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Home My WebLink About01-08-2013 pc rowleyGoodwin, Heathe r O rom :Grimes, Maev e ent:Monday, January 07, 2013 8 :14 A M To:Goodwin, Heathe r Subject :FW : Budget Goal Setting, 20134 5 Attachments :RQN Budget Input 2013-15 .do c Heather, Please distribute as correspondence for the 1/8 Community Forum . Thank you . Maeve kenneOy QRime s City Cler k City Of san Luis OBISp 0 990 Palm Stree t San Luis Obispo, CA 9340 1 phone : (805) 781-710 2 email :mgrimes@slocity .or g From :Sandra Rowley fmailto :macsar99@yahoo .com lSent:Sunday, January 06, 2013 11 :46 A M.To :Grimes, Maev eCc: Marx, Jan ; Smith, Kathy; Carter, Andrew ; Ashbaugh, John ; Carpenter, Dan ; Lichtig, Kati e Subject :Budget Goal Setting, 2013-1 5 Hi Maeve , Please distribute as appropriate . Thank you, Sandy Rowle y • 1 Residents for Quality Neighborhood s P .O . Box 12604 . San Luis Obispo, CA 93406 January 6, 201 3 Dear Mayor Marx and Members of the Council , Residents for Quality Neighborhoods appreciates the opportunity to provide input during this budget process . Several of our neighborhoods continue to face challenges that affect not only residents' quality of life but als o spill over into other areas. The ability to attract employers and families, to maintain volunteer organizations, t o provide arts and entertainment, and to provide conveniently located schools are all predicated upon providing a high quality of life in our residential neighborhoods . City Council Resolution No . 9820 (2006 series) placed the following on the November 7, 2006, ballo t San Luis Obispo Essential Services Measure : To protect and maintain essential services - such as neighborhoo d (emphasis added) street paving and pothole repair ; traffic congestion relief; public safety, including restorin g eliminated traffic patrol, Fire Marshal and fire/paramedic training positions ; flood protection ; senior citize n services/facilities ; neighborhood (emphasis added) code enforcement ; open space preservation and other vita l general purpose services - shall the sales tax be increased by one-half cent for ten years only, with citizen oversigh t and independent annual financial audits? Contrary to last year's article in The Tribune,Neighborhood Wellness is not on track to being met . The long-term inattention to the negative impacts that have for years detrimentally affected formerly neat, quiet, stabl e residential neighborhoods cannot be undone in a few short months . There is still a need to focus on the city's residential neighborhoods, to protect them, and to provide essential services to them . •Residents for Quality Neighborhoods (RQN) requests that (a) Neighborhood Wellness be retained as a Major Cit y Goal and (b) staff time in several City departments be dedicated to projects aimed at ensuring the protectio n and maintenance of our residential neighborhoods as was indicated in Measure Y . We request focus be on th e following during this budget cycle : 1 . Emphasis on neighborhood infrastructure maintenance such as : -Residential street pavin g -Pothole repair on an "as needed" basis, as opposed to waiting until the next street paving cycl e -- Repair of residential sidewalks on an "as needed" basis, not just with the next street paving cycl e -Cleaning and maintenance of culvert s -A solution to correct the ineffectiveness of street sweepers in affected neighborhood s - Red curb painting in front of fire hydrants in neighborhood s 2 . Stricter enforcement of Noise and Unruly Gathering Ordinances . The revised Noise Ordinance went int o effect March 5, 2010 ; it significantly increased fines and added a provision to issue citations to property owner s upon repeat violations by their tenants . The Unruly Gathering Ordinance went into effect May 20, 2010 ; it included high fines and owner citations for parties of 20 or more people who exhibited certain rowdy behaviors . According to police department noise data, noise complaints have decreased significantly from 2,954 (2009) t o 2,238 (2010) to 2,013 (2011) to 1,644 (2012). We think this is primarily a result of the higher fines and the inclusion of owner citations . Although the citation rate has generally increased over this same period, th e increase has not been commensurate with the reduction in noise complaints . We believe that stricte r enforcement of these ordinances is the next step in lowering this embar rassingly large number of nois e •complaints . If the normal citation rate for noise violations were even half of the 2011 citation rate for traffi c violations, we believe party noise would cease to be a major problem in our residential neighborhoods . 3.Continued engagement with Cal Poly to reinforce their interest in student behavior in off-campus settings an d suggest a visitation program to speak with students who violate our Noise, Unruly Gathering or alcoho l •ordinances, to encourage the preparation of plans to build additional on-campus housing, and to suggest th e relocation of fraternities and sororities to on-campus locations . 4.Engagement with Cuesta College to encourage their involvement in calming student behaviors in residentia l neighborhoods by addressing the possibility of their partnering with one or more apartment complexes to hous e their students and by setting up a visitation program to speak with students who violate our Noise, Unrul y Gathering or alcohol ordinances . 5.Continued emphasis on reduction of blight conditions in residential neighborhoods . The Neighborhoo d Services Specialist positions have been in existence for less than a year . The program began with a slow roll-out : Active enforcement of blighted properties did not begin until May 31, 2012 . Although several properties hav e been cleaned up, repeated staff turnover (and thus, reduced staffing) has delayed full execution of the progra m and communicated to residents, especially those in the northern part of the city, that nothing is being done . Two Neighborhood Services Specialists have left ; a third will soon be hired . The sole stable employee wa s involved in training the last new hire and will be involved in training the next new hire further reducing th e section's potential and productivity . There has been neither sufficient staffing or continuity, nor has a sufficien t amount of time elapsed to evaluate the current staffing level, i .e ., is it high enough for the workload . 6.Continued emphasis on the reduction of higher level code violations in residential neighborhoods to ensure , among other things, that illegal living space/garage conversions are removed, sub-standard housing is brough t to code, high occupancy regulations are followed, fraternities and sororities are adhering to their use permits, home occupation permits are complied with and back yard blight is addressed . •One City policy that has proven successful in, at least partially, curbing noise and inconsiderate behaviors i n neighborhoods is the inclusion of property owners in both noise enforcement and code enforcement . In order t o more fully engage property owners and better address the condition of rental housing, request the followin g suggestions be considered : 1.Identify residential rental properties ; currently there is no method for obtaining complete information . When more than one residential rental property is covered by a business license, require a list of all rental propert y addresses within the City be included . An alternative would be to require a separate license for each propert y with a one-time fee, similar to the process for home occupation or administrative use permits . 2.Conduct compliance verification of residential rental properties more often than every five years . As we discovered during the last compliance verification, a lot can change in five years with considerable revenue lost . 3.Attach requirements to rental business licenses . For example, since finding on-street parking in som e neighborhoods is still a problem, consider adding parking requirements to the rental business license . 4.Study rental inspection programs in, for example, Azusa, California, and Lawrence, Kansas, and any othe r cities with successful rental inspection programs . Consider requiring fire and life safety inspections fo r residential rental properties upon sale . Thank you for your time and attention, and the opportunity to provide these comments . Sincerely , Sandra Rowle y Chairperso n •