TO: Board of Supervisors
FROM: Brian D. Bordona, Director of Planning Building & Environmental Services Department
REPORT BY: Akenya Robinson-Webb, Code Compliance Manager
SUBJECT: Code Compliance Division Annual Update
RECOMMENDATION
title
Receive a presentation on the Code Compliance Division’s annual update. (No Fiscal Impact)
body
BACKGROUND
The County is committed to maintaining and improving the quality of life for its community and the Code Compliance Division (Division) assists in that effort through obtaining compliance with State and local laws and regulations. Code compliance protects residents, business owners, and tourists from hazards resulting from code violations, while working to foster a sense of pride within the community. With a focus on education, the Division achieves the correction of violations and the abatement of nuisances that may constitute threats to public health and safety, and prevents or restores impacts made to the environment. In this way, the Division provides support to the permits and approvals issued by the other divisions of Planning, Building, and Environmental Services (PBES), and other departments, such as Fire and Public Works.
Because the County is large and resources are limited, the Code Compliance division operates primarily through responsive enforcement, where staff investigates complaints received by the public in confidence. However, the Division also operates through proactive enforcement, where violations are identified by staff, or self-reported by property owners. Such proactive enforcement programs include the Use Permit Compliance Program, short-term rental enforcement, and the Neighborhood Property Improvement Program. The Division also works closely with the Building Division to remedy violations identified during the building permit inspection process. The Division’s goal is to combine responsive enforcement with proactive enforcement to provide meaningful and effective reach across the County.
This annual update seeks to provide the Board an overview of the Code Compliance program as well as highlight notable accomplishments during fiscal year 2024-25. Identified in this report are several goals for the future of the code compliance program, which Division staff intends to bring to the Board in the future.
Code Enforcement Division Overview
The Division consists of eight positions: One manager, one supervisor (vacant), five officers, and one office assistant. All the Divisions within PBES, as well as the Department of Public Works and the Fire Marshall’s Office, provide enforcement support. Code Compliance cases are divided into seven categories based on the code violations identified. The following is a breakdown of the seven case categories:
• Building Permit Enforcement - Unpermitted construction, illegal conversions of structures.
• Zoning and Use Permit Compliance - Businesses and other members operating outside their allowed uses within their zoning districts.
• Property Nuisance - Substandard property maintenance such as excess debris and materials on the property, vehicles parked on unimproved surfaces longer than 3 days.
• Grading - Earth movement without prior approval.
• Conservation Regulations - Stream and wetland setbacks, tree removal, vineyard installation without an approved Agricultural Erosion Control Plan (ECPA).
• Substandard Buildings - Dilapidated structures, housing unfit for human habitation.
• Stormwater/Flood Plain - Illicit discharge and structures located in the floodplain without approval.
When the County receives a complaint, a case is created in our tracking system and the case is assigned a priority. The assignment of case priority dictates both the timing of initial responses and the order in which cases are addressed. The Board adopted 6 priority categories, which the Division groups together as follows:
• Priority 1 - Safety related complaints with a high level of danger, instability, and risk to life, health and safety.
• Priority 2 - Violations that have a high impact on the environment where swift action is necessary for public safety and/or would reduce or eliminate the impact.
• Priority 3 - All other violations that do not meet the criteria for Priority 1 or Priority 2 classifications.
Priority one and two cases are investigated as soon as possible to ensure that any immediate threat to health and safety is identified and corrected. Priority 3 cases are given priority as staff is available and able to attend to them.
County Counsel’s Role in the Code Compliance Process
County Counsel supports the Code Compliance team in several ways throughout the enforcement process. Deputies work closely with Code Compliance staff on individual cases as well as program-wide issues.
Counsel advises staff on specific approaches to assist property owners in achieving compliance, mediate in cases where staff and property owners may reach impasse, and litigate on behalf of the County where voluntary compliance is not forthcoming. The Napa County Code provides that County Counsel may commence civil proceedings for the abatement, removal, correction and enjoinment of violations, as well as the imposition of civil penalties and abatement costs. The Policies and Procedures Manual provides that referral of cases to County Counsel is one among several options for formal enforcement after efforts to attain voluntary compliance are exhausted or futile.
In addition to case-specific services, Counsel also provides assistance with process improvement and revisions, as well as advice and training on the legal boundaries of code compliance activities. For example, the process for obtaining an inspection warrant requires filing an application with the Court, accompanied by a declaration or affidavit from a code compliance officer. To ensure the process was efficient and effective, as well as in compliance with state law, County Counsel met with the presiding judges to develop a workflow for such applications, avoiding unnecessary obstacles for code compliance staff to perform their duties.
Like with other departments and divisions, County Counsel also supports staff in making more substantial changes to the code compliance program. In 2024, County Counsel helped to prepare an updated Board Policy, reviewed amendments to the Policy and Procedures Manual, and continues to assist with the Code Compliance Resolution from 2018.
Permit Enforcement Fiscal Year 2024-25:
As mentioned above, a majority of the cases relate to building code or permit enforcement. In the past fiscal year, staff identified over $4,729,789 worth of illegal construction. Not only does that represent a significant amount of work being done without compliance with the applicable building codes, but also represents substantial building, planning, environmental, and other permit fees that are not paid to the County. In the 2024-25 fiscal year, the Division’s activities generated $616,745 in permit fees related to correcting those violations. Staff is proactive in building permit enforcement due to the health and safety concerns associated with building codes.
Achievements for Fiscal Year 2025-25:
In addition to the building permit fees, the Division has had many successes in the last year. At the beginning of 2024, County Counsel negotiated a $500,000 settlement for a Short-Term Rental violation. Compliance was achieved through the Division’s ongoing partnership with members of the public, code staff, County Counsel and the Sherrif’s Department.
The Division continues to tackle the backlog of over 1000 code cases. Division staff opened 227 code case between July 1, 2024, and June 3, 2025. Despite being short staffed, Division staff successfully closed 191 cases.
Continuing the PBES Department’s commitment to continuous process improvement, the Division updated its Policy and Procedure Manual, created a Safety Plan and Procedures, and developed a new Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) page as a helpful community resource on our website. Additionally, Staff created a guide for potential new property owners with helpful links to assist them with due diligence prior to purchasing a property, along with brochures for Pool Safety and Accessible Parking. These new brochures are all available in English and Spanish on the County website, and we also added Spanish translation for the online code complaint form.
Additionally, the Division expanded the use of technology to enhance operational efficiency through the rollout of the Accela mobile application, enabling field staff to upload inspection photos and case notes in real time for more timely and accurate case updates.
The Division is also working with County Counsel to reform the process for administrative abatement of nuisances, allowing the Division to hold hearings before a hearing officer to determine the scope and extent of violations and to address the process for achieving compliance. This would provide a more efficient process to adjudicate violations and to allow property owners to be heard, without resorting to the courts.
Challenges during Fiscal Year 2024-25:
The Division recognizes the impacts of code violations on new owners who were not made aware of unpermitted construction prior to purchasing a property. During the past few years staff have worked with property owners who have asserted they were unaware of existing violations on a recently purchased property including entire dwellings that were constructed or reconstructed without a permit. This resulted in the creation of the new owner guides and brochures mentioned above. Division staff made an effort to engage with the Bay Area Realtors Association to offer education on permitting requirements; however, the initiative has yet to elicit the desired results. The Division is also taking steps to quantify the number of property owners affected by uninformed purchases to help as we consider long-term strategies to address this challenge.
Increasingly, the Division receives complaints about issues that, upon investigation, fall outside our team’s legal authority for enforcement. When the issue does not violate any specific ordinance or falls under the jurisdiction of another agency, code officers are unable to take enforcement action, despite public concern or perceived nuisance. These situations often require significant research, coordination, and communication with complainants, external agencies, and property owners. To mitigate frustrations and support the community, we focus on providing complainants the best path towards resolution with the enforcing agency, wherever feasible. Unfortunately, these situations lead to significant resources being used to address complaints that ultimately cannot be acted upon within our team’s purview. This diverts attention from legitimate, enforceable code violations.
The Division continues to address ongoing complaints regarding the high number of roosters and incidents of cockfighting in the unincorporated areas of the County. Even in the least severe instances, a single rooster in the residential single zoning district can create a significant noise nuisance, negatively impacting the community’s quality of life. For over a decade, Code Compliance staff have responded to cases involving roosters kept for the purpose of cockfighting. These activities are often concentrated in Agricultural Zoning Districts, where current regulations allow a large number of roosters per acre. Investigating these cases can pose serious risks to staff, as cockfighting operations are frequently associated with illegal firearms, narcotics, animal cruelty, and other criminal activities. Code Compliance Staff works closely with the Sheriff’s Department to ensure public safety and gain compliance.
On November 13, 2018, the Board directed staff to take several actions to establish the Use Permit Compliance Program. The limited term program gave use permit holders that were not operating within their entitlements the opportunity to continue their operations as long as they took the required steps to modify their use permit. The deadline for owners to submit an application to participate in the program was set for March 29, 2019. Under this program, the County received a total of 47 applications. To date, 38 applications have been completed and acted upon with nine remaining incomplete. Since the program’s inception in 2019, applicants have faced numerous challenges, including wildfires, a global pandemic, and several periods of drought. The nature and extent of the violations vary, with some being easier to resolve than others. Despite these obstacles, the vast majority of applicants have invested significant time and resources to successfully obtain an approved use permit modification. However, some applicants who have not completed the process continue to operate without meeting the requirements to obtain an approved use permit modification, despite staff’s numerous and ongoing efforts to support applicants through the process.
Looking Ahead - Fiscal Year 2025-26:
The Division has identified multiple properties in the Berryessa Highlands and Estates area with trailers located on parcels impacted by the LNU Complex and Glass Fires. Following these fires, the County authorized temporary trailer permits for affected homeowners, allowing them to reside on their properties for up to one-year while rebuilding their homes. Now, nearly five years later, numerous unpermitted trailers remain on these parcels and are being used as primary residences or informal campsites. The continued presence of the trailers exceeds the scope of the original temporary relief and no longer complies with County regulations. The Division plans to begin educational outreach this summer, followed by active enforcement efforts related to these unpermitted trailers on October 1, 2025, aligning with the expiration of the 2020 Napa Glass Fire fee waivers.
On January 1, 2026, the Division will begin enforcement of Napa County Code (NCC) Chapter 5.80 which is the Reusable Foodware Ordinance. The ordinance requires food providers, providing food and beverages consumed on-premises, to provide reusable foodware. Foodware provided for off-premises consumption could be reusable or disposable. Disposable foodware is required to be compostable. The code allows for exemptions under NCC 5.80.080 - Exemptions. PBES Natural Resource staff will continue to provide education to affected businesses prior to the January 1, 2026, effective date.
FISCAL & STRATEGIC PLAN IMPACT
|
Is there a Fiscal Impact? |
No |
|
Is it Mandatory or Discretionary? |
Discretionary |
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
ENVIRONMENTAL DETERMINATION: The proposed action is not a project as defined by 14 California
Code of Regulations 15378 (State CEQA Guidelines) and therefore CEQA is not applicable.