Salinas Municipal Code Div. 18 Enforcement and Penalties

All persons empowered by this Zoning Code to grant permits, licenses, certificates, or other approvals shall comply with the regulations of this Zoning Code and grant no permit, license, certificate, or approval in conflict with such regulations. Any permit, license, certificate, or approval granted in conflict with any provision of this Zoning Code shall be null and void.

(Ord. No. 2463 (NCS).)

(a) Duties of the City Planner. Upon determination by the city planner that there are reasonable grounds for revocation of a conditional use permit, variance, planned unit development permit, administrative permit, or site plan review authorized by this Zoning Code, a revocation hearing shall be scheduled for consideration before the planning commission or the city council, whichever originally took final action on the permit. If the city planner approved the permit, then the hearing shall be scheduled before the planning commission. For purposes of this division, the term "permit" shall include the development review application approvals noted above.

(b) Notice and Public Hearing. Notice of the revocation hearing for a permit shall be given to the property owners, tenants, lessees, and mortgagees in the subject property as shown in a preliminary title report, any person who has filed a written request for such notice, and any other person required to receive notice in accordance with Division 7: Public Hearing Notice of this article. The notice shall be provided in accordance with Division 7: Public Hearing Notice of this article.

(c) Hearing. The body conducting the hearing shall hear testimony from the owner or authorized agent of the use or structure for which the permit was granted, if present. At a public hearing, the testimony of any other interested person shall also be heard.

(d) Required Findings. A permit may be revoked or modified if any one of the following findings can be made:

(1) That the permit was obtained by misrepresentation or fraud;

(2) That the terms or conditions of approval of the permit have not been met;

(3) That the improvement, use, or activity authorized by the permit is in violation of any statue, ordinance, law, or regulation or constitutes a nuisance;

(4) That the owner or occupant of the property is conducting the use or any associated or other use of the property in violation of any statue, ordinance, law, or regulation or in a manner that constitutes a nuisance; or

(5) That there has been a discontinuance of the exercise of the entitlement granted by the permit for a period of one hundred eighty days or longer.

(e) Decision and Notice. After the conclusion of the hearing, the body that conducted the hearing shall announce a decision, and shall mail notice of the decision to the property owners, tenants, lessees, and mortgagees in the subject property as shown in a preliminary title report, and to any person who has filed a written request for such notice. The city planner shall file a notice of the revocation decision for recordation with the Monterey County recorder's office.

(f) Effective Date—Appeals. A decision to amend or revoke a discretionary permit shall become final ten days after the date of the decision is announced, unless appealed in accordance with Division 17: Appeals of this article.

(g) Cumulative Rights. The city's right to amend or revoke a discretionary permit, as provided in this section, shall be cumulative to any other remedy allowed by law.

(Ord. No. 2463 (NCS).)

The city planner has the authority to administratively rescind without public notice or public hearing, a conditional use permit, variance, administrative permit, or site plan review authorized by this Zoning Code where the use or activity has been discontinued and where all property owners, tenants, lessees, and mortgagees of the subject property as indicated in a preliminary title report, request rescission of the permit approval. The city planner additionally has the authority to administratively rescind, without public notice or public hearing, a planned unit development permit where all property owners, tenants, lessees, and mortgagees of the subject property, as indicated in a preliminary title report, request rescission of the permit approval, and where the city planner determines that the planned unit development meets the requirements of Section 37-60.1050(d): Rescission. The city planner shall file a notice of the permit rescission for recordation with the Monterey County recorder's office.

(Ord. No. 2463 (NCS).)

A nonconforming use or structure shall be terminated in accordance with the requirements of Section 37-50.160: Nonconforming uses and structures.

(Ord. No. 2463 (NCS).)

(a) The city attorney shall be authorized to enforce the provisions of the Zoning Code and all related agreements, covenants, resale restrictions, promissory notes, deeds of trust, and other requirements placed on project approvals by civil action and any other proceeding or method permitted by law. The city may, at its discretion, take such enforcement action as is authorized under the Salinas Municipal Code and/or any other action authorized by law or by any regulatory document, restriction, or agreement executed under this Zoning Code.

(b) Failure of any official or agency to fulfill the requirements of this Zoning Code shall not excuse any applicant or owner from the requirements of this Zoning Code.

(c) No permit, license, map, or approval or entitlement shall be issued, including without limitation a final inspection of occupancy, until all applicable requirements of the article have been satisfied.

(Ord. No. 2463 (NCS).)

Any building or structure set up, erected, constructed, altered, enlarged, converted, moved, or maintained contrary to the provisions of this Zoning Code, and any use of any land, building or premises established, conducted, operated, or maintained contrary to the provisions of this Zoning Code, shall be declared to be unlawful and a public nuisance. The city attorney shall, upon order of the Salinas city council, immediately commence action or proceedings for the abatement, removal, and enjoinment thereof in the manner provided by law, and shall take such other steps and shall apply to such courts as may have jurisdiction to grant such relief as will abate and remove such building or structure, and restrain and enjoin any person, firm, or corporation from setting up, erecting, building, maintaining, or using any such building, structure, or property contrary to the provisions of this chapter. The remedies provided for in this division shall be cumulative and not exclusive.

(Ord. No. 2463 (NCS).)

Except as otherwise provided, any person, firm, or corporation, whether as principal, agent, employee, or otherwise, violating, causing or maintaining the violation of any of the provisions of this chapter shall be guilty of a misdemeanor or an infraction, as charged. Each person convicted may be deemed guilty of a separate offense for every day during any portion of which any violation of this Zoning Code is committed or permitted. The remedies provided herein shall be cumulative and not exclusive and shall not preclude the city from any other remedy or relief to which it otherwise would be entitled under law or equity including administrative remedies available under the Salinas Municipal Code.

(Ord. No. 2463 (NCS).)

Any violation of this Zoning Code or condition of any permit, certification, license, agreement, or other entitlement granted in accordance with this Zoning Code, may be redressed in accordance with Section 1.8.1: Civil action enforcement and Section 1.8.2: Liability for costs of the Salinas Municipal Code.

(Ord. No. 2463 (NCS).)

The applicant(s) for any permit included in this Zoning Code shall defend, indemnify, and hold harmless the city or any of its boards, commissions, agents, officers, and employees from any claim, action, or proceeding against the city, its boards, commissions, agents, officers, or employees to attack, set aside, void, or annul, the approval of any use, permit, or entitlement provided for in this chapter. The city shall promptly notify the applicant(s) of any such claim, action, or proceeding. The city shall cooperate in the defense. Nothing contained in this section shall prohibit the city from participating in a defense of any claim, action, or proceeding if the city bears its own attorney's fees and costs, and the city defends the action in good faith.

(Ord. No. 2463 (NCS).)