Loyalton Municipal Code Ch. 6.60 Relating to Property Maintenance

A. Back Yard “Back Yard” shall mean that portion of property between a building and the back property line. B. Building “Building” shall mean any house, garage, duplex, apartment, condominium, stock cooperative, and other residential and nonresidential structures. C. City “City” shall mean the City of Loyalton. D. City Council “City Council” shall mean the City Council of the City of Loyalton. E. Front Yard “Front Yard” shall mean the portion of property between the street and a building. F. Owner “Owner” shall mean any person owning property, as shown on the last equalized county assessment roll or the lessee, tenant or other person having control or possession of the property. G. Person “Person” shall mean any individual, partnership, corporation, association or other organization, however formed. H. Property “Property” shall mean (a) all nonresidential zoned real property and any building located on such property (referred to as “nonresidential property”) and (b) all residential zoned real property and any building located on such property (referred to herein as “residential property”).

It shall be unlawful for any person owning, leasing, renting, occupying or having charge or possession of any residential property in the City to maintain or to allow to be maintained such property in such 6.50.170 (Continued) – 6.60.020

manner that any of the following conditions are found to exist thereon, for an unreasonable period of time and visible from a public street or neighboring property, except as may be allowed by any other provision of law; including provisions of City Ordinances:

A. The accumulation of dirt, litter or debris including, but not limited to boxes, bins, containers, junk, trash, salvage, material, broken or discarded furniture, household equipment and furnishings, shopping carts or any other similar materials; B. Attractive nuisances dangerous to children including abandoned, broken or neglected equipment, machinery, refrigerators and freezers, hazardous pools, ponds and excavations; C. Overgrown vegetation likely to harbor rats and/or vermin or exhibit a potential fire hazard, dead weeds, decayed, diseased or hazardous trees and other vegetation constituting an unsightly appearance or which are potentially dangerous to the public health and/or safety or obstruct a necessary view of drivers on public streets or private driveways; D. Graffiti on the exterior of any building, fence or other structure; E. Buildings which are abandoned, boarded up, partially destroyed, or left in a state of partial construction and such buildings which are unpainted or where the paint on the building exterior is mostly worn off.

It shall be unlawful for any person owning, leasing, renting, occupying or having charge or possession of any residential property in the City to maintain or to allow to be maintained such property in such manner that any of the following conditions are found to exist thereon, for an unreasonable period of time and visible from a public street or neighboring property, except as may be allowed by any other provision of law; including provisions of City Ordinances:

F. The accumulation of dirt, litter or debris including, but not limited to boxes, bins, containers, junk, trash, salvage, material, broken or discarded furniture, household equipment and furnishings, shopping carts or any other similar materials; G. Attractive nuisances dangerous to children including abandoned, broken or neglected equipment, machinery, refrigerators and freezers, hazardous pools, ponds and excavations; H. Overgrown vegetation likely to harbor rats and/or vermin or exhibit a potential fire hazard, dead weeds, decayed, diseased or hazardous trees and other vegetation constituting an unsightly appearance or which are potentially dangerous to the public health and/or safety or obstruct a necessary view of drivers on public streets or private driveways; I. Graffiti on the exterior of any building, fence or other structure; J. Buildings which are abandoned, boarded up, partially destroyed, or left in a state of partial construction and such buildings which are unpainted or where the paint on the building exterior is mostly worn off.

Any property found to be maintained in violation of Sections 6.60.020 or 6.60.030 is hereby declared to be a public nuisance and shall be abated by rehabilitation, removal, demolition, or repair pursuant to 6.60.020 (Continued) – 6.60.040

the procedures set forth herein. The procedures for abatement set forth herein shall not be exclusive and shall not in any manner limit or restrict the City from enforcing other City Ordinances or abating public nuisances in any other manner provided by law.

Whenever the City Council determines that any property within the City is being maintained contrary to one or more of the provisions of Sections 6.60.020 or 6.60.030, it shall give written notice (“Notice to Abate”) to the owner of said property stating the Section(s) being violated. Such notice shall set forth a reasonable time limit, in no event less than ten (10) calendar days, for correcting the violation(s) and may also set forth suggested methods of correcting the same. Such notice shall be served upon the owner in accordance with provisions of Section 6.60.070 covering service in person or by mail. The City Clerk shall retain proof of service of this notice.

In the event said owner shall fail, neglect or refuse to comply with the Notice to Abate, the City Council shall conduct an administrative hearing to ascertain whether said violation constitutes a public nuisance.

Notice of said hearing shall be served upon the owner not less than ten (10) calendar days before the time fixed for hearing. Notice of hearing shall be served in person, by first class mail, or by certified mail to the owner’s last known address. Service shall be deemed complete at the time notice is personally served or deposited in the mail. The City Clerk shall retain proof of service of this notice. Failure of any person to receive notice shall not affect the validity of any proceedings hereunder. Notice shall be substantially in the format set forth below:

“Notice of Administrative Hearing on Abatement of Nuisance

This is a Notice of Hearing before the City Council to ascertain whether certain property situated in the City of Loyalton, State of California, known and designated as (street address) ________________, in said City, and more particularly described as (assessor’s parcel number) __________________ constitutes a public nuisance subject to abatement by the rehabilitation of such property or by the repair or demolition of buildings situated thereon. If said property, in whole or part, is found to constitute a public nuisance as defined in Chapter 6.60 of the Loyalton City Ordinances, and if the same is not promptly abated by the owner, such nuisance may be abated by municipal authorities, in which case the cost of such rehabilitation, repair, or demolition will be assessed upon such property and such costs, together with interest thereon, will constitute a lien upon such property until paid; in addition, you may be cited for violation of the provisions of the City Ordinances and subject to a fine.

Said alleged conditions consist of the following:________________________________________

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6.60.040 (Continued) – 6.60.070

The method(s) of abatement are:___________________________________________________

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All persons having an interest in said matters my attend the hearing and their testimony and evidence will be heard and given due consideration.

Dated this ______ day of __________________________, 19

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City Clerk

Time and Date of Hearing:_____________________________________________________.

Location of Hearing:__________________________________________________________.”

At the time stated in the notice, the City Council shall hear and consider all relevant evidence, objections or protests, and shall receive testimony under oath relative to such alleged public nuisance and to the proposed rehabilitation, repair, removal or demolition of such property. Said hearing may be continued from time to time.

If the City Council finds that such public nuisance does exist and that there is sufficient cause to rehabilitate, demolish, remove or repair the same, the City Council shall prepare findings and an order, which shall specify the nature of the nuisance, the method(s) of abatement and the time within which the work shall be commenced and completed. A copy of the findings and order shall be served on all owners of the subject property in accordance with the provisions of Section 6.60.070. The City Clerk shall retain proof of service of the findings and order. In addition, a copy of the findings and order shall be forthwith conspicuously posted on or near the property. The order shall set forth the time within which such work shall be completed by the owner, in no event less than thirty (30) days. The decision and order of the Council shall be final.

The owner of the property shall cause the property to be rehabilitated, repaired, removed or demolished in the manner and means specifically set forth in said findings and order. In the event the owner fails to abate the nuisance as ordered, the City Council may direct the City Clerk to cause the same to be abated by City employees or private contract. The costs shall be billed to the owner, as specified in Section 6.60.110. The City Clerk is expressly authorized and may authorize others to enter upon said property for such purposes. The cost, including incidental expenses, of abating the nuisance shall be billed to the owner and shall become due and payable thirty (30) days thereafter. The term “incidental expenses” shall include, but not be limited to, personnel costs, both direct and indirect, including attorney’s fees; costs incurred in documenting the nuisance; the actual expenses and costs of the City in the preparation of notices, specifications and contracts, and in inspecting the work; and the costs of printing and mailing required hereunder. No person shall obstruct, impede, or interfere with the City Clerk, or his or her representative in the performance of any necessary act, preliminary to or incidental in, carrying out an abatement order issued pursuant to this Chapter. 6.60.070 (Continued) – 6.60.090

Any court action appealing or challenging the Council’s decision and order shall be commenced within thirty (30) calendar days of the date of service of the decision.

No property shall be found to be a public nuisance under Sections 6.60.020(E) or 6.60.030(E) and ordered demolished unless the order is based on competent sworn testimony and it is found that in fairness and in justice there is no way other than demolition to reasonably correct such nuisance.

A copy of any order or resolution requiring abatement by demolition under Section 6.60.080 shall be forthwith recorded with the Sierra Count Recorder.

The City Clerk shall keep an account of the cost, including incidental expenses, of abating such nuisance on each separate lot or parcel of land where the work is done by the City and shall render an itemized report in writing to the City Council showing the cost of abatement, including the rehabilitation, demolition or repair of said property, including any salvage value relating thereto; provided that before said report is submitted to the City Council, a copy of the same shall be posted for at least five (5) days upon or in front of such property, together with a notice of the time when said report shall be served upon the owners of said property in accordance with the provisions of Section 6.60.070 at least five (5) calendar days prior to submitting the same to the City Council. The City Clerk shall retain proof of such posting and service.

The total cost for abating such nuisance, if confirmed by the City Council after a hearing, shall constitute a special assessment against the respective lot or parcel of land to which it relates, and upon recordation in the office of the County Recorder of a Notice of Lien, as so made and confirmed, shall constitute a lien on said property for the amount of such assessment.

After such confirmation and recordation, a certified copy of the Council’s decision shall be filed with the Sierra County Auditor-Controller on or before August 1 of each year, whereupon it shall be the duty of said Auditor-Controller to add the amounts of the respective assessments to the next regular tax bills levied against said respective lots and parcels of land for municipal purposes and thereafter said amounts shall be collected at the same time and in the same manner as ordinary municipal taxes are collected, and shall be subject to the same penalties and the same procedure and sale in case of delinquency as provided for ordinary municipal taxes. All laws applicable to the levy, collection and enforcement of municipal taxes shall be applicable to such special assessment. In the alternative, after such recordation, such lien may be foreclosed by judicial or other sale in the manner and means provided by law, including California Civil Code Sections 2924, 2924b, 2924c, 2924f, 2924g, and 2924h.

Such Notice of Lien for recordation shall be in substantially the following form:

“NOTICE OF LIEN

(Claim of City of Loyalton)

Pursuant to the authority vested by the provisions of Section 6.60.160 of the Ordinances of the City of Loyalton, the City Clerk of the City of Loyalton did on or about the _____ day of _________, 19, cause the property hereinafter described to be rehabilitated or the building or structure on the property hereinafter described, to be repaired or demolished in order to abate a public nuisance on said real property; and the City Council of the City of Loyalton on the ____ day of , 19, did assess the cost of such rehabilitation, repair or demolition upon the real property hereinafter described; and the same has not been paid nor any part thereof; and that said City of Loyalton does hereby claim a lien on such real property in the amount of said assessment, to wit: the sum of $_: and the same, shall be a lien upon said real property until the same has been paid in full and discharged of record.

The real property hereinabove mentioned, and upon which a lien is claimed, is that certain parcel of land lying and being in the City of Loyalton, County of Sierra, State of California, and particularly described as follows:

Street Address:

Assessor Parcel No.:

Legal Description:

(description)

Dated this ____ day of __________, 19.

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City Clerk, City of Loyalton”

Nothing in this Ordinance shall be deemed to prevent the City Council from ordering the commencement of a civil proceeding to abate a public nuisance pursuant to applicable law or from pursuing any other remedy available under applicable law. The City Clerk is designated as the enforcement authority.

(a) Any person, firm, or corporation violating or causing, or permitting to be violated any of the provisions of this Ordinance shall be deemed guilty of an infraction. (b) Any person, firm, or corporation convicted of an infraction under the provisions of this Ordinance shall be punishable as provided in Government Code Section 36900. Any violation beyond the third conviction within a one year period may be charged by the District Attorney as a misdemeanor and the penalty for conviction of the same shall be subject to a fine or imprisonment or both not to exceed the limits set forth in California Penal Code Section 19. 6.60.160 (Continued) – 6.60.180

(c) Each person, firm, or corporation shall be guilty of a separate offense for each and every day during any portion of which any violation of any provision of this Ordinance is committed, continued or permitted by such person and shall be punishable accordingly. (d) The City Council shall have the power to designate by written order that particular officers or employees shall be authorized to enforce particular provisions of this Ordinance. Officers or employees so designated shall have the authority to arrest persons who violate any of said provisions.

The City Clerk of the City of Loyalton shall cause this Ordinance to be posted in at least three (3) public places in the City of Loyalton in accordance with Section 36933 of the Government Code of the State of California. However, this Ordinance is an emergency ordinance, and shall take effect immediately, pursuant to Section 36937(b) if passed by a four-fifths majority of the City Council.