Sonoma Code Enforcement open for business

Loud leaf blowers. A neighbor’s crazy construction project or illegal vacation rental. The 3 a.m. party next door. Many of the complaints of city life are already addressed by laws, but until, recently, the City of Sonoma lacked the staff to investigate citizen complaints.

Enter Patrick Galvin, recently hired as the City’s new part-time Code Enforcement Officer, working under the direction of the City Prosecutor, Bob Smith.

A lawyer by training, Galvin has many years of experience in code enforcement, and previously served as code enforcement Administrative Law Judge for Sausalito and San Rafael. Both Galvin and Smith have completed training provided by the California Association of Code Enforcement Officers.

Located with the City Police Dept. at 175 First St. West, Code Enforcement has been up and running since May 1, and very busy. Smith and Galvin have developed processes with City staff to facilitate a rapid response to complaints received both from City Departments and the general public.

Its charter covers a number of code areas, including

• Illegal or non-permitted construction activities
• Investigation of vacation rental operations in residential neighborhoods
• Conditional Use Permit violations
• Public Nuisance issues
• Noise Ordinance violations
• Zoning complaints
• Non-permitted advertising signs

To date, more than 50 code violation cases have been opened, 19 of which have been successfully closed by securing code compliance. Hearings are currently pending in an additional 11 cases, five of which concern vacation rentals.

In addition, the office has received 94 complaints to date concerning businesses operating in the City without proper licenses. Those businesses are being contacted and 32 cases have been resolved so far. Delinquent business license fees collected total $7,300, a figure certain to increase as outstanding cases are concluded.

Beyond “upholding the law,” Smith, who lives and works in Sonoma, sees code enforcement as a quality of life issue. He notes that many City regulations and ordinances are intended to safeguard health and safety of the general public, while others create and preserve the civic environment that makes living in Sonoma special.

If complaints received are indicative, residents — many of whom are paying dearly to own or rent a home in the City — take a dim view of vacation rentals and Airbnbs in their neighborhoods, and of neighbors who take code short-cuts or let their properties fall into dangerous disrepair. Smith believes such violations, if unchecked, can erode both property values and the quality of life most residents have come to expect.

He also noted that unlike other commercial lodgings such as hotels and B & B’s, vacation rentals are not subject to fire and safety standards and inspections or ADA requirements. What’s more, unpermitted vacation rentals do not pay the Transient Occupancy Tax required of all commercial lodging establishments.

Code Enforcement’s goal is to respond to complaints within 24 hours, but it does not routinely patrol the streets looking for violators. Enforcement is typically triggered by complaints received from the general pubic or from employees of various City departments who discover infractions in the course of their duties.

The office will not disclose the names of complaining parties but it normally will not act on an anonymous complaint. Smith explained that the office does not have the resources to chase down anonymous complaints, some of which can be false reports made to harass a neighbor or business. In addition, an investigation often requires contacting the complaining party to gather additional information.

Smith stressed that the office’s primary objective is not collecting revenue but obtaining voluntary compliance. While collecting fees, fines and taxes owed is important, only when compliance is not forthcoming does the office ‘escalate’ the process to hearings and other legal action. The five vacation rental cases are now in the hearing stage.

Crime and traffic control are not in its job description, but the office works closely with police. On Farmers Market nights, for example, Code Enforcement has issued warnings for illegal parking in handicapped and red curb zones, practices that create risks for disabled individuals and for the general public in event of fire or other emergencies.

Asked to highlight some recent actions, Smith noted that Code Enforcement pays particular attention to property with vacant or abandoned structures. In one case, a mid-day drinking party in an abandoned building resulted in a teenage girl being airlifted to a hospital because of acute alcohol poisoning. The office inspected the property and contacted the property’s out-of-state owners who immediately had the property boarded up and secured.

In another case, police ‘busted’ tenants of a house who were operating a thriving illegal marijuana grow business. Code Enforcement was notified and discovered a number of building code violations, and that tenants had bypassed the PG & E meter to steal power for their ‘agricultural’ operations. The landlord was contacted and the tenants were evicted. The house was red-tagged and locked and cannot be occupied until the owner corrects all code violations and PG&E restores service. Smith said that when Code Enforcement was on site, relieved neighbors stopped to congratulate them for their good work.

In short, the Code Enforcement office is definitely open for business. Complaints can be filed 24/7 by contacting 707-565-4240 or [email protected].

Read our editorial