Post by lorie on May 19, 2016 at 4:54pm

Please answer any question that you can:

1. What does your jurisdiction charge for Zoning Violations?
2. What is your districts Fee Schedule for Zoning fines? Do the fines increase after a certain amount of time? (example- $100 if not compliant in 10 days, additional fees added after that).
3. Does anyone know if state law allows for you to place a tax lien on the property for unpaid Zoning fines?
4. What do you charge for a Zoning Confirmation Letter?

This can be emailed to me at lodom@savannahga.gov

 

Post by @AngieT on May 23, 2016 at 10:36am

Zoning violations- Varies from $100 to up to $1000 per day. All of our "liens" we place are on the utilities.

 

Post by lorie on May 23, 2016 at 1:12pm

 

 

Quote

 

May 23, 2016 at 10:36am @AngieT said:

Zoning violations- Varies from $100 to up to $1000 per day. All of our "liens" we place are on the utilities.

 

 

Angie, can you elaborate on how you place liens on utilities?  We have some things that we issue hand written citations with fine amounts for, the only problem is, when we take them in to court for failure to pay the citation, the judge considers it an Administrative Fee and does not uphold it.  We are looking for other ways to enforce our citations before having to issue a court summons. 

 

Post by @AngieT on May 23, 2016 at 1:18pm

I work for a private company so I don't issue the liens. The liens are issued by the City. They place a hold/lien on the utilities so if it's not paid, they cut off the utilities. If a homeowner does not cut their grass or remove junk, I have a vendor to go out and cut the grass or remove the junk and the city pays that vendor, then puts the cost against the utilities. We haven't done any liens with zoning issues. The city doesn't like to fine people too much, they just want compliance.

 

Post by @Angel Gray on May 23, 2016 at 3:04pm

Please answer any question that you can:

1. What does your jurisdiction charge for Zoning Violations?
        Answer: Your jurisdiction should have an insert of Enforcement and Penalties outlined after each article (some occasions they will start their): for instance: (Setbacks) Normally found in the development portion of a zoning ordinances, your ordinance will identify required setbacks/permits etc. and include the section for enforcement and penalties.  go to www.municode.com there you can look over other cities and their ordinances. Normally, where the violation escalates to a citation for court, the Judge will hear evidence and set fine and/or jail time if needed. This may aid you in your quest.


2. What is your districts Fee Schedule for Zoning fines? Do the fines increase after a certain amount of time? (example- $100 if not compliant in 10 days, additional fees added after that). 
        Answer: Our fees vary by offence and by repeat inspections. As to increase, just each day constituting a violation and subject to fine where it is not remedied in allotted time by judge. 


3. Does anyone know if state law allows for you to place a tax lien on the property for unpaid Zoning fines?
        Answer: OCGA: 36-66-1 known as "The Zoning Procedures Law" you can find complete details at Georgia Department of Community Affairs website. ( www.dca.state.ga.us/development/planningqualitygrowth/DOCUMENTS/Laws.Rules.Guidelines.Etc/Zoning.pdf ) This is the PDF provided by DCA.

4. What do you charge for a Zoning Confirmation Letter? 
     Answer: this charge is up to Jurisdiction, we charge $50

This can be emailed to me at lodom@savannahga.gov

I hope this helps in a small way... I rarely have cases excel to court on Zoning violations, the majority are resolved within an appropriate time frame.