Anita Weston, Reporter
Rich Civic Times
GARDEN CITY, Utah. August 6, 2015. The Court was presided over by Administrative Judge Brian
House. Sharlene Millard is the Court
Clerk and Robert Peterson is the Ordinance Enforcement Officer for Garden City.
The Court was called to order at 10:00 a.m. Derrick Northrup and his wife appeared before
the Judge. They own a home that has been
used as a short-term rental in the Garden City area. However, they failed to complete the renewal
of their short-term rental license. They
did pay the required fee for the license but failed to identify a contact
person that could be available to handle any problems that may arise at their
home when it is rented. They had been
contacted several times requesting that they either complete the application, or
it will be assumed that they no longer were renting their home.
Robert Peterson, the Ordinance Officer, visited the home when
there was a group of individuals staying there. He visited with several individuals staying
at the home. None that he talked to even
knew the name of the owner of the home.
He assumed because they couldn’t give him any information concerning the
home, that it was being rented. He wrote
up a ticket at that point in time.
Northrup noted that they had allowed his pastor and some
of his friends to come and stay at their home without any cost. He also stated that they had contacted Garden
City Councilman Bruce Warner. Warner
had promised them that he would look into the matter and take care of it.
The license should have been renewed way back in
January. The manager who had taken care
of their rental in the past had requested that some work be done on the home to
make it more rentable. They had failed
to make any of the requested changes. As
a result, they did not have a contact person to finish out their renewal
application.
Ordinarily, a fine would have been required. However, since Warner had indicated that
he would follow up and take care of this item, the Judge felt he could not impose
a fine at the present time. He told Mr.
Northrup that he must complete the application within the next two or three
days and submit it to the City, or action would be taken and his license would
be deemed null and void.
Mary Wagner called on the telephone to talk with Judge
House. She informed the Judge that she
had failed to renew her short-term rental license in a timely manner. She was sent several notices. She thought she sent in her check after
receiving a second notice in June.
Later, she found that she had put the check in with some other papers
that were sent to her attorney and not to Garden City. She finally was able to get everything
straightened out and requested that the amount of the fine be reduced. She noted that she had been remiss, but had
tried hard to complete the paperwork.
Judge House reduced the fine to $500.
She thanked him for his willingness to work with her.
Rick Rose, owner of the Dance Place, appeared before Judge House. He had been cited because of placing off
premise signs in several locations without obtaining an off-premise sign
permit. He was concerned because of the
amount of the fine.
It was noted that he had been sent three different
notices. The third was sent registered
mail because he had apparently ignored the other letters that had been
written. Also, he had numerous signs
around the City that are against the City’s sign ordinance.
Rose said that he felt he was not being treated
fairly. He said that he must be the only
businessman in Garden City who was being punished for not obeying the sign
ordinance. He had taken his camera and
gone around town taking pictures of all of the other businesses that he felt
must also not be in compliance and felt all should be cited along with him.
Peterson looked at all of the pictures that had been
taken by Rose and informed him that all of those signs are also on his
computer, and that warnings had been given to each of them. Most of them, however, had acknowledged the
warnings and taken care of the problem.
However, this was the first time he had been able to really talk with Rose. This issue could have been
solved much sooner. Rose’s trailer
with advertising all over it is quite some distance from his property—thus it
is an off premise sign. If Rose
would like to have an off premise sign, he needs to make an application and pay
the required fee. He must also make
arrangements with the owner of the property where the off premise sign will be
placed. There were also two other signs
that Peterson removed from the downtown area.
Judge House noted that he felt it necessary to impose a
fine. He would, however, make some
allowance since Rose apparently did not understand the off site sign
ordinance. He was given ample notice to
handle the matter sooner but since this was the first time he had appeared
before the court, he was fined $600.
It was brought to Rose’s attention that signs along the
highway must be approved by the State since it is a Scenic Byway. A Scenic Byway has a special set of rules as
far as signs go. These requirements must
be met if signage is placed along any road with this designation.
About another ten names of individuals who have been given
tickets were read into the meeting minutes noting that, since they did not
appear in court, they were assumed to be guilty and should be billed for the
fines that are imposed as a result of not following the City’s ordinances.
Court was dismissed.
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