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Code enforcement amnesty: county reports 28 applications in first year; staff directed to study older-permit options
Summary
County staff reported 28 amnesty program applications in the first year, 12 approvals and $7,681 in waived code investigation fees. The board directed staff to study use of historical code cycles and expired-permit pathways for qualifying properties.
County planning and code enforcement staff gave the Board of Supervisors a first-year update on the Code Enforcement Amnesty Program, a voluntary program for property owners who discover unpermitted work after buying a property or receiving enforcement notices.
Acting Code Enforcement Supervisor Nick Huer told the board that the program has received 28 amnesty applications in its first year. Twelve applications have completed the amnesty process; three of those property owners are actively pursuing permits to legalize structures. Five applications were not approved, and six remain pending while staff gathers documentation. Staff said one of the program’s early challenges was establishing the intake process and helping property owners gather sometimes unfamiliar real-estate records.
The county also reported financial relief delivered through the program: staff has waived $7,681 in code-enforcement investigation fees for property owners who qualified for the amnesty process. The program charges an inspection fee (reported as $107) that covers staff costs for on-site inspection focused on immediate health and safety conditions; staff said inspections look for health, life and safety hazards that would block participation.
Board direction: Supervisors asked staff to investigate whether the county can use the code cycle in effect when a structure was originally built to determine permit compliance (for example, allowing owners to meet the code that applied at construction rather than today’s code for some structural elements). Planning and Building Director Karen Garner told the board that the county can explore using historic code cycles for structural work if applicants can provide satisfactory proof of a structure’s age; other elements would remain subject to current code and fire district requirements.
The board voted to receive and file the report and to direct staff to explore options that include expired permits/date-of-construction approaches and review what other jurisdictions are doing. The motion passed unanimously.
Why it matters: El Dorado County has an aging housing stock and properties with unpermitted work can slow real-estate transactions and create life-safety concerns. The amnesty program aims to balance safety, fairness to property owners and the county’s permitting standards while reducing enforcement penalties for qualifying owners who come forward voluntarily.
