CASE OF INTEREST

Date: September 10, 2004

Contact: Deputy District Attorney Natalia Luna
Community Prosecution Unit
(916) 876-8321

District Attorney Jan Scully announced today that South Sacramento county resident Jose Borje Buenavista pled guilty today in Department 3 of the Superior Court to one misdemeanor count of a violation of the Sacramento Zoning Code for maintaining a residential care facility for more than six adults without the proper land use permit.

Buenavista, who had operated his facility in a residential neighborhood near Florin Road for the past year, had been the subject of numerous complaints from neighbors. Inspections by the State Department of Social Services, the Sacramento County Planning Department, as well as the Building Department, confirmed that Buenavista was running a boarding house without obtaining the proper permits.

Conditions at the four bedroom, one bath house included an illegal garage conversion where two residents were sleeping. Unrelated men and women were housed in the same rooms. Although Buenavista received $600-$625 per resident, he was feeding them food he had obtained from various food lockers. There were seven paying residents.

Mr. Buenavista was ordered to serve 30 days in county jail, 20 days stayed on condition that he obey all laws and is not allowed to rent out any rooms for a period of three years. Additionally, he was ordered to perform 60 hours of community service.

“Room and board” type facilities moving into residential neighborhoods has been an ongoing problem in Sacramento county for the last several years according to DDA Natalia Luna, and local officials have struggled to find effective tools to enforce zoning laws without impacting state law dealing with residential care facilities.

The Buenavista case is the first case prosecuted using local zoning laws to combat this problem. “This case sends a message that the District Attorney’s office will vigorously prosecute those who seek to illegally profit from people who find themselves in a situation where their only option is to seek housing in a board and care facility”, Luna added.