Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Code Enforcement topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Los Altos Hills council asks staff to strengthen code‑enforcement tools after residents describe years‑long violations
Summary
After residents described years of unpermitted construction and long waits for remedial action, the council directed staff to draft a prioritized package of code‑enforcement reforms — including administrative citations, cost recovery and compliance orders — to speed compliance and reduce long open cases.
Los Altos Hills — Town staff on Thursday laid out a suite of proposed changes to the town’s code‑enforcement program and the City Council asked the administration to return with a narrowed, implementable set of ordinance changes after residents recounted long, unresolved violations.
Staff said the town currently has roughly 58 open enforcement cases, about 30 of them involving work without permits, many of which have lingered for more than a year. Staff presented options that other cities use to improve compliance: an administrative cost‑recovery program to bill for staff time, administrative citations that escalate with continued non‑compliance, and administrative compliance orders administered by a hearing officer.
The presentation, made during the council’s review of the town’s code‑enforcement program, stressed that many of the town’s longest cases involve development that requires additional regulatory review — for example grading, drainage or structural work — which lengthens the process. “Some of those later tools are a little more blunt than we need when voluntary compliance is the goal,” staff said.
Several residents told the council they had waited months or years for relief. One neighbor said an unpermitted pickleball court reported in October 2024 took 19 months of extensions and legal letters before action began; another described repeated grading and alleged undermining of a property edge that the town has not been able to correct. Speakers argued for clearer timetables, enforced penalties and better reporting on enforcement caseloads and age.
Council members and the public raised three recurring themes: (1) firefighters and public‑safety cases need a faster path to resolution, (2) the town should avoid creating penalties that are disproportionate or impossible to collect and (3) any new program must protect due process. Staff’s code‑enforcement attorney, Lance Baer, advised the council that administrative citations coupled with an administrative compliance hearing typically drive compliance in other jurisdictions.
After public comment and discussion, the council directed staff to return with a prioritized, phased proposal showing concrete ordinance language and draft cost estimates for the most promising tools — the administration said it would emphasize options that balance enforceability, due process and the town’s limited staff capacity. The council’s requested package will include drafts for administrative citations, a compliance‑order process and mechanisms to recover costs when the town must step in to abate violations.
If adopted later, the measures would allow the town to escalate remedies for repeat or prolonged violations more quickly than the current practice, which staff said often results in notices filed on title that wait until a property is sold before remedial work occurs.
The council did not adopt code changes Thursday; instead it asked staff to return with a focused, implementable menu of amendments and the expected budget and staffing impacts.
