Lake County upholds nuisance order for Cobb property; owner given two weeks to remove stored items or face abatement

The Lake County Board of Supervisors upheld a notice of nuisance and order to abate against a vacant Cobb property at 14526 Snead Drive and instructed staff to move forward with abatement if the owner did not correct the violations within two weeks.

Marcus Beltramo, manager of Lake County Code Enforcement, told the board that the county received a public complaint in May 2025 and inspected the parcel, which is zoned R-1 (single-family residential) and is recorded in the assessor’s office only as land. Beltramo said the site contained a trailer the county classifies as a recreational vehicle and miscellaneous stored materials; “anything that's stored on the property beyond 30 days, we consider that storage,” he said.

Environmental Health Director Craig Wetherbee told the board the property has an older 1992 site evaluation that resulted in a denial; the department’s letter indicated the lot’s soils and a high winter water table make a standard subsurface sewage disposal system unsuitable. “As we stand right now, there is no septic system on that site. No septic tank, no leach field,” Wetherbee said, and he added that any on-site sewage being generated and disposed of without permitted systems could violate county rules.

Appellant Jose Barbosa Garcia told the board he has contracted an engineer, that an engineered septic design had been prepared and that he planned to deliver the report to Environmental Health, but Wetherbee and staff confirmed no new report had been filed as of the hearing.

County code officer Christopher Cohen, who conducted on-site inspections, said staff had given the property owner two weeks to remove the stored materials, and that the notice of nuisance covered the storage use (the trailer and items kept on the lot) rather than the road debris collected in the gully adjacent to the property. Local resident Emily Jane Vitale, who lives across the street, told supervisors she was concerned there was no water, sewer or electric on the parcel, that a generator was used, and that roadwork debris had been dumped into a drainage ditch and could clog culverts during rain.

Supervisor comments urged the owner to follow the county’s permitting process for building and septic if he intends to develop, but stressed that living on the parcel or storing materials there without permits is not allowed. After a motion and second, the board voted “Aye” with “no opposition; motion carries,” and the board instructed staff to proceed with abatement if the items were not removed within two weeks of the hearing.

ending: The board closed the hearing and scheduled no further action at that time; staff clarified the abatement order applies to the stored trailer and associated storage on the lot, not the gully debris, although staff said voluntary removal of the gully material would be appreciated for drainage safety.