Introduction of Ordinance Amending the Alameda Municipal Code by Amending Various Provisions, Including: (1) Section 2-17 of Chapter II (Administration); (2) Section 1-7 of Chapter I (General); (3) Section 2-44.1 of Chapter II; (4) Section 1-5 (Penalty Provisions; Enforcement) of Chapter I (General); (5) Section 30-23 (Certificate of Occupancy) of Chapter XXX (Development Regulations); and (6) Other Related Amendments Concerning Code Enforcement. (Community Development - Building 209)
Sure. All in favor. I. There's no nos or abstentions. You bring them. Bring the sheet back way. Is it. Is this next one? This is not. Yeah. This is an ordinance. Is. Has been. Oh, okay. Got it. So, introduction of ordinance, amending the Alameda missile code by amending various provisions, including section two, Dash 17 of Chapter two Administration. Section one, Dash seven of Chapter one, General Section two, Dash 24 two. Dash 44.1 of Chapter two, Section one, Dash five. Penalty provisions enforcement of Chapter one, Section 30, Dash 23, Certificate of Occupancy of Chapter 30 Development Regulations and other related amendments concerning code enforcement. Good evening, Mr. McFadden. I want to introduce. Greg McFadden. Said it all made a building official. So this amount this ordinance is amending seven, six different sections of the municipal code, primarily around code enforcement. The main change is reconstituting our appeals board. In the past we had an appeals board that fell in disuse and we were using a single hearing officer. Recent court case involving the city of Oakland made that not something we can no longer do. So we've tapped three members of our historic historic advisory board who meet the requirements in the building code to sit on the appeals board. And when appeals come up, we'll have a appeals hearing prior to an H-E-B meeting. So there'll be regularly schedule meetings they can meet into our appeals process. The other changes are fairly straightforward. Section one seven just some changes to how appeals are handled. Change two We have an outdated term chief building inspector, which is no longer used, hasn't been used in a long time. Changed that to that what's the building code uses which is building official some changes to section one five increasing fines for commercial properties, a administrative change to a current practice that we have regarding certificates of occupancy for commercial tenants where it's just a change in ownership and adding members of the Fire Prevention Bureau to the list of people who can issue administrative citations. Okay. Is there any discussion with public speaker here on this? We have no. City Councilmember Day, so. Great. Well, thank you. I was the one who pulled this. And I just have a quick question. So I have a hypothetical example when it comes to the certificate of occupancy. So suppose a coffee shop closes on Park Street and that the the the space is vacant for three months and that a new coffee shop opens if this is adopted. Are we saying that the new coffee shop is also going to have to get a certificate of occupancy similar to the way in which the old one. Yeah. Yeah. This is not a change in policy. It's, it's clarifying the municipal code. For the past 15 years or so, we have done just what you've outlined. A coffee shop goes out of business, new coffee shop comes in, we get a certificate of occupancy. A couple of reasons. One, we want to see the space. The old coffee shop may have been there for quite some time. So we ask for a simple floor plan. We don't do an inspection. It's a minor fee, I think $109 currently. And we have actually had a recent code enforcement case that got fairly messy because the property owner didn't understand that the new tenant needed to follow the same rules as the old tenant. And this was what led to this change to clarified in the municipal code, a current practice. So currently we do, we do require a certificate of occupancy and we do collect whatever fees associated with a new tenant but the same use. It's just that the language isn't. It wasn't clear the the reading of the building code says change in use. We've interpreted it I've interpreted that to mean, okay, this is a new owner. Okay, my mike and I just want to say from the outset that my concern was that if the standard practice was all coffee shop closes spaces, vacant, all coffee shop with certificate of occupancy closes vacant and the new coffee shop comes in. And if the standard was that we did not require the new coffee shop to have a certificate of occupancy, in other words, have to shell out another however much it costs. Then I would have preferred that we not do that. But if you're saying that the standard is is that we actually do require when new uses that are consistent with zoning fill a place that we do require a certificate of occupancy. Again. Again, we have to pay the fees if that's what we've always done. But then I'm playing with that. So and the issue then is just clarifying the language and that it's correct. Yes. Oh, by the way. And I just want to make sure to say that, you know, I also submitted my questions to the staff earlier so they knew ahead of time. And to me, it's important, at least, you know, that for from the vantage point of the public that we understand, what are the issues that are concerning council members and others? Thank you. Thank you. Appreciate that. I'll move approval of staff recommendation with regard to final. Okay. I have a motion. Is there a second? A second? Any discussion? All in favor. I opposed. Abstain. Okay. The ordinance is approved unanimously. Thank you. And then was that the last of our consent? If that is the last of the consent items. Okay, so then we move on to the regular agenda items.