Daly City Municipal Code Art. II Administrative Appeals, Hearings, Orders, Penalties and Costs

A. This article of this chapter provides for administrative remedies, which are in addition to all other legal remedies, criminal or civil, which may be pursued by the city to address any violation of this chapter.

B. Use of this article of this chapter shall be at the sole discretion of the city in general, and of the code enforcement officer in particular.

(Ord. 1196 § 2 (part), 1994)

A. The administrative appeal process serves to provide the full opportunity of a person subject to a notification of nuisance to object to the determination that a violation has occurred and/or that the violation has continued to exist. The failure of any person subject to a notification of nuisance, pursuant to this chapter, to appear at the hearing shall constitute a failure to exhaust administrative remedies.

B. In the absence of an appeal, the administrative appeal process is provided to review the facts of any issued notification of nuisance, where necessary, and upon review of such facts the administrative appeal board may:

1. Discharge the notification of nuisance;

2. Re-issue the notification of nuisance; or

3. Without further hearing, declare such property to be a nuisance, and order abatement, issue administrative orders, impose administrative penalties, and recover administrative costs pursuant to the provisions of this article of this chapter.

(Ord. 1196 § 2 (part), 1994)

A. The administrative appeal committee shall be the body designated to conduct an administrative hearing to ascertain whether the violation constitutes a public nuisance, the abatement of which is appropriate under the police power of the city.

B. The membership of the administrative appeal committee shall consist of one or more city employees appointed by the city manager or his or her designated representative, with sufficient supervisory, professional or practical experience to review the matters brought before the administrative appeal committee.

(Ord. 1196 § 2 (part), 1994)

A. Notice of administrative appeal committee hearings, or other actions shall be served upon the owner or tenant in accordance with the provisions of subsection B of this section, and shall be served upon the property owner or tenant not less than fourteen days before the time fixed for said hearing.

B. Notice shall be given by delivering a written notice personally to the owner(s) or tenant(s) of the property upon which the nuisance is located, or by depositing such notice in the United States mail, postage prepaid, and addressed to the owner(s) thereof at his or her last known address as the same appears on the last equalized assessment roll of the county. In the event a notice is given to the person(s) in apparent possession or control of the property, such notice shall be given in either manner specified in this section and may be addressed to "occupant" or "to whom it may concern," if the name of such person(s) is not known.

C. Notice of hearing before the administrative appeal committee or notice of an action by the administrative appeal committee shall substantially contain the information set forth below:

1. The date and location of the violation;

2. The section of this code, the adopted uniform codes, state law or regulations or other such statutes violated and a description of the violation;

3. The actions required to correct the violation;

4. The time period after which administrative penalties will begin to accrue if compliance with the notification of nuisance has not been achieved;

5. a.

Either a copy of this chapter or an explanation of the consequences of noncompliance with this chapter and a description of the hearing procedure and appeal process, or

b. The fact that this matter will be sent to the city attorney's office to seek compliance if the matter poses an immediate threat or danger to health, safety and welfare of any person, or substantial damage to real or personal property.

D. The person giving such notice shall file a copy thereof with the code enforcement officer together with a statement or certificate stating the time and manner in which such notice was given. The failure of any owner or other person to receive such notice shall not affect in any manner the validity of any proceedings taken under this article of this chapter.

(Ord. 1196 § 2 (part), 1994)

A. At the place and time set forth in the notice set out above, the administrative appeal board shall conduct a hearing on the notification of nuisance issued pursuant to this chapter.

B. The board shall consider any written or oral evidence consistent with its rules and procedures regarding the violation and compliance by the violator or by the real property owner.

C. Within a reasonable time following the conclusion of the hearing, the board shall make findings and issue its determination regarding:

1. The existence of the violation;

2. The failure of the violator or owner to take required corrective action within the required time period;

3. In the case of a residential rental unit, whether correction of the violation caused by the property owner will result in the displacement of a tenant household.

D. The board shall issue written findings on each violation. The findings shall be supported by evidence received at the hearing.

E. If the board finds by a preponderance of the evidence that a violation has occurred and that the violation was not corrected within the time period specified in the notification of nuisance, the board shall issue an administrative order.

F. If the board finds that no violation has occurred or that the violation was corrected within the time period specified in the notification of nuisance, the board shall issue a finding of those facts.

(Ord. 1231 § 4, 1996; Ord. 1196 § 2 (part), 1994)

If the administrative appeal board determines that a violation occurred which was not corrected within the time period specified in the notification of nuisance, the board shall issue an administrative order which imposes any or all of the following:

A. An order to correct, including a schedule for correction where appropriate;

B. Administrative penalties as provided below;

C. Administrative costs as provided below.

(Ord. 1196 § 2 (part), 1994)

A. The administrative appeal board may impose administrative penalties for the violation of any provision of this code in an amount not to exceed a maximum of two thousand five hundred dollars per day for each ongoing violation, except that the total administrative penalty shall not exceed ten thousand dollars exclusive of administrative costs, interest and restitution for compliance reinspections, for any related series of violations.

B. In determining the amount of the administrative penalty, the board may take any or all of the following factors into consideration:

1. The duration of the violation;

2. The frequency, recurrence and number of violations, related or unrelated, by the same violator;

3. The seriousness of the violation;

4. The good-faith efforts of the violator to come into compliance;

5. The economic impact of the penalty on the violator;

6. The impact of the violation on the community;

7. Such other factors as justice may require.

C. Administrative penalties imposed by the board shall accrue from the date specified in the notification of nuisance, and shall cease to accrue on the date the violation is corrected as determined by the code enforcement officer or the board.

D. The board, in its discretion, may suspend the imposition of applicable penalties for any period of time during which:

1. The violator has filed for necessary permits;

2. Such permits are required to achieve compliance;

3. Such permit applications are actively pending before the city, state or other appropriate governmental agency;

4. The violator has made good-faith efforts to achieve compliance.

E. Administrative penalties assessed by the board shall be due by the date specified in the administrative order.

F. Administrative penalties assessed by the board are a debt owed to the city and, in addition to all other means of enforcement, if the violation is located on real property, may be enforced by means of a lien against the real property on which the violation occurred.

G. If the violation is not corrected as specified in the board's administrative order, administrative penalties shall continue to accrue on a daily basis until the violation is corrected, subject to the maximum amount set forth above.

H. If the violator gives written notice to the code enforcement officer that the violation has been corrected and if the code enforcement officer finds that compliance has been achieved, the city shall deem the date the written notice was postmarked or personally delivered to the code enforcement officer or the date of the final inspection, whichever first occurred, to be the date the violation was corrected. If no written notice is provided, the violation will be deemed corrected on the date of the final inspection.

(Ord. 1196 § 2 (part), 1994)

A. The administrative appeal board shall assess administrative costs against the violator when it finds that a violation has occurred, and that compliance has not been achieved within the time specified in the notification of nuisance.

B. The administrative costs may include any and all costs incurred by the city in connection with the matter before the administrative appeal board, including but not limited to costs of investigation, staffing costs incurred in preparation for the hearing and for the hearing itself, and costs for all reinspections necessary to enforce the notification of nuisance.

C. In the event that, pursuant to Section 8.16.140C, the administrative appeal board has found that a violation will result in the displacement of a tenant household, the administrative costs which may be assessed shall include a relocation payment which shall be an amount determined to be the reasonable cost of moving, storage and relocation likely to be incurred by the displaced tenant household. The "tenant household" shall mean one or more individuals entitled to occupancy of the rental unit. The tenant household shall collectively be eligible for a single relocation payment. The amount of the relocation payment to be paid by the property owner shall be set by resolution of the city council.

(Ord. 1231 § 5, 1996; Ord. 1196 § 2 (part), 1994)

Failure to pay the assessed administrative penalties and administrative costs specified in the administrative order of the administrative appeal board may be enforced as:

A. A personal obligation of the violator; and/or

B. If the violation is in connection with real property, a lien upon the real property. The lien shall remain in effect until all of the administrative penalties, interest and administrative costs are paid in full.

C. If the violator fails to pay the administrative costs of tenant household relocation assessed by the administrative appeals board, the city may make the required payment and shall recover from the violator all costs incurred as a result of making such payment.

(Ord. 1231 § 6, 1996; Ord. 1196 § 2 (part), 1994)

Any person aggrieved by an administrative order or determination following a hearing by the administrative appeal board on a compliance dispute, may obtain review of the administrative order with the Daly City city council as set out below.

(Ord. 1196 § 2 (part), 1994)

The city may collect the assessed administrative penalties and administrative costs by use of all available legal means, including recordation of a lien.

(Ord. 1196 § 2 (part), 1994)

A. If a violator believes that compliance has been achieved but not agreed to or accepted as complete by code enforcement officer, he or she may request a compliance hearing before the administrative appeal board by filing a request for a hearing with the code enforcement officer.

B. The hearing shall be noticed and conducted in the same manner as a hearing on a notification of nuisance as provided in earlier sections of this article of this chapter.

C. The board shall determine if compliance has been achieved and, if so, when it was achieved.

(Ord. 1196 § 2 (part), 1994)