1991-20 Establishing a Zoning Enforcement Procedure.Introduced by: Mayor Selby
Recommended by:
Planning & Zoning Commission
Introduced: 06/20/91
Adopted: 06/20/91
KODIAK ISLAND BOROUGH
RESOLUTION NO. 91-20
A RESOLUTION ESTABLISHING A ZONING ENFORCEMENT PROCEDURE
WHEREAS, Chapter 29.40 of the Alaska Statutes establishes the authority for planning
and describes municipal planning powers in Alaska; and requires that first
and second class boroughs provide for planning, platting and land use
regulation on an areawide basis in accordance with a comprehensive plan;
and
WHEREAS, one of the most important tools for implementing the Kodiak Island
Borough's comprehensive plan is Title 17 Zoning, of the Borough Code; and
WHEREAS, an important aspect of implementing the Borough's zoning regulations is
zoning enforcement; and
WHEREAS, the Kodiak Island Borough Assembly adopted Resolution No. 90-26 in April
of 1990 which established a Zoning Enforcement Policy; and
WHEREAS, the Kodiak Island Borough Planning and Zoning Commission has
recommended that the Kodiak Island Borough Assembly adopt the Zoning
Enforcement Procedure, dated January 1991, to implement the Zoning
Enforcement Policy;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE KODIAK ISLAND BOROUGH
ASSEMBLY that the Zoning Enforcement Procedure for the Kodiak Island Borough is as
follows:
KODIAK ISLAND BOROUGH
ZONING ENFORCEMENT PROCEDURES
January 1991
1. ACCEPT THE COMPLAINT
A. Determine if the complaint involves a land use violation. (If not, refer the
complainant to the Building Official, Department of Environmental
Conservation, Corps of Engineers, or other appropriate agency.)
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B. Review the Borough Code. If there appears to be a land use violation,
assist the complainant in filling out a violation complaint form. Signed
complaint forms receive priority.
C. If the complainant declines to fill out a violation complaint form, staff should
fill out the form as completely as possible from the information provided by
the complainant. Signed complaints and alleged violations brought up at
public meetings or resulting from Planning and Zoning Commission cases
receive priority. Unsigned complaints or complaints received anonymously
by telephone are pursued on a time available basis.
D. Each violation complaint should be noted in the violation database and the
current status of the violation kept up to date. Complaints that are
determined to be invalid or are referred to another agency should also be
entered into the database with the appropriate determination.
2. INVESTIGATE THE COMPLAINT
A. Check the department property files to see if there have been previous
complaints or building activity on the property that are relevant to the
current complaint.
B. Check Assessing Department and Building Department files to see if they
contain information, permits, photos, or other data relevant to the complaint.
C. Make an on-site inspection to become familiar with the conditions on the
property, documenting with photos the alleged violations and making
personal contact, if possible, with the property owner and/or violator to
explain the complaint and violation.
D. If the violation is determined to be valid, reopen the violation file for the
property in question if one exists, or set up a violation (red -label) file if one
doesn't already exist. If the complaint is not valid and no zoning violation
exists, or if it is ultimately referred to another agency, place a memo to this
effect in the general (green -label) property file.
3. ENFORCEMENT ACTION
A. Contact the Property Owner: Personal contact (telephone/on-site) should
be made with the violator and/or property owner within seven (7) calendar
days of receiving the complaint, explaining the violation (specifying code
section) and indicating how and when it should be corrected. A letter will
be sent to the property owner, and/or any violator, within seven (7) calendar
days of contact. The seriousness of the violation and whether or not
personal contact has been made will dictate whether this letter is sent
Kodiak Island Borough, Alaska Resolution No. 91-20
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certified mail. Any violation, regardless of the degree of seriousness, in
which personal contact with the violator or property owner is not made after
three (3) documented attempts within seven calendar days will result in an
administrative decision sent by certified mail to the property owner.
1. If a violation is potentially hazardous and presents an immediate
threat to health and welfare, a stop -work order will be issued and
hand -delivered on site to whomever is engaged in the activity. A
court injunction will be sought to ensure that the activity is not
continued until the health threat is resolved and the zoning violation
abated. A copy of the stop -work order will be mailed certified to the
property owner, if different from the person to whom the order was
hand delivered on site.
2. If the violation is "non -serious" in nature (i.e. signs, small amounts
of fishing gear, mobile illegal dwelling, non -permitted home
occupations) and just beginning, as opposed to established and
getting worse, and personal contact has been made, a non -certified
warning letter will be sent setting a fifteen (15) calendar day deadline
for abatement. This letter will state that failure to meet the deadline
will result in a final administrative decision and further enforcement
action. A site inspection will be conducted to verify compliance with
the deadline.
3. If the violation is serious and established, personal contact will be
followed with a certified letter setting a compliance deadline by
administrative decision.
B. Administrative decisions: Administrative decisions will generally establish
a thirty (30) calendar day compliance deadline. For more entrenched,
longstanding violations requiring major structural alteration, large-scale
clean-up, or displacement of occupants, a sixty (60) calendar day --or
longer --deadline will generally be established, at staff's discretion. The
administrative decision will also indicate that the decision is final unless
appealed to the Planning and Zoning Commission within ten (10) days of
receipt of the letter, list the penalties specified by Code for failure to appeal
or comply, and state that further enforcement will be in the form of legal
action. Copies of the letter will go to the file, complainant, violator and/or
property owner, Planning and Zoning Commission, Borough Attorney,
appropriate lending institution and other departments as relevant.
C. Appeals: An appeal of an administrative decision to the Planning and
Zoning Commission is valid only if filed in writing with the Community
Development Department within ten (10) days of receipt of the certified
letter giving notice of the administrative decision. When an enforcement
Kodiak Island Borough, Alaska Resolution No. 91-20
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case is appealed to the Planning and Zoning Commission, a new P & Z
case file is created. An appeal stays any administrative decision until the
Commission either affirms or reverses the decision in whole or in part. If
the administrative decision is affirmed and no relief is granted, the original
time period setting a compliance deadline is reestablished. Therefore, if a
30 -day deadline was originally established to abate the zoning violation, the
30 -day clock starts ticking on the date of the Planning and Zoning
Commission's affirmation of the administrative decision, unless some other
deadline is established by the Commission. A site inspection will be
scheduled to verify compliance with any deadline. Should the
Commission's affirmation or reversal be further appealed to the City Council
or Borough Assembly, this same guideline will apply. Noncompliance by a
final deadline will result in an Authorization -To -Seek -Legal -Opinion being
filled out and submitted as outlined in 4C.
4. FOLLOW UP
A. Inspect the property to ensure that the violation has been abated. If the
issue has been resolved and the violation abated, the "case will be closed"
with a memo to the file and/or a letter of acknowledgement to the property
owner and/or violator, and a copy to the complainant. The file is then
returned to the Department's general property files and the compliance date
entered into the database.
B. If the violation has not been abated but obvious progress has been made
and the property owner and/or violator has personally expressed the
intention of complying, the deadline may be extended for a time period
appropriate to the circumstances (i.e. a fisherman in the Bering Sea). This
extension, in most cases, will not exceed 20 calendar days, and should be
confirmed by phone or personal contact with the property owner and/or
violator and followed up with a note to the file. The intention, here, is to be
consistent with the philosophy underlying the Zoning Enforcement Policy of
focusing on elimination of the violation, not punishment of the violator.
C. If a site inspection on the deadline reveals that the violation continues with
no apparent effort made to correct it, and that the property owner and/or
violator has chosen to ignore the deadline and the directive to abate the
violation, a standard Authorization -To -Seek -Legal -Opinion form will be
filled out and submitted for signatures authorizing legal action.
D. If, after legal action has been initiated, the property owner and/or violator
asks for additional time in order to comply with the administrative decision,
the property owner and/or violator may receive one final extension if a
"confession of judgment" offering an appropriate schedule to abate the
violation is executed.
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PASSED AND APPROVED THIS 20th DAY OF JUNE, 1991.
KODIAK ISLAND BOROUGH
Boroug
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Presj ing Offic
ATTEST:
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Borough Clerk
Kodiak Island Borough, Alaska Resolution No. 91-20
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