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Home My WebLink About2021-09-09; Fire Department Mandated Inspection Program Communication (Districts - All); Calderwood, Michael10 the members of the: CITY COUNCIL Date ~CA /CC ✓ CM L ACM v' DCM (3) L Sept. 9, 2021 Council Memorandum To: Honorable Mayor Hall a From: Via: {city of Carlsbad Memo ID #2021170 Re: Michael Calderwood, Fire Scott Chadwick, City M ag Fire Department Manda ction Program Communication (Districts -All) This memorandum provides information related to the Fire Department Mandated Inspection Program. Background A fee-based cost recovery program was created to address the ongoing costs associated with state-mandated annual inspections. On June 8, 2021, City Council approved and adopted a new fee schedule for fiscal year 2021-22, which includes fees for all state mandated annual inspections, with an effective date of Sept. 1, 2021. On Aug. 18, 2021, the Fire Department disseminated notification letters to all Carlsbad businesses impacted by the new fee schedule, advising them of the unfunded state mandate and the city's intent to collect fees for these necessary annual inspections. The letter included information pertaining to the program structure, fee schedule and invoicing process. Discussion On Sept. 1, 2021, the Fire Department received an email communication from a small Home- Owners Association of 3 units stating that they would like to opt out of our state-mandated inspection program. The communication stated that they do not grant permission to inspect their property under the mandate, and that they do not intend to pay any fees associated with our inspection program. This HOA had previously been informed that the inspection program is not one that an HOA can opt out of, as it is mandated by the state. Next Steps Carlsbad Fire Prevention staff will refer this issue to the City Attorney's Office so that they can advise on the proper steps to take when a property representative has requested that their property not be inspected under the existing statutory mandate, as well as advisement on failure to pay fees as specified in the fee schedule adopted by the City Council. Attachments: Email Communication from Solbrisa HOA, dated Sept. 1, 2021 cc: Geoff Patnoe, Assistant City Manager Celia Brewer, City Attorney Randy Metz, Fire Marshal Fire Department 2560 Orion Way I Carlsbad, CA ZIP 92010 I 760-931-2141 t From: To: Cc: Subject: Date: Hi, Solbrisa HOA Randy Metz Amber Ressmer; Michael Calderwood; Patti Strawn Re: Solbrisa Response Required Wednesday, September 1, 202111:06:55 AM Attachment A First. I'd like to say thank you to the firefighters that are out there working hard to control the vast forest fires that are more and more prevalent, and of course for the emergency work 'that they perform from day to day. It is greatly appreciated. However, I have to respectfully, once again make it clear that we fully opt out of your inspection program. It is completely unfair to randomly select a subset of private housing to require forced inspections and forced unfairly devised payments. If you cannot pay for the inspections out of the substantial tax dollars we already pay, then fix your budget to allocate the funds you need ( or raise the taxes on everyone). Do not pass the buck on to a select few homeowners who are already tapped out. That is completely unjust (and seems to be just a way to pass on a tax increase to a subset of residents so that politically it doesn't have to be called a tax increase). Our building is no bigger than many other structures in the area, and only has four full time residents and one part time resident. Actually, technically it only has two full time residents right now as one of the units is currently (temporarily I'm sure) unoccupied. How is it possibly fair to require us to pay for a service we haven't requested and don't feel we need when you don't require that service and charge other larger buildings that have more occupants for that same service? It is not fair to randomly say that since our small building technically has 3 condos in it we should all of a sudden require inspections and be charged the same as a complex that has 10 units! (Yes, all of a sudden ... there were no inspections until very recently.) We are not a complex. We are a single building. Our building is also grandfathered in to previous fire prevention regulations, so inspecting our property is pretty much pointless anyway. We opt out. Please do not send any inspectors to our building. We will not be making any payments for that. I copied one of the'other three owners on this (Patti Strawn) to keep her in the loop. (Our third owner is over a year behind in his HOA fees so I don't see a point in contacting him at this point.) Sincerely, Russell Dowe (one of the 3 owners in the single building at 4607 Park Dr, Carlsbad CA 92008) On Fri, Aug 20, 2021 at 11 :30 AM Randy Metz <Randy.Metz@carlsbadca.gov> wrote: Good morning Mr. Dowe. I understand your frustrations that being notified of an additional fee-based program may cause. Unfortunately, this inspection program is mandated by the state and is not one that property owners may opt out of. The Carlsbad Fire Department is obligated to conduct annual inspections of any property with three units or greater, and being that the state does not fund this mandate, they have placed specific language into the mandate to permit the cost-recovery of this program through fees. For the previous three years, the city opted not to seek cost recovery of this program, although they could have; The city has determined that it is now appropriate to implement the cost recovery element of the Health and Safety Code mandate. The city council has formally adopted the city fee schedule, which included fees for this state-mandated program, and we are obligated to invoice the affected properties as such. The Carlsbad Fire Department must continue to conduct inspections of Solbrisa, in accordance with state laws and regulations. It is our hope that this program will continue to ensure a safer community for all of our Carlsbad residents, as was intended when the mandate was approved by the legislature. I am available to answer any questions you may have. Randy Metz, EFO, CFO, FM Fire Marshal Fire Department Fire Prevention Bureau City of Carlsbad 1635 Faraday Ave. Carlsbad, CA 92008 www.carlsbadca.gov randy.metz@carlsbadca.gov From: Solbrisa HOA <solbrisahoa@gmail.com> Sent: Friday, August 20, 2021 9:57 AM To: Amber Ressmer <Amber.Ressmer@carlsbadca.gov> Subject: Re: UPDATE RE: Important Information from the Carlsbad Fire Department We opt out. Everyone is raising rates on everything right now and is extremely disheartening that you are piling on. We pay taxes for fire department service. Lots of taxes. We are a 3-unit dwelling and do not need an annual inspection, especially at the unfair rate you are requesting for 3-unit dwellings. It does NOT make sense that 3 and 10 unit dwellings are the same cost. The inspection takes 5 minutes. You are asking for -$90 per unit. We opt out and will not be paying any fee. Do not inspect our unit if you require a fee. It's a small building. Smaller than many single-family units and duplexes. Best Regards, Russ Dowe Solbrisa HOA 4607 Park Dr, Apt A Carlsbad CA. On Fri, Aug 20, 2021 at 8:36 AM Amber Ressmer <Amber.Ressmer@carlsbadca.gov> wrote: Good morning, Due to the high number of responses to our letter requesting clarity on "apartment buildings", please know that this letter encompasses all multi-family dwellings that are 3 or more units. This is in compliance with both the California Health & Safety Code Section 13146.2 which mandates annual inspections and the California Building Code which specifies that condominiums should be considered apartments for building code application, and an apartment shall consist of three or more attached units. Duplex-style buildings are exempt. Our fire inspections only include specific items required by the code to be inspected which are on the exterior of the building and within common areas of buildings. We do not need access to the interior of the private dwellings units as this is outside the scope of the state mandated inspection process. Please familiarize yourself with the general inspection information as well as the annual fire inspection checklist here. Please understand that as you may refer to a community by their HOA name, our inspections are address driven, so I politely request that you provide the legal entity responsible for the invoice and the billing address so that we can ensure the billing process is accurate and can be completed in a timely manner. I appreciate your time and efforts, email logo R Fire Department Amber Ressmer Senior Office Specialist Fire Prevention City of Carlsbad 1635 Faraday Ave. Carlsbad, CA 92008-7314 www .carlsbadca.gov P 760-457-1217 IF 760-602-8561 Instagram I Facebook I Twitter I YouTube CAUTION. Do not o en attachments or click on links unless sender and know the content is safe. 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