Morgan Hill Municipal Code Ch. 8.20 Weed Abatement

Footnotes:

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Editor's note— Ord. No. 2268 N.S., § 3, adopted Feb. 21, 2018, amended Ch. 8.20 in its entirety to read as herein set out. Former Ch. 8.20, §§ 8.20.010—8.20.120, pertained to similar subject matter and derived from Ord. No. 2178 N.S., § 1, adopted Nov. 18, 2015.

"Weeds," as used in this chapter, means all weeds growing upon streets, alleys, sidewalks or private property in the city and includes any of the following:

A. Weeds which bear or may bear seeds of a downy or wingy nature;

B. Weeds and indigenous grasses which may attain such large growth as to become, when dry, a fire menace to adjacent improved property;

C. Weeds which are otherwise noxious or dangerous;

D. Poison oak and poison ivy when the conditions of growth are such as to constitute a menace to the public health;

E. Accumulation of garden refuse, cuttings and other combustible trash.

(Ord. No. 2268 N.S., § 3, 2-21-2018)

Every property owner shall remove or destroy such weeds from his/her property, and in the abutting half of any street or alley between the lot lines as extended. No owner, agent, lessee or other person occupying or having charge or control of any building, lot or premises within the city shall permit weeds to remain upon the premises, or public sidewalks or streets or alleys between such premises and the centerline of any public street or alley.

(Ord. No. 2268 N.S., § 3, 2-21-2018)

Whenever any such weeds are growing upon any private property or properties or in any street or alley within the city, the city council shall pass a resolution listing those properties with weeds thereon, and the owners thereof, declaring this condition to be a nuisance and ordering the chief of the fire department or designee, who may be a contracted program administrator, to give notice of the passage of such resolution by posting and publication in the manner and for the time set forth in this chapter, and stating therein that, unless such nuisance is abated without delay by the destruction or removal of such weeds, the work of abating such nuisance will be done by city authorities or by a contractor or subcontractor employed to do so by the city; and the expense thereof assessed upon the lots and lands from which, and/or in the front and rear of which, such weeds shall have been destroyed or removed. Such resolution shall fix the time and place for hearing any objections to the proposed destruction or removal of such weeds.

(Ord. No. 2268 N.S., § 3, 2-21-2018)

The notice shall be in substantially the following form:

Notice to Destroy Weeds

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that on ___, pursuant to the provisions of Section 8.20.030 of the Morgan Hill Municipal Code ("MHMC"), the City Council of the City of Morgan Hill ("City") passed a resolution declaring that all weeds growing upon any private property or in any public street or alley, as defined in MHMC Section 8.20.010, constitutes a public nuisance, which nuisance must be abated by the destruction or removal thereof.

NOTICE IS FURTHER GIVEN that property owners shall, without delay, remove all such weeds from their property, and the abutting half of the street in front and alleys, if any, behind such property, and between the lot lines thereof as extended, or such weeds will be destroyed or removed and such nuisance abated by City authorities or the City's contracted administrator, in which case the cost of such destruction or removal will be assessed upon the lots and lands from which, or from the front or rear of which, such weeds shall have been destroyed or removed; and such cost will constitute a lien upon such lots or lands until paid, and will be collected upon the next tax roll upon which general municipal taxes are collected. All property owners having any objections to the proposed destruction or removal of such weeds are hereby notified to attend a meeting of the City Council of the City, to be held in the Council Chambers located at 17555 Peak Avenue, Morgan Hill on ___, at ___ A./P.M., when and where their objections will be heard and given due consideration.

Dated this ___ day of ___, 20___.

_______ Chief of Fire Department City of Morgan Hill

(Ord. No. 2268 N.S., § 3, 2-21-2018)

The council shall by resolution order the chief of the fire department or designee to abate such nuisance, or cause the same to be abated, by having the weeds referred to, destroyed or removed by cutting, digging, chemical spraying or any other method as may be determined by the chief of the fire department or designee. The chief of the fire department and his/her deputies, assistants, employees, contracting agents, or other representatives are expressly authorized to enter upon private property for that purpose. Any property owner shall have the right to destroy or remove such weeds himself/herself or have the same destroyed or removed at his/her own expense; provided, that such weeds shall have been removed prior to the arrival of the chief of the fire department or his/her authorized representatives to inspect for or remove them.

(Ord. No. 2268 N.S., § 3, 2-21-2018)

The chief of the fire department or his/her designee shall keep an account of the cost of abating such nuisance and embody such account in a report and assessment list to the city. Such report shall refer to each separate lot or parcel of land by description sufficient to identify such lot or parcel, together with the expense proposed to be assessed against each separate lot or parcel of land. The expense shall include any additional charges necessary to pay for the costs of administering the program.

(Ord. No. 2268 N.S., § 3, 2-21-2018)

The city clerk shall post copies of such report and assessment list on the bulletin board located at the Council Chamber at 17555 Peak Avenue, Morgan Hill, together with the notice of the posting thereof, and of the time and place when and where it will be submitted to the administrative hearing officer for hearing and confirmation, notifying property owners that they may appear at such time and place and object to any matter contained therein. A like notice shall also be published twice in a newspaper of general circulation, published, and circulated within the city. The posting and first publication of such notice shall be made and completed at least ten days before the time such report shall have been submitted to the administrative hearing officer. The notice, as so posted and published, shall be substantially in the following form:

Notice of Hearing on Report and Assessment for Weed Abatement

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that on ___, the chief of the fire department of the City of Morgan Hill ("City"), filed with the City a report and assessment on abatement of hazardous vegetation within the City, copies of which are posted on the bulletin board in the front office of the Council Chambers at 17555 Peak Avenue, Morgan Hill, California.

NOTICE IS FURTHER GIVEN that on ___, at the hour of ___ A./P.M., in the ___ located at ___ said report and assessment list shall be presented to the Administrative Hearing Officer for consideration and confirmation, and that any and all persons interested, having any objections to said report and assessment list, or to any matter or thing contained herein, may appear at said time and place and be heard.

Dated this ___ day of ___, 20___.

_______ City Clerk City of Morgan Hill

(Ord. No. 2268 N.S., § 3, 2-21-2018)

A. In addition to the posting and publication required by Section 8.20.070 of this chapter, an additional notice entitled "Notice to Destroy Weeds" in words not less than one inch in height shall be conspicuously posted in front of the property on which or in front of which the nuisance exists, or if the property has no frontage upon any street or highway, then upon the portion of the property nearest to the street or public right-of-way, and most likely to give actual notice to the owner. Beneath the words "Notice to Destroy Weeds" shall be a reference in smaller print to the resolution passed pursuant to Section 8.20.030 of this chapter.

B. As an alternate to actual posting of the property as set forth in subsection A of this section, the chief of the fire department or designee may mail by first-class mail, a copy of the notice provided for in Section 8.20.070 of this chapter, to the property owner on whose property the nuisance exists. "Property owner" means the person or persons to whom the land in question is assessed in the last equalized county assessment roll available on the date of the resolution of the city council was passed pursuant to Section 8.20.030 of this chapter. The posting or mailing shall be done ten days before the hearing date before the city council. Service by mail shall be deemed complete at the time of deposit in the U.S. mail.

C. In circumstances where no valid mailing address can be located, a copy of the notice provided for in Section 8.20.070 of this chapter shall be posted on the property in a conspicuous place at or near the entrance to such property. In addition, the " the notice provided for in Section 8.20.070 of this chapter shall be mailed by certified mail with return receipt requested to the last known address of the owner and current occupant of the property (if such can be ascertained).

D. The failure of the property owner to receive such notice shall not affect the validity of the proceedings under this chapter.

(Ord. No. 2268 N.S., § 3, 2-21-2018)

A. The owner, agent, lessee or other person occupying or having charge or control of any building, lot or premises within the city who permits weeds to remain on the premises in violation of Section 8.20.020 of this chapter, shall give written notice to the fire chief or his/her identified designee of any improvements which have been placed on the premises. The notice shall include all subsurface improvements, together with all surface improvements for which a building permit has not been issued, including, but not necessarily limited to, boundary and survey markers, pipes and accessories, crops, and plantings.

B. The notice of improvement shall be submitted each year not later than thirty days subsequent to the time set forth the hearing, pursuant to Section 8.20.040 of this chapter, by the owner, agent, lessee or other person occupying or having charge or control of any building, lot or premises.

C. The failure to give such notice shall constitute a waiver of any right for damages resulting from injury to such improvements resulting from the acts of the city and its authorized representative who enters upon such property to remove or destroy weeds. This section shall not be construed to subject the city or its representatives to any liability where none should exist, in the absence of these provisions.

(Ord. No. 2268 N.S., § 3, 2-21-2018)

A. At the time and place fixed for receiving and considering such report, the administrative hearing officer shall hear the same together with any objections which may be raised by any of the property owners liable to be assessed for the work of abating such nuisance, and the chief of fire department or his/her designee shall attend such meeting with his/her record thereof, and upon such hearing, the administrative hearing officer may make such modifications in the proposed assessment therefor as he/she may deem necessary, after which such report and assessment list shall be confirmed

B. The amount of the cost of abating such nuisance upon, or in the front or rear of, the various lots or parcels of land respectively referred to in such report, shall constitute special assessments against such respective lots or parcels of land, and after thus made and confirmed, shall constitute a lien on such property for the amount of such assessments, until paid.

(Ord. No. 2268 N.S., § 3, 2-21-2018)

A. The director of finance or designee shall cause the amount of the assessment to be entered on the city assessment roll opposite the description of the particular property, and the amount shall be collected together with all other taxes thereon upon the property. Thereafter, such amounts shall be collected at the same time and in the same manner as general city taxes are collected and shall be subject to the same penalties and interest, and the same procedure and sale in case of delinquency as provide for city taxes. All laws and ordinances applicable to the levy, collection, and enforcement of city taxes are made applicable to such special assessment.

B. The property owner has the option, if he/she so desires of paying the assessment directly to the collector's office before the entry on the assessment roll.

(Ord. No. 2268 N.S., § 3, 2-21-2018)

Upon passage of the resolution by city council under Section 8.20.030 of this chapter, the property owner shall be placed into the city's weed abatement program. Once in the weed abatement program, a property owner is only removed from the program once one of the following conditions occurs: 1) the property is determined, during an inspection, to be free of weeds as defined in this chapter for three consecutive years, 2) the property is developed or landscaped to remove the threat of weeds as defined by this chapter, or 3) the city council determines, at a public hearing confirming the properties to be included in the program as held in conformance with Section 8.20.070, that the property owner should be removed from the program.

(Ord. No. 2268 N.S., § 3, 2-21-2018)