Miranda's Rescue permit out of compliance with Humboldt County for 23 years

Humboldt County officials confirmed that Miranda's Rescue has been operating out of compliance with its required permits for 23 years, a lapse the Building and Planning Department did not discover until this reporter asked about it last week. The county issued a formal violation notice one day after the inquiry.

Planning and Building Director John Ford said the department reviewed the file only after receiving questions from the Times-Standard on May 21 about a lapsed conditional use permit for the Miranda's Rescue property that expired on Sept. 17, 2004. The next morning, on May 22, the county sent rescue owner Shannon Miranda a certified letter warning that he has until June 5 to sign the new conditional use permit, and if he does not, there could be ramifications about whether he could continue to operate.

"We are contacting you about the above-referenced permits that were required to legitimize your animal rescue operation under Humboldt County Code and the Coastal Act. Approval of the permits on August 21, 2003, were subject to completing conditions of approval (COA) within a prescribed timeframe. It has recently come to our attention that many of the COA have not been completed, which is a violation of the terms and requirements of the permits and county code," said the certified letter sent to Shannon Miranda by the Humboldt County Building and Planning Department.

Miranda has until June 5 to sign the letter agreeing to fulfill the conditions of approval and have the work done before the dates set in the terms of the conditional permit. Ford said the department had not realized the rescue was still operating under a 2003 conditional permit with unfinished conditions.

"I think that part of the struggle is in some of the older permits, we did not have a post-approval monitoring team like we do today, where we do actively monitor permits," said Ford. "That's a fairly recent thing, and so this is just one of the older permits that kind of slipped through. It was modified in 2020, but for whatever reason we did not put it on that monitoring track."

The county's letter states that five of the eight required conditions from the 2003 approval were never completed. The outstanding issues include raising structures above flood elevation, obtaining building permits for existing buildings, securing an encroachment permit, and resolving unapproved sewage and water systems. The rescue sits in a floodplain, and the required elevation work for the structures was never done.

Asked whether there could be more properties in the county that are two decades out of compliance, like Miranda's Rescue and owner Shannon Miranda, the Ford said this situation could be unique and not as widespread.

"I hope there's not a lot of properties out there out of compliance. No. 1, a lot of properties don't require a conditional use permit. And then beyond that, a lot of properties don't have the same requirements that were put on Miranda's," said Ford. "So, you know, to say that there's a lot of properties out there out of compliance, I don't think that's true. If I had a choice between is it unique, I think it's somewhat unique, and I don't have a good answer for why, but you know the bottom line is that he was not required to comply with conditions in the way that he should have been."

The rescue continued operating for more than two decades without meeting the required conditions for the provisional permit. It even received a permit modification in 2020, but the county still did not identify the original non‑compliance issues, and that the property was out of compliance.

"So making the changes requires a pretty good amount of work. And it's not something that he can just snap his fingers and do. So what this compliance agreement would do is allow him to say, yes, I'm going to do those things," said Ford. "Then it would give him timelines in which to get those things done. And if he's meeting those timelines, then everybody is feeling good about it. If he's not meeting the timelines, then, again, we're into that place where maybe a different action needs to be taken."

The county is now giving Shannon Miranda another opportunity to comply with the same conditions that were in the previous conditional use permit. The agreement issued last week outlines deadlines extending into late 2026 and 2027, the first deadline is June 5, when Miranda must return the signed and notarized agreement.

"In the title, it says notice of possible suspension of permit," said Ford. "So that's already signaling that, you know, there's action that's needed and that he has the opportunity now to take an action to move into compliance, or we're signaling what the ramifications are."

The compliance agreement allows the rescue to continue operating immediately upon signing, even though none of the required corrections have been made from the last permit. Nor were the conditions for the previous permit followed up on by the Humboldt County planning department during the last 23 years.

"Obviously, 23 years out of compliance is not typical. But in terms of just trying to turn people and move them into compliance, that is typical. And the first step is educational," said Ford. "If people have forgotten, don't know, whatever the case may be, that they have some things to do to come into compliance, then our first step is to have a conversation with them about what that is and to educate them."

Following the June 5 deadline, the next target is applying for various permits such as building permits, by Sept. 30, 2026, with all work being completed by Oct. 15, 2027.

The county says it will actively monitor the case moving forward.

Maranda Vargas can be reached at 707-441-0504.

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