Okaloosa County BOCC — January 5, 2016 — Public Hearing for Code Enforcement and Nuisance Abatement — agenda request — reading text

BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS AGENDA REQUEST DATE: January 5, 2016 TO: Honorable Chairman and Members of the Board FROM: Elliot Kampert SUBJECT: Public Hearing for Code Enforcement and Nuisance Abatement Assessment Ordinance DEPARTMENT: Growth Management BCC DISTRICT: All STATEMENT OF ISSUE: The Board of County Commissioners to conduct a public hearing to consider adoption of an ordinance that will, if adopted, repeal and replace Sections 11.03.00 through 11.03.11 of the Land Development Code with a new Article VI of Chapter 11 of the County Code pertaining to code enforcement, including the creation of provisions whereby the County may utilize the non-ad valorem assessment collection process to recover the costs of abating nuisance conditions on properties. This hearing is continued from the Board meeting of December 1, 2015. BACKGROUND: The Board of County Commissioners has directed staff to develop Code revisions that would strengthen the County's code enforcement processes. Working with the Code Enforcement Board and County Attorney's office, staff has developed the attached ordinance which was heard by the Board of County Commissioners on December 1, 2015 which was continued until today's (Jan 5, 2016) meeting. In addition, the Board held a public discussion of the proposed ordinance during its meeting of December 15, 2015. The attached ordinance relocates the County's code enforcement provisions from Chapter 11 of the Land Development Code to a new a new Article VI of Chapter 11 of the Okaloosa Code of Ordinances, and includes the nuisance abatement assessment provisions discussed during both the December 1 and 15 meetings, and also includes the provisions which establish the procedures for presenting alleged violations to the Code Enforcement Board in accordance with Chapter 162 of Florida Statutes. In addition, the following changes were made based on the December 1 hearing and December 15 discussion: 1. The schedule of fines and penalties (section 11-606) has been corrected to reflect the most recent version approved by the BCC in 2013 (see page 6). 2. The language of the existing code (see section 11-604.1.D on page 3) providing the specific statues the Code Enforcement officers will enforce regarding unlicensed contracting has been put back in (the versions of Dec 1 and 15 had a more general statement). 3. The ordinance now states that all notices sent by mail will be sent certified, return receipt requested (see 11-605.2.A on page 3, 11-605.2.B on page 4, and 11-607.9.D.(1).c on page 11).  4. The language specifying what happens if a violation persists beyond the time specified by a court order for a citation upheld by the court has been relocated to the section regarding citations (see 11-605.3.I. on page 5). It was inadvertently put in the Code Enforcement Board section in the previous version. 5. The language specifically stating that the Code Enforcement Board shall also hear appeals regarding construction matters with the exception of the fire code ordinance by any person aggrieved by any decision of the Building Official, Planning Official, or other administrative official has been added back in (see 11-607.6.F. on page 8). The version heard on the 1st and discussed on the 15th had a more general statement. 6. All the dates have been changed to 2016 and the Chairman has been changed to Charles K. Windes, Jr. Two versions of the proposed ordinance are attached to this Agenda Item: a clean copy for signature and a strike-through-and-underline version showing specific changes. OPTIONS: The Board of County Commissioners may adopt, adopt with revisions, reject, or table the proposed ordinance. RECOMMENDATIONS: Staff recommends that the Board of County Commissioners adopt the proposed ordinance. RECOMMENDED BY: APPROVED BY: John Hofstad, County Administrator