City ups code enforcement

NEWPORT BEACH — It sometimes takes a whole lot more than a fence to make a good neighbor — just ask a city code enforcement officer.

As Newport Beach officials try to handle complaints from residents about the growing number of drug and alcohol recovery homes in town, they’re also stepping up enforcement of city codes across the spectrum, from mundane issues like a too-tall fence to more severe problems like an illegal boarding house.

The city already has seen an increase in complaints since the City Council voted in July to take a more aggressive approach to enforcing city rules. And most complaints mean a trip to the place being complained about.

“You’ve got to go out and see them in context and talk to the parties,” city code and water quality enforcement division manager John Kappeler said. “What’s perceived to be a violation isn’t always a violation.”

Typical complaints are neighbor-versus-neighbor issues — trash cans left out too long, illegal items in the yard, loud parties and the like. But residents don’t always understand exactly what code enforcement does, or what the codes are.

One recent morning, Kappeler visited a house on the Balboa Peninsula where a homeowner had built a fence without a permit because he didn’t want to have to see his neighbors. When Kappeler came to ask whether he’d applied for a permit yet, the fence builder had plenty to say about code violations he thought other people were committing.

Code enforcement officers generally respond to violations with citations, but in extreme cases city officials may take someone to court over code infractions.

In a rare criminal case, the city is pursuing Derek Leason, an East Santa Ana Heights property owner who is suspected of not getting building and plumbing permits he needed, running a business without a license and operating an illegal boarding house in properties on Orchid Street.

Carrie Robbins, an Orchid Street resident who protested the boarding house operations along with neighbors, said the city was slow to take action, and residents had to press the issue.

Neighbors said they’re concerned because nobody stays very long in the boarding houses, so they don’t know who’s in the neighborhood.

“We’ve been diligent in constantly bringing this to them [the city],” Robbins said.

Newport Beach Assistant City Attorney Aaron Harp said the city alleges Leason committed 22 violations. The case was dismissed but will be refiled, likely next week. Attempts to reach Leason for comment were unsuccessful.

Residents aren’t always happy with the city’s response to their complaints. Balboa Peninsula resident John Wilcox said he’s had numerous problems with the neighboring Cafe Balboa, and he thinks the city has basically snubbed him.

Earlier this year, Wilcox said, he noticed the cafe’s garage had been filled with commercial freezers and was being used to store food.

“The whole thing was put in without licenses, without permits — it was a nightmare,” Wilcox said. “We have large trucks coming in the middle of the night, running pallet jacks, throwing stuff under our home.”

Rather than addressing it immediately, the city kept allowing more time to remove the freezers, Wilcox said, adding that now the city isn’t following up on other problems.

Cafe Balboa owner Deborah Nguyen said the city is just doing its job when it comes to inspect her business, but she feels a little harassed.

“I deal with them almost every other day because Wilcox and other people complain all the time about things,” Nguyen said. “It’s just ridiculous, because everybody breaks some kind of code.”

City officials will likely have to deal with more of these kinds of disputes because of the new, more aggressive policy. The City Council’s direction on nuisances was “we have to hammer them hard and we have to hammer them early,” said Newport Beach Assistant City Manager Dave Kiff, who is heading up enforcement efforts. “We’re getting less patient, less accommodating.”