Pacifica Municipal Code Ch. 9 Litter

This chapter shall be known as the "Littering Regulations" of the City.

(§ 1, Ord. 247)

For the purposes of this chapter, unless otherwise apparent from the context, certain words and phrases used in this chapter are defined as follows:

(a) "Garbage" shall mean all animal and vegetable wastes from kitchens, all household wastes which have been prepared for, or intended to be used as, food or which have resulted from the preparation of food, every accumulation of animal and vegetable waste from establishments where foodstuffs intended for human consumption are handled commercially, and bottles, tin cans, and any other food containers.

(b) "Litter" shall mean garbage and rubbish, as defined in this section, and all other materials which, if thrown, deposited, or allowed to accumulate, as prohibited by the provisions of this chapter, tend to create a danger to the public health, safety, and welfare and which materials are not within a receptacle provided therefor.

(c) "Private premises" shall mean any private property, together with any structures thereon, whether inhabited or temporarily or continuously uninhabited or vacant, including the yards, grounds, walks, driveways, porches, steps, vestibules, or entryways thereof, and any off-street parking area.

(d) "Public place" shall mean any and all public streets, sidewalks, gutters, boulevards, alleys, or other public rights-of-way and any and all public buildings, parks, squares, grounds, and publicly-owned off-street parking areas.

(e) "Rubbish" shall mean pasteboard boxes, rags, paper, straw, sawdust, packing materials, shavings, boxes, trimmings from lawns, trees, and flower gardens, crockery, bottles, metal vessels, ashes, shells, plaster, and all other similar combustible and noncombustible materials.

(§ 2, Ord. 247)

No person shall throw, deposit, or accumulate litter in or upon any public place or private premises within the City except while such person is temporarily engaged in clearing such public place or private premises of litter or improving such public place or private premises. No person shall throw or deposit, or cause to be thrown or deposited, into any channel or bed or bank of San Pedro Creek, Calera Creek, Milagra Creek, Big Inch Creek, or Crespi Channel within the City any substance, rubbish, article, or thing.

(§ 3, Ord. 247, as amended by § 2, Ord. 352-C.S., eff. November 24, 1982)

Persons placing litter in authorized public or private receptacles shall do so in such a manner as to prevent such litter from being carried or deposited by the elements upon any public place or private premises.

(§ 4, Ord. 247)

Any person owning or occupying private premises within the City shall keep the public place abutting or adjacent to such premises free of litter except while such person is temporarily engaged in clearing such public place and adjacent private premises of litter or improving such public place or private premises. No person owning, occupying, or controlling private premises shall sweep into or deposit in any public place within the City the accumulation of litter from any private premises or public place.

(§ 5, Ord. 247)

The City Manager or his designee is hereby authorized and empowered to notify the owner or his agent or the person in control of any private premises within the City to dispose of litter on the private premises or upon the public places abutting or adjacent to such premises. Such notice shall be given by posting the private premises and by certified mail, addressed to the owner or his agent or such other person at his last known address, or by personal service on the owner or agent or the person in control or occupying such property.

(§ 6 (a), Ord. 247, as amended by § IV, Ord. 292-C.S., eff. March 11, 1981)

The notice provided for in Section 5-9.06 of this chapter shall describe the work to be done and shall state that if the work is not commenced within fifteen (15) days after the receipt of such notice and diligently prosecuted to completion without interruption, the City Manager or his designee shall dispose of the litter, and the cost thereof shall be a lien on the property. The notice shall be substantially in the following form:

NOTICE TO REMOVE LITTER

The owner of the property described as _______, commonly known as _______ is hereby ordered to properly dispose of the litter located on said property, to wit, _______ within fifteen (15) days from the date hereof. If the disposal of the litter herein indicated is not commenced and diligently prosecuted to completion within the time fixed herein, the City Manager of the City of Pacifica or his designee shall cause such disposal to be done, and the cost thereof, including any incidental expenses, will be made a lien upon said property pursuant to the provisions of Chapter 9 of Title 5 of the Pacifica Municipal Code.

Estimated cost of disposal: $_______

Dated:_______

___________

City Manager of the City of Pacifica

(§ 6 (b), Ord. 247, as amended by §§ III and IV, Ord. 292-C.S., eff. March 11, 1981)

The City Manager or his designee shall cause to be kept in his office a permanent record containing the following information:

(a) A description of each parcel of property for which a notice to dispose of litter has been given;

(b) The name of the owner, if known;

(c) The date on which such notice was mailed and posted;

(d) The charges incurred by the City in disposing of the litter and all incidental expenses in connection therewith; and

(e) A brief summary of the work performed.

Each such entry shall be made as soon as practicable after the completion of such act.

(§ 6 (c), Ord. 247, as amended by § IV, Ord. 292-C.S., eff. March 11, 1981)

(a) The owner or appointed agent of any private property who has been notified by the City to remove and properly dispose of such material may petition the Council for a hearing. The petition shall be in writing, shall be signed by the owner or appointed agent, and shall set forth in detail the facts and reasons upon which the petition is based. The petition shall be filed with the City Clerk within seven (7) days following the date of the official abatement notice set forth in Section 5-9.06 of this chapter.

(b) Upon the receipt of a petition, the City Clerk shall cause the matter to be placed on the next Council agenda for a hearing.

(c) The petitioner shall be notified in writing at least five (5) days in advance of the hearing.

(d) The Council shall hear the petition and determine whether to allow the relief being petitioned for or to deny the petition.

(e) Upon the denial of a petition by the Council, a petitioner shall have ten (10) days after the denial date to properly dispose of the litter, or the City shall commence to remove the litter and charge the property owner with the costs thereof as provided in this chapter.

(§ I, Ord. 292-C.S., eff. March 11, 1981, as amended by § 6, Ord. 444-85 eff. June 12, 1985)

* Section 5-9.09A, as added by Ordinance No. 292-C.S., effective March 11, 1981, renumbered to Section 5-9.08.1 by codifier to conform with the numbering system of the Code.

Upon the failure, neglect, or refusal of any owner or agent to properly dispose of litter within fifteen (15) days after the notice has been given as provided in this chapter, or within twenty (20) days after the date of mailing such notice in the event the Post Office Department is unable to make delivery thereof, provided the notice was properly addressed to the last known address of such owner or agent, the City Manager or his designee is hereby authorized and empowered to pay for the disposal of such litter out of City funds or to order its disposal by City forces. The City Manager or his designee, including any contractor with whom he contracts, and the assistants, employees, or agents of such contractor, are hereby authorized to enter upon the property for the purpose of disposing of the litter described in the notice. Before the City Manager or his designee or the contractor arrives, any property owner may dispose of the litter at his own expense.

(§ 6 (d), Ord. 247, as amended by §§ II and IV, Ord. 292-C.S., eff. March 11, 1981)

When the City has effected the removal of litter or has paid for such removal, as set forth in Section 5-9.09 of this chapter, the actual cost thereof, plus accrued interest at the rate of seven (7%) percent per annum from the date of the completion of the work, shall be charged to the owner of such property, and the owner or his agent shall be billed therefor by mail if not paid prior thereto. The bill shall apprise the owner that failure to pay the bill shall result in a lien.

(§ 6 (e), Ord. 247)

When the full amount due the City for the removal of litter is not paid by the owner within thirty (30) days after the date of the billing for such removal, the City Manager or his designee shall cause to be recorded with the City Clerk a sworn or certified statement showing the costs of expenses incurred for the work, the date the work was done, and the location of the property on which such litter disposal work was done. The recordation of such sworn or certified statement shall constitute a lien on the property and shall remain in full force and effect for the amount due in principal and interest, plus court costs, if any, for collection until final payment has been made. Such costs and expenses shall be subject to a delinquency penalty of ten (10%) percent in the event the charges are not paid in full on or before the date the amount due becomes a lien. Sworn or certified statements recorded in accordance with the provisions of this section shall be prima facie evidence that all legal formalities have been complied with and that the work has been done properly and satisfactorily, and such recorded statements shall be full notice to every person concerned that the amount of the statement, plus interest and costs, constitutes a charge against the property designated or described in the statement and that the same is due and collectible as provided by law. The City Clerk shall record the lien with the County Recorder. The remedy provided in this section shall not constitute an election of remedies by the City.

(§ 6 (f), Ord. 247, as amended by § IV, Ord. 292-C.S., eff. March 11, 1981)