El Monte Municipal Code Ch. 8.80 Vacant Properties

The purpose of this chapter is to regulate vacant properties in the city in order to protect residential and commercial areas from becoming blighted due to the lack of adequate maintenance and security, and to establish minimum standards of accountability on the responsible parties of vacant properties in order to protect the health, welfare, and safety of the community.

(Ord. No. 2949, § 6, 7-2-2019)

8.80.020 Applicability.

Use of this chapter shall be at the sole discretion of the city. This chapter may be used as a supplement to other chapters of this code or this chapter may be used in conjunction with other chapters of this code.

(Ord. No. 2949, § 6, 7-2-2019)

For the purposes of this chapter, certain words and phrases used in this chapter are defined as follows:

"Responsible party" means and includes any person having legal title to, or who leases, rents, occupies or has charge, control or possession of, any real property in the city, including all persons shown as owners on the last equalized assessment roll of the Los Angeles County Assessor's Office. Responsible parties include persons with powers of attorney, executors of estates, trustees, or who are court appointed administrators, conservators, guardians or receivers. A responsible party of personal property shall be any person who has legal title, charge, control, or possession of, such property.

"Vacant property" means any property that is either:

1. Unimproved; or

2. Improved with an existing building or structure that is abandoned, vacant and/or unoccupied for more than thirty (30) days.

(Ord. No. 2949, § 6, 7-2-2019)

A. Unimproved Vacant Properties.

1. Landscaping.

a. The responsible party of a vacant property that was never developed or became vacant after pre-existing buildings, structures, or impervious surfaces were removed, shall provide a vacant property landscape and irrigation plan, along with the appropriate city fees, to the Community and Economic Development Department for review and approval.

b. Upon approval of a vacant property landscape and irrigation plan, vacant properties shall be improved and maintained at all times in accordance with the approved plan and the following provisions:

i. A minimum ten-foot wide landscape area shall be maintained on all perimeters of a vacant property located adjacent to all streets, alleys, or other public rights-of-way.

ii. Landscaped areas shall be planted with natural, drought-tolerant vegetation consisting of a combination of trees, shrubs, and groundcover, subject to approval of the Community and Economic Development Department.

iii. The vacant property shall be improved with an operable automatic irrigation system for the ground cover, which shall be installed and maintained in good condition by the responsible party at all times.

iv. Any dead or dying vegetation, as well as any broken, malfunctioning irrigation components, on the property shall be replaced by the responsible party or designee, within seventy-two (72) hours of discovery or notification by the city. The responsible party or designee, shall inspect the property at reasonable intervals and take other steps to reasonably ensure that there are no dead or dying vegetation nor any broken, malfunctioning irrigation components on the property.

2. Fencing. A five-foot high with anti-graffiti coating (if feasible) white rail fence approved by the Community and Economic Development Department shall be located behind all required perimeter landscaping. All fencing shall be provided with a gate to allow access to the vacant property for emergency access. As deemed necessary by staff for health, safety, or general welfare reasons, a security fence of a maximum of six (6) feet per approval by the Community and Economic Development Director may be required around vacant properties.

3. Maintenance.

a. The vacant property shall be maintained free of on-site loitering, litter, weeds, graffiti, debris, and the stockpiling of any material at all times. The responsible party, or designee, shall inspect the property at reasonable intervals and take other steps to reasonably ensure that no litter, weeds, graffiti, debris or materials stockpiling collects or is maintained on the property.

b. All fencing shall be maintained in good condition at all times by the responsible party or designee. Any on-site graffiti shall be removed by the responsible party or designee, within twenty-four (24) hours of discovery or notification by the city. The responsible party or designee, shall inspect the property at reasonable intervals for any on-site graffiti and take other steps to reasonably ensure that there is no on-site graffiti.

B. Improved Vacant Properties.

1. Vacant properties improved with existing on-site buildings or structures that are vacant, abandoned, or unoccupied for more than thirty (30) days, as determined by the Community and Economic Development Director, shall be improved and maintained at all times in the same manner as set forth in the "Unimproved Vacant Properties" subsection of this section, however, the Community and Economic Development Director may modify the landscaping requirements if the landscaping requirements are deemed unnecessary or unsuitable for an improved vacant property.

2. In addition, such vacant properties shall be maintained as follows:

a. All on-site buildings or structures shall be maintained in good condition at all times. Damage to any on-site buildings or structures shall be abated within ten (10) days by the responsible party or designee upon discovery or city notification. An alternative abatement period may be granted if deemed necessary by the Community and Economic Development Director, if the responsible party:

i. Demonstrates that physical improvements towards remedying the site or buildings/structures reasonably require more than ten (10) days; and

ii. Submits a written request to the Community and Economic Development Director justifying the requested time extension and detailing the scope of work to be completed within such time.

b. The vacant property shall be adequately secured at all times to prevent illegal dumping, criminal activity, vandalism, graffiti, on-site loitering, and any and all other attractive nuisances to the satisfaction of the Community and Economic Development Director.

C. Vacant Properties in Conjunction with an Approved Project. Before the city issues a demolition permit on any property in which the construction of a new building, structure, parking property, or impervious surface is not scheduled to commence within thirty (30) days after demolition, the responsible party or designee must submit a vacant property landscape and irrigation plan for review and approval by the Community and Economic Development Department, along with the appropriate city fees. The Community and Economic Development Department may impose any conditions of approval on the vacant property landscape and irrigation plan to ensure that the property will be adequately maintained during the time that it is vacant. Upon approval of the plan, the landscape and irrigation improvements to the vacant property, as specified on the approved plan, must be completed to the satisfaction of the Community and Economic Development Department, within thirty (30) days after approval of the plans.

(Ord. No. 2949, § 6, 7-2-2019)

A. All vacant properties, regardless of how they became vacant, that are existing at the time this section becomes effective must comply with this section within sixty (60) days after the city provides notice alerting the responsible party or operator of the requirements of this section. For purposes of this section, the responsible party or operator is deemed to have been provided notice five (5) days after such notice be mailed by first class and certified mail to the owner(s) shown on the last assessment roll of the county. The failure of any person to receive this notice does not affect the validity of any proceedings under this section. A thirty-day time extension may be granted by the Community and Economic Development Director for good cause as determined by the Community and Economic Development Director.

B. The responsible party shall complete and submit a vacant property registration application on a form made available by the Community and Economic Development Department within sixty (60) days after the property becomes vacant or within sixty (60) days after the effective date of this section, whichever is later. At the time of registration, an annual fee, as established by resolution of the City Council, shall be paid to defray the cost of administering this section. The Community and Economic Development Director shall have the authority to make specific fee exemptions in a case where the responsible party has agreed to allow the property to be used and operated for a specific community serving use and specific timeframe approved by the city.

(Ord. No. 2949, § 6, 7-2-2019)

Any vacant property that also constitutes a public nuisance, as defined under this code or as declared to be a public nuisance by the City Council or by the City Attorney in a manner permitted by other applicable law, shall be subject to a monthly monitoring fee and enforcement response fee to recover the city's regulatory costs to monitor and respond to the vacant property. The separate monthly monitoring fee and enforcement response fee as authorized under this section shall be in an amount set by resolution of the City Council and payable by the responsible party. The monitoring fee shall be applicable even in the absence of any action, administrative or otherwise, by the city pursuant to any other provision of the city code. The monitoring fee shall be imposed upon the initial determination that the vacant property constitutes a public nuisance. The fee shall thereafter be imposed during each thirty (30) day period following the imposition of the initial monitoring fee. On properties requiring more than one involuntary city enforcement response within any thirty (30) day period, an additional and separate enforcement response fee shall be imposed upon the responsible party for each response. Monitoring fees shall be imposed as long as the vacant property remains a public nuisance as provided in this section.

Any monitoring fee imposed pursuant to this section may be appealed by the responsible party in the same manner as is specified in Chapter 1.18 of this code.

(Ord. No. 2949, § 6, 7-2-2019)

A. Failure to comply with any of the applicable requirements in this chapter shall constitute a public nuisance and abatement proceedings may proceed to gain compliance in accordance with the provisions of this chapter.

B. Failure to comply with the city standards or any other applicable requirements in this chapter may result in any combination of the following actions by the city:

1. The city may take action to bring the property into compliance, as set forth in this chapter, which may include, but is not limited to, maintaining the cleanliness of the property, installing fencing, installing landscaping and/or rehabilitating the existing landscaping. The responsible party or designee shall submit full payment to the city for the cost of all work completed by the city. The amount of such payment will be provided on an invoice to the responsible party by the city.

2. Any fees or costs not paid when due may be specially assessed against the property involved. If the fee or invoice amount is specially assessed against the property, said assessment may be collected and shall be subject to the same penalties and the same procedure and sale in case of delinquency, as provided for ordinary real property taxes. All laws applicable to the levy, collection, and enforcement of real property taxes are applicable to the special assessment.

3. The city may cause a notice of lien to be recorded against the property. The notice of lien shall, at minimum, identify the record owner or possessor of the property, set forth the last known address of the record owner or possessor, a description of the real property subject to the lien, and the amount of the fees or costs assessed against the property.

C. The city may pursue any other remedies or enforcement action(s) provided in this code.

(Ord. No. 2949, § 6, 7-2-2019)

Any vacant property that is undergoing construction under a valid building permit is exempt from the requirements of this chapter. This exemption does not apply to any extensions, modifications, or changes to a building permit that extend the building permit beyond the initial expiration period provided by this code.

(Ord. No. 2949, § 6, 7-2-2019)