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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - Minutes - City Code Review Council Committee - Meeting Date: 10/24/2019Glendale A R I Z O N A MINUTES CITY CODE REVIEW COUNCIL COMMITTEE CITY HALL, CONFERENCE ROOM B3 5850 W. GLENDALE AVE. GLENDALE, ARIZONA 85301 OCTOBER 24, 2019 5:00 P.M. 1 CALL TO ORDER Meeting was called to order at 5:02 pm. 2. ROLL CALL Present: Yvonne Knaack, Member Barbara Lentz, Member Rich LeVander, Assistant Police Chief Ron Short, Member Jonathan Liebman, Member Michael Socaciu, Member Warren Wilfong, Member Bart Turner, Councilmember Ray Malnar, Councilmember Joyce Clark, Vice Mayor Absent: Mark Lilly, Member Also Present: Tim Boling, Code Compliance Official Lisa Collins, Planning Administrator Deborah Gentry, Administrative Support Specialist Shelli Henson, Council Assistant 3. CITIZEN COMMENTS Beverly Moore, Glendale Resident from the Ocotillo District, asked the committee to consider having an ordinance written to address fire pits. Michael Tibbet, Glendale Resident from the Sahuaro District, has a concern regarding a property with parking in the front yard. He stated that the ordinances should be followed as written. James Greeley, Glendale Resident from the Sahuaro District, asked who is responsible for removing the tall grass and weeds from the easements. He also stated his concern regarding his neighbors who park on the front yard of their homes. He said he has seen an improvement in the appearance of his neighborhood. 4. APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES A motion was made by Vice Mayor Clark and seconded by Committee Member Knaack to approve the minutes from the September 26, 2019 meeting. AYE: Chairperson Ray Malnar Vice Chairperson Bart Turner Vice Mayor Joyce Clark Member Yvonne Knaack Member Barbara Lentz Member Ron Short Member Michael Socaciu Member Warren Wilfong Member Jonathan Liebman Member Assistant Police Chief Rich LeVander OTHER: Member Mark Lilly (ABSENT) Passed 5. ITEMS FOR DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION a. 1993 PARKING MEMO INTERPRETATION FOLLOW UP/FRONT YARD PARKING DISCUSSION Lisa Collins, Planning Administrator, stated that she is filling in for Eric Fitzer. She stated that she is working with Tim Boling regarding the parking memos. She said they will be bringing back some information regarding the grandfathering of specific items on properties. She will have the diagram that was mentioned by Eric Fitzer as well. Chairperson Malnar asked the committee members to consider drafting language regarding these issues for the code consultants to consider. 6. UPDATES a. CITY ATTORNEY'S OFFICE There were no updates from the City Attorney's Office. b. CODE CONSULTANT There were no updates from the code consultant. 7. SUBCOMMITTEE REPORTS AND POSSIBLE ACTION a. RESIDENTIAL SUBCOMMITTEE There were no updates from the Residential Subcommittee. b. COMMERCIAL SUBCOMMITTEE Committee Member Knaack read aloud from the palm tree handout that was distributed at the last meeting. There was discussion among committee members regarding the proposed wording written in the handout. Chairperson Malnar stated that the wording could be amended to address palm trees and ground cover. Committee Member Knaack suggested that the vegetation code should be amended to be more specific. She said dirt yards and approved ground cover should be included in the vegetation code as well. Chairperson Malnar stated that items found to be acceptable should be grass, gravel, wood chips, artificial turf, and other recommended materials by consultant. He asked if there was a motion to accept this as a possible solution. Vice Chairperson Bart Turner asked about urban gardens and wanted to know how this would be addressed. There was discussion among committee members regarding urban gardens. Chairperson Malnar stated that urban gardens should be added to this recommendation. He said there should be a definition of "urban garden" and should include a limited area of the yard only. Chairperson Malnar stated that they recommend adding to the motion, the possibility of a limited well defined garden space. He stated that the committee expects the consultants to come back with a well defined definition of "ground cover". A Motion was made by Vice Mayor Clark and seconded by Committee Member Knaack to accept the following language and forward to the Code Rewrite consultant for their action. Problem: Dirt Yards are already not acceptable under code, but there needs to be more specificity on what can be used for ground cover. Solution: Make a recommendation to list out what we deem acceptable such as grass, gravel, artificial turf and other materials as recommended by consultant, including the possibility of well-defined urban gardening. AYE: Chairperson Ray Malnar Vice Chairperson Bart Turner Vice Mayor Joyce Clark Member Yvonne Knaack Member Barbara Lentz Member Ron Short Member Michael Socaciu Member Warren Wilfong Member Jonathan Liebman Member Assistant Police Chief Rich LeVander OTHER: Member Mark Lilly (ABSENT) Passed Chairperson Malnar said the next thing to be addressed is dead trees and dead shrubbery definitions that are not specific. He stated that the code states "substantially dead or damaged", the language is vague. There was discussion among committee members regarding the definition of the word "dead" written in the code. A motion was made by Vice Mayor Clark and seconded by Vice Chairperson Turner, to accept the following language and forward to the Code Rewrite consultant for their action. Problem: Dead Trees and shrubbery definitions are not specific. In the code it says, "...substantially dead or damaged...". Language is vague. Solution: We need to decide what is acceptable. The consultant and attorneys need to review the language to make it reasonable and reinforceable. Define "dead" portion, etc. Committee submits the following language: Dead portions of living vegetation must be removed, such as limbs, branches, palm fronds, or the entire vegetation and the seasonal nature of some vegetation should be considered. AYE: Chairperson Ray Malnar Vice Chairperson Bart Turner Vice Mayor Joyce Clark Member Yvonne Knaack Member Barbara Lentz Member Ron Short Member Michael Socaciu Member Warren Wilfong Member Jonathan Liebman Member Assistant Police Chief Rich LeVander OTHER: Member Mark Lilly (ABSENT) Passed Chairperson Malnar stated that the next problem is, who is responsible for keeping up city property adjacent to a property owner. Committee Member Knaack stated that in most residential properties the homeowner is responsible to care for the adjacent property. She said that most property owners are not aware that they are responsible for the care of this property. She suggested that an education program should be put in place to address this. There was discussion among committee members regarding this subject. Chairperson Malnar stated that there needs to be more discussion on this topic and that there are other areas where an education program is needed. He said they are not ready to make a recommendation on this topic. Committee Member Knaack stated there are issues of grass growing in cracks of the sidewalks by the homes. She stated that because this area is adjacent to their properties it should be addressed by the property owners. Committee Member Wilfong said he feels that this overgrowth should be addressed by the property owner. Chairperson Malnar stated that there are two items that have been approved by the committee. One is education which will be addressed at a later time. The other recommendation is that the codes regarding vegetation be consolidated in one place. A Motion was made by Vice Mayor Clark and seconded by Committee member Wilfong, to accept the following language and forward to the Code Rewrite consultant for their action. Problem: There are numerous codes on vegetation in different places. Solution: Recommend the codes regarding vegetation be consolidated in one place. AYE: Chairperson Ray Malnar Vice Chairperson Bart Turner Vice Mayor Joyce Clark Member Yvonne Knaack Member Barbara Lentz Member Ron Short Member Michael Socaciu Member Warren Wilfong Member Jonathan Liebman Member Assistant Police Chief Rich LeVander OTHER: Member Mark Lilly (ABSENT) Passed C. MISCELLANEOUS SUBCOMMITTEE Committee Member Short read aloud from a handout regarding auto sales in residential areas. There was discussion among committee members regarding how many vehicles should be allowed to be sold in a year and who can sell from the property. Chairperson Malnar stated that there should be an agreeance on the number of vehicles that should be allowed to be sold from the home. There was further discussion regarding this. Committee Member Short stated that it will be changed from 6 vehicles to 3 vehicles on the recommendation motion. A Motion was made by Committee Member Ron Short and seconded by Committee Member Michael Socaciu to recommend to the Code Rewrite consultant that auto sales in residential areas be limited to three (3) vehicles per year by the owner or occupant of the residential property, but only one (1) vehicle for sale at a time from a paved surface. Problem: Homeowners and occupants of houses in residential areas are selling multiple vehicles from their dwelling. The activity results in excessive parking of vehicles for sale on driveways, public streets and side and rear yards, which creates traffic, noise, visual and nuisance impacts. Solution: Provide for a procedure to allow compliance inspectors the ability to ask for the vehicle(s) proof of the registration to the address of the property owner or occupant of the property; the ability to view the rear or side yard from a complainant property and /or use of other means and ability to cite violations on public or private streets. The regulation needs to prohibit vehicles for sale registered to the property owner or occupants from being stored on the driveway, public streets, side and rear yards, except for the one (1) allowed vehicle for sale from a paved surface. Property owners or occupants selling registered vehicles from residential areas shall register up to three (3) vehicles with the City of Glendale within one year. Ensure that any excess vehicles to be sold over (1) at a time, is not stored on streets, driveways, side yards, etc. AYE: Chairperson Ray Malnar Vice Chairperson Bart Turner Vice Mayor Joyce Clark Member Yvonne Knaack Member Barbara Lentz Member Ron Short Member Michael Socaciu Member Warren Wilfong Member Jonathan Liebman Member Assistant Police Chief Rich LeVander OTHER: Member Mark Lilly (ABSENT) Passed d. PARKING SUBCOMMITTEE Chairperson Malnar distributed example photos of vehicles parked on a specific property. He stated that the vehicles are parked legally but this a problem. Committee Member Wilfong read aloud from a handout titled "Resident Parking Code". Chairperson Malnar asked the committee if there were any comments regarding the section of handout that was read by Committee Member Wilfong. There was discussion among committee members regarding inoperable, unregistered, salvage vehicles. Lisa Collins stated that she spoke with the consultants regarding the issue of parking and front yard parking. She said there does need to be specificity so these things can be enforced uniformly. She said that this consultant has written many ordinances regarding this and they will bring forth some good recommendations for the committee to consider. Chairperson Malnar stated that he wants to make sure that the committee's concerns are voiced to the consultants. He stated that the problem is people using the front driveway/property as storage for vehicles or other miscellaneous things. He said they would like the consultants to tell the committee how this can be controlled. A motion was made by Committee Member Short and seconded by Committee Member Socaciu that the issue of storage of vehicles and items on the front property and driveway be submitted to the consultants for review along with the specific wording mentioned in the handout titled "Resident Parking Code". AYE: Chairperson Ray Malnar Vice Chairperson Bart Turner Vice Mayor Joyce Clark Member Yvonne Knaack Member Barbara Lentz Member Ron Short Member Michael Socaciu Member Warren Wilfong Member Jonathan Liebman Member Assistant Police Chief Rich LeVander OTHER: Member Mark Lilly (ABSENT) Passed Chairperson Malnar asked that each subcommittee bring back one item for review at the next meeting. Committee Member Wilfong asked about grandfathering and stated that he did not agree with this for certain parking issues. Lisa Collins responded back by stating that grandfathering is not an option, but each issue will be based on individual circumstances. 8. STAFF REPORT There was no staff report. 9. COMMITTEE COMMENTS AND SUGGESTIONS There were no committee comments and suggestions. 10. NEXT MEETING The next regular meeting of the Code Review Council Committee will be held on December 5th, 2019 at 5:00 p.m., in conference room B3, located at 5850 West Glendale Avenue, Glendale, Arizona, 85301. 11. ADJOURNMENT Chairperson Malnar adjourned the meeting at 7:03 pm. The City Code Review Committee meeting minutes of October 24, 2019 were submitted and approved this 5th day of December, 2019. r 7 v Deborah Gentry Administrative Support Specialist