Chapter 4-79 — ENFORCEMENT AND PENALTIES

Sections:

Sec. 4-79-010. Purpose. Sec. 4-79-020. Building Permits and Business Licenses. Sec. 4-79-030. Official Duty to Enforce. Sec. 4-79-040. Violations. Sec. 4-79-050. Remedies are Cumulative. Sec. 4-79-060. Inspections. Sec. 4-79-070. Initial Enforcement Action. Sec. 4-79-080. Legal Remedies. Sec. 4-79-090. Recovery of Costs. Sec. 4-79-100. Additional Permit Processing Fees. Sec. 4-79-110. Reinspection Fees.

This Chapter establishes provisions which are intended to ensure compliance with the requirements of this Zoning and Subdivision Code and any conditions of planning permit or subdivision approval, to promote the City's planning efforts, and for the protection of the public health, safety, and welfare of the City.

All departments, officials, and employees of the City who are assigned the authority or duty to issue permits or licenses shall comply with the provisions of this Zoning and Subdivision Code.

• A. Permits in conflict with Zoning and Subdivision Code. Permits for uses or structures that would be in conflict with the provisions of this Zoning and Subdivision Code shall not be issued.

• B. Permits or licenses deemed void. Any permit or license issued in conflict with the provisions of this Zoning and Subdivision Code shall be deemed void.

• A. Designated employee. The Planning Director may:

  1. Exercise the authority provided in Section 836.5 of the Penal Code; and

  2. Issue citations for any violations of this Zoning and Subdivision Code pertaining to the use of any land and the addition, alteration, construction, conversion, erection, moving, reconstruction, or use of any structure.

• B. Police Chief. The Police Chief shall render any and all necessary assistance to the Planning Director for the enforcement of this Zoning and Subdivision Code.

Any structure constructed or maintained contrary to the provisions of this Zoning and Subdivision Code and any use of land or structures operated or maintained contrary to the provisions of this Zoning and Subdivision Code are hereby declared to be a public nuisances.

• A. Public nuisance. Any structure or use which is altered, constructed, converted, enlarged, established, erected, maintained, moved, or operated, contrary to the

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provisions of this Zoning and Subdivision Code or any applicable condition of approval imposed on a permit, is hereby declared to be unlawful and a public nuisance, and shall be subject to the remedies and penalties as adopted and enacted by the City.

• B. Criminal violations. Any person, whether an agent, principal, or otherwise, violating or causing the violation of any provision of this Zoning and Subdivision Code or any permit issued in compliance with this Zoning and Subdivision Code shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor or an infraction at the election of the City and/or its prosecuting official), and upon conviction thereof, shall be punishable by the applicable fine established by City Code or Policy.

• C. Misdemeanors. Any offense that would otherwise be an infraction may, at the discretion of the City Attorney, be filed as a misdemeanor if the defendant has been convicted of two or more violations of any provision of this Zoning and Subdivision Code within the 12 months immediately preceding the commission of the offense.

• D. Stop Work Order.

  1. Any construction in violation of this Zoning and Subdivision Code or any conditions imposed on a permit shall be subject to the issuance of a "Stop Work Order."

  2. Any violation of a Stop Work Order shall constitute a misdemeanor, and shall be subject to the remedies and penalties as adopted and enacted by the City.

• A. Cumulative, not exclusive. All remedies contained in this Zoning and Subdivision Code for the handling of violations or enforcement of the provisions of this Zoning and Subdivision Code shall be cumulative and not exclusive of any other applicable provisions of City, County, or State law.

• B. Other remedies. Should a person be found guilty and convicted of a misdemeanor or infraction for the violation of any provision of this Zoning and Subdivision Code, the conviction shall not prevent the City from pursuing any other available remedy to correct the violations.

• A. Preapproval inspections. Every applicant seeking a permit or any other action in compliance with this Zoning and Subdivision Code shall allow the City officials handling the application access to any premises or property which is the subject of the application.

• B. Post approval inspections. If the permit or other action in compliance with this Zoning and Subdivision Code is approved, the owner or applicant shall allow appropriate City officials access to the premises in order to determine continued compliance with the approved permit and/or any conditions of approval imposed on the permit.

This Section describes the procedures for initiating enforcement action in cases where the Planning Director has determined that real property within the City is being used, maintained, or allowed to exist in violation of the provisions of this Zoning and Subdivision Code. It is the

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objective of these provisions to encourage the voluntary cooperation of responsible parties in the prompt correction of violations, so that the other enforcement measures provided by this Chapter may be avoided.

• A. Notice to responsible parties. The Planning Director or code enforcement officer shall provide the record owner of the subject site and any person in possession or control of the site with a written Notice of Violation in accordance with remedies as may be established by the City.

The City may choose to use any one or all of available legal actions to correct and/or abate any nuisances or violations of this Zoning and Subdivision Code.

Recovery of Costs for enforcement and correction of violations shall be 100% for all city expenditures. The City shall use all necessary and legal means to gain full cost recovery.

Any person who establishes a land use, or alters, constructs, enlarges, erects, maintains, or moves any structure without first obtaining any permit required by this Zoning and Subdivision Code, shall pay the additional permit processing fees established by the City's Fee Schedule for the correction of the violations, before being granted a permit for a use or structure on the site.

• A. Amount and applicability of reinspection fee.

  1. A reinspection fee shall be imposed on each person who receives a Notice of Violation, notice and order, or letter of correction of any provision of the Municipal Code, adopted Building Code, or State law.

  - **a.** The fee amount shall be established by the City's Fee Schedule. 
  
  - **b.** The fee may be assessed for each inspection or reinspection conducted when the particular violation for which an inspection or reinspection is scheduled is not fully abated or corrected as directed by, and within the time and manner specified in, the notice or letter. 
  

  2. The fee shall not apply to the original inspection to document the violations and shall not apply to the first scheduled compliance inspection made after the issuance of a notice or letter, whether or not the correction has been made.

B. Continuation of the original case.

1. If a notice or letter has been previously issued for the same violation and the property has been in compliance with the provisions of this Zoning and Subdivision Code or the Municipal Code for less than 180 days, the violation shall be deemed a continuation of the original case, and all inspections or reinspections, including the first inspection for the repeated offense, shall be charged a reinspection fee.

2. This fee is intended to compensate for administrative costs for unnecessary City inspections, and is not a penalty for violating this Zoning and Subdivision Code or the Municipal Code.

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3. Any reinspection fees imposed shall be separate and apart from any fines or penalties imposed for violation of this Zoning and Subdivision Code or the Municipal Code, or costs incurred by the City for the abatement of a public nuisance.

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