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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1978-06-20; City Council; 5390-3; Public Nuisance: 5335 Paseo del Norte\ CITY OF - CARLSB-AD DATE : June 20, 1978 DEPARTMENT : City Attorney Initial: Dept e Hd. C. Atty.vm C. Mgr. 7 The City Council, at your June 6, 1378 meeting, held a public hearing to consider whether or not the T'leseloh Chevrolet sign was in violation of the Carlshad Municipal Code. At the conclusion of the hearing the City Council indicated-their intention to find that the sign was in violation and was, therefore, a public nuisance. The City Council determined that the sign should be removed within thirty days and that-if it was not, authorized the City Attorney to proceed civilly to abate the nuisance. A resolution containing the Council's findings in the matter, setting the time limit and authorizing the City Attorney to proceed to abate the nuisance, is attached. The Council should satisfy itself that the findings set out in the resolution are the findings of the Council and that they are supported by evidence which was introduced in the hear- ing on June 6, 1978. Exhibit Resolution NO. $466 . Recommendation If the City Council concurs, your action is to adopt Resolution No. $qLL . Council act-ion 6-20-78 Resolution #5466 %&s adopted, making findings and determining the sign was in violation and a nuisance. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 n 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 RESOLUTION NO. 5466 A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF CAmSBAD, CALIFORMIA, FINDING THAT A PUBLIC NUISANCE EXISTS AT 5335 PASEO DEL NORTE, IN THE CITY OF CARLSBAD, AND DIRECTING THE CITY ATTORNEY TO TAKE APPROPRIATE LEGAL ACTION - TO ABATE SAID NUISANCE. WHEREAS, tile City Manager has alleged that a freestanding sign at 5335 Paseo Del Norte, Assessor’s Parcel 211-060-10 in the City of Carlsbad, owned by Weseloh Chevrolet Company,is in violation of the Carlsbad Municipal Code and a public nuisance; and WHEREAS, Resolution No. 5364 has been adopted by the City Council in conformance with Section 26.16.020 of the Carlsbad Municipal Code setting a Public Hearing on the matter; and WHEREAS, the notice requirements of Section 6.16.030 of the Carlsbad Municipal Code have been fulfilled; and WHEREAS, a Public Hearing in conformance with Section 6.16.040 of the Carlsbad Municipal Code was held on the 7th day of June, 1978 at the hour of 7:30 P.M. at an adjourned regular meeting of the. City Council at which all interested persons were heard; NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the City Council of the City of Carlsbad, California, as follows: 1. That the City Council hereby makes the following findings of fact in regards to the Weseloh Chevrolet Company sign: A. Municipal Code Section 21.41.070(5) requires that freestanding signs in the C-2 Zone be located on the street frontage of the lot. ,The sign in question is a freestanding sign in a C-2 Zone. The only street frontage to the Weseloh Chevrolet property, as defined in Section 21.04.335; is located on Paseo Del Norte. 1 6 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 : 9 10 11 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 The sign is not located on the street frontage. It is located at the rear property line, within 8 feet of the.Interstate 5 freeway right-of-way and more than 350 feet from Paseo Del Norte, Interstate 5 is not a street because Section 21.04.325 defines it as a freeway. It is not a street within the meaning of Section 21.41.070(5) because the property is separated from the actual roadway by an off-ramp, a drainage ditch and is completely fenced. Section 21.04.335 defines a street as a public right-of-way affording primary access to abutting property. Paseo Del Norte is the only street abutting the subject property and it affords the primary access thereto, B. The sign regulations in the C-2 Zone otherwise applicable to the property are supplemented by the provisions of a specific plan adopted for the Car Country Development by Ordinance No. 9288. It was developed as a cooperative effort by the City and the Dealers' Association which included * Weseloh Chevrolet. That ordinance provided for a comprehensive series of City regulations of the Car Country Development. Those regulations included a sign program which provided for strict limitations of signing and did not allow any individual dealer signs to be located adjacent to Interstate 5. Section 6(5) of the ordinance limits all properties within the Car Country specific plan to a total of one freeway oriented freestanding sign advertising the center. The City has approved the design of that sign on behalf of the Car Country Auto Dealers' Association and the only freestanding freeway sign contemplated by the specific plan has been constructed. The other automobile dealers located in Car Country who preceded Weseloh Chevrolet have all complied with the City of Carlsbad's Municipal Code and the specific plan and located their permitted freestanding signs, advertising their individual dealership, on the street frontage of Paseo Del Norte immediately adjacent thereto, The sign in question is located next to the Interstate 5 freeway. expressly finds that it is a freeway oriented sign within the meaning of 0rdi.nance No. 9288. 2. Based on the findings contained in Paragraph 1, the The'City Council of the City of Carlsbad - -- City Council hereby determines that the Weseloh Chevrolet sign constitutes a public nuisance in that it is in violation of Carlsbad Municipal Code Section 21.41.070(5) which requires that a freestanding sign in the C-2 Zone be located on the street 2. 1 3 4 5 E 7 s 1c 39 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 I I t ,. frontage. The sign in question is not so located and, therefore, violates the code. The sign is also in violation of the provisions of Ordinance No. 9288 in that it is a freeway oriented sign which is not allowed by the specific plan sign regulations adopted by said ordinance. Because the sign is in violation of the Municipal Code on two counts, pursuant to Municipal Code Section 21.62.010, the City Council determines that the sign is a public nuisance. 3. The City Council further expressly finds that the City is not estopped to proceed to remedy the violation. The City Council finds that Weseloh Chevrolet knew of the comprehensive sign program applicable to Car Country and the applicable sections of the Municipal Code. Therefore; it was not reasonable for Mr. Weseloh to claim that he relied on the building permit for the sign which was issued in error. Furthermore, estoppel does not apply because although the permit was issued in error, it exp red by operation of law before the sign was installed. Since the sign was installed after the permit expired, it was accomplished without a valid building permit in violation of the Building Code and estoppel does not apply. Finally, the City Council finds that estoppel does not apply because, in so doing, a strong public policy would be frustrated. It has been the policy of the City of Carlsbad for a number of years to restrict signs along the Interstate 5 freeway in order to preserve the City's main transportation corridor as a safe and visuaily attractive area. On-premise signs are strictly regulated and in most cases such signs may not be located near the freeway. Off-premise advertising signs have been excluded 3. .'- '* II I I I .- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 .a 9 10 11 12 n 0 18 19 ' 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 from the areas that can be viewed from Interstate 5 and the City has successfully pursued legal actions to remove existing signs. There are at this time no such signs existing on Interstate 5 within the City limits of the City of Carlsbad. This strong public policy against signs adjacent to Interstate 5 was carried forward in the specific plan that was approved for Car Country. The City, in conjunction with the Auto Dealers' Association, spent considerable time and effort to work out a mutually acceptable sign program for the center. the individual dealers to put signs near the freeway. Allowing the sign in question to remain would frustrate this long-standing City policy and could lead to a proliferation of signs and preclude the maintenance of the area as the City's prime transportation and tourist corridor. Furthermore, allowing the sign to remain on the Weseloh Chevrolet site would be unfair to the balance of the dealers in the Car Country area who have no such individual signs. That plan did not allow 4. It is the determination of the City Council that in order to abate such public nuisance it is necessary to cause the relocation of the sign from its present location to any point within five feet of the east property line of subject property adjacent to Paseo Del Norte. 5. The persons responsible for creating, causing, committin and maintaining said nuisance willbe required to abate such nuisance on or before July 20, 1978. If said public nuisance is not- abated on or before such date, the City Council will cause the abatement thereof and the expense of abatement shall constitute a lien against the subject property and.a personal 4. . .LA -? 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 0 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 h - I ., obligation against the property owner of the subject property. 6. That the City Attorney is authorized and directed to take appropriate legal action to zbate the aforesaid public nuisance . PASSED, APPROWD AND ADOPTED at a regular meeting of the City Council of the City of Carlsbad, California, held on the 20th day of June , 1978 by the following vote, to wit: AYES : Councilmen Skotnicki, Anear and Councilwoman NOES : Counci 1 man Packard ABSENT : None Cas1 er RONALD C. PACKARD, Mayor -. ATTEST : (SEALj . .. -;,- -