Del Mar Municipal Code Ch. 14.24 Removal of Vehicles

Footnotes:

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Editor's note— Ord. No. 975, § 2, adopted March 1, 2021, amened Ch. 14.24 in its entirety to read as set out herien. Former Ch. 14.24 pertained to similar subject matter and derived from Ord. 508.

A. It is the purpose of this Chapter to provide regulations controlling the removal of vehicles from streets, highways, and public and private property in accordance with the authority granted to the City under the California Vehicle Code.

B. The City Manager, or his or her designee, is the designated authority for administering the provisions of this Chapter.

(Ord. No. 975, § 2, 3-1-2021)

A. It is unlawful for any person to abandon, park, store, leave, or permit the abandonment, parking, storing, or leaving of any licensed or unlicensed vehicle, or part thereof, which is in an abandoned, wrecked, dismantled, or inoperative condition, upon any street, highway, or public or private property within the jurisdictional limits of the City of Del Mar for a period in excess of seventy-two (72) hours, unless such vehicle, or parts thereof, is stored or parked in a lawful manner on private property.

B. A violation of this Chapter is declared to be unlawful and a public nuisance. The City attorney shall be authorized to commence an action for the abatement, and removal and enjoinment thereof and for the collection of the costs of abatement, including administrative and attorneys' fees and civil penalties in the manner provided by law. This Chapter may also be enforced by administrative citation. All remedies provided for herein are cumulative and not exclusive.

(Ord. No. 975, § 2, 3-1-2021)

The City Manager, or his or her designee, is authorized to cause the removal of a vehicle, or parts thereof, from a street, highway, or public or private property in accordance with the authority granted in Article I, Chapter 10 of the California Vehicle Code, commencing with Section 22650.

(Ord. No. 975, § 2, 3-1-2021)

In accordance with the authority of Section 22660 of the California Vehicle Code, the City Manager shall cause abandoned, wrecked, dismantled or inoperative vehicles, or parts thereof, to be removed as a public nuisance from streets, highways, or public or private property as follows:

A. Notice shall be given to the California Department of Motor Vehicles in accordance with Vehicle Code § 22661(a).

B. A ten-day Notice of Intention shall be accomplished in accordance with Vehicle Code § 22661(c)-(d).

C. The ten-day Notice of Intention shall be accomplished in accordance with Vehicle Code § 22661(d).

D. Upon request by the owner of the vehicle, the City Manager shall conduct a public hearing in accordance with Vehicle Code § 22661(e). The owner of the land on which the vehicle is located may participate in the public hearing in accordance with Government Code § 22661(g).

E. Reconstruction of the removed vehicle, or parts thereof, shall be limited by the provisions of Vehicle Code § 22661(f).

F. In accordance with Vehicle Code § 22661(g), the City Manager may assess the costs of administration and removal of the vehicle, or parts thereof, against the property upon which the vehicle is located and against the owner of the vehicle, who may be made jointly and severally liable for such assessment, unless it is determined at the public hearing that the vehicle, or parts thereof, was placed on the property without the consent of the property owner and the property owner has not consented to allow the vehicle, or parts thereof, to remain on the property.

G. The City shall cause signs to be posted, and existing signs to be updated, in and around the public property areas subject to enforcement under this Chapter, to give the public notice regarding the City's authority to tow abandoned vehicles from such areas pursuant to this Chapter.

(Ord. No. 975, § 2, 3-1-2021)

The City shall cause the moved vehicles, or parts thereof, to be stored in accordance with the provisions of Article 2, Chapter 10, Division 11 of the California Vehicle Code, commencing at Section 22850.

(Ord. No. 975, § 2, 3-1-2021)

A. Except as otherwise provided herein, the provisions of this Chapter shall be administered and enforced by the City Manager or his or her designee. In the enforcement of this Chapter, such City employee, may enter upon private or public property to examine a vehicle, or parts thereof, or obtain information as to the identity of a vehicle declared to be a nuisance pursuant to this Chapter.

B. When the City has contracted with any person(s) or entity, such person(s) or entity shall be authorized to enter upon private or public property to remove or cause the removal of a vehicle, or part thereof, declared to be a nuisance pursuant to this Chapter.

(Ord. No. 975, § 2, 3-1-2021)

This Chapter shall not apply to the following, unless found to constitute a public nuisance pursuant to other provisions of this Municipal Code:

A. A vehicle, or part thereof, which is completely enclosed within a building in a lawful manner where it is not visible from the street or other public or private property; or

B. A vehicle, or part thereof, which is stored or parked in a lawful manner on private property in connection with the business of a licensed dismantler, licensed vehicle dealer or junk dealer, or when such storage or parking is necessary to the operation of a lawfully conducted business or commercial enterprise.

(Ord. No. 975, § 2, 3-1-2021)