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HomeMy WebLinkAbout00 - Non-Agenda - CorrespondenceReceived After Agenda Printed May 28, 2019 Non -Agenda Item Subject: FW: For Public Record and Comment to Non Agenda Item - Council Session 5-28-2019 Attachments: City Correspondence to G. Leung CIty Manager 5-28-19.pdf; 1210 1204 W. Ocean Front Side Yard Masonry Block Wall 4-18-19.pdf From: Denys Oberman <dho@obermanassociates.com> Sent: Tuesday, May 28, 2019 12:31 PM To: Brown, Leilani <LBrown@newportbeachca.gov> Cc: Leung, Grace <gleung@newportbeachca.gov>; Dept - City Council <CityCouncil@newportbeachca.gov>; Denys Oberman <dho(@obermanassociates.com> Subject: For Public Record and Comment to Non Agenda Item - Council Session 5-28-2019 Please enter into the Public Record and distribute to the City Council, and the City Manager, for tonight's City Council Session. I will need this the second document 1210-1204 ... to be projected as part of my testimony. Please confirm receipt. Thank you for your assistance. Denys H. Oberman Resident and Property Owner Newport Beach Note: Please ignore the signature information, below, and its Confidentiality Notice—do not apply to this transmittal. Regards, Denys H. Oberman, CEO flOBERMAN SkcdWy oW FIrw;ioc" Advkwrr, OBERMAN Strategy and Financial Advisors 2600 Michelson Drive, Suite 1700 Irvine, CA 92612 Tel (949) 476-0790 Cell (949) 230-5868 Fax (949) 752-8935 Email: dho(a�obermanassociates.com CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: The documents accompanying this transmission contain confidential information belonging to the sender which is legally privileged. The information is intended only for the use of the individual or entity named above. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any disclosure, copying, distribution or the taking of any action in reliance on the contents of this telecopied information is strictly prohibited. If you have received this transmission in error, please notify us immediately at 9491476-0790 or the electronic address above, to arrange for the return of the document(s) to us. PLEASE ENTER THIS INTO THE PUBLIC RECORD AND DISTRIBUTE TO CITY COUNCIL IN REFERENCE TO CITY COUNCIL SESSION OF MAY 28,2018 -COMMENT NON -AGENDA ITEM. ALSO ENTER INTO RECORDS ASSOCIATED WITH MY PROPERTY AT 1210 W. OCEANFRONT AND RELATED MATTER May 28,2019 City of Newport Beach Attn: Ms. Grace Leung, City Manager 1 Civic Center Drive Newport Beach CA Re: 1210 West Oceanfront and Oberman Property Rights Dear Ms. Leung: I am writing this letter in follow up to correspondence received from City staff dated April 18, 2019 concerning a 6 ft. high Masonry Block Wall, which the City erroneously allowed to be constructed and encroaching onto my property by adjacent property owners of 1204 W. Oceanfront. The City, over my written and continued objection, improperly granted rights for Occupancy and possession of my property to the adjacent neighbor at 1204 W. Oceanfront in the late summer of 2016. As result of the City's multiple mistakes and failures to administer its own ordinances, my neighbors took possession of my property in, and also caused other extensive damage through lack of construction controls. I have tried exhaustively to resolve this issue with my neighbor, and also to get help from the City. The City has to date refused to take any corrective action, stating that the matter was "between private property owners", even though the City created the conditions that enabled this to occur. As the City knows and has known for several years, I contracted with a forensic Surveyor to conduct an extensive investigation and complete retracement, which established my true Property line, and confirmed that the neighbors encroached on my property. I have tried for the past several years to "work with "the City, to no avail. I was forced to resort to litigation with the neighbor, at considerable financial and emotional expense, over the course of 2016-2019 in efforts to resolve this issue and get my property restored to me ---all of which never would have occurred had the City done its job. I have come again to the City to request that it do the right thing, and cure this situation so that my property is not permanently impaired. I was hopeful that the City would take what is a straightforward administrative action to resolve this matter for the benefit of all. Instead, I received an unsolicited, disturbing letter from City staff dated April 18,2019. This letter, claiming to be in response to a request which I never made, contained a number of statements which were illogical and inconsistent with the City's regulations concerning residential side setbacks and interrelated fire clearance requirements. In order to understand this letter, I attempted to discuss it with the staff who were signatures to the letter. They failed to respond to my request. I subsequently memorialized my questions in a letter of May 10,2019, to which I received no response I then requested a meeting with you, the City's Community Development Director (Seimone Jurjis), and the City Attorney (Aaron Harp) to better understand the letter that you caused to be sent to me, and once again to undertake to" work with" the City, to cure and resolve the situation. This meeting took place on May 15, 2019. My legal counsel attended the meeting with me. The meeting was shocking and disrespectful. You, the City Attorney and the Community Development Director completely stonewalled both my Attorney and me, refusing to provide any explanation of the City's letter and its intent. The City Attorney and you outright refused to answer any of the questions posed by my attorney and me; also, you refused to permit my attorney to go over with you the information we had obtained concerning the City's requirements, our position and supporting evidence. The City Attorney admitted at this meeting that he and you had directed City staff NOT to communicate with me in any form. The City Attorney with your concurrence then proceeded to bully and attempt to intimidate me, stating that "the matter was concluded." Further, the City Attorney with your concurrence proceeded to order me not to communicate with City staff. I respectfully remind you that it is Illegal to intimidate and retaliate against a member of the public who is asserting his/her first amendment rights. Further, the City is a Public agency. Its staff and political representatives have a duty to respond to citizens, constituents. The City, and you and the City Attorney, expressly, have violated my civil rights . I understand, Ms. Leung, that you have relayed to the City Council that "the matter is concluded". I assure you that it is not; far from it. The City has violated my property (and now, my civil) rights and has caused Harm to me— permanent. substantial Harm that can now only be mitigated by the City's taking action as I and my counsel have requested—simple action. The City could have, and can now, readily Cure; however, the City and in particular, you and your colleagues, have chosen instead to invest your energy in Cover Up. It is too late ---the evidence of the City's mistakes and failures is already in hand. The City senior staff is well aware of this. I have for the past several years attempted to resolve this matter with the City in a quiet and conciliatory manner, to restore my property, my safety, the full use and enjoyment of my home, and ability to protect and transact my property. As the City has apparently sought to strong-arm me into submission rather than undertake to productively resolve the matter, I am left with no alternative but to seek redress through complete, persistent transparency with the public and our political representatives, and also other avenues to achieve relief. Sincerely, Denys H. Oberman Resident of Newport Beach and Property Owner 1210 W. Oceanfront Cc: City Council- City of Newport Beach; J. Humphrey Attorney- Songstad, Randall Coffee Humphrey LLP; D. Sherbeck April 18, 2019 Denys H. Oberman 1210 W. Ocean Front Newport Beach, CA 92661 CITY OF NEWPORT BEACH Fire Department 100 Civic Center Drive Newport Beach, California 92660 949 644-3108 newportbeachca.gov/fire Subject: 1204 & 1210 W Ocean Front Side Yard Masonry Block Wall Dear Ms. Oberman: On Wednesday, March 27, 2019, Fire Marshal Kevin Bass and Deputy Community Development Director/Chief Building Official Samir Ghosn conducted a site visit at 1204 W. Ocean Front and 1210 W. Ocean Front, based upon your request, to determine if the masonry block wall between the properties restricts 1210 W. Ocean Front's egress along the side yard in violation of the California Residential Code (CRC) § 311.1, California Fire Code (CFC) § 504.1,1 or Title 20 of the City of Newport Beach Municipal Code. CRC § 311.1 sets forth the requirements for adequate egress from a residence through a yard or court to the street as follows: Dwellings shall be provided with a means of egress in accordance with this section. The means of egress shall provide a continuous and unobstructed path of vertical and horizontal egress travel from all portions of the dwelling to the required egress door without requiring travel through a garage. The required egress door shall open directly into a public way or to a yard or court that opens to a public right of way. It is important to note that neither CRC § 311.1 (nor any other section of the CRC) establishes minimum dimensions of what constitutes an adequate means of egress. Rather, it provides for a "continuous and unobstructed path..." that "open[s] directly into a public way or to a yard or court that opens to a public right of way." For purposes of the inspection, Mr. Ghosn looked at whether an average sized person could exit the front door to the boardwalk. Based upon his observations, the pathway along 1210 W. Ocean Front's side yard would be wide enough for Mr. Bass or Mr. Ghosn to exit from the front 'Chapter 10 of the California Fire Code titled "Means of Egress" provides the minimum exiting requirements for buildings and portions of buildings, including the number, location and sizing of exiting components. This chapter is used to evaluate the exiting requirements for hotels, apartments, commercial and industrial occupancies. However, CFC § 1001.1 Administration includes an exemption: that detached one- and two-family dwellings and multiple single- family dwellings (townhouses) not more than three stories above grade plane in height with a separate means of egress and their accessory structures shall comply with the Califomia Residential Code. Therefore, the requirements listed in Chapter 10, including Section 1028.4.1, are not applicable when evaluating the exiting capabilities of a single-family residence. Page 2 of 3 Letter to Denys Oberman dated April 18, 2019 door to the boardwalk. As a result, it was observed there is an adequate means of egress from the front door to the boardwalk public way in accordance with CRC § 311.1. Additionally, CFC § 504.1 requires the area of emergency access necessary for the Fire Department as follows: Exterior doors and openings required by this code or the California Building Code shall be maintained readily accessible for emergency access by the fire department. An approved access walkway leading from the fire apparatus access roads to the exterior openings shall be provided when required by the fire code official. As with CRC § 311.1, CFC § 504.1 does not require a minimum dimension of access as long as it is acceptable to the fire code official. Therefore, similar to the determination whether the means of egress satisfied CRC § 504.1, Mr. Bass looked at not only whether an average sized person would be able to exit the front door to the boardwalk but also whether an average sized firefighter could access the home from the alleyway in the event of an emergency. Based upon his observations, Fire Marshal Bass was able to see "an access walkway" available on either side of the block wall adequate for each residence. In addition to the side yard accessway, Fire Marshal Bass was able to view access to both the front and the rear of the residence and found them to be "readily accessible for emergency access by the fire department." Based upon his observations, Fire Marshal Bass determined that the Newport Beach Fire Department has adequate access to both referenced properties, and that the block wall between the two homes does not constitute a safety violation of the CFC or the CRC as adopted by the City of Newport Beach. Finally, the masonry block wall's location within the setback complies with the Newport Beach Zoning Code. Specifically, Section 20.30.110(D)(2)(d) provides "[f]ences, hedges, and walls may be established within required setback areas in compliance with the requirements of Section 20.30.040." Referring then to the requirements of Section 20.30.040, Table 3-1 authorizes a fence or wall in a residential district to encroach into the setback area provided it is a maximum of six feet high which is the case here. Thank you for your patience with the time taken to investigate your concerns. If you have any questions regarding this matter, Kevin Bass can be reached at [CONTINUED ON FOLLOWING PAGE] Page 3 of 3 Letter to Denys Oberman dated April 18, 2019 (949) 644-3108 or kbass@nbfd.net and Samir Ghosn at (949) 644-3277 or sghosn@newportbeachca.gov. Respectfully submitted, Kevin Bass, Vire Marshal Samir Ghosn Deputy Community Development Director/Chief Building Official Cc: Grace K. Leung, City Manager r --) e �e-:l �Z-- a,- 1% 5 Cel C3 64J 1 I } W " FXHIBIT "F" 14 or Ot 41 IT Ow 0& r I U 0 w -A .r QcL OBERMAN-000026 P-000492 Exhibit 308 Page 1