Oceano Community Services District board member Beverly Joyce-Suneson received a notice of violation from the county on Sept. 20 claiming that she had broken multiple county codes.
The San Luis Obispo County Planning and Building notice stated that the department had received complaints and verified violations of county code on a property she either owns or is responsible for.
Joyce-Suneson, who also faced administrative action from the Community Services District for the alleged violations, told New Times that the issue had been resolved before she received the county notice.
According to the notice of violation, Joyce-Suneson was in violation of three county codes and had to resolve all three by Oct. 6 or face the possibility of an administrative fine or abatement hearing. The notice stated that she “must cease the use of the RV for habitation, remove sewer and water connections and return the RV to a state of storage, and obtain a demolition permit for the unpermitted sewer connection used by the RV.”
The notice also states that, “county code violations make your property a public nuisance and are misdemeanors, so please take this notice seriously. We will assist you as much as we can, but it is your responsibility to resolve these violations.”
Joyce-Suneson said she “received a notice of violation apparently [in the mail] but [General Manager Will] Clemens got information before I did.”
However, Clemens told New Times that he didn’t receive the notice until Sept. 27 because he was away on vacation.
“Our utility manager was contacted via phone and email by County Code Enforcement on Sept. 20, 2023,” Clemens said. “When I returned from vacation on Sept. 27, 2023, I requested a copy of the attached notice of violation from the county and after receiving it, began to prepare the attached letter to the property owner.”
Clemens then sent Joyce-Suneson an email on Oct. 5 informing her that the district received the notice of violation, and in addition to the violation of county code, she also was in violation of district ordinances for connecting her RV to district water and sewer systems.
The email also stated that she needed to disconnect from the water and sewer system “to avoid further district action.”
Joyce-Suneson said that by the time she was made aware of the notice, everything was already resolved.
“The hookups were already unhooked and they were temporarily hooked up by a plumber to flush out [the pipes],” Joyce-Suneson said. “I have other family members that use it, camp in it, take it places, and it was parked in an area on my property and hooked up in the process of getting it prepared to go out on another trip.”
Joyce-Suneson also said that she wasn’t in violation of district ordinances while being connected to the water and sewer lines.
“There was no stealing involved, and the plumber himself said that it was legal and that he frequently sets these types of situations up for people around the county,” she said. “They’re set up all the time, and it was not an uncommon thing that he did.”
Joyce-Suneson also said there was no illegal habitation of the RV, as family members used it only as a place of privacy.
“They would go out there when needed like to talk on the phone or something and they didn’t want to be in the living room or the backyard,” she said.
Joyce-Suneson said she made sure to clear up her violations by contacting the county.
“The county person [Brad Farr] said that he had come out and saw things and that he wanted a letter and further follow-up from the plumber, which the plumber provided him with,” she said. “Then Brad said, as far as I know, that the whole thing is done. He said, ‘OK, well, that sounds like that’s that.'” Ī
This article appears in Pet Issue 2023.
Director Suneson in her statement during the October 11, 2023 OCSD Board Meeting said āShe only just became aware of the issue..ā So, in this statement she is alluding to the fact she did not know that the lines were there but in a later statement for this article she says that by the time she was notified about the issue, it had been resolved. She also states that the plumber who placed the lines said they were fine and didnāt mention it being illegal. So, which is it? She knew about the issue or did not know about the issue. Seems very confusing . Also says she was not in violation of the districtās ordinances but she was. 9.14.010 Violation Unlawful
It shall be unlawful for any person to connect to, construct, install or provide, maintain and/or use any other means of the sewage disposal from any building within District except by connection to a public sewer in the manner as provided by this title, when the public sewer has been constructed and accepted for use and is available within 200 feet of the property containing said building.
She also says Mr. Clemens got verbally abusive towards her when he confronted her about this issue. But he has also given a statement saying he was on vacation when the district was notified of the violation (which is proper protocol by the County to notify the office of said violations) and then sent Director Suneson an email. I find this hard to believe that he was this way with her as there are FOUR other women who work in the OCSD office, and I do not believe they would sit by and left the GM behave this way. Also, I find it hard to believe the whomever drove her to the office sat back and allowed him to be so āaggressiveā with her, as any time I have ever seen her at meetings, she is dropped off by someone. What is true that Director Sunesonās own children have been verbally abusive and aggressive towards the staff at OCSD multiple times in the past.