Duarte Municipal Code Ch. 1.08 Administrative Citations

The purpose of this chapter is to provide an alternate method of enforcing violations of the city's ordinances and codes. The city council finds that a citation program as authorized by Government Code Section 53069.4 will provide the city an effective alternative means to gain compliance through administrative fines and penalties.

(Ord. 786 § 1 (part), 2006)

The city manager or his/her designees shall have the authority to administer and enforce the provisions of this chapter.

(Ord. 786 § 1 (part), 2006)

(a) As used in this chapter, "responsible person" means and includes any of the following:

(1) Any person who violates a section of this chapter;

(2) A person who by his or her action or inaction causes, maintains, or allows to exist a violation of this chapter;

(3) A person who is an agent, employee, or independent contractor who by his or her action or inaction causes, maintains, or allows to exist a violation of this chapter;

(4) A person who is the tenant, resident, visitor, or owner of property who by his or her action or inaction causes, maintains, or allows to exist a violation of this chapter.

(b) As used in this chapter, "person" means and includes a natural person or a legal entity of any kind including owners, members, corporate officers, trustees, stockholders, or other type of partners or interest holders of any legal entity.

(Ord. 786 § 1 (part), 2006)

(a) Any responsible person violating, causing a violation of, or maintaining a violation of any provision of any city ordinance or code may be issued an administrative citation by an enforcement officer. The responsible person shall be liable for and shall remit payment of any fine or fines assessed in connection with an administrative citation.

(b) Each and every day a violation of a city ordinance or code exists shall constitute a separate offense and shall be subject to a new administrative citation, fine, and penalty in connection therewith. Continuing violations shall automatically accrue fines consistent with the fine schedule set forth in Government Code Sections 36900 and 36901, or succeeding or successor sections, beginning with the date the citation is issued and continuing until the date that the offense is properly remedied and verified by the city in accordance with Section 1.08.080 of this chapter.

(c) Nothing in this chapter shall prevent the city from pursuing, whether independently or concurrently, a violation of a city ordinance or code as a civil and/or criminal action as authorized by state law. The procedures set forth in this chapter shall be in addition to any available legal process or remedy established by law.

(d) Failure to receive any notice specified in this chapter shall not affect the validity of the action or proceeding conducted hereunder.

(Ord. 786 § 1 (part), 2006)

Each citation issued under this chapter shall contain the following information and shall be filled out to the extent such information is available to the citing officer:

(a) Date, time, and address or description of the location where the violation exists or has been committed;

(b) Section of the code violated and a brief description of the violation;

(c) The amount of the fine;

(d) Information on payment of fine and deadline for payment;

(e) Information on right of appeal, including location for obtaining a "request for hearing" form and timeframe for filing an appeal;

(f) Signature of citing officer's name;

(g) If the violation is a continuing violation, an order to correct the violation and explanation of the consequences for failing to correct the violation;

(h) Notice that the violation is a nuisance and uncollected fines or abatement costs can be enforced against the property as an assessment or lien and, if unpaid, can result in the property being sold by the county assessor's office.

(Ord. 786 § 1 (part), 2006)

An administrative citation can be served, in the city's discretion, by one or more of the following means:

(a) The citing officer may attempt to identify and personally serve the responsible person and secure the signature of said person on the citation. The responsible person's failure or refusal to sign the citation shall not in any way affect the enforceability of the citation or any proceedings related thereto.

(b) In lieu of personal service, the citing officer shall mail the citation to the responsible person by certified mail, postage prepaid, to the last known address of the responsible person.

(c) If the citing officer cannot achieve service by person or mail, the citing officer shall post the administrative citation on any real property which the city has knowledge that the responsible person has a legal interest and such service shall be deemed effective.

(Ord. 786 § 1 (part), 2006)

(a) For all continuing violations pertaining to building, plumbing, electrical, zoning, or other structural, design, or land use regulation, no administrative citation shall be issued until the responsible person is provided a written warning with a thirty day period to cease or abate the violation. If the citing officer believes that, due to a special circumstance, such as health or safety, a thirty day period is not reasonable to abate the violation, the officer may specify a date shorter or longer on the citation for the violation to be remedied.

(b) If a violation of the type described in subsection (a) of this section is not corrected within the time provided by the citing officer consistent with subsection (a) of this section, the citing officer may issue an administrative citation in accordance with the provisions of this chapter.

(Ord. 786 § 1 (part), 2006)

(a) Upon receipt of a citation issued under this chapter, the responsible person must do each of the following:

(1) Within thirty days of the issuance date of the citation, pay all applicable fines to the city. Payment of fines shall not be an excuse, discharge or defense for failure to correct the violations nor shall payment bar the city from taking any additional enforcement action.

(2) If the offense is a continuing violation, take all necessary steps to cease and abate the violation including, if required, securing any and all necessary permits and approvals from the governing agencies. Fines shall accrue according to the city's fine schedule for each day that abatement of the violation is not properly verified in accordance with subsection (b) of this section.

(b) Abatement of the violation must be verified by an enforcement officer of the city. The responsible party shall contact the phone number designated on the citation and schedule an inspection with the officer. Fines shall accrue until the abatement is verified, less any days which are the direct result of the city scheduling the inspection.

(Ord. 786 § 1 (part), 2006)

(a) Any citation recipient may appeal the issuance of an administrative citation by fully completing and submitting to the city a request for hearing form provided by the city. The hearing form must be completed and filed within ten days after the issuance date of the citation. The request for hearing must be accompanied with an appeal fee determined by the director of public safety which amount shall not exceed the pro rata cost to be assessed to that citation recipient for the city's costs for the hearing officer and other city costs associated with holding the appeal hearing, plus an advance deposit of the full fine assessed by the administrative citation(s) appealed, unless waived by subsection (c) of this section. If, after the hearing, no violation as charged in the administrative citation is found, the citation recipient shall receive any amounts advanced for the fine assessed by the administrative citation. The appeal fee is not refundable.

(b) Submission of a request for hearing shall not in any way affect the responsible person's obligation to abate the offense charged.

(c) The director of public safety may waive the fee required for filing an appeal if the citation recipient meets the requirements of this subsection.

(1) The party seeking the fee waiver must be the real, and not nominal, party in interest, and shall not be granted a waiver if there are any interested parties financially capable of paying the fee.

(2) Subject to the limitations set forth in this section, waiver of the fee shall be granted by the director of public safety if the applicant declares under penalty of perjury, and the finance director or authorized designee determines, that the applicant is receiving benefits pursuant to the supplemental security income (SSI) and state supplemental payments (SSP) programs (Sections 12200 through 12205.2 of the Welfare and Institutions Code), the aid to families with dependent children (AFDC) program (42 United States Code 601 through 644), the food stamp program (7 United States Code 2011 through 2027), Section 17000 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, or if the citation recipient declares under penalty of perjury that his or her monthly income is less than the current monthly poverty threshold annually established by the community services administration pursuant to Section 673(2) of the Community Services Block Grant Act (42 U.S.C. Section 9902(2)). In order to be considered for the fee waiver, citation recipient must obtain from the finance director, or authorized designee, and fully complete and submit an application for waiver of city appeal fees. The director of public safety may require the citation recipient to furnish such financial information as the finance director deems necessary to deem the application complete in order to make a decision. The decision of the director of public safety on the fee waiver shall be final and conclusive and there shall be no appeal to a city body or official from such decision.

(3) A citation recipient desiring waiver of an appeal fee shall submit a fully completed application for waiver of city appeal fees at the same time as the appeal is filed. Said citation recipient shall furnish, within two working days, any additional information requested by the director of public safety to substantiate the waiver request. If the information requested is not furnished within two working days, the director of public safety may deny the fee waiver request. After a citation recipient requests waiver of the appeal fee, the applicable dates or time periods for hearing the appeal shall be tolled until the director of public safety decides the fee waiver request unless the application is determined to be frivolous.

(4) Any person who willfully provides the city with false statements of material facts is guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction thereof is punishable by a fine of not more than one thousand dollars or by imprisonment for a period of not more than six months, or by both such fine and imprisonment.

(d) Failure to submit a timely and complete request for hearing shall foreclose a person's right to appeal the issuance of the administrative citation and shall constitute a failure to exhaust administrative remedies, resulting in the order of the citation to become the final decision and conclusive evidence of the responsible person's liability for the violations charged.

(e) Upon a timely and complete request for hearing, the director of public safety shall set a hearing before a hearing officer on a date not less than fifteen days but not more than sixty days from the date that the request for hearing is submitted and deemed complete by the city. The citation recipient shall receive notice from the city, which may be given by personal delivery or by first class mail, at his or her last known address of the date, time, and location of the hearing at least ten days prior to the date of the hearing and shall be provided any additional nonprivileged written reports and documents which the city intends to present at such appeal hearing.

(Ord. 786 § 1 (part), 2006)

(a) The city manager shall designate a hearing officer for the appeal. The hearing officer shall not be a then-current city employee or a then-current contractor of, or employee of a then-current contractor of the city, including but not limited to the Los Angeles County sheriff's department during such time the Los Angeles County sheriff's department provides law enforcement services to the city, but excluding such persons with whom the city may contract to serve as a hearing officer or the employees of entities with whom the city may contract for the provision of hearing officers. The hearing officer or entity providing the hearing officer shall be an independent contractor with the city, and his or her compensation and evaluation shall not in any way be conditioned directly or indirectly upon the hearing officer's determinations with respect to the appeal.

(b) The hearing officer shall only consider relevant evidence to the charge(s) appealed and whether the responsible person has caused or maintained a violation of the city ordinance or code as charged.

(c) The citation recipient shall be afforded the opportunity to present evidence and witnesses and testify on his or her behalf during the appeal hearing.

(d) The citation recipient's failure to appear at the appeal hearing shall cause the citation to act as the final determination as to the existence of the cited violation in favor of the city and shall also constitute a failure to exhaust administrative remedies. The citation recipient's failure to appear shall also result in the forfeiture of all moneys deposited.

(e) The administrative citation and any evidence submitted by the city in support of issuance of the citation shall constitute prima facie evidence of the violation and supporting facts contained in such evidence.

(f) Other than the documents provided to the citation recipient pursuant to Section 1.08.090 of this chapter, no discovery will be allowed. The rules of formal discovery shall not apply.

(g) At his or her discretion, the hearing officer may continue the hearing and request additional information from any party involved prior to issuance of the determination.

(Ord. 786 § 1 (part), 2006)

(a) After considering all the testimony and evidence presented, the hearing officer shall prepare and provide a written determination to all parties within ten days of the appeal hearing upholding or denying the appeal and setting forth the reasons for that decision. The determination of the hearing officer shall be final.

(b) If the decision of the hearing officer is to uphold the issuance of the citation, the city shall retain all moneys deposited by the citation recipient. If the appeal is granted and the citation overturned, the city shall refund the deposited amount within thirty days of that decision. The appeal fee shall be retained by the city regardless of the hearing officer's determination.

(c) The hearing officer shall serve the citation recipient and the city a copy of the written decision by first class mail at the last known address for each party.

(Ord. 786 § 1 (part), 2006)

Any person who wishes to challenge the determination of the hearing officer may obtain review by filing a petition for review with the appropriate Los Angeles Superior Court in accordance with the time deadlines and procedural requirements set forth in California Government Code Section 53069.4, as may be amended from time to time.

(Ord. 786 § 1 (part), 2006)

(a) At its discretion, the city may pursue any and all available legal means to ensure collection of all fines issued under this chapter, including any applicable interest and penalties and costs of abatement or enforcement. Pursuit of any one remedy shall not preclude enforcement by any other legal means until the total amount due has been collected.

(b) The city may refuse to take any action on a city approval, including permits, for any person who has unpaid fines, interest penalties, liens, or assessments due under this chapter that are related to such approval.

(c) Failure to pay a fine issued under this chapter shall constitute a violation of the chapter and may be enforced in accordance with the provisions of this chapter, including the recording of a lien or assessment against the subject property in accordance with any available legal means.

(Ord. 786 § 1 (part), 2006)

In any hearing, proceedings, or action under this chapter, attorneys' fees may be recovered by the prevailing party; provided, however, that the award of attorneys' fees to a prevailing party shall not exceed the amount of reasonable attorneys' fees incurred by the city in the action or proceeding.

(Ord. 796 § 1, 2007)