Mono County Municipal Code Ch. 1.12 Administrative Citations

Footnotes:

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Prior ordinance history: Ords. 73-433, 80-433-A and 99-10.

A. "County" means the County of Mono, a political subdivision of the State of California.

B. "County regulation(s)" means the Mono County Code or any other duly approved ordinances passed by the board of supervisors, the county general plan, any county area or specific plan, or airport use plan, or any variation or subpart of the foregoing, any other land-use planning document duly approved by the board of supervisors or planning commission, licenses or permits issued by the county, executive orders of the Governor of the state, orders of the State Public Health Officer, any order or directive issued by the county public health officer, as well as any federal or state law that the county may or must enforce.

C. "Compliance specialist" means any person authorized by the county to enforce any provision of a county regulation, including but not limited to the compliance specialist as defined in Section 1.13.010, the building official and his or her inspectors, and the community development director and his or her designee.

D. "Administrative fine" means a non-discretionary fine in a fixed amount imposed pursuant to the administrative citation process, as described in this chapter.

E. "Hearing officer" means any person appointed by the county administrative officer to preside over administrative hearings provided for under this chapter.

F. "Person" or "party" means any natural person, firm, association, trust, organization, partnership, company, corporation or any other legally cognizable entity.

G. "Property owner" means the record owner(s) of the parcel of real property.

(Ord. 02-03 § 1 (part), 2002.)

(Ord. No. 20-05, § 2(Exh. A), 5-12-2020)

A. Upon discovering or observing any violation of county regulations, the compliance specialist may provide the person who caused the violation and/or the property owner with a notice of violation. The notice of violation shall:

1. Describe the property location;

2. State the specific county regulation violated and the nature of that violation;

3. Note the date by which an administrative citation will be issued if no correction is made; and

4. Inform the person who caused the violation and / or the property owner of the actual costs of the county that were incurred as a result of their violation of county regulation(s) that may be charged to them, as well as fines and penalties.

B. A reasonable correction period shall be given (the duration of which will be determined by the compliance specialist in his or her discretion) before an administrative citation is issued in cases involving continuing code violations pertaining to building, plumbing, electricity, or other similar structural or zoning issues that do not create an immediate danger to health or safety. When deciding on a reasonable time for the person causing the violation and / or the property owner to respond to the notice of violation, the compliance specialist shall consider the cost of abatement or correction, the time to obtain estimates, drawings and contracts for correction, the time required for physical relocation of personal property, and climatic conditions.

C. If the violation is not remedied within the time specified by the notice of violation, the compliance specialist may issue an administrative citation to the person who caused the violation or to the property owner.

D. The administrative citation shall:

1. Include a copy of the notice of violation;

2. Inform the recipient of his or her right to an administrative hearing if timely requested and of the procedure for making such a request;

3. State the date and time when the citation was issued; and

4. Specify the amounts of the fine or fines being imposed under the authority of this chapter and how they accrue as well as how such fines can be paid.

E. The compliance specialist may immediately issue an administrative citation without having issued a notice of violation and without allowing for a correction period in the following cases:

1. Any violation not covered by subsection B of this section; or

2. If a person responsible for any violation, including violations listed above in subsection B of this section, repeats that same violation within three hundred sixty five days on the same property.

If an administrative citation is issued through this subsection E of this section, then such citation must include the information required in a notice of violation.

(Ord. 02-03 § 1 (part), 2002.)

A. An administrative fine is established in the amount of one hundred dollars per day for each violation of a county regulation, applicable for each of the first five days of noncompliance. After the initial five day period, the fine will then be five hundred dollars per day for each violation on each day thereafter. Said fines shall not apply prior to the issuance of an administrative citation and shall not apply when a separate provision of a county regulation imposes a specific fine for the violation of that regulation.

B. All administrative fines imposed shall be payable to the county treasurer/tax collector.

C. No combination of administrative fines shall exceed five thousand per parcel of property per day. Total administrative fines associated with violations on a single parcel of property shall not exceed the current assessed value of that parcel.

D. If any administrative fine is not paid within ninety calendar days of the date that the administrative fine was imposed, then the compliance specialist may file a claim on behalf of the county in small claims court for collection thereof or, if the amount owed is over five thousand dollars, the county counsel may file suit for collection in Superior Court.

(Ord. 02-03 § 1 (part), 2002.)

A. A notice of violation or administrative citation shall be served as follows:

1. Personal service on the person who caused the violation and/or the property owner;

2. Certified mail, postage prepaid, return receipt requested to the person who caused the violation and/or the property owner. Such service shall be deemed effective on the date of mailing;

3. For notices of violation only, the following service option is also available: posting in front of the property on which the violation occurred or in another conspicuous location. Failure of a posted notice to remain in place after posting in no way affects the validity of the notice or the proceedings thereafter.

B. The failure of any person with an interest in the property on which the violation occurred to receive a notice of violation or an administrative citation shall not affect the validity of any proceedings taken under this chapter.

(Ord. 02-03 § 1 (part), 2002.)

A. Any person receiving an administrative citation may request an appeal hearing within ten business days after the citation was served. The request for a hearing must be made in writing and filed with the county clerk in person or by mail. When an administrative citation is sent by mail, the hearing must be requested within ten business days after the citation was postmarked.

B. As soon as practicable after receiving the written request for a hearing, the county administrative officer shall appoint a hearing officer who shall be either a planning commissioner or an independent professional qualified to act as the hearing officer if no planning commissioner is willing or able to serve. The person appointed to serve as hearing officer shall not reside in the community in which the person responsible for the violation lives or where the subject property is located. For purposes of this paragraph, "community" includes any of the following areas designated in the Mono County General Plan Map: (1) Antelope Valley, (2) Benton, (3) Benton Hot Springs, (4) Bodie Hills, (5) Bridgeport; (6) Chalfant, (7) Hammil Valley, (8) June Lake, (9) Long Valley, (10) Mammoth Vicinity, (11) Mono Basin, (12) Oasis, (13) Sonora Junction, (14) Swauger Creek, and (15) Wheeler Crest. The clerk shall provide the hearing officer with a copy of the citation and written request for hearing at the time the hearing officer is appointed. The county administrative officer, or his or her designee, shall then fix a date, time and place for the hearing. At least ten business days before the hearing date, written notice of the date, time, and place of the hearing shall be served on the recipient of the citation and on the property owner (if different), as well as on anyone else who received formal notice of the citation, by any one of the following means:

1. Personal service;

2. Certified mail, postage prepaid, return receipt requested. Such service shall be deemed effective and perfected on the date of mailing.

C. The failure of any person with an interest in the property on which the violation occurred to receive notice of the appeal hearing shall not affect the validity of any proceedings taken under this chapter.

D. Failure of any person to timely request a hearing in accordance with the provisions of this section shall constitute a waiver of his or her right to a hearing.

E. The hearing officer shall consider any written or oral evidence presented at the hearing consistent with the following procedures:

1. The person who filed the appeal shall have the burden of proof at the hearing;

2. The contents of the county's file shall be accepted into evidence (except as to such portions of the file, if any, that contain confidential or privileged information);

3. The notice of violation and the administrative citation shall be admitted as prima facie evidence of the facts stated therein.

F. The hearing officer shall independently consider the facts of the case and shall draw his or her own independent conclusions as to the merit of the appeal; i.e., the appeal shall be heard de novo.

G. Upon conclusion of the hearing and receipt of information and evidence, the hearing officer may immediately render a decision, continue the proceeding or take the matter under submission and later render a decision.

H. The order and decision of the hearing officer shall be the final administrative action of the county. If the hearing officer finds a violation has occurred, he or she may nevertheless, for good cause shown, reduce, waive or conditionally reduce the fines stated in the citation. The hearing officer may also impose additional conditions and deadlines by which to correct the violation or to pay any outstanding fine(s).

I. The hearing officer shall issue a written order and decision setting forth supporting findings within thirty days after the conclusion of the hearing. The written order and decision shall also inform the person who filed the appeal of his or her right under state law to appeal the order of the hearing officer to the superior court within twenty days after service of the written order and decision is perfected on the appellant in conformity with Government Code Section 53069.4(b)(1).

J. The clerk shall serve the hearing officer's written order and decision on the appellant and compliance specialist within five working days after the written order and decision is received by the clerk for filing. Service of the hearing officer's written order and decision on the appellant shall be by certified mail, postage prepaid, return receipt requested. Service of the hearing officer's written order and decision on the compliance specialist shall be by email or regular mail.

K. Fines shall not accrue during the administrative hearing appeals processes associated with the violation on which the fine is based.

L. If an administrative citation is appealed under this section, then the fines or penalties will not be collected before the hearing officer issues the written order and decision.

(Ord. 02-03 § 1 (part), 2002.)

(Ord. No. 18-10, § 1(Exh. A), 6-12-2018)

Nothing in this chapter shall prevent the county from initiating a civil or criminal proceeding or pursuing any other legal or equitable remedy as an alternative or in addition to the proceedings set forth in this chapter.

(Ord. 02-03 § 1, 2002.)

When and if the county obtains a judgment for fines from the person who caused the violation and/or the property owner, it may collect on the judgment through any lawful means, including but not limited to recordation of a judgment lien in accordance with applicable legal requirements.

(Ord. 02-03 § 1 (part), 2002.)

All money collected under this chapter shall be held in a special account, which shall be called the Community Maintenance and Beautification Fund. All money in this fund shall be used for community-benefit programs by the community development department, and shall be managed by the community development director.

(Ord. 02-03 § 1 (part), 2002.)