Fairfield Municipal Code Art. II Administrative Citations

a)

Enforcement Officer.

Enforcement officer shall mean any fire department employee authorized by the fire chief to enforce this chapter.

b)

Hearing Officer.

The city manager shall appoint one or more hearing officer(s) who shall serve at his/her pleasure. A hearing officer may be a city employee.

a) Whenever an enforcement officer determines a violation of any provision of this chapter has occurred, the enforcement officer has the authority to issue an administrative citation to the person responsible for the violation.

b) Each administrative citation shall contain the following information:

1. The date of the violation;

2. The address or definite description of the location where the violation occurred;

3. The section of this chapter violated;

4. The Uniform Fire Code section violated, if applicable;

5. A description of the violation;

6. The amount of the fine for the violation;

7. A description of the fine payment process;

8. The time within which the fine must be paid;

9. The location for payment for the fine;

10. An order prohibiting the continuation or repeated occurrence of the violation and the time within which the violation must be corrected if applicable;

11. A description of the appeal process;

12. The time within which any appeal must be received;

13. The location for registering an appeal; and

14. The name and signature of the enforcement officer issuing the citation.

c) The person cited shall be requested to sign the citation.

The amount of fines for first violations of this chapter and for second and third violations of the same section of this chapter within a one (1) year period of the first violation shall be set forth in a schedule of fines established by resolution of the city council.

a) The fine shall be paid to the City within thirty (30) days of the date of the citation.

b) Any administrative citation fine paid pursuant to subsection a) above shall be refunded if it is determined, after an appeal hearing, that there was no violation as charged in the citation.

c) Payment of the administrative citation fine shall not excuse or discharge any continuation or repeated occurrence of the violation cited.

a) Any recipient of an administrative citation may contest the citation by requesting an appeal hearing within thirty (30) days from the date of the citation. The person requesting the appeal hearing shall deposit with the city, either the amount of the fine or a hardship waiver pursuant to section 8.10.

b) The city shall set a time and place for the appeal hearing within thirty (30) days of receipt of a hearing request. The person requesting the appeal hearing shall be notified of the time and place for the hearing at least ten (10) days prior to the date of the hearing.

c) Copies of any additional written reports submitted to the hearing officer by the enforcement officer prior to the appeal hearing shall be provided to the person requesting the hearing at least five (5) days prior to the date of the hearing.

a) Any recipient of an administrative citation who requests an appeal hearing and is financially unable to deposit the required fine may file a request for a hardship waiver of the advance deposit requirement.

b) Requests for hardship waivers shall be filed with the request for an appeal hearing. The request shall be accompanied with a sworn affidavit, together with any supporting documents or materials, demonstrating to the satisfaction of the hearing officer the person’s actual financial inability to deposit the fine in advance of the appeal hearing.

c) The hearing officer shall issue the hardship waiver or deny the request for a waiver within ten (10) days of receipt of such request. If the hearing officer denies the request for a waiver, he/she shall issue a written determination listing the reason(s) for the determination and shall serve the written determination on the person requesting the hardship waiver. The decision of the hearing officer shall be final.

d) If the request for a hardship waiver is denied, the fine shall be deposited with the city within ten (10) days of the denial or thirty (30) days from the date of the citation, whichever is later.

a) At the appeal hearing, the party contesting the citation shall be given the opportunity to testify and to present evidence, including witnesses, concerning the alleged violation.

b) The administrative citation and any additional reports submitted by the enforcement officer shall constitute prima facie evidence of the respective facts contained in those documents.

c) The hearing officer may take the matter under submission or may continue the hearing and/or request additional information from either the enforcement officer or the person cited or both.

d) Failure on the part of the person cited to appear at the hearing shall constitute a forfeiture of the deposited fine and a failure to exhaust all administrative remedies.

a) After consideration of the testimony and evidence submitted at the hearing, the hearing officer shall issue a written decision to either uphold or dismiss the administrative citation. Such decision shall be accompanied by the reasons for the decision. The person cited shall be served with a copy of the decision. The decision of the hearing officer shall be final.

b) If the citation is upheld, the fine amount on deposit with the city shall be retained by the city.

c) If the citation is upheld and the fine has not been deposited in advance pursuant to a hardship waiver, the hearing officer shall set forth in the decision a payment schedule for the fine.

d) If the citation is dismissed and the fine was deposited with the city, the deposited fine shall be refunded promptly.

The city may collect any past due administrative citation fines and/or late payment charges by use of all available legal means.

Any person aggrieved by the decision of a hearing officer may obtain review of the decision by filing a petition for review with the municipal court in Solano County in accordance with the timelines and provisions set forth in California Government Code Section 53069.4.

All notices required under this chapter shall be served on the responsible party in accordance with the following provisions:

a) If the person cited is not the owner of the business where the alleged violation occurred, written notice shall be personally delivered or sent by certified mail to the owner of the business at the address of the property where the alleged violation occurred.

b) If the person cited is not the owner of the property where the alleged violation occurred, written notice shall be personally delivered or sent by certified mail to the property owner at the address shown on the last equalized county assessment roll.

c) When personal service or service by certified mail upon the person cited is unsuccessful, a copy of the notice shall be posted in a conspicuous place on the property where the alleged violation occurred.

(Ord. No. 98-20, § 2)