GRADING POLICIES ADOPTED.Byline: Carol Rock Staff Writer Property owners who grade their land without going through the proper channels will find themselves facing a new set of penalties, including increased fines, civil penalties and the seizure of their equipment. On Tuesday, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors is the five member governing board of Los Angeles County, California. Members of the board of supervisors are elected by district, the current members as of April 2006 are:
Three properties were specified in the motion, one on Euclid Avenue For the street in Ontario, California, see . Euclid Avenue is a name applied to streets in many American cities; however, Cleveland, Ohio’s Euclid Avenue received nationwide attention from the 1860s to the 1920s for its beauty and wealth. in Val Verde Val Verde may mean:
The supervisors ordered the county's departments of Public Works public works pl.n. Construction projects, such as highways or dams, financed by public funds and constructed by a government for the benefit or use of the general public. Noun 1. and Regional Planning regional planning: see city planning. as well as the County Counsel's Office to impose administrative fines and penalties as well as issuing stop-work orders and notices of violation. Under the new policy, the county staff will come up with stiffer penalties to deter future violations from occurring. ``One of the supervisor's thoughts is to have a toolbox of options,'' said Paul Novak, Antonovich's planning deputy. ``Different operators respond differently to sanctions. Fines are huge to the individual, but don't faze developers. Seizing equipment doesn't mean much to a big construction company, but to the mom-and-pop grading companies, if you take their tractor, it means everything. And for some, misdemeanor charges are an effective sanction.'' Antonovich also suggests enacting a provision precluding a property owner cited for violations from securing a grading permit from the county for six months to a year or longer, depending on the number of or severity of the violations alleged. ``Recent illegal grading operations in unincorporated Santa Clarita and Lake Hughes demonstrate that property owners are deliberately and flagrantly violating county procedures,'' Antonovich said in a statement. ``It is imperative that the county adopt stiffer sanctions to discourage such behavior and to protect our environmental resources.'' The illegal grading sanctions are similar to those enacted by the supervisors giving law enforcement the right to impound impound v. 1) to collect funds, in addition to installment payments, from a person who owes a debt secured by property, and place them in a special account to pay property taxes and insurance when due. vehicles of anyone caught dumping trash or water illegally. John Kelly, deputy director of the county's Public Works Department Many governments worldwide have had departments or ministries referred to as the Public Works Department either formally or informally. In Australia: - New South Wales -
``Los Angeles is unique in that we are running out of vacant property to build on, so the hillsides are being graded for building pads,'' he said. ``Unfortunately, some people decide to jump the gun and get a head start on their projects before permits are issued or they go beyond permitted activity. The supervisor is trying to stop people from grading without a permit because it's so hard to restore a hillside.'' Kelly said a similar restriction was implemented a few years ago in the Santa Monica Mountains The Santa Monica Mountains are a low transverse range in southern California in the United States. Geography They run for approximately 40 mi (64 km) east-west from the Hollywood Hills in Los Angeles to Point Mugu in Ventura County. to prevent rampant deterioration of the hillsides and ridgelines. Fees for violations can cost a property owner thousands of dollars, with daily penalties adding up quickly after the initial notification from public works officials. Additional fines and penalties can be assessed by other agencies, such as the Regional Water Quality Control Board, which levies fines of $10,000 per day for violations of the federal Clean Water Act. ``If someone grades a property and it rains, the sediment can wash into the storm drain or river, creating a violation,'' Kelly explained. County officials will return within the month with proposals for the supervisors to add or strengthen sanctions. Carol Rock, (661) 257-5252 carol.rock(at)dailynews.com |
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