Riverside County Code Enforcement August 2008 Volume 2, Issue 8 The Posting A TLMA Code Enforcement Monthly Newsletter Nuevo Community Cleanup & Tire Collection Event Director Jay E. Orr Community residents lined up as early as 6:30 a.m. to unload household trash that had been illegally dumped along Ramona Expressway, as well as the open fields of the Juniper Flats, Nuevo, and Lakeview communities. Code Enforcement staff were eager to assist residents in the removal of unwanted tires and waste. Not only were these residents provided with an opportunity to dispose of their waste, but thanks to Community Improvement Specialist Sue Rush, local residents were educated on new county ordinances, Household Hazardous Waste & Tire collection events, and property maintenance. Code Enforcement Officer Jennifer There were 311 tires removed from all three communities combined! Morris assisted with traffic control and bin monitoring to ensure that hazardous waste was not disposed of at this event. Waste Management Inc. donated and delivered 19 bins for this event. Cleanups such as these, provide an opportunity for residents to come into compliance. Chaka Osborne-5 “Your Department and Supervisor Marion Ashley’s office has done great things for our small communities of Nuevo, Lakeview, and Juniper Flats”. Thank you Code Enforcement!- Mr. John Linch What’s Inside: From Trash to Gardens Marine Drive Cleanup 2 In Code Enforcement, we strive to achieve voluntary compliance. In working with Community Improvement Programs and Impact Plans, we offer all available resources to help bring property owners into compliance. In most cases we are able to bring everything to a happy ending. For example, on the morning of May 6, using Dakeno Demolitions, we were able to bring the property seen in these photos into compliance. Make a Difference 2 Did You Know? 3 Sign of the Times 3 Tire Collection Event Mead Valley 4 Home Gardens Cleanup 5 Ordinances 880 & 881 6 CIS Grace Escobar counts tires & inspects vehicles for hazardous waste. BEFORE 19 bins; 55.20 tons of waste removed from Nuevo, Lakeview, & Juniper Flats. thing they could have done. In fact, upon a follow-up visit, we found the property owner planting a garden and enjoying the clean space. Ken King-2 AFTER Even though the property owner was hesitant at first about the abatement, in the end, the property owner admitted that this was the best Page 2 The Posting Volume 2, Issue 8 Eleventh Hour Voluntary Compliance BEFORE AFTER The property on Fisher Street in Good Hope has been abandoned for several years. On the property there were three dilapidated mobile homes, a pre-fabricated barntype roof structure erected on warehouse racks, and an improper foundation. Also on-site, was a large amount of scattered rubbish and several inoperative vehicles. In June 2007, Code Enforcement performed an initial inspection and the proper notices were posted. During the inspection, several area residents approached Code Officer T. McMullen to convey how delighted they were to see action being taken. Most could not remember the property to have been occupied, but all considered it to be a source of transient and criminal activity for many years. Notices mailed to the property owner went unheeded. In January 2008, the matter went to a public hearing before the Board of Supervisors and the property was declared a public nuisance. In April 2008, just a few weeks shy of County abatement, the owner stepped up and removed all violations from the property. When asked if he received his original notices, he said, “Yes, but could not respond ‘til now”. Apparently, he finally realized the County was serious about the negative effects these violations had on local neighbors! Tom McMullen-5 Marine Drive Cleanup in District III Code & Sheriff’s Department staff pitched in to shovel & rake weeds out of short block of Marine Drive. “The trash people don’t pick up the big items so it’s great that you all are here helping out. It makes the community look better.”- Karyn Bearde-resident The Marine Drive Cleanup, which took place on Wednesday, June 11, was coordinated by Riverside County Sheriff Department – Hemet Station. Now under new management, many residents moved out and left behind garbage, furniture, and rubbish. These occupants had been directed to clean their properties and get rid of excessive storage in order to remain a resident of this neighborhood. A couple of months prior to the Cleanup, Code Enforcement was approached by Corporal William Edwards, from the Sheriff’s Department , to determine how our department could assist them with the clean up of properties on Marine Drive. Many of the residents did not have a way to transport their items to the bins. Thanks to the use of the Code Enforcement truck, everyone who needed help received it. The Sheriff’s Department and Code Enforcement worked hard all day loading and unloading truckloads of furniture and garbage. The community was very thankful! Becky Mitchell & ◊ CDF cleared the alleys of weeds and debris the day before the Cleanup. ◊ Environmental Health is working on the pooling of water in the alleys. ◊ Graffiti Busters painted the brick cul-de-sac walls to cover up old graffiti and to give the wall a uniform color. Michael Sanders-3 Make a Difference! Ways to Beautify the Environment 1. 2. 3. 4. Wherever you live, work, or travel - don't litter! Curb your dog and pick up waste Carry a litterbag in your car and/or boat Keep beaches, parks, and roadsides clean The Posting Volume 2, Issue 8 Page 3 DID YOU KNOW? • Code Enforcement offers the Junk Your Clunker Program to assist residents with the removal and disposal of their unwanted vehicles. • You need at least five acres of improved (graded) property with a residence in order to keep one metal storage container on your lot. • Over 112,000 wrecked vehicles have been abated in Riverside County since the creation of the Abandoned Vehicle Abatement Service Authority in 1993. For more information on these topics or other Code Enforcement issues, please contact your local Code Enforcement Office (see page 6) James Monroe, Administration Sign of the Times High fuel costs, foreclosures, and green swimming pools are becoming more common as the economic hard times continue to plague California. Our own Riverside County has experienced its fair share of such fallout over the last several months. The concern has sparked the need for a new County ordinance to address the lagging housing market and the number of “walk away properties” that are showing up. One of these properties was called in to District 1 Code office recently and was identified as a foreclosed home that was vacant in the Temescal Valley area. It was reported that there was a swimming pool full of green water in the backyard and that the fence was unsecured. Concerns about breeding mosquitoes and a danger to children that lived in the area, prompted Officer Mano Molina to treat this matter as a “priority one” call. Upon his arrival, Mano found the green pool in the backyard of a beautiful home in a very nice neighborhood. With the assistance of Riverside County Environmental Health, and the bank that had recently taken over the home, the dangerous conditions were corrected and fencing secured. As we move into another So. Cal summer, Riverside County Code Enforcement officers are routinely utilizing the new Ordinances 880 and 881 to address this current problem. BEFORE AFTER Greg Flannery-1 Inoperable Vehicles in Mesa Verde The Code Enforcement desert office has been actively working the unincorporated community of Mesa Verde. Mesa Verde is primarily a residential community comprised of mobile homes on residential lots. Our department has been proactively investigating multiple violations within the community for public eyesore issues. One particular case has been out of compliance for the last few years, and our department has tried to seek voluntary compliance through the Junk Your Clunker Program. As a result, a number of inoperative vehicles were voluntarily removed and some of those vehicles had to be towed. Our department attempted to establish contact with the property owner, but the site was secured and abandoned. As we gained access to the site, an old SUV, as well as several others, were removed. In addition to inoperative vehicles, our department cleared the area of rubbish and substandard housing issues. This inoperative vehicle case has been corrected, and the entire process took about one year to bring the property into compliance. Overall, Code Enforcement has been successful in removing a couple dozen vehicles from yards and rightof-ways in Mesa Verde over this past year alone! George Gianos-4 Page 4 The Posting Volume 2, Issue 8 Riverside County Waste Tire Collection Event Riverside County Waste Management Department received a grant from the California Integrated Waste Management Board , which allows them to coordinate Free Kathleen Utter of Waste Management Tire Collection Events (Tire Dept. informs a community member. Amnesty Days). The most recent event on Saturday, June 21, 2008, was a one-day event held in Mead Valley, which was opened to all residents from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 (noon). As always, the Mead Valley Community Center continued to show its support by allowing the use of its facility, the assistance of its awesome staff and recruitment of volunteers. A community member dropping The community showed both off his tires his way! its appreciation of the event and its eagerness to participate. “Thank you Riverside County for Though the event was having this! We just moved into the scheduled to start at 8 a.m., the community and the previous tenants left community was all geared up a mess that we are in the process of and lined up by 7 a.m.! cleaning up. Since we just moved in we do not have the $500 to spend to get a big bin, and did not know what to do with the tires. Then a neighbor told us of this event. “Thank you” to Waste Management (Dept.) for hosting today’s event and “Thank you” to Code Enforcement for providing resources to help remove the rest of the garbage and debris. – MV Resident Code Enforcement Officers Joe Feliciano and Jose Cruz were on hand to address community concerns and enforce State law regarding proper transporting of tires. Furthermore, Community Improvement Specialist Angela Boone-Porcher provided educational materials to participants detailing programs, services, and resources offered to this community by the Code Enforcement Department, the local waste hauler, and other County agencies. Kathleen Utter of Waste Management Dept. and Joe Feliciano of Code Enforcement discuss logistics. Angela Boone-Porcher-1 143 Vehicles Serviced = 28,072 lbs of tires removed from the Mead Valley community Tires removed from private properties, roadways, illegal dumping locations, dirt roads, and other parts of the community totaled: 1 Truckload = 622 tires 3 Bins = 654 tires Grand Total of 1,276 tires were collected and hauled away for free !! Voluntary Compliance in Lakeland Village BEFORE AFTER Last month, Officer Brett Farlow received a call for a property that had five substandard structures on it. The structures were open and vacant and were vandalized with graffiti. Officer Farlow knew the area and was aware that this property was close to the Lakeland Village Middle School. With that in mind, he determined that this property was an “Attractive Nuisance” to minors and needed to be dealt with immediately. Officer Farlow started the process to have the violations abated by the property owners, and once he was able to identify the property owners, he made personal contact with them over the telephone. Officer Farlow explained the danger in allowing the property to be open and vacant with its close proximity to the middle school, and the responsibility that the owners have should a child become injured or harmed in any way while on the property. Brett offered assistance to the property owners and advised that the abatement process could involve substantial penalties if the violations were not corrected in a timely manner. Brett’s genuine concern for the school kids convinced the property owners to take immediate action and make the property safe. The property owner went one step further and removed all five substandard structures on the property and made it safe. Greg Flannery-1 The Posting Volume 2, Issue 8 Page 5 Home Gardens Community Cleanup Event The Home Gardens Community Cleanup, held on Saturday, June 21st, was promoted all day at the Code Enforcement Improvement Fair, which was held only three weeks earlier. In order to get the word out about this event, Code officers and staff canvassed the Home Gardens residential and commercial areas weeks prior to the Cleanup. The community was pleased to see us in the streets and came out to greet us and obtain information about the event. As a result, we saw many new faces at this Cleanup in comparison to the last one. Code was able to secure permission from the local churches to use their parking lots for the Cleanup. For better traffic control, Transportation Dept. provided Code with the cones and barricades necessary to close the frontage road along Magnolia. Despite 113˚ heat, 126 loads of trash from the community filled the bins. Some of these loads consisted of materials from the demolition of illegal construction. By the end of the day, people were seen walking their trash or hauling it to the event in makeshift trailers. This Cleanup was a success to this community, which resulted in 12 full rolloff bins with 28.62 tons of trash and the servicing of 126 vehicles! Angel Olivo-2 TOP, The last two customers of the day walked their unwanted mattresses to the Cleanup. LEFT, Resident Ricardo Rodriguez cleared his property of dry brush and old unwanted mattresses and doors; a load twice the height of Code Technician Etita Faiva. Travel Through Your Storm Drain Runoff is rainfall or snowmelt moving over and through the ground. As runoff moves, it picks up and carries away natural and human-made pollutants into the storm drain system, which disposes into lakes, rivers, wetlands, and oceans. Runoff flows are commonly impacted by the excess use of fertilizers, herbicides, insecticides, oil, grease, sediment bacteria and nutrients from residential, agricultural, and commercial areas. In addition, these pollutants have a harmful effect on drinking water supplies, recreation, fisheries, and wildlife. The function of a storm drain system is to prevent flooding and draw natural water flows to local water bodies that enrich our water supply and ecosystem! Flo Mowrer, Flood Control What can be done about preserving and protecting our clean water availability? Each and everyone of us can help by practicing conservation and by changing certain everyday habits! Consider: * Picking up droppings left by your pet, and disposing in the trash can * Sweeping up all trash and debris * Ending the over-irrigation of lawns and landscape * Using pesticides and herbicides sparingly * Using non-toxic alternatives to hazardous chemicals * Regularly maintaining vehicles from leaks and drips * Checking with your water agency for pool discharge laws * Conserving your water use, making every drop count Additional information and tips can be found at www.rcflood.org STOP pollutants from entering the storm drain, Call 1-800-506-2555 to REPORT ILLEGAL DISPOSALS Riverside County Code Enforcement Ordinance 880 in Riverside County The Board of Supervisors has passed an emergency ordinance, Ordinance 880, effective May 13, 2008, which affects residential properties in the unincorporated areas of Riverside County. These properties, left unmaintained, can lead to a decline in property value, danger to children as attractive nuisances, opportunities for secretive criminal conduct including gang and drug crimes, squatters, and real estate fraud. Code Enforcement Director Jay E. Orr made the decision to provide a forum for members of the financial and real estate communities to Stay Cool this Summer ◊ Drink plenty of water. Avoid alcohol and caffeine! ◊ Wear lightweight, light-colored, loose clothing. ◊ Wear a wide-brimmed hat, or use an umbrella for shade. ◊ If you do not have an air conditioner, use a fan. Make sure your windows are open. ◊ Never leave a person or animal alone in a vehicle during high temperatures. ◊ When it is hotter than 90°, visit a friend with air conditioning or a cool place like a mall, a library or senior center: http://www.riversidecounty.redcro ss.org/article.aspx?a=839 National Annual Night Out Against Crime Saturday, August 02, 2008 At Heritage High School in Romoland From 3 PM to 7 PM come together and have an open dialogue about this ordinance, the concerns of the county, and to provide open discussion. This public forum took place on June 27, 2008, in the Board of Supervisors’ assembly room. The purpose of the meeting was to provide information of the ordinance, registration, and enforcement requirements. This also provided an opportunity for the public to ask questions and provide input on the implementation concerns. Nearly 100 representatives from the leading financial, real estate, title companies, and other members representing the industry participated in this meeting. Deputy Director John Boyd opened the forum with introductions of the management team (Ward Komers, Jim Monroe & Tracey Towner), followed by a presentation by Code Enforcement providing a realistic perspective of the problem. Lisa Traczyk, Deputy County Counsel, walked through the key requirements of the ordinance. Questions and comments from the participants lasted almost an hour and several commented on their appreciation for the event. Beth Crawford-Admin Services We welcome you to visit our website at www.rctlma.org/ce where you can: • • • • View The Posting in English and Spanish Download Code Enforcement flyers & brochures Report a violation Tell us how we’re doing…we’d love to hear from you (such as suggestions on articles & information you would like to see in The Posting) Code Enforcement District Office Numbers District 1 (951) 245-3186 District 2 (951) 275-8739 District 3 (951) 600-6140 District 4 (760) 343-4150 District 5 (951) 485-5840 CODE ENFORCEMENT ADMINISTRATION 4080 Lemon Street, 12th Floor Riverside, CA 92502 Phone: 951-955-2004 Editors’ Corner Grace Escobar (951) 955-1895 [email protected] Dawn Burnett (951) 955-0106 [email protected] CORRECTION: In the July 2008 Issue, page 3, “Addressing Neighborhood Concerns” we gave credit to District I, when in reality the credit to this story is for District III! Officer Roy Rider is in District 3, NOT in District 1!
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