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CC - Item 6A - Amendments to Preliminary Review Process for Administrative CitationsROSEMEAD CITY COUNCIL STAFF REPORT TO: MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS FROM: JEFF ALLRED, CITY MANAGER L? 11 6 DATE: DECEMBER 9, 2014 SUBJECT: AMENDMENTS TO PRELIMINARY REVIEW PROCESS FOR ADMINISTRATIVE CITATIONS SUMMARY The City Council will consider amendments to Chapter 1.20 of the Municipal Code to expand the scope of the Preliminary Review process for administrative Citations. The recommended code changes would enable recipients of administrative citations to obtain timely preliminary review to consider factual disputes or other extenuating circumstances. The proposed Ordinance is being presented as a result of direction provided at the City Council workshop on code enforcement conducted on November 10, 2014. RECOMMENDATION It is recommended that the City Council introduce Ordinance No. 947 amending Rosemead Municipal Code Chapter 1.20.090 — Preliminary Review of Administrative Citations. BACKGROUND Rosemead Municipal Code Chapter 1.20 on Administrative Citations provides for an alternative administrative enforcement mechanism of the municipal code rather than filing criminal misdemeanor prosecutions against violators. Since the inception of the administrative citation process, the City has been able to avoid approximately $70,000 in average annual legal costs to prosecute unresolved municipal code violations. The administrative citation enforcement mechanism is also a "kinder and gentler" code enforcement approach than the criminal prosecution process. Currently, Section 1.20.090 of the Rosemead Municipal Code provides for a Preliminary Review process with a limited, narrow scope. Under the current language in this Section, the purpose of a preliminary review of a citation is strictly limited to "uncover ITEM NO. 1� City Council Meeting November 10,2014 and cancel any mistakenly issued citations due to errors that are easily verifiable, and not to resolve factual disputes concerning the violation that is the subject of the citation." In addition to the simple correction of mistakes, the proposed amendments would significantly broaden the scope of preliminary reviews to permit consideration of: 1) factual disputes; 2) information as to the reasons that the citation should not have been issued; or 3) other extenuating circumstances regarding the violator's ability to comply within the indicated time frames. The purpose and intent of the proposed amendments is to make the code enforcement process even "kinder and gentler" than it is now by allowing recipients to voice their concerns for redress on a variety of topics at an early stage in the process. At the November 10th City Council workshop discussion on code enforcement, staff was directed to recommend changes to the existing review procedures to facilitate consideration of factual disputes or extenuating circumstances on a case -by -case basis. This proposed code amendments accomplishes that objective. Legal Review The City Attorney has reviewed and contributed to the development of proposed Ordinance No. 947. Attachment: Ordinance No. 947 ATTACHMENTI ORDINANCE NO. 947 AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF ROSEMEAD AMENDING CHAPTER 1.20 OF THE ROSEMEAD MUNICIPAL CODE RELATING TO PRELIMINARY REVIEW OF ADMINISTRATIVE CITATIONS WHEREAS, Chapter 1.20.090 of the City of Rosemead Municipal Code provides for Preliminary Review of administrative citations upon timely request; and WHEREAS, the City Council desires to expand the scope of preliminary reviews of administrative citations; NOW, THEREFORE, Chapter 1.20.090 of the Rosemead Municipal Code is hereby amended to read as stated on Attachment A, attached hereto and by this reference incorporated herein. PASSED, APPROVED, AND ADOPTED BY THE ROSEMEAD CITY COUNCIL THIS 13'" DAY OF JANUARY, 2015. William Alarcon, Mayor City of Rosemead, California ATTEST: Gloria, Molleda, City Clerk City of Rosemead, California APPROVED AS TO FORM Rachel H. Richman, City Attorney Burke, Williams & Sorensen, LLP ATTACHMENT A 1.20.090 - Preliminary review. A. A person issued an administrative citation may request a preliminary review, if the request is made within fourteen (14) days of the date the citation is issued. A notice of noncorrection of a building violation shall not be subject to a request for preliminary review. B. To obtain a review, the citee shall contact the City Manager's office within fourteen (14) days of the date the citation was issued. The citee must present a copy of the citation and a completed and signed written request fex stating the reasons why hefe was no •.,_ ',,,,- o,-_,,hy h@ shall be date stamped upon receipt. All requests C. The preliminary review shall be conducted by ache City HTh �a t DffOOtO �m- a,.a.nManauzff or designee. The reviewer shall not be the Enforcement Officer who issued the citation. The purpose of the review is to uncover and cancel any mistakenly issued citations due to errors that are easily verifiable, and- tteto_r to resolve factual disputes concerning the violation that is the subject of the citation- o, r to frames. D. The preliminary review shall consist of a review of the citation and the written request fern and any other evidence submitted at the time of the request by the citee and, at the discretion of the reviewer, any other related information. Whefe the Fwie,-, is m34 eempletedThe City Manager or designee shall comelete the review of the matter within five working days of receipt of the request - h -°° •° o,_, r the citation shall be cancelled. E. The citee shall be notified of the results of the review by being given a written notice of the decision f^• stating 4110 by the City Manager or designee. The citee may also be given additional notice by'°'�,ae�lacsimile text message or email when practicable. 6F. If the reviewer concludes that no code violation occurred or that the citee was not responsible for the violation, the citation shall be canceled. same.