Keeping Up with County Code Enforcement
County Code Enforcement Manager Ed Labayog at the agency’s booth at the recent Castro Valley Fall Festival.
Recent letters to the Forum asking neighbors to maintain their own properties prompted questions about which county department might be responsible for enforcing those laws. Some Castro Valley residents recently found out that is the job of Alameda County’s Code Enforcement office, part of the Community Development Agency and Planning Department.
Code Enforcement officials were educating the public as part of the Planning Department’s booth at this month's Fall Festival. Residents found out what that office can and can’t do. They also got a sense of what homeowners can and can’t do.
For example, your neighbor really can’t store junked vehicles on his or her lawn. Nor can they repair cars in their driveway if this takes more than a short time, and it must be their own vehicle. More extensive vehicle repairs should be done out of sight.
Other rules include homeowners should not let weeds grow taller than 6 feet high, as that might be a fire hazard. Code Enforcement rules stipulate that every home, occupied or not, needs to be kept in reasonably good repair. Graffiti, if it appears, must be removed. Trash cans need to be out of sight by the day after pickup.
If the violation is on private property, Code Enforcement can be asked to visit the site to verify, and the homeowner gets a specified time to correct it. If it’s still there afterward, a formal hearing can follow, and possibly penalties charged, so solving the problem isn’t always quick.
“Our goal is to work with the homeowners as much as possible. We want them to be part of the solution.”
“Our goal is to work with the homeowners as much as possible. We want them to be part of the solution,” county Code Enforcement manager Ed Labayog told the Forum.
Labayog said some common complaints included overgrown yard areas, accumulations of trash and debris, storing large indoor items out in the open, parking of inoperable or commercial vehicles and parking on lawns.
Alameda County Code Enforcement covers unincorporated areas such as Castro Valley and San Lorenzo, while cities enforce their own rules, which may differ. Residents should also be aware of any homeowner association (HOA) or covenants conditions and restrictions (CCR), which are typically found in a homeowner's mortgage paperwork or in a rental agreement.
It’s also important to understand the differences between what is public and what is private before contacting County Code Enforcement, Labayog noted.
If something’s blocking a sidewalk or in the street, Public Works or the Sheriff’s Office is in charge, depending on the violation.
“That would make it public property. We’re the private property police,” quipped Labayog,
Nuisance noise complaints, though, go to the Sheriff’s office, he said.
You can visit Code Enforcement’s website at www.acgov.orgjcda/planningjcodeenforcement, call them at (510) 670-5460, or email them at PlanningCode.Enforcement@acgov.org. One can also use the Mobile Citizen phone app to register a complaint with Public Works, which will then route it to whichever agency handles it.