Bradbury Municipal Code Ch. 115 Abatement of Public Nuisances

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State Law reference— Authority of City to declare and abate nuisances, Government Code § 38771 et seq.; authority of City Council to adopt ordinances and rules to protect and regulate health and sanitary matters in the city, Health and Safety Code § 101450; nuisances generally, Civil Code §§ 3479—3503; authority of City to declare and abate weeds, rubbish, and other dangerous or injurious nuisance materials from property, Government Code § 39561 et seq.; authority of City to declare and abate abandoned excavations from property, Government Code § 50230 et seq.

All or any part of premises found, as provided herein, to constitute a public nuisance shall be abated by rehabilitation, demolition, or repair pursuant to the procedures set forth herein. The procedures set forth herein shall not in any manner, however, limit or restrict the City from enforcing City ordinances or abating public nuisances in any other manner provided by law.

(Ord. No. 297, § 9.06.080.010, 3-20-2007)

Whenever the City Council finds, upon the request of the City Manager, that any premises within the City is being maintained contrary to one or more of the provisions of Chapter 109 of this title, then the City Council shall by resolution declare its intent to conduct a hearing at a public meeting to ascertain whether the same does in fact constitute such public nuisance, the abatement of which is appropriate under the police power of the City. Said resolution shall describe the premises involved by street address, referring to the street by the name under which it is officially or commonly known, shall further describe the property by giving the lot and block number thereof, shall give a brief description of the conditions contrary to the provisions of Chapter 109 of this title, and a brief statement of the methods of abatement thereof.

(Ord. No. 297, § 9.06.080.020, 3-20-2007; Ord. No. 375, § 13, 5-18-2021)

Within 30 days after the passage of said resolution by the City Council, the City Clerk shall cause to be conspicuously posted on the premises a certified copy of such resolution, and a notice of the time and place of hearing before the City Council, which said notice shall be titled "NOTICE OF HEARING" in letters not less than one inch in height and shall be substantially in the following form:

NOTICE OF HEARING

TO DETERMINE EXISTENCE OF PUBLIC NUISANCE, AND TO ABATE IN WHOLE OR PART

Notice is hereby given that on the ___ day of ___________, ___, the City Council of the City of Bradbury passed a resolution declaring its intent to ascertain whether certain premises situated in the City of Bradbury, State of California, known and designated as ___________ in said City, and more particularly described as Lot No. ___, Tract No. ___, constitute a public nuisance subject to abatement by the rehabilitation of buildings or structures situated thereon. If said premises, in whole or part, are found to constitute a public nuisance as defined by Chapter 109 of Title IX of the Bradbury Municipal Code and if the same are not promptly abated by municipal authorities, repair or demolition will be assessed upon such premises and such cost will constitute a lien upon such land until paid. (Reference is hereby made to Resolution No. _____, on file with the City Clerk for further particulars.)

Said alleged violations consist of the following:

Said methods of abatement available are:

All persons having any objection to, or interest in said matters are hereby notified to attend a meeting of the City Council of the City of Bradbury to be held on the ___ day of ___________, yrrule>, at the hour of _____, when their testimony and evidence will be heard and given due consideration.

Dated: This ___ day of ___________, ___.

City Clerk

(Ord. No. 297, § 9.06.080.030, 3-20-2007)

The City Clerk shall cause to be served upon the owner of each of the affected premises one copy of said notice and a certified copy of the resolution of the City Council, in accordance with the provisions of Section 9.115.050. Said notice and resolution shall be posted and served, as aforesaid, at least 15 days before the time fixed for such hearing; proof of posting and service of such notices and resolution shall be made by affidavit filed with the City Clerk.

(Ord. No. 297, § 9.06.080.040, 3-20-2007)

Service of said notice and resolution shall be by personal service upon the owner of the affected premises if such owner is found within the City limits; or if such owner is not found within the City limits, by depositing a copy of said notice and resolution in the U.S. Postal Service enclosed in a sealed envelope and with postage thereon fully prepaid. Said mail shall be registered or certified and addressed to said owner at the last known address of said owner, and if there is not known address, then in care of the property address. The service is complete at the time of such deposit. The term "owner" as used herein means any person in possession and also any person having or claiming to have any legal or equitable interest in said premises, as disclosed by a current title search from any accredited title company. The failure of any person to receive such notice shall not affect the validity of the proceedings hereunder.

(Ord. No. 297, § 9.06.080.050, 3-20-2007)

(a) Evidence, objections or protests. At the time stated in the notices, the City Council shall hear and consider all relevant evidence, objections or protests, and shall receive testimony from owners, witnesses, City personnel and interested persons relative to such alleged public nuisance and to proposed rehabilitation, repair or demolition of such premises. Said hearing may be continued from time to time.

(b) Determination. Upon the conclusion of said hearing, the City Council shall, based upon such hearing, determine whether the premises, or any part thereof, as maintained constitutes a public nuisance as defined herein. If the City Council, by resolution, finds that such public nuisance does exist and that there is sufficient cause to rehabilitate, demolish or repair the same, the City Council shall order the abatement of the same within 30 days by having such premises, buildings or structures rehabilitated, repaired or demolished in the manner and means specifically set forth in such resolution.

(Ord. No. 297, § 9.06.080.060, 3-20-2007)

A copy of the resolution of the City Council ordering the abatement of said nuisance shall be served upon the owners of said property in accordance with the provisions of Section 9.115.050 and shall contain a detailed list of needed corrections and abatement methods. Any property owner shall have the right to have any such premises rehabilitated or to have such building or structures demolished or repaired in accordance with said resolution and at the property owner's own expense, provided the same is done prior to the expiration of said 30-day abatement period. Upon such abatement in full by the owner, then proceedings hereunder shall terminate.

(Ord. No. 297, § 9.06.080.070, 3-20-2007)

If such nuisance is not completely abated by the owner as directed within the designated abatement period, then the City Council may direct the City Manager to cause the same to be abated by City forces or private contract and the City Manager is expressly authorized to enter upon said premises for such purpose.

(Ord. No. 297, § 9.06.080.080, 3-20-2007)

The City Manager shall keep an account of the cost (including incidental expenses) of abating such nuisance on each separate lot, or parcel of land where the work is done and shall render an itemized report in writing to the City Council showing the cost of abatement and the rehabilitating, demolishing or repairing of said premises, buildings or structures, including any salvage value relating thereto; provided that, before said report is submitted to the City Council, a copy of the same shall be posted for at least five days upon such premises, together with a notice of the time when said report shall be heard by the City Council for confirmation; a copy of said report and notice shall be served upon the owner of said property, in accordance with the provisions of Section 9.115.050 at least five days prior to submitting the same to the City Council; proof of said posting and service shall be made by affidavit filed with the City Clerk. The term "incidental expenses" shall include, but not be limited to, the actual expenses and costs of the City in the preparation of notices, specifications and contracts, and in inspecting the work, and the costs of printing and mailing required hereunder.

(Ord. No. 297, § 9.06.080.090, 3-20-2007)

At the time and place fixed for receiving and considering said report, the City Council shall hear and pass upon the report of the City Manager, together with any objections or protests. Thereupon the City Council may make such revision, correction or modification in the report as it may deem just, after which by resolution the report, as submitted or revised, corrected or modified, shall be confirmed. The decision of the City Council on all protests and objections which may be made shall be final and conclusive.

(Ord. No. 297, § 9.06.080.100, 3-20-2007)

The total cost for abating such nuisance, as so confirmed by the City Council, shall constitute a special assessment against the respective lot or parcel of land to which it relates, and upon recordation in the Office of the County Recorder of a notice of lien, as so made and confirmed, shall constitute a lien on said property for the amount of such assessment.

(1) Assessment. After such confirmation and recordation, a copy may be turned over to the Tax Collector for the City, whereupon it shall be the duty of such Tax Collector to add the amounts of the respective assessments to the next regular tax bills levied against said respective lots and parcels of land for municipal purposes, and thereafter said amounts shall be collected at the same time and in the same manner as ordinary municipal taxes are collected, and shall be subject to the same penalties and the same procedure under foreclosure and sale in case of delinquency as provided for ordinary municipal taxes.

(2) Manner of foreclosure. After such recordation, such lien may be foreclosed by judicial or other sale in the manner and means provided by law.

(3) Notice of lien. Such notice of lien for recordation shall be in a form substantially as follows:

NOTICE OF LIEN

(Claim of City of Bradbury)

Pursuant to the authority vested by the provisions of Chapter 115 of Title IX of the Bradbury Municipal Code, the City Manager of the City of Bradbury did on or about the ___ day of ___________, ___, cause the premises hereinafter described to be rehabilitated, or the building or the structure on the property hereinafter described to be repaired or demolished, in order to abate a public nuisance on said real property; and the City Council of the City of Bradbury did on the ___ day of ___________, ___, assess the cost of such rehabilitations, repair or demolition upon the real property hereinafter described; and the same has been paid or any part thereof; and that said City of Bradbury does hereby claim a lien on such rehabilitation, repair or demolition in the amount of said assessment, to wit: the sum of $_____; and the same shall be a lien upon said real property until the same has been paid in full and discharged of record.

The real property hereinafter mentioned, and upon which a lien is claimed, is that certain parcel of land lying and being in the City of Bradbury, County of Los Angeles, State of California, and particularly described as follows:

(DESCRIPTION)

Dated: This ___ day of ___________, ___.

City Manager of the City of Bradbury, California

(ACKNOWLEDGMENT)

(Ord. No. 297, § 9.06.080.110, 3-20-2007)

(a) As an alternative to imposing the cost of abatement as a special assessment against the property, the City may choose instead to collect the cost of abatement by a nuisance abatement lien in accordance with the provisions of this section.

(b) The procedure to impose a nuisance abatement lien shall be the same as specified above except that the notice sent to the property owner must be served in the same manner as service of a summons in a civil action in accordance with Code of Civil Procedure § 415.10 et seq., and the notice need not specify that the property can be sold for delinquent assessments. If, after diligent search, the owner of record cannot be found, the notice may be served by posting a copy thereof in a conspicuous place upon the property for ten days and by publication of the notice in a newspaper of general circulation pursuant to Government Code § 6062.

(c) A nuisance abatement lien imposed pursuant to this section shall be recorded in the County Recorder's Office and from the date of recording shall have the force, effect and priority of a judgment lien.

(d) A nuisance abatement lien imposed pursuant to this section shall specify the amount of the lien, the name of the City, the date of the abatement order, the street address, legal description and assessor's parcel number of the parcel on which the lien is imposed, and the name and address of the recorded owner of the parcel.

(e) In the event that the nuisance abatement lien is discharged, released, or satisfied, either through payment or foreclosure, notice of the discharge containing the information specified in Subsection (d) of this section shall be recorded by the City.

(f) A nuisance abatement lien and the release of the lien shall be indexed in the grantor-grantee index.

(g) A nuisance abatement lien may be foreclosed by an action brought by the City for a money judgment.

(h) The City may recover from the property owner any costs incurred regarding the processing and recording of the nuisance abatement lien and providing notice to the property owner as part of a foreclosure action to enforce the lien.

Nothing in the foregoing sections of this chapter shall be deemed to prevent the City Council from ordering the City Attorney to commence a civil or criminal proceeding to abate a public nuisance under applicable civil or penal code provisions as an alternative to the proceedings set forth herein or by administrative fines.

(Ord. No. 297, § 9.06.080.120, 3-20-2007)