Agenda - Council - 08/25/2020 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Leases The Property Owner does not have a lease with the vehicle 'cannibalizer' onsite, but instead one of his tenants subleases space to this user. The Property Owner has terminated the lease with the trucking companies, and the leases will end September 30, 2020. The Property Owner has requested this extension in order to fulfill the lease agreement he has with his tenants. Proposed Compromise 1. Staff reinspects the Subject Property on August 26, 2020 2. If more than twenty-five (25) vehicles or pieces of equipment remain that are not in compliance with City Code standards, Staff will remove items until the number reaches 25. 3. Staff will send a follow up notice with $250 citations for each tenant on August 26, 2020 if the Subject Property is not in compliance. 4. Staff will reinspect the property on September 17, 2020 (two weeks before deadline) and issue an abatement notice for all items remaining onsite. 5. Abatement will take place on October 1, 2020. Staff requested that the Property Owner waive any right to appealing these violations and agree to this process, though this agreement was not included in the written request to Staff (attached). The proposed compromise scenario would get the Subject Property into compliance before freeze, but would be approximately six (6) months from start to finish. Staff anticipates that the extension will require a few additional hours of staff time to reissue letters and communicate with contractors and to be onsite during abatement on October 1, 2020 (if needed). Alternatives Alternative 1: Approve the extension as drafted in the attached resolution, which includes an inspection on Wednesday, August 26 to ensure progress is being made onsite and a removal of all items by September 30, 2020. Staff is comfortable with this approach as the Property Owner has ended the lease with the tenants, thereby ending the sublease agreement as well. The Property Owner is supportive of this approach. Alternative 2: Tow all damaged vehicles or cannibalized vehicles on August 26, 2020 as planned and allow the trucking company and other items to remain onsite with a removal deadline of September 30, 2020. This would essentially remove the cannibalization use from the property and remove the majority of the issue items. Staff could be supportive of this alternative if the Council supported it. Alternative 3: Continue with the abatement of the site entirely on August 26, 2020 as previously directed by the City Council. Please note that towing vehicles does not charge the Property Owner, instead Northstar Towing charges the vehicle owner at pickup. The Property Owner would be assessed for any items (e.g. junk, tires, pallets, metal pieces, car pieces) that needed to be abated by Reshetar Systems on October 1, 2020. This is true of all alternatives. Funding Source: Staff handles all Code Enforcement as part of regular duties. Staff estimates that they have spent approximately ten (10) hours on this case so far and that the proposed compromise would take only a few more hours of staff time. Recommendation: Staff could be supportive of the compromise if the City Council wishes to work with the Property Owner as written. Staff could also be open to an alternative that tows all inoperable or damaged vehicles on August 26, 2020 (original abatement date) and allows the trucking company and their items to remain onsite through the end of September 2020 to finish their lease agreement. This would completely remove the vehicle cannibalization use and the majority of the problem items from the site in a more immediate fashion. Staff does note that the City Council has already authorized abatement of the Subject Property, and the formal appeal timeframe expired fourteen (14) days after the first notice of violation.