By KATHERINE PETERSEN
The City Council was set to put some teeth into the city's nuisance abatement policy Tuesday to allow staff members to issue citations to residents who don't comply.
Many neighborhood associations have brought problems--such as people parking cars on lawns or not taking care of broken fences--to the attention of the city's staff, but the city has had little recourse in forcing residents to clean up their act, said Dyane Matas, the city's housing and neighborhood preservation officer.
As it stands now, the city can only educate residents on keeping up their properties.
"We will use the same process, but [now] we will be able to finish it. We [will] tell people it's a problem and give them brochures. If we can't get somebody to comply, we will issue a citation," Matas said. Fines for these violations would be $25.
Vice Mayor Jim Roberts said he supports enforcement of the nuisance abatement policy as long as it doesn't encroach on individuals' rights.
"It could be taken too far. One person's definition of nuisance might be someone painting their house a bad color," he said.
The city's only solution for neighbors who don't cooperate has been to pursue the matter in court, which is costly and time-consuming, Matas said.
Residents will be cited for the cost of fixing problems, such as a broken fence, if the education approach doesn't work, Matas said. Offenders will be requested to come before the building code appeals board to make their case.
"We're not talking about a widespread problem, but problems that are persistent can start to affect the surrounding neighborhood. It makes people feel safe when property is taken care of and that people are committed and interested in community," Matas said, adding that fines for these violations would be set by the board of appeals, but would be for at least the cost of fixing the problem.
Jeff Jones, chairman of Sunnyvale Neighbors of Arbor Including La Linda (SNAIL), said rundown homes and yards can affect property values in the entire neighborhood. The problems in his neighborhood near Maude and Borregas avenues have stemmed from landlords not taking care of their rental property, he added.
"If you're persistent with communication, most people will comply on their own, but there are the few that just don't. You could pick one property owner's three homes out of our neighborhood," he said.
SNAIL wrote letters, for which the group received no responses, kept an activity log and was ready to take the owner to small claims court before he complied, Jones said.
"Now he's turned those properties around," Jones said.
Councilmember Pat Vorreiter supports the enforcement, but wants to make sure it affects rental property as well as owner-occupied homes.
"The standards for each should not be different. With the administrative process, we can work with homeowners and landlords who aren't meeting the standards," she said.
She said she would like to see at least two members of the city's Housing and Human Services Commission take part in the board of appeals.
"I think they will bring the perspective of relationships between neighbors rather than only seeing things on a statutory basis," she said.
The city will next look at enforcing its sign ordinance on industrial and commercial properties.
The next City Council meeting takes place Dec. 17 at 8 p.m. in the City Council Chambers, 456 Olive Ave.
This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, December 4, 1996.
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