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his own rules. He knows just how long to wait and then he starts the whole process all over again. It is very frustrating for the neighbors. They have to live next door to this and it is a disaster. She has lived in the neighborhood for 25 years and most of the neighbors take care of their properties. She said they are all at the end of their patience. Mr. Campbell felt if Council denied the application, then the house would just remain as it is. Ms. Norman replied that Mr. Duggan would have to replace the front porch and landscape the yard. The house would then be presentable to the neighborhood. Mr. Campbell asked staff if that was correct. Mr. Swift said if the application were denied, then the staff would use the property maintenance ordinance to bring the property up to Code. There is an approval with a pomh on the house and that is what staff would enforce. He described the improvements that would have to be made. Ms. McKeehan indicated code enforcement is difficult in this situation. The property maintenance ordinance works best on health and safety matters or in severe cases of appearance. It takes a long time for the code enforcement process to have any success. Requiring someone to construct the porch may be impossible to enforce. There have been cases where landscaping was so bad it was a fire hazard. The property owner can do a little work and then the clock starts running again. The rules are drafted to protect the rights of the property owners. Mayor Pico asked if there were certain things the neighbors were really concerned about, like the fences. If Council conditioned the approval so that Mr. Duggan completed those things within a fixed period of time before he could get a building permit, would that be satisfactory? Ms. McKeehan referred to conditions 3 and 4 in the staffreport. Mayor Pico felt the approval would not be effective until conditions 3 and 4 were completed. He would also like to have an executed contract with a contractor to be presented to staff. He would also have to post proof that he was financially able to comply with the requirements. Ms. Norman said the biggest problem with Mr. Duggan is that he has always done the work himself. She related the fact that he took down the fence between his property and the park four times. She felt there was nothing wrong with the first fence he installed, but he did this four times. With regard to the fence on either side of his property, it took him over a year to put one slat into one fence to prevent children from going into his back yard. The average person would take a half an hour. She said if there is a contractor who will actually do the work and there were firm deadlines for completion, she would be satisfied. Colm Kennedy, 3549 Kings Canyon Court, referred to the letter dated December 7, 2001 which required various items to be completed. Those items have still not been completed today. Pleasanton City Council 32 03/18/03 Minutes