Tempe Board of Adjustment Appeal Hearing - January 24, 2024
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Tempe Board of Adjustment Appeal Hearing - January 24, 2024
The Board of Adjustment met on January 24, 2024, at 1:30 PM to consider an appeal of the Hearing Officer's November 7, 2023 decision to approve a 180-day open abatement request for property at 1895 East Hayden Lane. The appellant, property owner Glenn Kiley (represented by Lane & Nach, P.C.), argued that he was not given sufficient time to correct code violations inherited from the previous owner. Staff presented evidence of the property's history of violations and criminal activity. The board voted unanimously to deny the appeal, upholding the open abatement.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Appellant Glenn Kiley testified that he took possession of the property on August 11, 2023, via foreclosure. He stated he was unaware of code violations until October 10, 2023, and argued that the 10-day notice (from his receipt of notice to the hearing) was unreasonable, as he needed time to evict tenants. He noted that the previous owner had received multiple notices but that he was not responsible. He confirmed the property had been cleaned up by December 14, 2023, and that he had no objection to the 180-day open abatement, but criticized the process.
Discussion Items
- Staff Presentation: Planner Lily Drosos and Deputy Director Drew Yochum presented the case. The code compliance case was initiated January 17, 2023, for junk, debris, inoperable vehicles, and an RV being used as a dwelling. Three citations were issued to the previous owner (unpaid, sent to collections). After ownership change in August 2023, Tempe Police reported multiple incidents: September 27, 2023 – arrests for weapons, drugs, fraud; October 28, 2023 – attempted sexual assault; December 5, 2023 – stolen items; December 6, 2023 – fire. Staff issued a final notice of violation and a notice of intent to abate to the new owner. Inspectors spoke with Mr. Kiley on October 17 and 23, 2023, explaining that compliance before the hearing would avoid the abatement, but no progress was made. The property is now in compliance, but staff requested the 180-day open abatement to ensure continued compliance due to the history of criminal activity and public safety concerns.
- Board Deliberation: Board members questioned staff about the open abatement process, confirming that no additional fines would be imposed on the current owner as long as compliance is maintained. They also clarified that the previous owner's citations had gone to collections. The board considered the appellant's arguments but noted the property's serious issues.
Key Outcomes
- Motion and Vote: Board member Confer moved to deny the appeal; seconded by board member Siegel. The board voted unanimously (all ayes, no nays, no abstentions) to deny the appeal.
- Effect: The 180-day open abatement for property at 1895 East Hayden Lane (case CE230356) remains in effect, allowing staff to monitor compliance for six months. No additional penalties apply if compliance is maintained.
- Next Steps: The board noted that no meeting is anticipated for February 2024 due to lack of cases. The appellant was encouraged to discuss with staff the possibility of early removal of the abatement after three months.
Meeting Transcript
But the abatement hearing was conducted. So it's it's quite unreasonable to expect in 10 days for me to address all those issues that were pointed out on the code compliance. I think previously there were a number of uh violation notices given, but they were to the previous owner, and I was completely unaware of any issues until the October the 12th, October the 10th, sorry. So uh yeah, the basis of my appeal was basically that it was impossible to uh correct the issues that were the code compliance issues in the allocated time, and um then obviously the abatement followed and uh it should have been given uh as now occurred it it was 60 days from the from the notice I was given to the uh the correction of all the issues which have been at addressed now. So if I had uh been allowed sufficient time or given correct notice uh and uh sufficient time that the abatement proceedings shouldn't have wouldn't have been been in wouldn't have been required. Very good. Um the the the and the your hearing officer, you got notice of the the hearing though that that occurred? I uh no official notice. I spoke to uh Andreas who said that it was on November the 7th. Uh I didn't have anything in writing and and actually my apologize. I I planned on attending, but actually got the dates mixed up, so I missed it by one day. Good. Anything else uh to add to your your appeal, sir. Um well from my understanding of being a previous property owner in in uh Phoenix and there was some code violations for uh landscaping issues, and we were given uh three notices and sufficient uh I think it was 30 days each notice to address the issues. So from my understanding of the process of code violations and addressing the issues, uh I think 10 days was probably a fairly unreasonable amount of time. I realized that the property had been uh since January, I think, of the of 2023 had been issued with notices, but that was to the previous owner, and uh obviously I had nothing to do with that. I only had possession since the uh uh August 11th. So if uh correct notice procedure had it been given, I had been given three three notices with sufficient time, then the abatement proceedings wouldn't have been required. Um I I didn't quite hear you. You said you took possession when August the 11th. Thank you at foreclosure auction, trustee sale. I was the um lender and had to foreclose and the property reverted to me at auction. I'm sorry, did you what was the date you said on that? August the 11th 2023. Board, is anybody else have any questions for the appellant? Please. Mr. Cayley, I just am trying to understand. So you live in Australia. Where does where did you find out about the notice? Who receives the mail? Uh it goes to a post office box. I was actually here at the time in October. I came across in September to try and address the issues because receiving it at foreclosure at a trustee sale. I had no idea who the tenants were, if they were vacant properties, if they were what condition they were in. So is that PO box regularly monitored? Uh fairly regular, yeah. Yeah. I I got well probably weekly when I'm here. Yeah. Thank you. If the committee were to grant this relief for you, what are your intentions on that property? Well, it's and what time frame? Well, it's been cleaned now. Uh December 7th, the tenant was removed. Uh we came to a mutual agreement where uh I paid him to leave and clean up the mess, and uh so he left on December 7th and December 14th. It was uh I requested for Andres to re-inspect it and to see if it was in compliance. And for my understanding, I spoke to Andreas today and uh I believe that it's in compliance with all the codes now, all the violations have been addressed. Sure conifer, I have a question if I may. Please uh Mr.
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