Dana Point Municipal Code Ch. 8.26 California Abatement of Dangerous Buildings Code

(a) There is adopted by the City Council of the City of Dana Point, for the purpose of prescribing regulations for remedying dangerous buildings, the California Code for the Abatement of Dangerous Buildings, 1997 Edition, published by the International Conference of Building Officials.

(b) Save and except such portions as are hereinafter deleted, modified or amended, of which Code not less than one copy has been made and is now filed in the Office of the Clerk of the City Council; and the same is adopted and incorporated by reference as fully as if set forth at length herein.

(Added by Ord. 02-12, 9/24/02)

1. Section 103 of Chapter 1 of the California Code for the Abatement of Dangerous Buildings is hereby amended to read in its entirety as follows:

103 Additions, Alterations and Repairs. For additions, alterations and repairs for all buildings and structures subject to the provisions of this code, see Sections 3403, 3404 and 3405 of the CBC.

2. Section 201 of the California Code for the Abatement of Dangerous Buildings is hereby amended to read in its entirety as follows:

201.1 Administration. The Building Official is authorized and directed to administer and enforce all of the provisions of this Code. For such purposes, he or she shall have the powers of a law enforcement officer. He or she is empowered to adopt and enforce rules and regulations to clarify and expand the provisions of this Code in conformity with the spirit and intent of its stated purpose.

201.2 Inspections. The Health Officer, the Fire Marshal, and the Building Official are authorized and directed to make such inspections and take such actions as may be required to enforce the provisions of this Code.

The Building Official and his or her authorized representative(s) shall have the right of reasonable inspection of any building for the purpose of determining the condition thereof. No person shall refuse or interfere with such inspection by any such official.

For the purpose of such inspection, the Building Official may order any structural member or portion of the structural frame of any building, whether such building is already erected, or is in course of construction, to be exposed whenever he has reasonable grounds for believing that such structural member or frame is in an unsafe condition or does not conform to the requirements of this chapter. No owner, reputed owner or person having custody, control or management or in charge of maintenance, occupancy or use of such building who is served with such order shall fail or refuse to forthwith fully uncover or expose the portion of the structural frame or structural member as required by such order.

201.3 Right of Entry. Whenever necessary to make an inspection to enforce any of the provisions of this Code, or whenever the Building Official or his/her authorized representative has reasonable cause to believe that there exists in any building or upon any premises, any condition or Code violation which makes such building or premises unsafe, dangerous, hazardous or substandard, as defined in Section 202 of the UHC or Section 302 of this Code, the Building Official or his/her authorized representative may enter such building or premises at all reasonable times to inspect the same or to perform any duty imposed upon the Building Official by this Code; provided that if such building or premises be occupied, he or she shall first present proper credentials and request entry; and if such building or premises be unoccupied, he or she shall first make a reasonable effort to locate the owner and other persons having charge or control of the building or premises and request entry. If such entry is refused, the Building Official or his/her authorized representative shall have recourse to every remedy provided by law to secure entry.

3. Section 202 of Chapter 2 of the California Code for the Abatement of Dangerous Buildings is hereby amended to read in its entirety as follows:

SECTION 202 – ABATEMENT OF DANGEROUS BUILDINGS

202.1 Abatement proceedings. All buildings or portions thereof which are determined after inspection by the building official to be dangerous as defined in this code are hereby declared to be public nuisances and shall be abated by repair, rehabilitation, demolition or removal in accordance with the procedure specified in Section 401 of this code.

202.2 Summary abatement. Where necessary in the opinion of the building official to protect life or property from an acutely dangerous condition, the building official may take emergency action to abate the hazard by city forces as provided in this chapter or may order the building immediately vacated, posted unsafe, barricaded, utilities disconnected, or other appropriate protective remedy.

202.3 Owner's responsibility for enforcement costs. If the substandard/dangerous conditions have not been corrected or the nuisance abated by the owner as directed within the time frame established by the Building Official, or as said time frame may be modified, all incidental enforcement costs incurred by the City in connection therewith shall be charged to and become an indebtedness of the owner of such property and a lien on the property whether or not the work is later performed by the City, by the owner, or by others. "Incidental enforcement costs" include, but are not limited to, the actual expenses and costs of the City in investigating the nuisance, obtaining title information, preparing notices, and performing inspections.

4. Section 203 of the California Code for the Abatement of Dangerous Buildings is hereby amended to read in its entirety as follows:

Section 203—Violations and Penalties. It shall be unlawful for any person, firm, or corporation to erect, construct, enlarge, alter, repair, move, improve, remove, convert, or demolish, equip, use, occupy or maintain any building or structure, or cause or permit the same to be done, contrary to or in violation of any of the provisions of this Code.

Any person, firm, or corporation violating any of the provisions of this Code shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor; and each such person shall be deemed guilty of a separate offense for each and every day or portion thereof during which any violation of any of the provisions of this Code is committed, continued or permitted; and upon conviction of any such violation such person shall be punished by a fine of not more than $1,000 or by imprisonment for not more than six months, or by both such fine and imprisonment.

5. Section 205 of the California Code for the Abatement of Dangerous Buildings is hereby amended to read in its entirety as follows:

Section 205. Board of Appeals.

In order to provide for final interpretation of the provisions of this Code, there shall be and is created a Board of Appeals as specified in Section 113 of the California Building Code as amended herein.

6. Subsection 403.2 of Section 403 of California Code for the Abatement of Dangerous Buildings is hereby added to read in its entirety as follows:

403.2 Notice to secure structure. When any unoccupied building or structure is not properly secured, locked or closed, and is accessible to juveniles, transients and undesirables, and is in such condition as to constitute an immediate health, fire or safety hazard and the Building Official determines that the hazard is such as to require immediate closure, he or she shall serve the record owner and the person having control of such building or structure with notice to secure or close the same forthwith so as to prevent unauthorized persons from gaining access thereto. Notice shall be served as provided in this Chapter and shall state that if the required work is not performed within forty-eight hours after service of the notice, the City will perform such work and all expenses incurred by the City including, but not limited to, incidental processing and enforcement costs shall become an indebtedness of the owner and a lien on the property.

7. Subsection 403.3 of Section 403 of California Code for the Abatement of Dangerous Buildings is hereby added to read in its entirety as follows:

403.3 Emergency hazard abatement. When any open building or structure constitutes such a threat to life, limb or property that it must be secured, closed, barricaded or demolished forthwith and compliance with other provisions of this Code become infeasible, as determined by a City officer charged with responsibility for enforcement of health and safety regulations, the City Manager or his/her duly authorized representative may summarily secure, close, barricade or demolish such building or structure without prior notice to the property owner. All costs incurred by the City in abating the hazard shall be borne by the property owner and shall become an indebtedness of the owner and a lien on the property. Failure to receive prior notice shall not affect or relieve the property owner's obligation for payment of such costs.

8. Subsection 404.2 of Section 404 of the California Code for Abatement of Dangerous Buildings Code is hereby added to read as follows:

404.2 Posted buildings, structures, and properties. Posted buildings, structures, and properties shall not be occupied or accessed without prior written approval of the building official. Once posted, access requests shall be made to the building official in writing, 24 hours in advance, for each request per day with the following information:

Anyone accessing a posted property, building, or structure without the express approval of the building official is in violation of this code.

(Added by Ord. 02-12, 9/24/02; amended by Ord. 10-11, 11/8/10; Ord. 16-08, 11/15/16; Ord. 19-05, 12/3/19)