COUNTY OF SAN MATEO

Inter-Departmental Correspondence

County Counsel

DATE:

December 11, 2006

BOARD MEETING DATE:

January 9, 2007

SPECIAL NOTICE/HEARING:

None

VOTE REQUIRED:

Majority

TO:

Honorable Board of Supervisors

FROM:

County Counsel

SUBJECT:

Introduction of Ordinance Amending Building Codes to Provide Authority For Reduction or Waiver by the Building Official of Investigation Fees for Certain Minor Violations, and Waiver of reading of Ordinance in its Entirety

RECOMMENDATION:

Introduce an ordinance amending section 9041 of Chapter 2 of Article 4 of Division VII of the San Mateo County Ordinance Code to provide for reduction or waiver by the Building Official of investigation fees for certain minor violations, and waive reading of the ordinance in its entirety.

VISION ALIGNMENT:

Commitment: Responsive, effective and collaborative government

Goal(s): Government decisions are based on careful consideration of future impact, rather than temporary relief or immediate gain.

BACKGROUND:

The current building regulations provide for an investigation fee for permit violations of ten times the permit fee, up to a maximum of three thousand dollars ($3,000). While this fee is reflective of the costs of enforcement in most cases, in the case of certain minor violations it may be appropriate to reduce fees. Under the current building ordinances, in order to obtain a reduction in investigation fees, the property owner must appeal to the Board of Building Permit Appeals, which involves the payment of an appeal fee. Recently, a small claims action was brought by a property owner seeking to reduce investigation fees imposed under current regulations. The property owner successfully appealed to the Board of Building Permit Appeals, but wanted to recover his appeal fees as well and filed the small claims action to do so. Although the County prevailed in that small claims action, it pointed out that the inability of the Building Official to reduce investigation fees in appropriate cases may lead to unnecessary appeals, and the additional time and expense associated with such appeals.

DISCUSSION:

The proposed ordinance would allow the Building Official to reduce the investigation fee in the case of certain minor violations, provided such violation is a first offense. Specifically, the Building Official would be authorized to reduce investigation fees in the case of first offenses for minor permit violations as listed in the ordinance, such as water heater or furnace installations, roofing, decks, fences, and other listed minor construction. The fees would be based on an hourly cost to compensate for staff time processing the violation, with a minimum fee of two times the permit fee.

The proposed ordinance would also allow the Building Official to issue an Information Notice in lieu of a Stop Work Notice for these minor violations as long as the work is immediately stopped and the permit process is initiated within ten (10) days of the issuance of the Notice.

Finally, the ordinance provides that in the case of low income or affordable housing projects, which are not required to pay a permit fee, an investigation fee based on hourly costs to compensate for staff time will be assessed for work done in violation of the permitting requirements. This provision will match an existing provision for farm labor housing projects which is already a part of the ordinance.

The attached “red-lined” version of the proposed ordinance indicates the changes from the current regulations.

FISCAL IMPACT:

This ordinance may slightly reduce revenues due to the reduction of investigation fees for minor violations.