California City Municipal Code Art. 1 Property Maintenance

This Article shall be known as the "Public Nuisance Abatement Regulations of the City." This Article is enacted in accordance with Chapter 13 (commencing with section 39501) of Division 3, Title 4, of the Government Code.

The following words are defined for the purposes of this Article.

(a) "Public Nuisance" means anything injurious to health, indecent or offensive to the senses, or an obstruction to the free use of property. "Public Nuisance" includes, but is not limited to:

(1) Any building or structure which has been partially destroyed for at least six months to the extent of more than twenty-five percent of the value of the building as it appears on the current tax assessor's roll or left in an unreasonable state of partial construction for a period of one (1) year or more without completion;

(2) Broken, defective, damaged, dilapidated, or missing windows or doors in a building or structure;

(3) Broken window, door or other opening constituting a hazardous condition and facilitating trespass or malicious mischief, or constituting a shelter for vagrants or criminals, or enabling a person to resort thereto for the purpose of committing unlawful acts;

(4) Any building exterior, wall, fence, driveway, sidewalk or walkway on property which is maintained in such condition of deterioration or disrepair as to be unsafe or which is so defaced as to substantially detract from the appearance of the immediate neighborhood;

(5) Inadequate weather protection to structure so as to cause, or tend to cause or promote the existence of cracked, peeling, warped, rotted, or severely damaged paint, stucco, or other exterior covering;

(6) Maintenance of any tarp or similar covering on, or over, any roof of any structure, except during periods of active rainfall, or when specifically permitted under an active roofing or building permit; and

(7) Unsanitary, polluted or unhealthful pools, ponds, standing water or excavations containing water, likely to harbor mosquitoes or other annoying insects.

(b) "Refuse" means combustible rubbish, garbage, food plant waste, market waste, or non-combustible rubbish.

(c) "Rubbish" means paper, pasteboard, carpet, rags, clothing, books, boots, shoes, straw, combustible packing, barrels, boxes, furniture, and similar Articles.

(d) "Nuisance Activity" means any disturbance of peace in violation of California Penal Code Section 415.

(Ord. No. 11-702, 5-17-2011)

The owner and occupier of property within the City shall maintain the property in such a way as to avoid creating a public nuisance. Code Enforcement Officer shall inspect property to determine the presence of nuisances. The Code Enforcement Officer shall issue notices and citations to abate such nuisances with the policies and procedures manual from time to time adopted by the department which employs the Code Enforcement Officer.

(Ord. No. 05-632, 8-16-2005)

(a) The Code Enforcement Officer shall provide the owner of the property on which the nuisance is maintained with a Notice to Abate in substantially as follows:

"Notice is given the Code Enforcement Officer of the City of California City has found and declared the following condition on your property located at [property location] constitutes a public nuisance: [describe condition]

The Code Enforcement Officer also found this condition must be abated by removal or, the nuisance will be removed and abated by the City and the cost of removal assessed against your land. Such costs shall include reasonable attorney fees. Such costs will constitute a lien on such land until paid. In the alternative, the amount may be placed on the tax rolls for collection.

If you object to the proposed removal or abatement of the above described nuisance may file a written appeal with the City Manager at the above-address within 10 days from the date of receipt of this Notice.

Dated: _______________________________

Code Enforcement Officer

City of California City"

(b) The Notice shall be served on the record owner of the parcel of land on which the nuisance is maintained, based on the last equalized assessment roll or the supplemental roll, whichever is more current. The Notice shall be served in the same manner as a summons in a civil action. If the owner of record cannot be found after diligent search, the Notice may be served by posting a copy in a conspicuous place on the property for ten days and publication in a newspaper of general circulation published in Kern County.

(c) The Code Enforcement Officer shall abate the nuisance without further notice to the record owner if the record owner does not appeal the decision of the Code Enforcement Officer within ten days of receipt. If the record owner appeals the decision, the Code Enforcement Officer shall not abate the nuisance until the appeal process has been completed.

(Ord. No. 05-626, 5-17-05)

(a) The record owner of property described in the Notice to Abate may appeal the determination of the Code Enforcement Officer by filing a written Notice of Appeal with the City Clerk within ten (10) days of receipt of the Notice to Abate. The Notice of Appeal shall include reference to the Notice to Abate, identify property on which the alleged nuisance is located, and state why the record owner believes the condition should not be abated. The Notice of Appeal shall also state whether the record owner requests a public hearing or will allow a decision to be made on written materials.

(b) When a public hearing is requested, the City Clerk shall set the public hearing before the City Manager and, if possible, within ten (10) days. The City Clerk shall provide written Notice of Hearing to the record owner and City Manager.

(c) The City Manager shall consider the appeal of the record owner at the time and place stated in the notice of hearing. The hearing may be continued from time-to-time. The City Manager shall affirm, overrule or modify the decision of the Code Enforcement Officer at the conclusion of the hearing. The City Manager's written decision shall be final when served upon the record owner.

(a) When nuisance abatement costs are incurred by the City and not paid by the record owner within thirty (30) days of presentation of a bill, a nuisance abatement lien shall be recorded in the Kern County Recorder's Office, and from the date of recording shall have the force and effect and priority of a judgment lien. The lien shall specify: the amount of the lien, the city's name, the date of the abatement order, 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 record owner of the parcel. If the lien is discharged, released or satisfied, either through payment or foreclosure, Notice of Discharge containing the information specified above shall be recorded. The lien may be foreclosed by action brought by the City for money judgment.

(b) As an alternate to the procedure set forth in the preceding paragraph, the cost of abatement may be collected as a special assessment against the parcel on which the nuisance is located. The assessment may 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 and sale in case of delinquency as provided for ordinary municipal taxes.

(c) As used herein, costs of abatement shall include attorney fees.

(d) Upon entry of a second or subsequent civil or criminal judgment within a two-year period, finding the record owner responsible for a condition that may be abated in accordance with this Article, except for conditions abated pursuant to Health and Safety Code §17980, the record owner shall pay treble the cost of abatement.

(Ord. No. 05-626, 5-17-2005)

When an abatement order has been properly rendered, the owner of the property and tenants shall be jointly and severally responsible for each successive nuisance incident occurring on the property and shall be jointly and severally responsible for payment of costs associated with each successive nuisance within a twelve-month period. The cost of a response shall include, without limitation, the salaries and benefits paid to the responding employees of the City.

(Ord. No. 11-702, 5-17-2011)