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HomeMy WebLinkAboutOrdinance - 2539 - Amend Title 1ORDINANCE NO. 2539 AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF REDDING AMENDING TITLE 1 (GENERAL PROVISIONS), CHAPTER 1.14 (ADMINISTRATIVE PENALTIES AND ABATEMENT), OF THE REDDING MUNICIPAL CODE BY AMENDING SECTIONS 1.14.020 (DEFINITIONS), 1.14.050 (IMPOSITION OF ADMINISTRATIVE PENALTY), 1.14.120 (REQUEST FOR HEARING — FAILURE TO APPEAR), 1.14.130 (HEARINGS CONDUCTED BY THE ADMINISTRATIVE HEARINGS BOARD), 1.14.140 (HEARINGS CONDUCTED BY HEARING OFFICER), 1.14.150 (SCOPE OF HEARING), 1.14.170 (FINDINGS AND ORDER), 1.14.180 (ADMINISTRATIVE ABATEMENT AND PENALTIES ORDER), 1.14.190 (ADMINISTRATIVE PENALTIES), 1.14.200 (REQUIREMENT TO ABATE), 1.14.230 (COMPLIANCE REPORT), 1.14.320 (LIEN PROCEDURE), 1.14.330 (SPECIAL ASSESSMENT PROCEDURE), AND AMENDING TITLE 1 (GENERAL PROVISIONS), CHAPTER 1.15 (ABATEMENT OF PROPERTIES, BUILDINGS AND CONDITIONS) OF THE REDDING MUNICIPAL CODE BY AMENDING SECTION 1.15.170 (SUBSTANDARD BUILDINGS, PUBLIC NUISANCES AND BLIGHTED CONDITIONS — VIOLATION) ALL RELATED TO STREAMLINING THE ADMINISTRATIVE PROCESS RELATING TO ABATEMENT OF NUISANCE CONDITIONS NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED THAT THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF REDDING DOES ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS: Section 1. Title 1 (General Provisions), Chapter 1.14 (Administrative Penalties and Abatement) Sections 1.14.020, 1.14.050, 1.14.120, 1.14.130, 1.14.140, 1.14.150, 1.14.170, 1.14.180, 1.14.190, 1.14.200, 1.14.230, 1.14.320, and 1.14.330 are hereby amended to read as follows: 1.14.020 - Definitions. "Abatement costs" mean the actual costs paid or incurred by the city in connection with the matter, including, but not limited to: 1. Costs of investigation; 2. Personnel costs; 3. City overhead incurred in the preparation for any hearing and appearing at the hearing Q)� itself; k 4. Fees paid to a hearing officer; L& W 5. Costs incurred for all inspections and reinspections necessary to enforce any order issued under this chapter; 6. Costs of preparation of notices, specifications, and contracts and inspecting the work performed under contract; 7. Costs of mailing and printing notices and documents; 8. The cost, including staffing costs, expended or incurred by the city in abating the conditions or violations pursuant to any order under this chapter; 9. The cost of repairing, securing, demolishing, or otherwise abating a building or structure; 10. The cost of title reports, placing or removing liens and closing the file, and any other related administrative costs; and 11. Administrative penalties and interest. "Responsible party" means any person in charge of the premises or location where the code violation exists as well as any person responsible for causing or maintaining the violation, and includes, but is not limited to, any of the following: 1. The person who owns the property where the violations exist; 2. The person in charge of the premises where the violation exists; 3. The person using the premises when the violation exists; 4. If any such person is a minor, the parent or guardians of such minor shall be the responsible party; 5. If the person is a corporation or limited liability company, any senior officer of that corporation or limited liability company shall be a responsible party; 6. If the person is a partnership, joint venture, cooperative, or association, any partner or member of the joint venture, cooperative, or association shall be a responsible party; 7. If the person is a trust, any trustee shall be a responsible party; 8. If the person is an estate, the administrator of the estate, or where there is no administrator, any heir of the deceased having a right to the property where the violations exist as a matter of intestate succession shall be a responsible party; or 9. If the person is a business entity, the manager or on-site supervisor where the violation exists shall be a responsible party. [No change to all other definitions] 1.14.050 - Imposition of administrative penalty. A. [No change] B. [No change] C. Administrative civil penalties for violations of the municipal code shall be assessed at a daily rate determined by the administrative hearings board or a hearing officer pursuant to the criteria listed in Section 1.14.190 of this chapter. The maximum rate shall be one thousand dollars per violation. The maximum amount of administrative civil penalties shall not exceed one hundred thousand dollars per parcel or structure for any related series of violations. D. [No change] 1.14.120 - Request for hearing—Failure to appear. A. The enforcement officer shall request that an administrative penalties and abatement hearing be set when the responsible party fails to comply with the terms of the compliance order or has failed to keep the property which is the subject of an administrative abatement and penalties order in compliance with said order. B. [No change] C. The administrative hearings board or hearing officer has continuing jurisdiction over the subject matter of an administrative appeal hearing for the purposes of granting a continuance, ensuring compliance with a compliance order or order of the administrative hearings board, modifying a compliance order or order of the administrative hearings board, or where extraordinary circumstances exist, granting a new hearing. D. [No change] E. [No change] 1.14.130 - Hearings conducted by the administrative hearings board. A. The enforcement officer shall set the date for the administrative penalties and abatement hearing, and for any other hearing held before the board under the provisions of this chapter. The hearing date shall be not less than ten calendar days nor more than sixty calendar days from the date of the notice of hearing, unless the person setting the hearing determines the matter is urgent or good cause exists for an extension of time. B. The enforcement officer shall serve the notice of hearing upon the person whose property is the subject of the hearing. Service shall be made pursuant to Section 1.14.060 of this chapter at least nine calendar days prior to the date of the hearing. The notice of hearing shall contain the time, date, and place at which the hearing will be conducted. C. [No change] D. [No change] 1.14.140 - Hearings conducted by hearing officer. A. [No change] B. [No change] C. The hearing shall be conducted in accordance with the following rules: 1. Administrative hearings are intended to be informal in nature. Formal rules of evidence and discovery do not apply. Irrelevant, immaterial, and unduly repetitious evidence shall be excluded, but all other evidence of a type commonly relied upon by reasonably prudent persons in the conduct of their affairs shall be admissible, whether or not such evidence would be admissible in a trial in the courts of this state. Fundamental due process shall be observed and shall govern the proceedings. 2 - 6. [No change to subsections C.2 through C.10, inclusive] D. [No change] 1.14.150 - Scope of hearing. A. The administrative hearings board or hearing officer, as applicable, shall hear and consider all relevant evidence, including, but not limited to, the testimony of the responsible party, city personnel, neighbors, witnesses, or other interested parties, and may consider staff reports or other written materials, on any of the following issues: 1 - 3. [No change to subsections A.1 through A.3, inclusive] 4. Whether the responsible party has complied with a previous order of the administrative hearings board or a hearing officer pursuant to this chapter. 5. The amount of abatement costs, including the amount of administrative penalties and interest to be assessed as part thereof. B. [No change] 1.14.170 - Findings and order. A. [No change] B. [No change] C. Notwithstanding any contrary provision in this municipal code, decisions of the board and hearing officer are final decisions of the city which shall not be appealable to the city council. Any person aggrieved by such orders may obtain review of the order within ninety days by filing with the Shasta County Superior Court a petition for review pursuant to California Code of Civil Procedure Section 1094.5, except however, if the administrative abatement and penalties order solely contains the imposition of administrative penalties judicial review of the order shall be pursued by filing a petition for review with the Shasta County Superior Court within twenty calendar days of service of the administrative abatement and penalties order, in accordance with the time lines and provisions set forth in California Government Code Section 53069.4. Enforcement of any order made pursuant to this chapter shall be stayed during the pendency of a properly and timely filed petition for review. 1.14.180 - Administrative abatement and penalties order. A. [No change] B. An administrative abatement and penalties order shall affirm, reject, or modify the terms of the compliance order. The administrative abatement and penalties order may impose or order any or all of the following: 1-2. [No change to subsections B.1 through B.2, inclusive] 3. Administrative costs, including, but not limited to, costs of investigation, staffing costs incurred in preparation for the hearing and the hearing itself, costs for all reinspections necessary to enforce the compliance order and prospective costs to serve, prepare and record a nuisance abatement lien or assessment lien; 4. [No change] C. [No change] D. [No change] 1.14.190 - Administrative penalties. A. [No change] B. Administrative penalties imposed shall accrue from and after the date specified in the compliance order and shall cease to accrue on the date the violation is corrected as determined by the enforcement officer. It is the responsibility of the responsible party to immediately notify the enforcement officer when the responsible party has caused the violation to be corrected. Administrative penalties may be suspended for any period of time during which the violator has filed for necessary permits and such permit applications are actively pending before the city, state, or other appropriate agency. C. [No change] 1.14.200 - Requirement to abate. A. [No change] B. Every person subject to an administrative abatement and penalties order shall comply with that order and shall keep the property which is the subject of the order free of any subsequent violation of the administrative abatement and penalties order. The responsible party shall also comply with all applicable laws, permits, or other approvals of the federal, state or local governments in any and all actions taken pursuant to or in order to comply with the order, including, without limitation, the payment of all applicable permit fees. C. [No change] 1.14.230 - Compliance report. If an enforcement officer determines that compliance with an administrative abatement and penalties order has been achieved, the enforcement officer shall notify the responsible party of said compliance and the date in which the property has been deemed to be in compliance. 1.14.320 - Lien procedure. A. [No change] B. Upon determination by the enforcement officer that the abatement costs and penalties contained in an administrative abatement and penalties order or an abatement costs order have not been satisfied in full within the time for payment set forth in the administrative penalties order or abatement costs order, the enforcement officer may prepare a nuisance abatement lien stating the name of the city of Redding as the agency on whose behalf the lien is imposed; the total amounts due and owing; the date of the administrative abatement and penalties order or the abatement costs order; the street address, legal description, and assessor's parcel number of the subject property; and the name and address of the recorded owner of the property. A copy of the administrative abatement and penalties order or the abatement costs order shall be attached to and made a part of the lien. C. Prior to recording the nuisance abatement lien, the enforcement officer shall serve a copy of the lien on the property owner, along with notice to the property owner that a lien in the amounts stated in the nuisance abatement lien will be filed against the subject property in the office of the Shasta County assessor -recorder. D. [No change] E. [No change] F. Interest at the legal rate per year shall accrue on the principal amount of the lien until satisfied pursuant to law. G. A lien pursuant to this section may be foreclosed by an action brought by the city for a money judgment. 1.14.330 - Special assessment procedure. A. [No change] B. Upon determination by the enforcement officer that the abatement costs and penalties contained in an administrative abatement and penalties order or an abatement costs order have not been satisfied in full within the time for payment set forth in the administrative penalties order or abatement costs order,- the enforcement officer may prepare a notice of assessment lien stating the name of the city of Redding as the agency on whose behalf the lien is imposed; the total amounts due and owing; the date of the administrative abatement and penalties order or the abatement costs order; the street address, legal description, and assessor's parcel number of the subject property; and the name and address of the recorded owner of the property. A copy of the administrative abatement and penalties order or the abatement costs order shall be attached to and made a part of the assessment lien. C. Prior to recording the assessment lien, the enforcement officer shall serve a copy of the notice of assessment lien on the property owner. The assessment lien shall be served in the same manner as summons in a civil action in accordance with Code of Civil Procedure Section 415.10 et seq. If the owner of record, after diligent search cannot be found, the lien may be served by posting a copy thereof in a conspicuous place upon the property for a period of ten days and publication thereof in a newspaper of general circulation published in Shasta County. The tax collector's power of sale shall not be affected by the failure of the property owner to receive the notice. D. Upon service of the notice of assessment lien on the property owner, the enforcement officer shall cause a certified copy of the notice to be recorded with the Shasta County assessor -recorder, which shall add the amount of the assessment to the next regular tax bill levied against the property in the same manner as ordinary municipal taxes. The assessment lien shall be subordinate to all existing special assessment liens previously imposed upon the same property and paramount to all other liens except state, county, and municipal taxes with which it shall have parity. The assessment lien shall continue until the assessment and all interest due and payable thereon has been paid. E. [No change] F. Interest shall accrue on the principal amount of the assessment until satisfied pursuant to law. G. The city may, subject to the requirements applicable to the sale of property pursuant to Section 3691 of the Revenue and Taxation Code, conduct a sale of vacant residential developed property for which the payment of the assessment is delinquent. Section 2. Title 1 (General Provisions), Chapter 1.15 (Abatement of Properties, Buildings and Conditions) Section 1.15.170 is hereby amended to read as follows: 1.15.170 - Substandard buildings, public nuisances and blighted conditions—Violation. A. [No change] B. Any person violating the provisions of Section 1.15.160 of this chapter shall be guilty of a misdemeanor for each day such violation continues. In addition, the city attorney may seek civil penalties in an amount not to exceed one thousand dollars per violation in any civil action brought to enforce any provision of this chapter. Section 3. Severability. If any section, subsection, sentence, clause or phrase of this Ordinance is for any reason held by a court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid or unconstitutional, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of the ordinance. The City Council of the City of Redding hereby declares that it would have passed this ordinance and each section, subsection, sentence, clause and phrase thereof irrespective of the fact that one or more sections, subsections, sentences, clauses or phrases may be held invalid or unconstitutional. Section 4. The passage of this ordinance is not a "project" according to the definition in the California Environmental Quality Act, and therefore is not subject to the provisions requiring environmental review. Section 5. This ordinance shall take effect thirty (30) days after the date of its adoption, and the City Clerk shall certify to the adoption thereof and cause its publication according to law. I HEREBY CERTIFY that the foregoing ordinance was introduced and read by the City Council of the City of Redding at a regular meeting on the 17th day of November, 2015, and was duly read and adopted at a regular meeting on the 1st day of December, 2015, by the following vote: AYES: NOES: ABSENT: ABSTAIN: Attest: COUNCIL MEMBERS: COUNCIL MEMBERS: COUNCIL MEMBERS: COUNCIL MEMBERS: Cadd, Schreder, Sullivan, Weaver, & McArthur None None None MISSY N�cAR)FHUR, Mayor Form Approved: 01 t PAMELA MIZE, Cit Jerk BARRY E. DeWALT, City Attorney