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April 9, 2012

DHS Public Safety Commission - March 8

Public Comments

Jim Provance had a comment on the city budget. 75% of it goes to public safety, which is about $11.5 million. The Public Safety Commission has the strongest input on those items. He mentioned Roy's Resource Center as an example. How much does Roy's unburden the police and possibly fire and code enforcement? If that could be documented, that could be used to support a city allocation for Roy's. The Gang Task Force is another example. As attention is focused on youth, they are less likely to commit crimes later. If there are programs to deal with the prison releases caused by AB109, it may be less expensive to have those in place first, before problems arise.

Vacation Rental Home Ordinance

The proposed ordinance had been reviewed at a joint meeting of the Public Safety and Planning Commissions.

David Hoopes rose to make a comment. He was at the joint meeting and it struck him that almost every issue in the ordinance is already found in the city codes elsewhere. They are already subject to TOT. There are noise ordinances. He questions the need for the ordinance. Maybe the police who go out to a nuisance call just need a handy reference of the various provisions that may apply to vacation rentals. He pointed out 5.44.050(a)8 in the proposed ordinance. That sentence requires the property owner to submit his registration certificate in order to apply for a registration certificate. This catch-20 was pointed out during the joint meeting, but it was still in the written proposal before the Public Safety Commission.

Marken Adams said lots of progress has been made in getting the ordinance finished. He said that California law says that transient rentals cannot be restricted by the city based on age, but if the renter is under age 18 "you can require a written, signed assumption of responsibility." The definition of who is an innkeeper has been established by common law for centuries. The ordinance still requires an indemnification of the city, which is a taking, he said.

Commissioner Bowman asked where the indemnity of the city is addressed in the ordinance. Mr. Adams said it was in 5.44.050(g):

The application for a vacation rental registration certificate shall be accompanied by proof of general liability insurance in the amount of one million dollars combined single limit and an executed agreement to indemnify, defend and hold the city harmless from any and all claims and liability of any kind whatsoever resulting from or arising from the operation of a city permitted vacation rental.

Mr. Bowman said he agrees with Mr. Adams. As a hotelier he has not indemnified the city on his insurance policy.

Jim Provance said he is working on a public speaking merit badge. He said progress is being made on the ordinance, but it's not there yet. He said there are maybe 20 vacation rental homes in the city. The biggest issue is probably noise and the number of cars, and those are dealt with in existing ordinances. The idea of the pamphlet is a good idea. He thinks it could be strengthened by having the renter sign a statement acknowledging that if he violates X, Y or Z the police will come and he will be fined.

Tom Hile said he had given his written comments to Commander Singer. There are still a lot of little things in this ordinance. He thinks a work session with a couple of Public Safety Commissioners, a couple of Planning Commissioners and citizens who want to put together a good ordinance would work better than these formal meetings. He said vacation rentals are usually good tenants and good neighbors. The requirement for a 45-minute response 24/7 by the owner or management firm is not do-able. It will make management firms turn people down. He has never seen an ordinance like this that required the property owner to indemnify the city. Landlords have very little legal recourse to render a quick remedy on problem tenants. They are bound by basically the same laws that apply to long-term rentals. A stern warning can be given, but in order to actually do anything, the owner has to give a 3-day notice. Then if that doesn't work, the next legal step runs 45 to 90 days.

Chair Martin observed that the 45-minute response requirement was to have been removed, as decided at the earlier joint meeting. Commander Singer said she thought it was deleted in two places, but was overlooked in 5.44.080(d). That will be removed, she said.

Mr. Bowman suggested that item (g), the one about indemnifying the city, be struck entirely. Commander Singer said she had discussed that with Attorney Sparks, and they had added that back in. Mr. Bowman said that as a hotel owner he has nothing like that. The property owner, not the city, bears the burden of risk.

Mr. Bowman pointed out that the definition of "vacation rental unit" in the proposed ordinance says the rental period would be 30 days or less. The city's TOT ordinance says 29 days or less. They should match.

Mr. Martin said recommendations had been made on revising the chart that regulates the number of occupants compared to the number of bedrooms. The changes were not reflected in the current copy of the proposal.

Mr. Hoopes commented that he recalled that the city attorney had said the reason for the indemnification of the city was in case a neighbor sued the city because it was now allowing a vacation rental in violation of the zoning.

Mr. Martin asked for a summary of changes: the requirement to have a TOT registration certificate to get a TOT registration certificate; a clarification of the indemnification requirement; to revise the occupancy chart to cut it off at 5 bedrooms or more; elimination of the 45-minute response requirement.

Animal Control

There were 284 calls for service in February 2012, compared to 209 in February 2011, a 36% increase. Dog impounds (strays) in February 2011 were 97, but only 75 in February 2012. Officer Huffman says that indicates some headway is being made in the number of stray dogs on the streets of the city. The number of citations for dogs rose, however, from 29 in February 2011 to 37 in February 2012. This indicates that rather than impounding dogs, the officers are chasing them home, where they can then cite their owner.

Fire

Chief Veik said that fire calls are down. January 2012 was one of their busiest months (339 calls), but there were 70 fewer calls in February (258 total). Many of the calls were wind-related. Fire crews had to stand by arcing power lines while Edison prepared to try to deal with them.

Chief Veik talk about the green waste fires that have been repeatedly popping up near 20th and Palm. The fire is deep-seated in about 5 feet of green waste and mulch. There are improvements (homes, sheds, vehicles) in the area. Winds had been running from 40 to 72 MPH. They've dumped thousands of gallons of water with 30 different fire engines there. At one point there were 12 engines, a bulldozer, a CalFire hand crew, and two water tankers on scene for a 13-hour all-night stretch. The Chief has conferred with the property owner and they have devised a solution. There will be a delay, however, because it's on desert wildlife habitat. Approvals must be gotten first.

The Chief also reported on the garage fire that disclosed a marijuana grow operation. It was outside the city limits.

On the subject of the fire department inspection program, the Chief said they have come across a problem in record keeping. They've got a planned solution and are working with building safety to get some properties reclassified. Schools, child-care facilities, elderly assistance facilities are being regularly inspected. There are 85 of those in the city. There have been no hotel inspections, however, even though the fire code requires inspections.

Chief Williams is considering a proposal to require every business seeking its annual business license renewal to attend a free one-hour class that would remind the business owners of fire and public safety requirements.

Chief Veik announced that he would be re-assigned effective April 2. He will be in charge of the county's hazardous materials program at San Jacinto.

Code Enforcement

Al Sengstock was not present. Commandeer Singer was on hand to deliver this report. She said that Mr. Sengstock was moving to a different position in JAS, outside of Desert Hot Springs. They've made some personnel realignments within the foreclosure team. They also plan to line up code enforcement with the Community Policing Initiative. IOW, each of the four CPI quadrants will have a code enforcement officer as well as a police officer assigned.

One of the structures targeted for an abatement warrant that will allow the city to demolish it is the house across from First Baptist Church where there some gang-related shootings last year.

There is also an old resort property on Club Circle that will be used in a training burn. That is, the fire department will burn it down on purpose. (I believe it's this one (Google satellite view) just west of Tuscan Springs.)

February statistics:
Administrative citations issued: $12,500
Paid: $1,368.12

Abandoned/Foreclosed Property citations/penalties issued: $92,900
Paid: $82,898.91

Demand letters: 40 with a total value of $260,819.99

Police

Calls for service compared to a year ago are down about 5%. Arrests are down 14%. Citations have gone up 64%. Those are mostly due to traffic at Palm and I-10. The police have been stationing a patrol car there, as workload permitted, and started citing people who ignored the cones, drove on the breakdown lane, or just set out across open desert (yeehaw!). You probably noticed that things got better.

Part 1 crimes in February 2012 were 103 compared to 129 in February 2011.

Now the police are focusing on Painted Hills Middle School while kids are going and coming. In addition police will pick a school a week for concentrated enforcement action. Tickets will be issued. [Moms will not be exempt.]

School Resource Officer Rene Olague issued 15 truancy citations in February 2012.

Two officers were sent to some specialized domestic violence training.

Three officer candidates are going into background investigation.

Towards the end of April the police will be testing for sergeant candidates.

Chair Martin asked if all the local agencies report their statistics to the FBI fairly. He wants to be able to show that crime is regional.

Vice Chair Bowman talked about the speeding problem on Mountain View. He asked if any bad guys were nabbed during the traffic enforcement at I-10 and Palm. Commander Singer said maybe 3 were arrested, and those were warrant arrests.

The police are seeking grants to pay for some solar speed warning signs. It would be unsafe to put our speed warning trailer on a narrow road like Mountain View.

Police Officer Daniel Brazeal is going to training to be a traffic enforcement officer. He will not be a motorcycle operator. He won't do full time traffic work until the police department is fully staffed.

Reports

Commissioner Brady talked about the new ad hoc gang subcommittee. She asked about the police department's knowledge of who is doing tagging. Commander Singer explained there is a difference between a "tagging" crew and a gang. Tagging crews are more artists. Gangs do it as a territorial thing.

Vice Chair Bowman said that our Police Chief is a master chess player when it comes to figuring out how to be effective and get the most bang for the buck.

Commissioner Vasquez said the CPI night was a very good event. She said the gang subcommittee will be bringing in some outside people to discuss what's best for us.

Commissioner Eastman said the gang subcommittee was very productive. He was impressed by the big turnout at the CPI event at the high school. There weren't complains about burglaries, robberies or homicides. People were concerned about speeding and graffiti.

Jim Provance asked for a final clarification on the vacation rental ordinance. Was the commission sending it on to council with comments, or did the commission want it to come back to the commission for another look? Chair Martin said he would like it to come back to the commission.

Filed under Desert Hot Springs | permalink | April 9, 2012 at 03:13 PM

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