Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutRPT 7 BEAUTIFICATION 01-19-93REPORTS NO. 7 t i - 1-19-93 Y - t r` M � A • ' /�,,---: -: fir..,, ATE: JANUARY 19, 1993 t1 t e C - C O t Yl ��U s% TO: WILLIAM A. HUSTON, CITY MANAGER FROM: COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT SUBJECT: RESEARCH ON BEAUTIFICATION COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION Pleasure of the Council. BACKGROUND At the December 7, 1992 C --',:y Council meeting, Councilman Thomas requested a status repc-lt on the concept of creating a "Beautification Committee". Staff has researched the concept and investigated other cities and how their committees are structured. A total of nine (9) Oranae County and Los Angeles cities were contacted and information w= -s obtained regarding their program. A further description of seven of the city programs is attached for the Council (two of the r__ne cities contacted had restructured their program to be code en-orcement oriented). Contact was also made with the State and Local League of California Cities to request information and any written materials on established Beautification Programs. request was also posted on Citilink asking for any cities that mad Beautification Programs to contact the City of Tustin. The request was posted twice and no responses were received. Staff in their contact wit: other cities requested information on the following items that are believed to be relevant to the creation of a Beautification Program: ° How the Committee/Proc=am is structured Who comprises the coma-.-ttee ° How many committee me -.vers Whether the committee -.as a mission statement Level of city involves-.=nt o Committee budget City Council Report Research on Beautification Committee January 19, 1993 Page 2 ° Meeting schedule (annually, quarterly, monthly) ° Award schedule (annually, quarterly, monthly) Type of awards, cost of awards ° City staff involvement Criteria for judging properties Nomination process • ° Reports, forms developed as part of the program In response to these questions and answers, a trend became evident among the programs that are successfully operating. 1. It is equally likely or unlikely that the program operates independent of the city. Four programs surveyed are not city sponsored. 2. The city generally assists in the awards event either by direct budget appropriations to the organization or by hosting the awards event. 3. The annual costs to fund the award event are generally between $1500-$2500. 4. City staff has limited involvement in the program except for assisting with publicity, nomination process, coordinating the awards event and providing information on city codes and property history. 5. If city staff is involved it is usually a representative from .the Community Services or Code Enforcement Departments. 6. If the program is city sponsored there is generally a Council person involved on the judging committee. 7. Award events are usually held annually and in late spring. 8. The program/committee has established criteria they use to evaluate/judge properties. City Council Report Research on Beautification Committee January 19, 1993 Page 3 9. The award to the winner(s) is generally a plaque or proclamation. 10. The program can be directed to both residential and commercial propert-es or can be directed to residential or commercial only. several program representatives indicated that they exclude residential judging due to past experiences where residen=ial judging became highly controversial and embittered neighbcrs against neighbors. Conclusion: Staff will be available to respond to any specific questions or direction fr--m the City Council on this matter. Rita Westfield Christine A. Shing on Assistant Direc 2Assistant City Man er Community De-:elopment Dept. RW:CAS:kbc\beaucomt.=-w BEAUTIFICATION PROGRAMS CITY OF ANAHEIM Anaheim Beautiful: The Anaheim Beautiful program has been in operation since 1970. Anaheim Beautiful is a volunteer non -prof it organization composed of citizens and affiliated local organizations who work together to clean up and beautify the City. The committee is composed of 9 members elected at large from the 300 person membership, and is established by charter with established bylaws. The committee names monthly award winners who contribute to civic beauty through property improvement. Yearly, the previous monthly award winners compete for the annual award. The program has several award categories - commercial, industrial, institutional, multi -family residential and single-family residential. Nominations for awards are submitted by the membership not by the community at large. Major awards are given at an annual awards luncheon. Monthly awards consist of an awards plaque to the winner. The City is usually represented at the monthly meetings by department heads or the City Manager and information about on-going and future city programs is shared with the membership at these monthly meetings. The City of Anaheim is not responsible for the program and does not financially support the beautification program. Annual membership is $5 for an individual and $15 for an organization or business. Anaheim beautification competes with other non -profits when requesting funding from the City of Anaheim. Mr. John Poole, the City's Code Enforcement and past president of the Committee. This there are no city staff members assigned t RW:br:beauty.1st oSupervisor, is a member is strictly voluntary, the committee. BEAUTIFICATION PROGRAMS BELL GARDEN City of Bell Garden: The Beautification Award Program was initiated in 1987 and is designed to use the existing 5 -member Recreation, Cultural and Youth Commissioners as the committee. The city is divided into 5 judging zones with a committee member assigned to judge one of the 5 zones. Each commitee member selects one residential property and one business property in their assigned zones. Categories include residential properties (single family and multiple) and business properties (commercial and industrial). A total of 5 residential and 5 business awards are presented each year. The program operates from the Community Services Department and has one city staff person assigned to assist the committee, take care of publicity, notify recipients and coordinate the Award Ceremony. The Award Ceremony is an annual event which takes place after a regular Council meeting. A $1500 budget has been established to fund the event to pay for such items as refreshments, plaques, litter bags and photographer. Guidelines used by the committee to judge properties include; outstanding landscaping or architectural design, improvements to exterior appearance, overall upkeep and maintenance and the absence of outstanding City Code violations. BEAUTIFICATION PROGRAMS CITY OF DOWNEY City of Downey - The Keep Downey Beautiful program was developed in 1984 originally as a city sponsored and funded program. The city is no longer an active participant in the program and there are no city staff members assigned to the program. Although approximately 12% of the operating expenses are funded by the city, the remaining budget is funded by donations. It is estimated that the awards budget is $2000 - $2500 annually. Keep Downey Beautiful is a community based program staffed by volunteers who meet monthly. At the present time there are 10 active members representing the different civic organizations. in the city. Award events recognizing both home •and business beautification improvements are held annually in the spring and anyone in the community can nominate a property or an entire street/ neighborhood. The city is divided into 8 areas and judges, selected from the membership, go out into one of the 8 areas and rate the nominated properties on a scale of from 1 to 10. There are generally 40 annual winners who are recognized at a reception at City Hall. Awards include a lawn sign for each winner to advertise that their property has been selected, proclamation from the City Council, County and State Assemblyman. A slide presentation of the winning properties concludes the reception event. BEAUTIFICATION PROGRAMS GARDEN GROVE City of Garden Grove: The Neighborhood Pride Program was developed by the City's Code Enforcement section and is operated by the city. The program recognizes residential properties or neighborhoods within the city that exhibit high maintenance standards. The city is divided into 18 zones, each zone has its own judge who is appointed annually by the City Council. Residents of Garden Grove may submit a nomination for their property or neighborhood or may nominate another property within the city. Awards ceremonies are held annually and consist of a city plaque for the winner as well as a plaque for the neighborhood. The staff person who provided this information was unable to determine a budget amount for the program. The City is represented at the annual award event by the Council and City department representatives who distribute City materials and answer questions. An Administrative services Coordinator serves as staff to the program, developing the application, coordinating the advertising, determining eligibility, mapping the 18 zone judging area and putting together the annual event. Criteria used by the judges includes such things as landscaping maintenance, exterior residence improvements and property upkeep (paint, roof, etc.) BEAUTIFICATION PROGRAMS CITY OF LAKEWOOD City of Lakewood: The Lakewood Beautiful program has been in operation for 14 years and was developed to encourage and recognize residential and commercial properties in the city who have maintained their property. Residential: The Residential Beautification Committee is structured as an ad-hoc advisory committee to the City Council and is comprised of 20 members, including one council member, a local realtor, garden club representative and past winners. The Lakewood Beautiful Committee meets four times a year to consider nominations. Entries/ nominations can be as high as 400 within the annual nomination period. For judging purposes, Lakewood is broken down into 35 geographic areas. Three judges are selected from the Committee. A total of 35 winners (one from each area) are selected and receive recognition awards. From the 35 winners, 4 grand prize winners are selected. In June, the annual award reception is held. The city budgets $7000 for the event to take care of food and prize costs. Awards include city plaques, professional photographs of the 35 winning properties and a clock for the grand prize winners. One city staff - person is assigned to the committee and handles the nomination process, meeting coordination and publicity. Commercial: The commercial component of the beautification program is not a city sponsored event/process. Judging and organization of the commercial recognition is done by the Chamber of Commerce and the Rotary Club. The commercial beautification program includes; multi -family residences, office buildings, gas stations, shopping centers and institutional uses. Usually there are approximately 20 annual nominees for the committee to consider. One winner in each category is selected annually and awarded a plaque and recognized at a City Council meeting. Criteria used by the committee for judging commercial properties includes signage, parking lot maintenance, lighting, landscaping, and property maintenance. One city staff person is assigned to assist the committee with publicity and award coordination. BEAUTIFICATION PROGRAMS CITY OF SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO City of San Juan Capistrano: The Community Pride Award Program was developed by the San Juan Capistrano City Council in 1988 to recognize the business community efforts in maintenance of their property. The Committee is comprised of the Mayor and two members of the community (chosen by the Mayor). Commercial properties are judged on building design, overall maintenance and landscaping. Awards are annual events which include an engraved City tile for each major category winner and Certificates of Recognition for other outstanding properties, presented by the City Council at their July meeting. Categories include commercial, industrial, and retail business. The City determined not to include residential properties because they believe it to be too controversial. There is an annual nomination process open to the community. Submission of nominations is scheduled for March of each year. One City staff person is assigned to assist the Committee by researching the history of the nominated property and developing a list of other non -nominated properties for the Committee to consider. Criteria used by the Committee for judging a property includes -- overall high quality upkeep, landscaping, signage, building improvements, conformity to city codes and representation of the city's culture and heritage. RW:br:beauty.1st BEAUTIFICATION PROGRAMS CITY OF SANTA ANA City of Santa Ana: The Santa Ana Beautiful Committee sponsors an annual event called the "Most Beautiful Front Yard Contest". The event started in 1988 and is an offshoot of the Keep America Beautiful program. The program is designed to recognize residents who have improved the exterior maintenance and landscaping of their homes in each of the Santa Ana neighborhoods. The committee is comprised of volunteers or representatives from each of the Santa Ana neighborhoods. One judge is assigned to each neighborhood and using a scale from 1-10 rates properties for maintenance (fences, driveway, storage) landscaping and overall appearance. There is no City Council or city department representation on the committee, although one city staff person assists the committee by doing the publicity, mailings, developing and consolidating rating forms and coordinating the annual awards event. The staff person is the Community Events Supervisor and estimates approximately 10 hours a month are allocated to the event contest. The City of Santa Ana funds the annual dinner award event. Winners receive a "Most Beautiful Yard" lawn sign to be displayed on the property and a mounted photograph of their home.