Single complaint on CUP violation launches grand jury investigation

Grand jury says the town needs a formal process

Town defends its record

By Nathan R. Huff

Six months after the complaint of a single citizen launched a Santa Clara County grand jury investigation in Los Gatos' conditional-use permit (CUP) enforcement process, the town finally responded to the jury's final report. The town accepted a number of the jury's suggestions while dismissing several of the report's conclusions.

The Santa Clara County grand jury released its final report on July 6, issuing a critique that calls for more aggressive enforcement, better record keeping, and the development of a written citizen complaint procedure.

The investigation, which began last spring, was the result of a citizen complaint regarding alleged CUP noise violations at the Los Gatos Auto Mall. The Los Gatan told the grand jury he had notified the Los Gatos-Monte Sereno Police Department, the community development department and the code enforcement officer, but the problem continued.

According to the office of the grand jury, the jury evaluates investigation requests on various criteria, including whether a citizen has exhausted all available remedies. A spokesperson for the office said it was not unusual for the jury to launch an investigation based on a single citizen's action, assuming the jury found merit in the complaint.

The town council adopted the official response to the investigation at its Nov. 20 meeting, more than a month past the deadline. In the letter, the town agreed to develop a written citizen complaint procedure, ensure that "final notices" of violations are indeed final, and continue its complaint-only enforcement methods.

Councilman Steve Blanton said the town should take action on several of the suggestions--particularly the need for a formal complaint process. But he rejected the idea that the grand jury investigation has uncovered any big problems.

"You always have to view a grand jury investigation as a serious matter," Blanton said. "But it seemed from the report that they didn't find anything seriously wrong."

The town also agreed to study the possibility of replacing the existing police department record-keeping system to increase the ways in which information can be searched and compiled. With that study in mind, the town will also evaluate the process for transferring data from police records to the community development department.

The town, however, is not committed to actually follow through on any of these studies. Town Attorney Orry Korb said that while investigating alternative record- keeping systems was reasonable, the town's current system, which catalogues complaints and violations only by street address, is widely used and considered adequate in most municipalities.

The town found itself in disagreement with several of the general conclusions of the report. Namely, the grand jury implied that the town did not respond in a timely fashion to the complaint that brought about the investigation.

In its letter to the grand jury, the town says there is no evidence that the complaint was not responded to in a timely fashion and, in fact, the grand jury report states that the community development department responded and tried to resolve the situation without taking legal action. Furthermore, the letter states, "the ultimate resolution of the complaints had no more to do with the grand jury investigation than did the abatement of the other 119 violations referred to in the final report."

As part of the investigation, the grand jury interviewed the complainant, Director of Community Development Paul Curtis, Assistant Planning Director Bud Lortz and Chief of Police Larry Todd. The report states that all town staff interviewed said that, "town ordinances are being impartially enforced and that the conditional-use permits are being complied with."

In regards to the Los Gatos Auto Mall, the grand jury found there had been 10 complaints regarding noise and hours of operation violations, with no effective solution. Three final notices were sent to the violator, something the report described as: "illogical and [making] no sense."

Town officials defended their CUP enforcement record. Curtis said the community development department had been without a designated code compliance officer for six months, which has affected the timeliness of responses. Curtis also said at the Nov. 20 meeting that the town's process--not the grand jury investigation--led to the abatement of the auto mall violation.

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