Page 27 - Legal Aid CRP EJ Toolkit

industry over time will suffice. Similarly, the geographic areas selected were arbitrary
and can be broken down by ZIP Code, census tract, or council district.

Best Practices Moving Forward
There are a number of trends that can be addressed through increased oversight and proactive
land use strategies. The following section outlines the conclusions drawn from the data and best
practices to improve current conditions.

I. Permit and Zoning Enforcement

There are operations that may be currently operating without the correct permits, such as
the certificate of occupancy and/or specific use permits. Providing the necessary
information to code officers before they conduct a site visit to inform their
comprehensive inspection of the site could increase oversight on missing permits.

If a resident believes there is illegal construction happening on a site, he or she can call
311, which triggers code officers to do a site visit. When inspectors are called to a site,
they must do a comprehensive inspection, which means that if they were called for a trash
violation but found other violations at the same time, all violations must be addressed.
However, it is up to the discretion of the inspector as to what extent the background
research is conducted on the site. For example, the inspector may look up the zoning or
pull the permits, but is not required to do so. Inspectors are not presented with a uniform
packet of information on a site when conducting the investigation. The code citation
could then trigger the operation to seek the required permits through the building
inspections department. If the building inspector determines that there is an incorrect
zoning for the land use proposed by the owner, this would likely trigger zoning
department involvement. The current process for identifying sites that do not have these
permits occur through:

○ 311 calls by residents
○ Targeted random inspections of “suspect small businesses” (i.e., tire
shops/mechanic shops at the discretion of each district/inspectors)
○ “CO Sweep” of recently issued COs rotating district basis each month (started
August 2019)
○ During the annual business fire inspection conducted by the fire marshal (not the
most common, but it happens)

If code compliance officers were equipped with the current zoning of the site, the zoning
regulations for the operations on the property, and the current permits for the operation, a
311 call could trigger the operation to pursue correct permits without waiting for a
resident or fire marshal to retroactively pursue the violation. Similarly, with sites that are
permitted for a use that does not align with the operations onsite, this would be another
proactive enforcement tool to address illegal land use operations.

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