Mow Your Lawn or Face a Fine

Paint your fence, trim the hedges or face a fine.

That's the idea behind a new program for the city of Imperial Beach Code Compliance Division approved in August by the City Council.

Starting next week, inspections will be carried out by code enforcement officer David Garcias and a part-time employee.

Inspections will begin in the city's southeast corner then gradually head west. The first area of inspection will be between 13th and 15th streets, south of Imperial Beach Boulevard and north of Grove Avenue. Letters will be sent out to homeowners and tenants ahead of inspection. 

Residents will have four to six weeks to comply before facing fines.

"We're literally going into neighborhoods, property by property inspecting for the most common violations," he said, "multifamily, lower income neighborhoods."

Up until now, code compliance violations were only handed out when the city received a complaint. This will be the first proactive compliance campaign in IB history, Garcias said.

Residents found in violation will first be given a warning and if they aren't home, a door hanger will be left behind.

If the problem isn't solved, then they will receive a letter in the mail and given an additional two weeks to respond. Then a notice of violation will be sent to the owner and tenant of the property before receiving a fine.

Code enforcement officials will be looking for things like junk and debris in the yard or overgrown vegetation. If you have a fence with boards missing or chipped paint, that may also qualify as a violation.

"If you say I can't fix the fence, I don't have the money, you can take it out," he said. "You don't have to have a fence. But if you have a fence, you have to maintain it.

But, he said, there's no exact timeline and extensions can be offered.

"As long as we get the communication and they give us a date by when they're going to do it, that's what we're looking for," he said.

Initial results and feedback will be reported to the City Council in April 2011, at which time Garcias hopes to finish the first of 30 areas of inspection.

"It's a test for us too," he said. "We may have to go back to the council and say this isn't possible without more staff. It could potentially draw attention away from violations in the other 99 percent of the city."

Dan Studebaker has owned his home in Imperial Beach for seven years. He said there are many other positive reinforcements that the city can do to accomplish code enforcement without going door to door looking for infractions.

"It does not help the community," he said. "Lots of people will be pulling money out of their pockets to pay fines, leaving them less or none to improve their property. There needs to be more money flowing to the residents, rather than it being taken away from them."

Studebaker said that his neighborhood doesn't have a homeowners association and if it did, he wouldn't live here.

"I want my neighborhood to look nice," he said "but not constrained by city codes. If the city is hurting for money, what position do you think the people of the community are in?"

Rick Bradaender, a 33-year resident, said this has always been a nice quiet community and that his house is his own responsibility.

"I don't want people coming to my door," he said. "Send the code enforcers to the homes of the City Council first. I would get rid of Garcias and vote out the City Council."

"There are other ways to better the community."