County to begin contacting holders of expired Valley fire temporary dwelling permits
LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Board of Supervisors has directed county Community Development Department staff to begin contacting Valley fire area property owners whose temporary dwelling permits, offered under direction of the governor, have expired.
Community Development Director Michalyn DelValle and Chief Building Official Mary Jane Montana appeared before the board on Tuesday morning to discuss the issue.
DelValle said former Gov. Jerry Brown’s executive order – issued at the start of October 2015, just days before the fire, which ravaged the south county, was fully contained – suspended all land use and zoning ordinances for a period of three years, allowing for temporary dwellings.
She said that executive order expired Oct. 1.
Community Development records show the department issued 152 Valley fire temporary dwelling permits, 19 of which are still being used, DelValle said.
DelValle said she and her staff wanted the board’s guidance on how to move forward now that the governor’s executive order has expired and the rules it suspended in the county’s zoning ordinance are back in effect.
“We wanted to find out if we need to notify these 19 temporary dwelling permit holders that their permits have expired,” she said.
Supervisor Moke Simon, whose district includes most of the fire area, said he attended the Anderson Springs Community Alliance meeting last month, “And it definitely is an issue that keeps coming up,” both in Anderson Springs and across the entire Valley fire footprint.
Simon asked if an inventory had been done of the 19 remaining dwellings to see if they are in the process of rebuilding, or in any process at all. “What we don’t need is long term, which I think we’re getting.”
If those property owners aren’t doing anything, Simon said the county needed to send them a letter and encourage them to move forward. He said he thought the county had potentially been going to go on a case-by-case basis to look at the different properties.
“Those 19 remaining have not started the building permit process,” Montana replied.
Supervisor Rob Brown, who formerly served on the board of Hammers for Hope, one of the organizations that received state grant funding to assist fire survivors with rebuilding, said some applicants for that program were waiting to be approved through that process and were waiting to apply to the county for permits.
Simon said it was a similar situation with Hope City, another organization assisting with the rebuild. “I do believe that we need to get notice out to them, we need to let them know that the three years is up, you need to be in process,” and that the county can then slowly work through each case. He said he was willing to help make contact with the individuals involved.
Montana said Community Development is proposing to send a letter to those 19 permit holders letting them know that their temporary permits have expired and that in order to comply with county regulations they need to submit a building permit so they can stay there while the new house is being constructed.
She said they also would remind the 19 that the county recently had reduced the minimum square footage – from 720 to 360 square feet – which will be less of a financial challenge to rebuild for some, and then give them a timeframe to comply. She proposed six months, or 180 days, to submit a building permit application.
Montana said that plan doesn’t include the people living on properties in RVs who never got the temporary dwelling permits in the first place. She said they will be handled separately, and notified that they don’t comply with county rules and that they need to take action.
“They need to be notified that that’s no longer an option for them until they submit their building permit,” she said.
Simon asked if she had a number for those unpermitted RVs. She didn’t, but offered an educated guess of between 20 and 25, based on what she’s seen in the field.
Brown said it would be worth cross-referencing the temporary permit holders with those who have applied to Hammers for Hope, Hope City and Habitat for Humanity, noting that there had been some challenges getting people qualified for the rebuilding assistance. He said it’s not happening that fast for them due to no fault of their own.
Board Chair Tina Scott asked Montana if staff could add language to that effect, and Montana said they could ask in the letter if they have applications in place and, if so, to let Community Development know.
Brown said that, overall, 19 isn’t a huge number, and only about 1 percent of the structures lost in the Valley fire. “I’m with moke, we can’t go on forever with it. But, I know that, people are doing the best they can in a lot of cases.”
Special Districts Administrator Jan Coppinger said she’s working on the new sewer system project in Anderson Springs. She has about 15 people in that area that she’s not sure will qualify for state assistance in upgrading their systems because she doesn’t know if they have gone through the permit process. She said she knows who is on the list for Hope City and the state because they’ve contacted her.
However, there are a few people living in situations that are not legal, some of them letting sewage spill on the ground. “I don’t want to legitimize that,” Coppinger said.
“We need to deal with that right away,” said Brown.
Coppinger said she has sent pictures and information to Environmental Health, but that the people say they have no place to go.
Supervisor Bruno Sabatier said he approved of the idea of the letter and how to address the situation. He said people are proposing different types of dwellings, like conex boxes, or cargo containers. But he agreed that something needed to be done separately with those who weren’t permitted in the first place and are creating health hazards.
“We’ve got to start somewhere,” and the letter is a great place to start, said Simon. He said he and Brown likely will be the first to get the phone calls, and they can work to find if the remaining 19 qualify for help and hopefully get them moved in the right direction. He said some people are just now getting building permits after three years, and others are still in the approval stages.
Brown suggested including contact information for Hammers for Hope and Hope City in the letter, since the property owners may not know that’s an option.
Simon also asked to see a draft of the letter before it goes out.
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