repeat offenders on the same property <br />• Without additional resources to handle the backlog, or a new procedure to speed up <br />enforcement, the backlog will continue to increase <br />BOCC Role in Enforcement under Proposed Procedure <br />• Staff begins compliance process (i.e. personal contact, letters, follow up, citation) <br />• Right of appeal to Board of Adjustment of any zoning ordinance decision of Zoning Officer <br />• Right of appeal to BOCC of any staff decision regarding Subdivision Regulations <br />• Right of appeal to the BOCC for extension of compliance timeline is now available <br />for both zoning and subdivision enforcement. Previously, an extension of the <br />deadline set for correcting the violation has, on occasion, been offered to the <br />violator by the BOCC as a way to avoid accessing civil penalties. However, there is <br />no language in the Zoning Ordinance or Subdivision Regulations that permit <br />extensions of time or additional `grace periods' for zoning or subdivision violations. <br />This proposed amendment will provide a right of extension of compliance deadline <br />by the BOCC. The violator must appear before the BOCC to make the request. <br />• Only after reasonable time set for correcting the violation, and any stay or extension <br />thereof, has passed, may the Planning Director/Zoning Officer issue a civil penalty <br />citation and/or initiate other legal action for enforcement. <br />• Civil penalty citation can be made at the same time as other enforcement remedies are <br />being pursued; this conveys the gravity of the situation to the violator and reduces <br />extended periods of delay for easily correctable violations <br />• Civil penalties accrue at a $500 per day rate for both Zoning Ordinance and Subdivision <br />Regulations with ability of Planning Director to reduce or eliminate the fine upon correction <br />of the violation. <br />• Proposed amendment allows for continued enforcement of continuing zoning <br />violations to avoid intermittent compliance with rules <br />Current Zoning Ordinance <br />Under the current Zoning Ordinance, Planning Staff currently has four (4) methods (listed below) <br />available for enforcement of the Ordinance. These methods may be used individually or in <br />concert. As with any decision of the Zoning Officer the appeal process is to the Board of <br />Adjustment. The current Ordinance does not provide detailed procedures with regard to general <br />violation notification process. <br />• Criminal Action -Offender guilty of Class 3 misdemeanor punishable by fine of no more <br />than $500.00. <br />• Civil Penalties -Offender subject to penalty of $100 after notice sent to offender, and <br />collection of unpaid civil penalties may be pursued after demand for civil penalty payment <br />made by BOCC. Penalties accrue daily. <br />G/Current Planning/robert/final enforcement documents/ bocc abstract 6 26 2003 <br />