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2009-27234 ResoRESOLUTION NO. 2009-27234 A RESOLUTION OF THE MAYOR AND CITY COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF MIAMI BEACH, FLORIDA, ADOPTING ADMINISTRATIVE GUIDELINES FOR THE ADMINISTRATION OF ARTICLE II ENTITLED "SPECIAL MASTERS" AND ARTICLE III ENTITLED "ENFORCEMENT PROCESS" OF CHAPTER 30 OF THE MIAMI BEACH CITY CODE. WHEREAS, at the May 5, 2009 Finance and Citywide Projects Committee meeting, a discussion was held on methods to improve procedural practices regarding the submission of cases to the Office of the Special Master for adjudication and any fines or liens which may result therefrom; and WHEREAS, the Finance and Citywide Projects Committee has recommended to the City Commission that a series of administrative procedural initiatives be prepared in the form of written guidelines for approval by the City Commission; and WHEREAS, at the September 9, 2009 Commission meeting, the Mayor and City Commission recommended modifications and additions to the Administrative Guidelines and requested that they be brought back for approval ;and WHEREAS, the adoption of the Administrative Guidelines, attached hereto as Exhibit "A" and incorporated herein by reference, will improve both the consistency of cases presented to the Special Master's office and the procedures followed regarding Notice of Violations, fines and/or liens to property owners. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT DULY RESOLVED BY THE MAYOR AND THE CITY COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF MIAMI BEACH, FLORIDA, that the Mayor and City Commission hereby approve the Administrative Guidelines attached hereto as Exhibit "A", and incorporated herein by reference, for guidance on the administration of Article II entitled "Special Masters" and Article Ilf entitled "Enforcement Process" of Chapter 30 entitled "Code Enforcement" of the Miami Beach City Code. PASSED and ADOPTED this 14th day of October 2009. A T: ay r ,~ Matti Herrera Bower L ~ ~t~-~. CITY CLERK Robert Parcher T:IAGENDA120091September 9\Consent\AdminGuidelinesspecMasterReso9-9-09.doc IP~tOVED AS TO - M & LANGUAGE B~ FC~R EXECUTION I~ ,t,, ` ~ 6 ~~ u~( Condensed Title: COMMISSION ITEM SUMMARY A Resolution adopting Administrative Guidelines for the Administration of Article II entitled "Special Masters" and Article III entitled "Enforcement Process" of Cha ter 30 of the Miami Beach Code. Intended Outcome Ensure compliance with code within reasonable time frame. Supporting Data (Surveys, Environmental Scan, etc.): N/A Issue: Shall the Ma or and Ci Commission adopt the Resolution? Item Summa /Recommendation: At the May 5, 2009 Finance & Citywide Projects Committee meeting a discussion was undertaken on outstanding liens on properties in the City of Miami Beach and actions being recommended or pursued to improve upon procedural practices and/or to resolve most of the liens. The FCWPC members also discussed administrative initiatives being undertaken to improve upon the lien process and the consistency of cases which are submitted to the Special Master for adjudication. Members of the FCWPC supported the Administrative initiatives being undertaken and requested that those initiatives be drafted in the form of Administrative Guidelines which the full City Commission could approve by Resolution. The Administrative Guidelines are attached to the Resolution and are in the same format as previously used for the Administrative Guidelines associated with the enforcement of the Noise Ordinance. The key components of the Guidelines are as follows: Purpose and intent, Transmittal of enforcement cases to the Special Master, Documentation of Reasonable Efforts to Contact the Owner/Responsible Agent who Fails to Appear for a Special Master Hearing, Not cation of Owner, and Process for case monitoring. Approval of these Administrative Guidelines will assure a more standard, consistent and accurate development of enforcement cases for the Building Department, Code Compliance Division and Fire Department as they process cases for the Special Master's consideration. Increased Department responsibility is added to the process through the signature of a Senior Staff member in transmitting the case and continuing to do follow-up and monitoring on each of the respective cases. The Guidelines also insure that a property's address is correctly established and that multiple opportunities are built into the process for communicating with the owner/responsible agent of the properlyto assure that there is full and complete knowledge of the violation and requirements of the City in order to achieve compliance. Board Recommendation: Financial Information: Source of Amount Funds: OBPI Total Account Financial Impact Summary: :ity Clerk's Office Legislative Tracking• Patricia D. Walker, Chief Financial Officer Department Director PDW m MIAMIBEACH Manager JMG Manager AGENDA ITEM ~ ~v DATE l ~ i ,~-• ~' MIAMIBEACH City of Miami Beach, 1700 Convention Center Drive, Miami Beach, Florida 33139, www.miamibeachfl.gov COMMISSION MEMORANDUM To: Mayor Matti Herrera Bower and Members of the City ommission FROM: Jorge M. Gonzalez, City Manager DATE: October 14, 2009 SUBJECT: A RESOLUTION OF THE MAYOR AND CITY COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF MIAMI BEACH, FLORIDA, ADOPTING ADMINISTRATNE GUIDELINES FOR THE ADMINISTRATION OF ARTICLE II ENTITLED "SPECIAL MASTERS" AND ARTICLE III ENTITLED "ENFORCEMENT PROCESS" OF CHAPTER 30 OF THE MIAMI BEACH CITY CODE. ADMINISTRATION RECOMMENDATION Approve the Resolution. ANALYSIS During the discussion of related Ordinances at the September 9, 2009 Commission meeting, the Commission requested that the Administration incorporate additional provisions and modifications to the Administrative Guidelines. It was requested that the package transmitted to the Special Master include among other things, verification that the owner/responsible agent has been notified and the property address has been verified. Additionally, the responsible department needs to identify what efforts have been made to obtain current contact information for the owner/responsible agent if there has been mail returned. These requirements are included in Section III of the Administrative Guidelines attached as exhibit A. Additionally, it was requested that if the owner/responsible agent failed to appear for a Special Master hearing, the responsible department will take reasonable efforts to contact the owner/responsible agent to advise the following: 1. the actions necessary to correct the violation(s) and to bring the property into compliance, and 2. what the Special Master has ordered, including rescheduling a hearing, setting fines or imposition of a lien. Additionally, if contact cannot be made, the Department shall identify the efforts made to establish contact. These requirements are included in Section IV Documentation of Reasonable Efforts to Contact the Owner/Responsible Agent who Fails to Appear for a Special Master Hearing of the Administrative Guidelines attached as exhibit A. A provision has also been added to verify that corporate information is valid using www.sunbiz.org. BACKGROUND At the May 5, 2009 Finance & Citywide Projects Committee meeting a discussion was undertaken on outstanding liens on properties in the City of Miami Beach and actions being recommended or pursued to improve upon procedural practices and/orto resolve most of the liens. The members of the Finance 8 Citywide Projects Committee (FCWPC) made recommendations on the jurisdiction of the Special Master and a requirement that the Special Master establish a cap on fines each case. These changes were codified and were adopted by the City Commission on September 9, 2009. The FCWPC members also discussed administrative initiatives being undertaken to improve upon the lien process and the consistency of cases which are submitted to the Special Master for adjudication. Members of the FCWPC supported the Administrative initiatives being undertaken and requested that those initiatives be drafted in the form of Administrative Guidelines which the full City Commission could approve by Resolution. Similar to Administrative Guidelines promulgated for the enforcement of the Noise Ordinance, the members of the FCWPC wanted to provide for a higher level of support than ordinarily is garnered by guidelines strictly drafted and imposed or implemented by the Administration. The City Commission Resolution approving the Guidelines accomplishes the added level of support desired by the member of the FCWPC. The Administrative Guidelines are attached to the Resolution and are in the same format as previously used for the Administrative Guidelines associated with the enforcement of the Noise Ordinance. The key components of the Guidelines are as follows: • Purpose and Intent -The stated purpose of the Guidelines is to standardize and improve the consistency of enforcement cases submitted to the Special Master and further to assure that Notices of Violations and any impending liens are pursued on a best effort basis by the City Administration. Transmittal of Enforcement Cases to the S ecial Master - This area of the Guidelines imposes upon all of the Divisions and the Departments of the City that submit cases to the Special Master a standardized format to assure that a minimum of information is consistently available to the Special Master as a case is reviewed. While most of these items are routinely a part of any Departments case having been submitted to the Special Master for consideration, the form which will be utilized consistent with this section of the Guidelines will standardize the information to assure that it always appears and is easily identifiable by the Office of the Special Master in a case adjudication. A key component in this section is that the date and name of the person contacted relative to the property violation is identified and that compliance inspections are up to date and that a senior member of the Department Division is signing the transmittal of the case. Documentation of Reasonable Efforts to Contact Prior to Im osition of Lien - In this section of the Guidelines, the Office of the Special Master will be requesting of each Departments with a case before the Special Master, a verification that the property owner and/or responsible agent has been contacted, verification of follow-up inspections and the compliance status of the property, a verification of the address, all of which are to be accomplished before the official Twenty (20) Day Notice of potential imposition of a lien is sent to the property. This particular Administrative effort will assure that each property knows in advance that a lien is pending and may be imposed upon the property and of their right to a hearing to challenge such fact pattern. 2 • Process for Case Monitorna -This section of the Guidelines sets up a routine check- In by each of the Department/Divisions which generate a case for the Special Master's consideration to assure that after a fine has been imposed or a lien established that at a minimum at six (6) and twelve (12) month intervals the Department will follow-up on their respective case to assure that the property owner has again been contacted, and that the compliance status is accurate. The DepartmenbDivision monitoring will also coincide with a status report to the Special Master so that the Special Master can remain current with the respective cases and any progress or lack thereof that may have been accomplished. Approval of these Administrative Guidelines will assure a more standard, consistent and accurate development of enforcement cases for the Building Department, Code Compliance Division and Fire Department as they process cases forthe Special Master's consideration. Increased Department responsibility is added to the process through the signature of a Senior Staff member in transmitting the case and continuing to do follow-up and monitoring on each of the respective cases. The Guidelines also insure that a property's address is correctly established and that multiple opportunities are built into the process for communicating with the owner/responsible agent of the property to assure that there is full and complete knowledge of the violation and requirements of the City in order to achieve compliance. CONCLUSION It is recommended that the Mayor and City Commission approve the Resolution adopting the Administrative Guidelines as attached. JMG\RCM\PDW C:1Dccuments and SettingslfinawalpVuly DocumentslLlEN MITIGATION1AdminGuidelinesSpecMasteroommema9-9-09.doc Attachments 3 EXHIBIT A ADMINISTRATIVE GUIDELINES Chapter 30, Code Enforcement Article II Special Masters and Article III Enforcement Process Section I. Purpose and Intent II. Responsible Entities III. Transmittal of Enforcement Case to the Special Master IV. Documentation of the Reasonable Efforts to Contact the Owner or Responsible Agent who Fails to Appear for a Special Master Hearing V. Process for Case Monitoring VI. Revisions, Amendments or Deletions to these Administrative Guidelines VII. Application of Administrative Guidelines I• Puraose and Intent These guidelines are intended to standardize and improve the consistency of City Code enforcement cases (Building, Code Compliance, and Fire) and fines or liens that result there from. These guidelines are further intended to assure that the reasonable effort of the City is undertaken in assuring that Notices of Violations and impending liens on any specific property are consistent with the implementation of Chapter 30 Code Enforcement Article II Special Masters and Article III Enforcement Procedures. All initial violations issued by Code, Building and Fire Departments should be sent to the pro ert owner /responsible agent in the manner required pursuant to applicable Florida law, with a copy to the property owner or responsible agent at the address shown on file on www.sunbiz.org. II. Resuonsible Entities 1) Each Division or Department of the City that pursues enforcement activities and resuttin delinquent collections that may result in a fine and/or a lien on a property is responsible fog following these guidelines. 2) The Office of the Special Master and each Department or Division Director generating a case shall monitor compliance with these Administrative Guidelines. 1) The Office of the Special Master will create a transmittal form to be filled out by the submittin department and will accompany each case that is submitted to the Special Master fog consideration. 2) The transmittal form created by the Office of the Special Master and filled out by the submittin department shall include the following information: g i. The name of the transmitting department member that contacted the owner/responsible agent for the affected property regarding the violation case. ii. The date of the owner/responsible agent contact, the name of the person2 contacted and the nature of contact (for example: in person, email or phone). iii. That the property address for legal service of notice has been verified as con'ect and the source of address including verification that the corporate information is valid for the owner or responsible agent on file at www.sunbiz.org. iv. If a case file contains any returned mail, identify what efforts were made to obtain current/accurate contact information. v. Verification that the correct Code reference is cited for the infraction. vi. Date the property was last inspected for compliance including what portion, if any, violation has been cured and name of inspector. vii. Other violations issued or pending in the citing department. viii. Notices of violation shall include printed information advising the owner/responsible of his/her rights to: (.Challenge a citation or violation if the owner/responsible agent believes it was issued in error, has a defect, or because it is believed the property is in compliance, or for any other reason, to the Special Master. II. Appeal to the board or agency indicated below, if it is believed that the citation or violation was wrongly issued because of a disagreement with an interpretation by the City of Miami Beach Building Official, Fire Marshal or Planning Director or other city official of codes they enforce or administer. 1. Appeals of Building Official decisions are to the Miami-Dade County Board of Rules & A eats, Miami, FL 33130 or to the Miami-DadepCountyl Unsafe StructuSes Board, 140 W. Flagler St., Miami, FL 33130. 2. Appeals of Fire Marshal decisions are to the Miami-Dade County Fire Prevention & Safety Appeals Board, 9300 NW 41 St., Doral, FL 33178. 3. Appeals of Planning Director or other administrative decisions under the City of Miami Beach's Land Development Regulations are to the Miami Beach Board of Adjustment, 1700 Convention Center Drive, c% Planning Department, 2"d floor, Miami Beach, FL 33139, 305.673.7550. Any such administrative decisions shall be reported timely to the City Commission. III. Request the Special Master continue any hearings on the citation or notice of violation until an appeal to a board as indicated above, is completed. ix. The signature of the Department/Division Director or senior staff designee authorizing the transmittal IV. who Fails to A near for a Special Master He Tina of the agent 1 • If the owner/responsible agent fails to appear for a hearing with the Special Master then the Department shall use reasonable efforts to contact the owner/responsible agent, not less than five (5) days before an Affidavit of Non Compliance is submitted to the Special Master, and advise them of the actions necessary to correct the violation(s) and to bring the property to compliance; and what the Special Master has ordered, including, rescheduling hearing, fines, or imposition of a lien. 2. If contact cannot be made, the department shall identify the efforts made to establish contact. 3 V. Process for Case Monitoring 1) Subsequent to the imposition of a lien on any property, the Office of the Special Master will generate a monthly report summarizing by enforcement agency all such cases. The report will indicate those properties which are non-compliant and any fine assessed by the Special Master. 2) The Office of the Special Master monthly report will indicate which properties have been non- compliant for six (6) and twelve (12) months. 3) Each responsible Department will be required to assess the status of their respective case at six (6) months and twelve (12) months after issuance of an Affidavit of Non-Compliance and to indicate any change in the compliance status. 4) All responsible Departments will return their monitoring assessments to the Office of the Special Master. 5) At the twelve (12) month status report, the City Department may request that the Special Master refer the non-compliance case to the City Attorney's Office for further action. 6) If in compliance, the Office of the Special Master shall inform the owner/responsible agent, by providing printed information of the option to mitigate any lien amount. VI. Buildins~ Violations 1) For Building violations for work done without a permit(s): (i) If the work is complete, then the violation will not be closed until a final inspection is approved. (ii) If the work has commenced but is not complete, then the violation will be closed when a permit has been issued and the appropriate inspections have been approved (in accordance with the level of unpermitted work performed in the field). 2) In either case in number one (1) above, all fines should stop accruing when the permit is issued. VII Aaalication of Administrative Guidelines These Administrative Guidelines are intended to facilitate the effective and consistent implementation of the Special Master's imposition of fines/liens and property notification procedure consistent with the implementation of Chapter 30 Code Enforcement. Failure to comply with the provisions set forth in these Administrative Guidelines shall not impair or invalidate any proceeding or prosecution under Chapter 30, Code Enforcement. C:~Documents And SeHings~FinawalplMy Documents~LIEN MITIGATION~REVISED Admguidelineschap30codeenf (2).Docx