REQUEST FOR CITY COUNCIL ACTION
DATE: 04/17/2024
TO: Honorable Mayor and City Council Members
FROM: Planning and Development Department
SUBJECT:
Title
RESOLUTION AMENDING THE ADMINISTRATIVE PENALTIES SCHEDULE FOR VIOLATIONS OF THE CORONA MUNICIPAL CODE
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
This staff report asks the City Council to approve Resolution No. 2024-009 to amend the City’s administrative penalties schedule to include an administrative penalty for violating the City’s Sign Ordinance on temporary signs located on public property or in the public right-of-way. Ordinance 3392 was adopted by the City Council on April 3, 2024, prohibiting the placement of temporary signs in the public right-of-way and goes into effect on May 3, 2024. The proposed request will allow administrative fines to be issued for each temporary sign removed by Code Compliance located on public property or in the public right-of-way.
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Recommended action
That the City Council adopt Resolution No. 2024-009 amending the administrative penalties schedule for violations of the Corona Municipal Code.
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BACKGROUND & HISTORY:
The City Council at its meeting on April 3, 2024, adopted Ordinance 3392, which amended Corona Municipal Code Section 17.74.070, to prohibit temporary signs in the public right-of-way. The ordinance will go into effect on May 3, 2024.
Currently, the City’s Sign Ordinance allows temporary signs in the public right-of-way according to certain regulations provided in Section 17.74.070(I) of the Corona Municipal Code (CMC). Individuals placing temporary signs in the public right-of-way in violation of the city’s ordinance are subject to administrative fines. The city has an administrative penalty schedule for fines and a fee schedule that provides conflicting fees when it comes to issuing an administrative fine for temporary signs placed in the public right-of-way. Additionally, the fee provided on the city’s fee schedule requires the person who was issued the violation to pay the fine at City Hall instead of through the city’s data ticket process, which can be done electronically online. The proposed amendment to the city’s administrative penalty schedule will correct this discrepancy and provide an administrative fine that can be issued per temporary sign removed from public property or the public right-of-way by Code Compliance using the data ticket process. This is consistent with how Code Compliance processes all other administrative fines.
ANALYSIS:
According to CMC Section 17.74.200, signs illegally located on public property or in the public right-of-way can be removed by city personnel at the expense of the responsible party. The city’s fee schedule allows the city to apply a charge of $156 per sign removed. The amendment to the administrative penalty schedule will allow the city to instead issue an administrative citation according to Section 1.08.130 of the CMC for $156 per temporary sign removed for each offense. This change will allow Code Compliance to use the data ticket process, which is a third-party entity that assists the city in collecting administrative fines. This process is more efficient and is currently used by Code Compliance to issue administrative citations for other violations of the CMC. Therefore, this amendment will establish consistency in the city’s operation for administering administrative citations.
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
There is no financial impact associated with the recommended action.
ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS:
This action is exempt pursuant to Section 15061(b)(3) of the Guidelines for the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), which states that a project is exempt from CEQA if the activity is covered by the commonsense exemption that CEQA applies only to projects that have the potential for causing a significant effect on the environment. Where it can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility that the activity in question may have a significant effect on the environment, the activity is not subject to CEQA. This action involves amending the administrative penalties schedule for violations of the Corona Municipal Code, and there is no possibility that the amendment will have a significant effect on the environment. Therefore, no environmental analysis is required.
PREPARED BY: RACHEL BOTTKA, CODE COMPLIANCE SUPERVISOR
REVIEWED BY: JOANNE COLETTA, PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR
Attachments:
1. Exhibit 1 - Resolution No. 2024-009 (clean version)
2. Exhibit 2 - Resolution No. 2024-009 (redline version)