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&
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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
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PAMELA MIZE, Cit Jerk BARRY E. DeWALT, City Attorney