How To Appeal

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How To Appeal

COUNTY OF SANTA CRUZ HAS BEEN DENYING THE PEOPLE THEIR RIGHT TO AN APPEAL SINCE 1976.
Read the State laws granting you the right to appeal for any reason regardless when any county employee, of any level, says or writes to you that you cannot. Read your rights and the laws supporting your rights that usurp local county administrative hearings. protest hearings and meetings with only government personnel as Judge and Jury and conflict of interest. You are granted by State mandate to appeal to an "independent" licensed citizen board for relief from the county. California Building Standards Code B101 and formerly California Building Code 108.8 supercede Health & Safety Code 17920.5 the County used to unlawfully disband the newly formed Building, Accessibility and Fire Code Board of Appeals Commission. CSBC B101 et seq are the laws that protects you. Read flyer of your rights.

IT IS UNCLEAR NOW HOW AN APPEAL CAN BE HEARD AS THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS HAVE VIOLATED GOV CODES AND ELECTED THEMSELVES TO BE THE NONINDEPENDENT APPEALS BOARD. TREMENDOUS CONFLICT OF INTEREST EXISTS HERE AS THEY ARE THE PARTIES THAT HAVE CONCEALED AND OBSTRUCTED ALL APPEALS ALONG WITH THE PLANNING DEPARTMENT, COUNTY COUNSEL AND COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR. STAY TUNED TO OUR COURT CASES TAB FOR A CLASS ACTION SUIT FILING IN A FEW MONTHS.

The county says you must file your Building or Housing Appeal within 14 days of any adverse determination, order or decision by the county (any county staff or director) and a second appeal to the Board of Supervisors as the Board of Supervisors and Planning are misinterpreting State law and left the citizens without civil rights due process. We will update you. Go ahead and file as all administrative remedies must be exhausted before legal action can be taken. When the appeals board is resurrected per Federal Court Order you will have a time window to apply for an appeal for any adverse decision, determination or order later.

If you have received a Notice of Violation (NOV)/Red Tag Notice - you have only 14 days (we are trying to change this) to request an appeal hearing. Simultaneously, you must apply for a Protest Hearing with Glenda Hill, George Gigarjian, Stephania Francone, uncertified by the ICC and non-attorneys which violate State requirements, within 20 days. Request a licensed attorney to replace them and bring Claire Machado or Harold Griffith or an attorney with you and tape or film record your hearing. See sample letter to request a Protest Hearing Appeal. Although these internal protest hearings violate your right to due process, at the moment you must exhaust all remedies before suing. Simultaneously, request an appeal hearing with the Local appeals board that is currently the self-elected Board of Supervisors impostering themselves in great conflict of interest. Understand that State law CBC 108.8. has been updated by California Building Standards Code (CBSC) B101 - B101.4.2. Confusing as it is - for NOV's, two different appeal request letters are due at the moment until this legally gets straightened out to give you the ability to appeal to the Building appeals board only once it gets resurrected. This then will eliminate the internal government Protest Hearing which violates your civil rights of due process. The Supervisors unlawfully disbanded the appeals board and this will be resurrected and is not lawful and the State will not approve this as it defy's any findings, the county did not provide findings to the State and the State makes new amendments only if published every three years - next time is 2010. The County will omit and withhold correct State law from you and attempt to continue to deny your due process rights to an official and lawfully functioning appeals board that would void most local ordinances as they are in conflict (do not obey or defy) higher State and Federal laws and both State and Federal Constitutions.

HOW TO APPEAL FOR ANY ADVESE DECISION SINCE APRIL 20, 1976, TO THE Building and Fire Code Board of Appeals Commission for Santa Cruz County? There is really no pathway at the moment. The Board of Supervisors have elected themselves to the the Local Appeals Board but are a body that has designed a system of ordinances controlling themselves and all departments regarding permits, notices of violations and redtags - therefore in severe conflict of interest and in violation of higher laws.

PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS NEW AND FIRST NOTICE ABOUT APPEALS for BUILDING PERMIT APPLICATIONS BY TOM BURNS, DATED 7/31/08, WAS NOT IN THE 4TH FLOOR LOBBY UNTIL AFTER AUGUST 12, 2008.
PLEASE NOTE THAT THE EXCEPTIONS AND LIMITED ISSUES AND THE APPEAL PERIODS OF 10 - 14 DAYS, REFERRED TO IN THIS NOTICE, ARE INVALID AND PREEMPTED BY STATE LAWS; SO IS TITLE 12 ordinances 12.12 and 12.10 (NEED TO BE REWRITTEN TO RESPECT STATE STATUTES). THERE IS NO TIME LIMIT TO APPEALUNTIL THE NEW APPEALS BOARD SETS THE TIMES, ESPECIALLY FOR EVERYONE TO DATE WHO WERE NEVER NOTIFIED BY THE COUNTY OF THE STATE REQUIRED INDEPENDENT CITIZEN APPOINTED APPEAL BOARDS. This obstruction violated your civil rights giving you at least two years to FILE LEGAL ACTION. If you are placing an appeal request please notify Publisher as we are tracking each application or if you are rejected for your appeal, please contact our Help Resources Paralegal volunteer immediately and copy us.

Do not be directed to David Lee or Mark Deming, as they are not the correct parties and along with Jennifer Hutchinson have censored all appeal requests. Code 12.12.050 specifies the Building Inspection Chief. Jennifer Hutchinson has also violated the International Code Council Code of Ethics that her certification is from by denying appeals and not being certified until recently.
Please include the information required and bring pertinent documents (see below) with you to your "protest hearing". You may have any consultants, experts, and witnesses that(must) attend with you. You cannot be denied a protest hearing for any reason, as the appeals board was not disclosed to you and the State requires you be heard for any reason. The County must REWRITE Code 12.12, for LEGAL due process, and abide by the State Code 108.8, replaced by the new State Code B101, the Uniform Building Codes and State Health and Safety Codes. that do not limit the powers of the appeal board. Misdemeanors if true consist of fines from $100 - $2,500 per violation. Red tags are illegal per H & S Code 17922 and Government Code 27201 (as Notices of Violation/RedTags are not approved by State law as instruments for recordation to the title of property and not allowed by the State or Federal Constitutions) and the attorney general's opinion and court cases. You may record your meeting, allowed by the Brown Act.

If your request for a protest hearing is denied by County personnel, of any title, your rights have been violated again. You have the right to appeal to a legitimate appeals board. Please give copies of your protest hearing appeals to Publisher.

*Note: Appeals should be FREE and the Alliance for Change is working for this. If you are asked to pay, make a memo stating you are paying under protest. The State codes do not require the County to charge for appeal fees and especially after the County has hidden the appeal boards since 1976.

PLEASE FOLLOW ABOVE INSTRUCTIONS FOR NOW. WE WILL UPDATE SHORTLY.

County Health and Environment Agency Enforces the Uniform Housing Code and Manages Housing Appeal Hearings. The Program Manager states they only handle tenant-landlord issues and complaints. So, where is the State Code 108.8 required Housing Board of Appeals Commission (HBAC)? Here are the Health and Safety Code 17920.6, Uniform Housing Code Section 203, and Law 17922 requiring Santa Cruz County Supervisors and the Planning Dept. to have a citizen independent HBAC. Read these laws. To date it does not exist and your rights have been violated, which now gives you two years for recourse. Health and Safety Code 17920.5 does not allow the Board of Supervisors to disband the legitimate (existing) newly formed appeals board and the County slandered, libeled and entraped the board per our investigations. Court challenges will be precise and quick and will name County Counsel and the County Administrator as well. The Housing and Community Development Commission in Sacramento has already commented this is not legal what the County is doing and will begin to enforce the State laws onto the county corrupt officials and staffers.

For existing structures, we are trying to establish who to send your Notice of Appeal Letter and fee* to. For the moment, please address your Housing Notice of Appeal to:

Housing Board of Appeal Commission
701 Ocean Street, 4th Floor
Santa Cruz, CA 95060-4069

831.454.2130

At the moment no one knows who, what, where or when regarding the State required independent citizen occupied Housing Appeal Board. The County Planning Dept. has been running the appeals internally with their existing staff contrary to State law 108.8. and obstructing separation of power open and independent fair hearings. We will post, as soon as we find out, the correct contact after the establishment of the Housing Board of Appeals Commission. The State does allow for one board to handle both building and housing appeals. Please hold on to your documented history, as you will have two years for recourse once you realize your civil rights have been violated. County staff cannot deny you an appeal by stating you have exceeded your appeal time period of 10-14 days, as the State does not place such limitations, therefore, barring the County from doing so and they hid the appeal board. Two years to appeal should be allowed and for free. So far all requests for appeal hearings have been denied access to the boards - November 7, 2008.

If your request for an appeal is denied by County personnel, of any title, your rights have been violated again. You have the right to continue to appeal after a rejection. Please contact our Help Resources volunteer Paralegal immediately.

*Note: Appeals should be FREE and the Alliance for Change is working for this.

WHEN TO APPEAL
Except for appeals of the County Fire Department, an appeal letter and the required appeal fee (if applicable) must be received by the Planning Department no later than 5:00 PM on the last day of the appeal period noted in the table above. If the last day falls on a weekend or holiday, the appeal period will end at 5:00 PM the next business day. The first day of the appeal period is the day following the action.
Appeals of the County Fire Department must be delivered to the Fire Chief no later than 5:00 PM on the last day of the appeal period noted in the table above. If the last day falls on a weekend or holiday, the appeal period will end at 5:00 PM the next business day.

HOW TO APPEAL

The appellant must write a letter to the appropriate official or body and include the following information:

Whose decision is being appealed? Give the date of the decision.
Give the applicant's name, the application number, and the Assessor's Parcel Number (APN).
State your name
What relief is being sought? Why?
Signatures of all appellants and mailing address
Bring your letter and the appeal fee to the Zoning Counter on the 4th Floor at 701 Ocean Street, Santa Cruz no later than 5:00 PM on the last day of the appeal period. Mailed appeals must also be received in the Planning Department by that date and time. Postmarks will not be accepted.

An appeal will not be accepted without the fee. Write "under protest" on the backside of your check or in your letter. Call 831.454-2130 or see the Zoning Counter for the current fee. We believe the current fee is $577 per August 4, 2008, phone inquiry. Please verify. Please note that the appeals should be free so if you are asked to pay, make a memo stating you are paying under protest. The State codes do not state the County can charge for appeal fees and especially after the County has hidden the appeal boards.

Please include the information required and bring pertinent documents with you to your appeal hearing. You may have any consultants, experts, and witnesses attend with you. The County must follow the California Building Codes and Uniform Housing Codes and State Health and Safety Codes. Other ordinances at the local level mostly disobey these higher statutes so please use our free consultants. Our Help Resources volunteers can help you. You may record or video your meeting, allowed by the Brown Act.

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