Good_Neighbor_Policy.pdf

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APPENDIX H

GOOD NEIGHBOR POLICY

The County is a political subdivision of the State of California, that is mandated by state and federal law to provide certain services to all residents of the County, and that also provides non-mandated, desired or necessary services to enhance the well-being and quality of life for its residents. Such services are provided within the territorial boundaries of all cities within Sacramento County and in the unincorporated areas of the County.

County facilities are generally located in close proximity to the constituent population served, and in areas that are easily accessible to public transportation. The siting of facilities is ultimately a County responsibility. The County requires its departments to have conducted reasonable outreach to affected neighborhoods in siting County facilities. The County takes into consideration a whole range of factors, including location of clients served, proximity of other related services needed by clientele, and any neighborhood revitalization plans and adoption siting policies of cities. The County will solicit the affected city’s input and recommendation as to location, but retains the ultimate decision as to the parameters of the search area and determination of the most appropriate sites.

As a general rule, the County does not do site searches for programs, services or facilities operated by non-county entities that may receive County funding, but requires contractors to have conducted reasonable outreach to affected neighborhoods. The County contracts for services, but does not dictate the location of the facility. All businesses within the incorporated and unincorporated areas of the county must be in good standing with whatever city or County zoning laws apply in order to receive funding.

The County of Sacramento is committed to being an integral part of the neighborhoods and communities in which it is located and will implement measures in order to minimize the impact of such facilities on those neighborhoods and communities. Through its placement and management of facilities and its provision of appropriate services, the County endeavors to enhance revitalizing and strengthening of neighborhoods and communities.

This policy is focused on those County-owned and County-leased facilities and those service providers under contract with the County where programs provide direct service to County constituents that have a potential impact on neighborhoods through increased traffic, noise, trash, parking, people congregating, and security risks to neighborhoods and program participants.

Generalized good neighbor policies that prohibit loitering, require litter control services, mandate removal of graffiti, provide for adequate parking and restroom amenities, require landscape and facility maintenance consistent with the neighborhood and require identification of a contact person for complaint resolution have general application to all county facilities and programs.

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Good neighbor policies will also address specific and individualized impacts of proposed facilities and services based on actual circumstances which must be determined through a case by case analysis.

This policy applies only to County-owned and leased facilities and those service providers under contract with the County if the facility programs and projects provide direct services to County constituents. In addition, these service facilities must have a potential impact on neighborhoods and communities through increased traffic, noise, trash, parking, people congregating, and security risks to both neighborhoods and program participants.

The County requires, with regard to the actual location of a particular facility or service, that all applicable zoning laws have been complied with. The focus of this good neighbor policy does not include the propriety of the location of a facility or program in a properly zoned neighborhood or community.

While location is a consideration and input from cities, neighborhoods and communities will be sought, the ultimate decision as to location rests with the County.

Once a facility is sited and in compliance with zoning laws, the intent of this policy is to identify physical impacts and measures to mitigate those impacts so as to be an integral part of the neighborhood and community the County serves.

Provision A: Establish a cooperative relationship with all cities, neighborhoods and communities for planning and siting facilities and contracting for services where the service or project has a high impact on the neighborhood and mitigation of those physical impacts is necessary.

Provision B: Promote decentralization of County services where feasible as a means to improve accessibility and service delivery and reduce physical impact on the environment, neighborhoods and communities.

Provision C: Promote collocation of services, where feasible, as a way to enhance efficiency and reduce costs in the delivery of services.

Provision D: Promote exploration of innovative ways to increase accessibility to services that could also reduce physical impacts on the environment, neighborhoods and communities.

Provision E: Establish early communication with affected cities, neighborhoods and communities as a way to identify potential physical impacts on neighborhoods and to establish mitigation as necessary as well as appropriate property management practices so as not to be a nuisance.

Provision F: Maintain ongoing communication with cities, neighborhoods and communities as a way to promote integration of facilities into the community, to determine the effectiveness of established good neighbor practices, and to identify and resolve issues and problems expediently.

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Provision G: Establish generalized good neighbor practices for high impact facilities, services and projects that include:

• Provision of adequate parking

• Provision of adequate waiting and visiting areas

• Provision of adequate restroom facilities

• Provision for litter control services

• Provision for removal of graffiti

• Provision for control of loitering and management of crowds

• Provision for appropriate landscape and facility maintenance in keeping with neighborhood standards

• Provision for identification of a contact person for complaint resolution

• Provision in contracts for the County to fix a deficiency and deduct it from the money owed to the program if the program fails to fix them.

• Provision to participate in area crime prevention and nuisance abatement efforts.

Provision H: Establish specific good neighbor practices for high impact facilities, services and projects based on a factual analysis of circumstances that would require more oversight and extraordinary measures to ensure the resolution of problems as they occur.

Provision I: Establish requirements that all facilities, services and projects be in compliance with various nuisance abatement ordinances and any other provision of law that applies.

Provision J: Establish a central point of contact, within the County, for resolving non-compliance with this Good Neighbor Policy when all other administrative remedies have been exhausted. This requires contact with funding agencies, site contacts, call report logs, database maintenance, and trend analysis.

Provision K: Conduct a periodic review of all sites and projects included in this policy to determine the effectiveness of the application of the Good Neighbor Policy.

Provision L: Continued non-compliance by contractor to this policy and its provisions may result in contract termination and ineligibility for additional or future contracts.

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GOOD NEIGHBOR POLICY STANDARD CONTRACT LANGUAGE

The following language will be incorporated into any resulting contract:

A. CONTRACTOR shall comply with COUNTY’s Good Neighbor Policy. CONTRACTOR shall establish good neighbor practices for its facilities that include, but are not limited to, the following:

1. Provision of parking adequate for the needs of its employees and service population;

2. Provision of adequate waiting and visiting areas;

3. Provision of adequate restroom facilities located inside the facility;

4. Implementation of litter control services;

5. Removal of graffiti within seventy-two hours;

6. Provision for control of loitering and management of crowds;

7. Maintenance of facility grounds, including landscaping, in a manner that is consistent with the neighborhood in which the facility is located;

8. Participation in area crime prevention and nuisance abatement efforts; and

9. Undertake such other good neighbor practices as determined appropriate by COUNTY, based on COUNTY’s individualized assessment of CONTRACTOR’s facility, services and actual impacts on the neighborhood in which such facility is located.

B. CONTRACTOR shall identify, either by sign or other method as approved by the DIRECTOR, a named representative who shall be responsible for responding to any complaints relating to CONTRACTOR’s compliance with the required good neighbor practices specified in this Section. CONTRACTOR shall post the name and telephone number of such contact person on the outside of the facility, unless otherwise advised by DIRECTOR.

C. CONTRACTOR shall comply with all applicable public nuisance ordinances.

D. CONTRACTOR shall establish an ongoing relationship with the surrounding businesses, law enforcement and neighborhood groups and shall be an active member of the neighborhood in which CONTRACTOR’s site is located.

E. If COUNTY finds that CONTRACTOR has failed to comply with the Good Neighbor Policy, COUNTY shall notify CONTRACTOR in writing that corrective action must be taken by CONTRACTOR within a specified time frame. If CONTRACTOR fails to take such corrective action, COUNTY shall take such actions as are necessary to implement the necessary corrective action. COUNTY shall deduct any actual costs incurred by COUNTY when implementing such corrective action from any amounts payable to CONTRACTOR under this Agreement.

F. CONTRACTOR’s continued non-compliance with the Good Neighbor Policy shall be grounds for termination of this Agreement and may also result in ineligibility for additional or future contracts with

COUNTY.