Richmond Municipal Code Ch. 9.50 Weed and Rubbish Abatement

This chapter shall be known as the "Weed and Rubbish Abatement Code," may be cited as such, and will be referred to herein as "this chapter."

(a) It is the intent of the Council of the City of Richmond in adopting this chapter to provide a comprehensive method for the identification and abatement of property within the City of Richmond on which there is an accumulation of weeds and rubbish.

(b) Provisions of this chapter are to be supplementary and complementary to all of the provisions of the Richmond Municipal Code, state law, and any law cognizable at common law or in equity, and nothing herein shall be read, interpreted or construed in any manner so as to limit any existing right or power of the City of Richmond to abate any and all nuisances.

The provisions of this chapter shall apply generally to all property throughout the City of Richmond wherein any of the conditions, hereinafter specified, are found to exist.

The definitions set forth in Section 9.20.010 of this Code shall be applicable to the provisions contained in this chapter. In addition, the following words shall have the following specified meanings:

(a) "Board of Appeals" means the body defined and created by Section 6.02.130 of this Code.

(b) "Director of Public Works" means the Director of the Public Works Department of the City of Richmond and any authorized representative thereof.

(c) Owner. In addition to the definition set forth in Section 9.20.010 of this Code, the term "owner" also means the occupant, lessee or interested holder in real property, as the case may be.

(d) "Property" means premises, as defined by Section 9.20.010 of this Code. This term shall also include any portion of any public street or right-of-way which the owner of adjoining property has the responsibility to maintain.

(e) "Rubbish" means any cast-off, damaged, discarded, junked, obsolete, salvage, scrapped, unusable, worn out or wrecked object, thing or material composed in whole or in part of asphalt, brick, carbon, cement, plastic or other synthetic substance, fiber, glass, metal, paper, plaster, plaster of Paris, rubber, terra cotta, wool, cotton, cloth, canvas, organic matter or other substance, having no substantial market value or requiring reconditioning in order to be used for its original purpose. The term rubbish shall also include "solid wastes" as defined in Section 9.20.010 of this Code.

(f) "Weed" means any plant, or any part of a plant, including but not limited to seeds, seedlings, roots, branches, trunk, root crown suckers, or rhizomas suckers, that is out of place and is therefore a pest causing a fire hazard, traffic hazard, visual blight, ecological detriment or other risk to the public interest. A weed can be annual, biennial or perennial in reproductive habit and take the form of, but not be limited to, a tree, bush, ground cover, forb, grass, vine, bulb or aquatic species. All weeds that are listed as noxious or quarantined by the Federal and State governments or which are invasive exotic species are included. Periodically, the Contra Costa Agricultural Commissioner or the City of Richmond Pest Control Advisor, licenses in category "E," can deem a plant species a weed to address a localized pest problem.

(g) "Invasive Exotic Species" means invasive and aggressive non-native plants which tend to spread into the surrounding ecosystems and displace native plants because they are more aggressive in their growth habits, or because they put out more seed that lasts longer in the soil, or because there is nothing to eat them, compete with them, or disease them in the California ecosystem.

Invasive exotic species that may be found in Richmond include, but are not limited to, the following:

(Amended by Ordinance No. 32-97 N.S.)

The Director of Public Works is authorized and directed to use the provisions of this chapter for the purpose of abating those conditions defined by this chapter as a public nuisance.

To the extent authorized by law, whenever necessary to enforce any provisions of this chapter or whenever the Director of Public Works has reasonable cause to believe that there exists on any premises any condition which is in violation of this chapter, said Director may enter on such premises at reasonable times to make inspections or to take any other action authorized herein to enforce the provisions of this chapter.

(a) Every owner of real property within the City is required to maintain such property in a manner so as not to violate the provisions of this chapter and such owner remains liable for violations thereof regardless of any contract or agreement with any third party regarding such property.

(b) Every occupant, lessee or holder of any interest in property, other than as owner thereof, is required to maintain such property in the same manner as is required of the owner thereof, and the duty imposed by this section on the owner thereof shall in no instance relieve those persons herein referred to from the similar duty.

(c) Any person who owns, leases, controls, operates, or maintains any property in a very high fire hazard severity zone as established by Section 8.16.080 of this Municipal Code shall maintain such property in conformance with the vegetation maintenance standards established by the City Council through the resolution authorized by Section 8.16.080(b).

(Amended by Ordinance No. 24-98 N.S.)

(a) In addition to all other remedies and penalties available under this chapter, under other sections of this Code, or under other laws, any person, firm, or corporation, whether owner, trustee, tenant, lessee, sublessor, sublessee licensee, beneficiary, or occupant of any premises who violates the provisions of this Code shall be guilty of an infraction for each day such violation continues and shall be subject to the penalties set forth in Section 1.04.100 of this Code, except that a violation may be charged as a misdemeanor subject to the conditions and requirements of Section 1.04.140 of this Code.

(b) In addition to all other remedies and penalties available under this chapter, under other sections of this Code, or under other laws, any violation of this chapter may be enforced by injunction issued by the Superior Court upon a suit brought by the City. In any such action, civil penalties may also be sought by the City, as specified in Section 1.04.150 of this Code.

(c) The procedures provided in this chapter are in addition to all other remedies and cost recovery options available to the City by law or in equity, including, but not limited to, those provided in Chapter 1.14 of this Code.

(Ord. No. 26-20 N.S., § X, 11-10-2020)

It is declared unlawful and a public nuisance for any person owning, leasing, occupying or having charge or possession of any premises in this City to maintain such premises or to permit such premises to be maintained in such a manner that any one or more of the conditions or activities described in the following subsections are found to exist:

(a) The keeping, storage, depositing, or accumulation on the premises of rubbish which poses a risk of harm to the public or constitutes visual blight or reduces the aesthetic appearance of the neighborhood or is offensive to the senses or is detrimental to the use and enjoyment of nearby properties or reduces nearby property values;

(b) Property on which weeds exist outside of a managed landscape or garden area where such plants are purposefully cultivated, propagated, and controlled; or where weeds or other vegetation pose a risk of harm to the public, or constitute visual blight, or reduce the aesthetic appearance of the neighborhood, or are offensive to the sense, or are detrimental to the use and enjoyment of nearby properties, or which reduce nearby property values.

(Amended by Ordinance No. 32-97 N.S.)

(a) Authority. Whenever the Director of Public Works has inspected or caused to be inspected any premises and has found and determined that such premises are in violation of this chapter, the Director shall commence proceedings to cause abatement of the nuisance as provided herein.

(b) Notice of Violation. Upon determining that premises located in the City of Richmond are in violation of this chapter, the Director of Public Works shall issue a notice directed to the record owner and to any occupants, as appropriate, of the premises. The notice shall contain:

(1) The street address and such other description as is required to identify the premises;

(2) A statement which specifies the conditions which constitute the nuisance and which also may specify the measures necessary to abate the nuisance;

(3) An order that the nuisance be abated within a specified time period;

(4) A statement that, if the conditions which constitute the nuisance are not abated by the owner within the time specified, the City shall have the right to abate such conditions with the cost thereof to be assesses against the owner or the property; and

(5) A statement that the owner (or any occupant to whom the notice has been directed) has the right to request a hearing before the Board of Appeals, and that such request must be made in writing and must be made within the time period within which the owner has been ordered to abate the nuisance.

(c) Service of Notice. The written notice shall be served upon any occupant to whom it has been directed and upon the record owner of the property upon which the nuisance exists at least five days before the abatement deadline date specified in said notice. The written notice shall be served either by personal delivery upon the record owner or by mailing a copy to the record owner by first class mail at the owner's last known address as it appears on the latest equalized assessment roll of Contra Costa County. Service on any occupant to whom the notice has been directed shall be made by personal delivery to said occupant or by mailing a copy to the occupant by first class mail at the address of the subject property or to another address known to be the occupant's home, business or mailing address.

(d) Duty to Abate—Request for Hearing. After the written notice has been served, it shall be the duty of the owner (or any occupant to whom the notice has been directed) to abate such nuisance within the time specified by the notice. However, within the time specified in the notice to abate the nuisance, the owner (or occupant) may request a hearing before the Board of Appeals. Such request must be made in writing, must be served on the Board of Appeals by delivering the request to the City Public Works Department, and must set forth the reasons why the abatement is not necessary.

(e) Hearing—Decision. On receipt of a timely written request for hearing, the Board of Appeals shall set a date for and on that date shall conduct a hearing on the proposed abatement. Written notice of the hearing shall be provided by mailing said notice by first class mail at least 7 days before the hearing. At the hearing the Board of Appeals shall redetermine whether or not a nuisance exists and whether or not the owner (or occupant to whom the notice has been directed) should abate the nuisance. If the Board of Appeals finds, based on a preponderance of the evidence, that the nuisance continues to exist, the Board of Appeals shall issue a written decision informing the owner (or occupant) of that finding and specifying the time within which the abatement shall be completed. The decision of the Board of Appeals shall be the final and conclusive administrative decision by the City.

(f) Service of Notice of Hearing and Hearing Decision. The notice of hearing and the hearing decision shall be served on the record owner and on any occupant to whom the notice of violation has been directed in the same manner as set forth in subsection (c) of this section.

(a) In the event the nuisance is not abated within the time specified in the notice, of if a hearing is held, within the time specified in the hearing decision, the City may take all necessary action to abate such nuisance, and the owner of such property and/or any other person whose duty is was to abolish or abate such nuisance, in addition to incurring penalties as provided herein, shall become personally indebted to the City of Richmond for the damages, costs and charges, including reasonable administrative costs of abatement and enforcement, incurred by the City by reason of the existence of said nuisance or the abatement of the nuisance. These damages, costs and charges may alternatively be assessed as a lien against the property on which the nuisance existed.

(b) The Director of Public Works shall keep an itemized account of the expense incurred by the City in abating violations under this chapter. After the completion of the work of abatement, the Director shall cause an itemized bill of the expenses to be mailed to the owner.

(c) On a periodic basis as determined by the Director of Public Works, said Director shall prepare and file with the City Clerk a report and assessment list which identifies all real property at which abatement work was done by the City pursuant to this chapter and for which the owner has not fully reimbursed the City within 30 days of the date of billing. The report and assessment list shall provide a description of the real property at which the work was performed, the expenses incurred by the City and the names and addresses of the persons entitled to notice, as identified in Section 9.50.100(c) of this chapter.

(d) Upon receipt of the report, the City Clerk shall post a notice of filing of the report in a conspicuous place in City Hall, with said notice specifying the filing date of the report and assessment list and the time and place when and where the report and assessment list will be submitted to the City Council for hearing and confirmation. The City Clerk shall also mail by first class mail a notice to each property owner identified in the report and assessment, at the address specified in Section 9.50.100(c) of this chapter. Said notice shall provide a description of the real property at which the work was performed, the nature of the work performed, and the expenses incurred by the City in performing the work and shall notify the owner that said costs shall be assessed against the owner or the property unless objection is made by the owner in writing and submitted to the City Clerk at least two days before the hearing. Said notice shall also specify the time and place when and where the proposed assessment will be presented to the City Council for hearing and confirmation. The notice shall be mailed at least 10 days prior to the date of said hearing.

(e) Any owner who objects to the proposed assessment and who desires to challenge the proposed assessment at the City Council hearing must submit any and all objections in writing to the City Clerk at least two days prior to the date of hearing. The failure of any owner to submit objections to the City Clerk shall constitute a waiver of any such objections.

(f) At the time and place fixed for hearing and confirming the proposed assessments, the City Council shall hear the same. At such hearing, only those persons who have submitted written objections to the City Clerk will be heard by the Council. At said hearing, the City Council may correct, modify or eliminate any proposed assessment which it may deem excessive or otherwise incorrect. Thereafter, by vote and resolution, the Council shall confirm each assessment and the amount thereof, as proposed or as corrected and modified, and order that an assessment be made a personal obligation of the owner or, alternatively, assess it against the property. If the Council orders that an assessment be charged as a personal obligation of the property owner, it shall direct appropriate City personnel to collect same by use of all appropriate legal remedies. If the Council orders that an assessment be assessed against the property, it shall also direct that the same be recorded on the tax assessment roll and thereafter said assessment shall constitute a special assessment and lien against the property. The special assessment and lien shall be subject to the same penalties as are provided for other delinquent taxes or assessments of the City.

(a) If, in the opinion of the Director of Public Works there exists a condition on any premises which is of such a nature as to be immediately dangerous to the public health, safety or welfare, which, if not abated, would, during the pendency of the abatement procedures set forth in this chapter, subject the public to potential harm of a serious nature, the same may be abated by the City forthwith without compliance with the provisions of this chapter.

(b) No summary abatement shall be undertaken unless it shall first be approved by the City Attorney or his authorized representative.

(c) The cost of summary abatement including all administrative costs of any action taken hereunder may be assessed against the subject premises as a lien or made a personal obligation of the owner as provided in Section 9.50.110 of this chapter.

(Source: Ordinance No. 10-94 N.S.)