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HomeMy WebLinkAboutSB 915 Staff Report MEMORANDUM DATE: January 5, 2011 TO: Board of County Commissioners FROM Tom Anderson, Community Development Director SUBJECT: Discussion of SB 915 Implementation ____________________________________________________________________________ Background: The Oregon legislature passed Senate Bill 915 (SB 915) in the 2009 regular legislative session. Essentially, the bill requires that citations for violations of the Oregon State Building Code be adjudicated through an administrative process rather than circuit court. Staff has researched how other counties have either implemented or are implementing SB 915 and is preparing new draft code sections for consideration by the Board in the near future. The following sections of this memorandum shall outline generally how the process might work, estimate costs of implementation, and provide the Board an opportunity to provide input prior to the finalization of proposed code language. For context, Community Development enforces the Building, Land Use, On-Site Septic and Solid Waste codes. The building code is the only body of law affected by SB 915. Citations under the other codes will still be processed through circuit court. With respect to enforcement of the building code, there are an average of nine instances per year (out of an average of 75 cases) where voluntary compliance is not obtained and citations must be issued. Citations through circuit court have been largely effective in obtaining compliance, primarily through the judges’ practice of discussing the case with the property owner and setting deadlines for violation correction in exchange for a reduced or suspended fine. The objective of SB 915 implementation will be to attempt to match the success rate of circuit court in an administrat ive process. Procedural Outline: Based on an extensive survey of other counties, as well as discussion with County Legal, the following provisions are generally expected to be included in a Deschutes County administrative process. Rather than issuance of a citation and a required appearance in circuit court, property owners will be issued a Notice of Civil Violation and Penalty from the County Building Official. The notice will be delivered by Sheriff’s Office personnel in the manner that citations are currently issued. The penalty is proposed to be the same amount as it is currently--$720 as specified in statute for a Class A violation. If the property owner fails to respond to the notice, then the decision of the Building Official is final and the penalty is imposed. If the property owner wishes to appeal the either the existence of a violation or the penalty amount, they may request a hearing before an adjudicator. It is proposed that hearings be conducted by a contracted, independent Hearings Officer. Note – other counties stressed that it is critical that the adjudicator not be a county employee. The Hearings Officer will listen to evidence presented by code enforcement staff , as well as the testimony of the property owner, then issue a decision within a prescribed amount of time. Note – In practice, once experience has been gained, it may be effective to grant the Hearings Officer the ability to set a decision out for review in order to provide another opportunity for the property owner to correct the violation before the penalty is imposed. If the property owner wishes to appeal the decision of the Hearings Officer, it is proposed that this be done through a writ of review to circuit court. If the property owner fails to pay the penalty or if the violation is not corrected, then it is proposed that that the county will sue the property owner in circuit court, with the expectation that the judge will issue an Order directing the property owner to do both. Note – It is proposed that the code specify that the county be allowed to record property liens for uncollected fines. If the circuit court order is not followed, it is proposed that the property owner be sent a second Notice of Civil Violation and Penalty, including the assessment of ongoing fines for each day the violation remains uncorrected. The process outlined above would be repeated in this scenario. If the case goes back to circuit court, the judge will be asked to find the property owner in contempt of court for violating the first order. Estimated Cost: It is estimated that the administrative process for building code violations will cost $6,000- $7,000 per year. The expense is almost exclusively for Hearings Officers, and is based on an average of 9 Notices of Violation per year multiplied by an average cost of $700 per case (4.6 hours per case x $150/hour HO rate). Next Steps: Finalize draft code language and bring back to the Board formally for discussion and adoption. Requested Action: Discuss and provide direction to staff on any desired modifications to the process outlined above.