A second compliance order was issued to the Red Barn that seeks
to shut down the long-running business until a long list of code
violations has been addressed.
Jim Johnson
A second compliance order was issued to the Red Barn that seeks to shut down the long-running business until a long list of code violations has been addressed.
The order, sent by the Monterey County building services department by certified mail Tuesday, notes the business’ ongoing failure to meet terms of an earlier compliance order issued in December 2009, as well as new violations.
Among those is the Red Barn’s decision not to reduce the size of its popular outdoor Sunday market to comply with the boundaries of its 33-year-old use permit after county supervisors rejected an appeal in February. The market was supposed to shrink by about half by March 5, but county officials said it hasn’t done so.
Tim McCormick, the county’s building services director, said the new order essentially requires the Red Barn to close down all operations until it meets the terms of the earlier order, which had set a deadline of early January to comply.
“Basically, we’ve said they have to shut down until they make the corrections,” McCormick said. “At this point, there’s just too many safety violations to allow the operation to continue. We want people to voluntarily comply, but we understand it takes awhile to get people’s attention.”
In addition to the order, the Red Barn was served with a notice of a May 20 hearing before the county hearing officer, who handles code enforcement cases. McCormick said the county will ask the hearing officer to hold the Red Barn accountable for all county costs associated with its enforcement actions, and to impose fines of up to $2,500 per day the business is in violation, up to a total of $100,000. He said the county could ask to be allowed to make the corrections itself and bill the Red Barn.
Among the on-site code violations previously identified are unpermitted construction inside the historic Red Barn building, which was closed as a result before the first order was issued; work done without permits on a converted dairy barn and an RV; aging bridges in need of repairs; and required contamination cleanup.
The order notes that Red Barn operators allowed vendors to sell at the market without the necessary itinerant vendor license. While that was mentioned as a violation in the first order, it was not included in the list of corrective actions, mostly because a task force was reviewing the license process.
McCormick said the task force has since finished its work and won’t be recommending changes, meaning the vendors must comply with county law.
Sheriff’s Cmdr. Kevin Oakley said only a couple of dozen Red Barn vendors applied for the license, which includes a background check, of the hundreds who regularly sold at the market.
Under the terms of the Red Barn’s use permit boundaries, an estimated 150 vendors would be allowed to continue selling at the market, including about 50 in a temporary outside area that would last until June when the Red Barn compliance work is supposed to be done. An estimated 400 vendors usually sell at the market.
Attorney Myron Etienne originally said his client, Red Barn owner Fran Ellingwood, intended to comply with terms of the initial compliance order and was working with county officials to comply with the order.
