TITLE
Recommendation to request City Manager to work with the Director of Development Services to provide a presentation to the City Council on current Code Enforcement policies and processes for addressing residential neighborhood code violations.
DISCUSSION
The presentation should also include opportunities to increase the city’s attention to and enforcement of code violations, including policy changes to improve quality of life for residents.
On August 17, 2021 the Long Beach City Council directed the City Manager to work with the City Attorney’s Office, the City Prosecutor’s Office, and the Code Enforcement Bureau, to provide a report on the current nuisance violation fine structures and the feasibility of increasing penalties and/or fines or fees on property owners/managers or tenants depending on staff’s recommendations, to allow for more effective enforcement tools and resources to address nuisance activities. This should also include evaluating options for fines or fees to be based on income qualifications, and if community service was feasible in place of fines where appropriate. This report will also include evaluating opportunities and the feasibility of bolstering the Code Enforcement ordinances and relevant provisions of the Municipal Code and aligning with best practices.
This request by the City Council was made because, in recent years there have been significant changes made by the State of California that are designed to assist with the overall creation of additional housing as a response to the state’s well documented housing crisis. Housing is certainly a priority throughout the state and unlike many cities throughout California, Long Beach is making meaningful progress in proactively creating housing development opportunities. However, with some of the state’s recent housing policies, such as the opportunity to create large-scale ADUs within residential neighborhoods, several unintended consequences have been identified. The unintende...
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