ACTION REQUESTED:
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Communication from the City Manager and Community Development Director with a Request to ADOPT an ORDINANCE Amending Chapter 5 and Chapter 32 of the CODE of the City of Peoria Pertaining to FINES for WORKING WITHOUT A BUILDING PERMIT and SELF-INSPECTION FORMS.
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BACKGROUND: In an effort to increase public safety and provide safeguards for residents, the Community Development Department continues to look for ways to strengthen ordinance language.
The proposed amendment strengthens language as it regards issuing a citation for working without a building permit and removes confusion as to whether a citation can be issued to a contractor hired by a property owner. On occasion, property owners are unaware their contractor did not pull a building permit. This change allows the City to cite the contractor as opposed to the property owner for failing to do so. The option to write the property owner a citation still exists, if appropriate. Additional language is added which allows the City to stop issuing building permits to contractors who are caught multiple times working without a building permit. The appeal and reinstatement process is also defined.
An additional flaw in the current language is that the prosecution process involves the Hearing Officer, as defined in Chapter 5 of the Code of the City of Peoria, Illinois. One aspect of this prosecution process states a viable defense is that the violation has been corrected. While often the goal is compliance, there is occasion where Staff feels conditions exist that warrant a fine for the initial offense. By strengthening the language and changing the prosecution process to what is identified in Chapter 32, property owners or contractors who do building work without a permit can be fined accordingly. These cases will be presented to the Administrative Hearing Officer who will determine what conditions existed at the time the citation was issued. A defense that the violation has been corrected will not be allowed.
Additional changes to the Code include the ability for the Building Official to revoke an applicant’s electrical or HVAC license in cases where fraud or gross misconduct of the applicant has occurred. The Building Official’s decision may be appealed to the Construction Commission for a fee of $100.
The final major change deals with the prosecution of the requirement that the tenant and landlord complete a self-inspection prior to the tenant inhabiting a residential space and at least once a year. As described previous, this ordinance will be enforced with processes stated in Chapter 32 that allows for a fine based on the violation existing in the first place.
FINANCIAL IMPACT: NA
NEIGHBORHOOD CONCERNS: Providing additional enforcement tools for working without a permit and failure to obtain a self-inspection form increase public safety.
IMPACT IF APPROVED: Citations issued for working without a building permit and failure to complete a self-inspection form will be sent to the Hearing Officer as defined in Chapter 32.
IMPACT IF DENIED: Citations issued for working without a building permit and failure to complete a self-inspection form will be sent to the Hearing Officer as defined in Chapter 5.
ALTERNATIVES:
EEO CERTIFICATION NUMBER:
WHICH OF THE GOALS IDENTIFIED IN THE COUNCIL’S 2014 - 2029 STRATEGIC PLAN DOES THIS RECOMMENDATION ADVANCE?
1. Attractive Neighborhoods with Character: Safe and Livable
2. Financially Sound City Government, Effective City Organization
WHICH CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTOR(S) FROM THE COMPREHENSIVE PLAN DOES THIS RECOMMENDATION IMPLEMENT?
1. Reinvest in neighborhoods.
2. Have an efficient government.
DEPARTMENT: Community Development