Joint D City Council 1Z! CITY OF GLENDALE, CALIFORNIA REPORT TO THE: Housing Authority D Successor Agency D Oversight Board D February 10, 2015 AGENDA ITEM Report: Information on Code Compliance Policy for Unpermitted Window Installations 1. Motion approving staff's recommended policy for addressing unpermitted window installations. COUNCIL ACTION Public Hearing D Ordinance D Consent Calendar D Action Item IZ! Approved for&, I 0 1 7fJ IS- calendar Report Only D ADMINISTRATIVE ACTION Submitted by: Hassan Haghani, Director of Community Development Prepared by: Philippe Eskandar, Administrative Officer Approved by: Scott Ochoa, City Manager Reviewed by: Yasmin K. Beers, Assistant City Manager ( Michael J. Garcia, City Attorney Timothy Foy, Deputy Director of Planning & Neighborhood Services John Brownell, Principal Neighborhood Services Supervisor Jay Platt, Senior Urban Designer 8 A f
RECOMMENDATION Staff respectfully recommends the City Council adopt the criteria below as the code compliance policy for unpermitted window installations to ensure life safety standards of the California Building Code are met and architectural compatibility is maintained. BACKGROUND/ANALYSIS In 201 O, Community Development staff presented the City Council with a report on unpermitted window installations throughout the city. At that time, the City Council directed staff to develop a reasonable policy to address unpermitted window installations. Council directed staff to enforce City regulations with current owners who were responsible for window cha nge-outs. However, there was not a well-defined directive concerning prioritizing enforcement for properties where it could be shown that previous owners were responsible. Subsequently, many properties were brought into compliance by obtaining the required permits for window installations. In a few cases, enforcement action was deferred due to new owners being unaware of the unpermitted windows and were unwilling to alter windows to obtain design review exemption, or Design Review Board approval. Since this update and subsequent public education efforts, staff has seen a decline in the number of unpermitted window installations. Staff has been asked to revisit the issue to explore any advances that may assist property owners in achieving compliance. A significant concern with unpermitted window installations is the life safety concerns for the occupants of the property. The 2013 California Building and Residential Codes( 1029, R310, and R612) require all window installations be permitted and inspected to insure that proper ingress and egress requirements are met for emergencies. To meet minimum life safety standards, it is crucial that some level of compliance be achieved by all properties with unpermitted windows installations. Staff has refined the following policy to achieve minimum life safety compliance while assisting new property owners: 1. Current Property Owners Responsible for Unpermitted Installations: Staff is not recommending any modifications to the current policy to address this category of violations. Upon identification and verification that a property owner is responsible for the unpermitted windows, the property owner will be required to obtain proper permits for all unpermitted window installations on the property. The process will be the same to that which would be required of any regular applicant for a window permit. If the installed windows can be permitted in their current condition (i.e. they meet the Residential Window Replacement Guidelines), staff will issue a design review exemption and Building and Safety staff will review plans for compliance with the applicable codes, hopefully followed by issuance of permits and a field inspection. If the installed windows do not meet the Guidelines as installed, the applicant will have to submit plans to modify or replace the windows to meet the Guidelines, or seek approval from the Design Review Board. 2. Current Property Owners Who Purchased the Property with Prior Unpermitted Installations: The proposed compliance policy for this category of violators resolves life safety concerns immediately while also providing a path for eventual addressing of aesthetic concerns. 2
Although property owners may not have been aware that the property they purchased was in violation with various codes, the owners of the property must make an attempt to legalize the unpermitted windows. If the installed windows cannot be permitted at the staff level, then enforcement would be deferred except for those windows that are located in sleeping rooms. This exclusion is due to the seriousness of this life safety issue. It is imperative that minimum acceptable safety standards be achieved with such properties. This would apply to all cases where windows were actually or presumptively installed by a previous owner, those that arise in the future as well as those which are already known. In an effort to not overburden new property owners, staff will require the minimum standards for ingress and egress as outlined by the California Building and Safety Code be met. This minimum standard dictates, in part, that at least one window in each sleeping room must meet the ingress and egress standards. As such, staff will require property owners to obtain permits to legalize at least one such window in each affected sleeping room. The City shall record a "Notice of Substandard Building" at the County Recorder's Office ensure that the next property owner is made aware of the remaining unpermitted windows and their responsibility to comply with the code. Although the Notice does not strictly require remediation upon point of sale, lenders will typically require that the Notice be lifted prior to funding a mortgage loan. The Notice will not disrupt an all-cash sale, but these transactions represent a minority of sales within the city. At any time prior to a sale, the property owner may legalize the remaining unpermitted windows and have the "Notice of Substandard Building" lifted. It is important to note, just as with any other form of construction which has taken place prior to proper permits being obtained, double fees will be assessed under all such circumstances. Because the window replacement occurred without permits, almost all cases will lack documentation as to when the window change-out occurred. Occasionally, another City permit for other types of work may reference existing windows or contain photos of them. Other tools available include Pictometry or Google Street View, which now lets users view street views recorded in the past, dating back to about 2008 in the best of cases. Owners or Realtors may also have photos from the time of purchase. It should be noted that in many cases, none of the above resources will be available or conclusive. In those cases, unless a physical inspection can determine the approximate age of the windows, staff will accept the property owner's word and file a Notice of Substandard Building. Finally, regarding historic properties, the enforcement policy for window change-outs by previous owners would not apply to homes which are listed on the Glendale Historic Register or located in districts with historic designation. Such properties would be required to go through the full permitting and legalization process for all windows (for Register properties) or for all windows visible from the public right-of-way (for historic district properties) as soon as the violation is identified. It is important to note that the Community Development Department's code compliance workload is largely complaint driven by the community; an approach which has been supported by the Council. This community driven method will continue to be used with this modified window compliance policy, if approved. It is important to note that there are many unpermitted 3
window installations throughout the city that remain unknown to staff or the community. On the other hand, when Code Compliance staff inspects a property for any reason, they are expected to include all obvious compliance issues, even if unrelated to the original complaint. This practice attempts to inform property owners of all issues at one time, and not add new Code violations with each inspection. Point of Sale Inspection Program One additional option provided to the Council during the 201 O report was the potential development of a "Point of Sale" inspection program. Although the Council did not support this option at the time, such a program would offer a possible compliance mechanism. A point of sale inspection program, as implemented in other cities, would require all single-family residential units (houses and condominiums) to be inspected at the time they are sold, usually during the escrow process. The purpose of the inspection is to identify municipal or building code violations that might threaten the health or safety of the new owners while aiding in the preservation of property values. The most common items inspected during a point of sale inspection include electrical, plumbing, and heating systems, structural hazards, health and safety items, and zoning concerns such as illegal building additions or conversions. Similar programs in other cities are in large part self-supported through the charging of fees for services. However, the establishment of such a program in Glendale would require additional staffing in the Code Compliance section. With the implementation of a point of sale inspection program, properties throughout the city will become generally more compliant with various codes, resulting in a decrease in the need for complaint driven enforcement. It is anticipated that the local Realtor community would like to have input in the development of such a program. FISCAL IMPACT There is no additional fiscal impact as part of this policy; the code compliance actions are a part of the department's normal work functions. Should the Council consider the point of sale inspection program as a viable option, a fiscal impact would result due to the need for additional staffing. The staffing requirements and other fiscal components are unknown at this time due to the lack of scope for such a program but could be explored during the fiscal year 2015-2016 budget preparation if desired. ALTERNATIVES Alternative 1: Approve the policy as given in the attached motion. Alternative 2: City Council may consider requiring all property owners, regardless of when the unpermitted windows were installed, to bring all windows into compliance rather than just those required for ingress and egress by the California Building and Safety Code. Alternative 3: City Council may consider directing staff to develop a point of sale inspection program as the sole method of addressing unpermitted window installations or in conjunction with the recommended compliance policy. Alternative 4: The City Council may consider any other alternative not proposed by staff. CAMPAIGN DISCLOSURE Not Applicable EXHIBITS Exhibit 1: "Replacing Your Windows?" Handout 4
MOTION Moved by Council Member------------' and seconded. by Council Member, that the City Council hereby approves the unpermitted window installation compliance policy set forth in the February 10, 2015, staff report from the Director of Community Development, and subject to any Council comments or recommendations thereon. Vote as follows: Ayes: Noes: Absent: Abstain: j:\files\docfiles\mtn\unpermitted window compliance policy recommendation mtn.docx
------------ glen~~!~~@~ E_ x_h_ib_it_1 Replacing Your Windows? You Need A Permit! J Residents and contractors: if you are replacing a window(s) in your house, you need a permit from the City of Glendale Building and Safety Department. This applies even when you are changing windows, but keeping the frame. Visit the Permits Section of the Building and Safety Department before starting construction and bring the following: A complete plot plan (minimum 8.5 x 11" size) of the property, showing location of where the windows are to be replaced (or have already been replaced). Photographs of the buildings on the property (whole building - front, side, rear, garage, etc.) - not polaroid pictures. What "new" windows will look like (either a brochure for proposed new windows, or photographs of already replaced windows). For more information, call the Permits Section of the Building and Safety DeP-artment at (818) 548-3200. NOTE: If you already replaced windows, but did not get a permit, you are still required to get permits. Glendale Community Development Department Planning Division 633 East Broadway, Room 103 Glendale, CA 91206 (818) 548-2140 City of Glendale. California Community Development Department... Planning & Neighborhood Services Division (818) 548-3700 --------' 633 East Broadway. Room 101. Glendale. CA 91206