Logo courtesy of Yuba City

YUBA CITY, CA (MPG) – Yuba City officials approved placing more than $64,000 in unpaid code enforcement citation fines on the county property tax roll July 7, allowing the city to recover costs through special assessments and property liens while granting a second chance to five property owners who appeared at a public hearing.

The action covered 103 unpaid administrative citations with individual fines ranging from $100 to $3,500. City officials said citations are issued only after property owners fail to correct violations or work with code enforcement to resolve them.

"Code enforcement's goal is always to bring property into compliance with our municipal code," Development Services Director Doug Libby said. "Only when a case remains unresolved, progress is not moving forward, are citations issued as a mechanism to bring a property into compliance."

During the public hearing, the owners of five affected properties asked the council to reconsider their fines, describing circumstances they believed justified relief.

One couple said citations involving roosters stemmed from Yuba City's well-known feral chicken population rather than birds they owned. They said they removed their hens, to reduce attracting feral roosters, abandoned their chicken coop and attempted to comply before the city conducted a scheduled follow-up inspection.

Another property owner said he maintained communication with a former code enforcement officer regarding an overgrown vacant lot and believed the matter had been resolved after the property was cleaned. Others cited medical issues that delayed their ability to address a box truck, overgrown weeds or other violations. One owner said notices had been mailed to an incorrect address before he learned of the citation and immediately cut weeds and trimmed trees after being contacted.

Councilmembers acknowledged that none of the property owners had used the city's formal administrative appeal process within the required time period. However, several also noted that a former code enforcement officer who handled some of the cases had since left city employment, leaving unanswered questions about conversations between staff and residents.

Mayor Marc Boomgaarden said he was troubled by the missing continuity, particularly in cases where residents claimed they had worked with city staff or corrected the violations.

"It seems to me that the departure puts us in a bit of a spot," he said.

Rather than immediately imposing liens on the five properties whose owners appeared, the council directed staff to reinspect those properties. If staff confirms the violations have been corrected, the properties will be removed from the lien resolution.

"It does seem apparent that (they) have taken steps to remedy the problems," Councilmember Wade Kirchner said.

Councilmember Dave Shaw reminded residents to respond promptly to notices from the city in the future and to use the administrative appeal process when they disagree with a citation.

The unpaid citation fines not addressed at the pubic hearing will be added to property tax bills as approved, officials said.