San Clemente Municipal Code Ch. 8.76 Weeds and Refuse on Sidewalks and Private Premises

As used in this chapter, the term "sidewalk" shall mean that strip of property lying in front of and between the curb line and property line of the adjoining or abutting lot, piece or parcel of land within the City and bounded on the sides by the prolongation in a straight line of the side lines of such lot, piece, or parcel of land in front of which such strip exists.

(Prior code § 22-30)

It shall be unlawful for any person to fall, refuse or neglect to keep the sidewalk in front of his or her house, place of business, whether temporary or permanent, or premises in a clean and wholesome condition.

(Prior code § 22-31)

(Ord. No. 1680, § 6, 9-18-2019)

It shall be the duty of the owner, agent of the owner, lessee, occupant, or person in possession of any lot, parcel, tract, or piece of land, improved or unimproved, in the City at once to remove from the sidewalk abutting or adjoining such lot, parcel, tract or piece of land all loose earth, mounds of soil, dry grass, weeds, dead trees, tin cans, abandoned asphalt or concrete, rubbish, refuse, and waste material of any kind or other unsanitary substance, object or condition which may endanger or injure neighboring property or the health, safety, or welfare of the residents of the vicinity of such property, lands or lots, or which may obstruct such sidewalks and thereby endanger or injure persons traveling thereon.

(Prior code § 22-32)

It shall be the duty of the owner, agent of the owner, lessee, occupant or person in possession of any lot, parcel, tract, or piece of land, improved or unimproved, in the City to keep such lot, parcel, tract or piece of land free from all earth, soil, grass, weeds, dead trees, tin cans, rubbish, refuse and waste material of all kinds, or other unsanitary substances or objects which may endanger or injure neighboring property or the health, safety, or welfare of the residents of the vicinity of such property.

(Prior code § 22-33)

Whenever the Public Works Director or Beaches, Parks and Recreation Director shall find any earth, soil, grass, weeds, dead trees, tin cans, rubbish, refuse or waste material of any kind, or other unsanitary substances or objects in or upon the sidewalk abutting or adjoining any lot, parcel, tract, or piece of land or in or upon any lot, parcel, tract, piece of land or grounds within the City which may endanger or injure neighboring property or the health, safety or welfare of the residents of the vicinity, or obstruct such sidewalks and thereby endanger or injure persons traveling thereon, he or she shall give, or cause to be given, notice to remove such waste material or other unsanitary substances or objects. Such notice shall be in writing, signed by the Public Works Director or Beaches, Parks and Recreation Director, and have substantially the following form:

NOTICE TO CLEAN PREMISES

TO THE OWNER, AGENT OF THE OWNER, LESSEE, OCCUPANT, OR PERSON IN POSSESSION OF THE PREMISES HEREINAFTER DESCRIBED:

YOUR ATTENTION IS HEREBY DIRECTED to the provisions of City Code Section (s) _______ of the City of San Clemente, California, on file in the office of the City Clerk.

Pursuant to the provisions of said ordinance, you are hereby notified to immediately remove from the property hereinafter described, all grass, weeds, dead trees, tin cans, cement, concrete, rubbish, refuse, and waste material of all kinds and all other unsanitary substances and objects which may endanger or injure neighboring property or afford a refuge for rats or vermin or otherwise endanger or injure the health, safety or welfare of the residents in the vicinity of such property and thereafter keep the said premises free therefrom.

In the event you shall fail so to do within 10 days of the date of this notice, the undersigned will cause the same to be so removed, and the charges therefore will be a lien upon said premises and upon the lot or parcel of land adjoining and abutting the sidewalk in the event the sidewalk is to be cleaned.

If you desire the City to do the work and charge you for it, disregard this notice. The charge is only for the amount of actual costs.

Before doing any of the work, it is suggested that you confer with this office in order to acquaint yourself with requirements.

The said property is situated in the City of San Clemente, California, and is described as follows:

Lot_______

Block_______

Tract_______

Dated at San Clemente, California, this _____ day of ________, ___.

___________

Director of Fire Protection of the City

of San Clemente, California

Such notice shall be given by delivering the same personally to the owner, agent of the owner, lessee, occupant or person in possession of the premises described in the notice, or by depositing the notice in the United States mail at San Clemente, California, postage prepaid, and by certified mail (return receipt requested), addressed to the owner, agent of the owner, lessee, occupant, or person in possession of the lot, piece, or parcel of land therein described, at his or her last known address, and if no address is known or made known to the Public Works Director or Beaches, Parks and Recreation Director, then to General Delivery at San Clemente, California.

(Ord. 1140 § 19, 1994; prior code § 22-34)

Within ten (10) days from the date of posting such notice, the owner, or any person interested in the property, land or lots affected by such notice, may appeal to the Council on the requirements thereof. Such appeal shall be in writing, shall state the objections of the person filing the same, shall be filed with the City Clerk and shall be by him presented to the Council at its next regular meeting. The Council shall thereupon proceed to hear and pass upon the appeal, and its decision thereupon shall be final and conclusive.

(Prior code § 22-35)

If the owner, agent of the owner, lessee, occupant or person in possession of the premises described in the notice shall fail to remove any of the waste materials or other unsanitary substances or objects from the property as described in the notice within the time therein limited, it shall be the duty of the Public Works Director or Beaches, Parks and Recreation Director to remove such waste materials or other unsanitary substances or objects therefrom. The Public Works Director or Beaches, Parks and Recreation Director shall prepare a verified statement of the expense incurred by him or her for making such removal and shall place the same on file within ten (10) days after such removal. For each piece of property therein referred to, the statement shall show the number of the lot and block and the name of the tract or subdivision in which the lot lies, or shall describe the lot or parcel of land in any other way by which it may be easily identified and the cost of so cleaning the same. More than one (1) lot may be set forth in one and the same statement.

(Ord. 1140 § 20, 1994; prior code § 22-36)

Within two (2) days after the filing of the statement by the Public Works Director or Beaches, Parks and Recreation Director in the office of the City Clerk, the City Clerk shall cause to be conspicuously posted in at least three (3) public places within the City a notice substantially in the following form:

NOTICE OF EQUALIZATION OF WEED AND CLEANING TAXES

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the City Council of the City of San Clemente, California, will, on the _____ day of ________, ___, in the Council Chamber in the City Hall, beginning at the hour of 7:00 P.M., of the said day, hear any protests or objections to weed or cleaning taxes, for the purposes of correcting, modifying or confirming same, and the failure to make any objection thereto will be deemed a waiver of the same.

A statement showing all property affected and the respective taxes or charges against the same is now on file in the office of the City Clerk at the City Hall and is open to public inspection.

Dated _____ day of ________, 19___.

___________

City Clerk

(Ord. 1140 § 21, 1994; prior code § 22-37)

The Council, sitting as a board of equalization at such hearing, which shall be held at the first regular meeting of the Council after the expiration of ten (10) days from the date of such notice, may modify or correct any weed or cleaning tax which in its opinion is excessive or otherwise incorrect. If no corrections or modifications are made, the weed and cleaning taxes shall be deemed confirmed, and the Council's decision thereon shall be conclusive, and the same shall thereupon become a lien against the property involved and against the premises or property abutting or adjoining the sidewalk, in the event the property cleaned shall have been the sidewalk, until paid. If any correction or modification in any weed or cleaning tax is made, the corrected or modified amount shall be deemed confirmed, and the Council's decision thereupon shall be conclusive, and the same shall become a lien against the property involved, and against the premises or property abutting or adjoining the sidewalk, in the event the property cleaned shall have been the sidewalk, until paid.

(Prior code § 22-38)

It shall be lawful for the owner, or other person interested in the premises on which any work has been performed under the provisions of this chapter, to pay the costs thereto to the Finance and Administrative Services Director within sixty (60) days after the filing of the statement by the Public Works Director or Beaches, Parks and Recreation Director with the City Clerk. The Finance and Administrative Services Director shall cause all money collected pursuant to this section to be paid into the City treasury without delay, and shall notify the City Clerk and the Public Works Director or Beaches, Parks and Recreation Director of such payment.

(Ord. 1140 § 22, 1994; prior code § 22-39)

A statement of all amounts remaining unpaid at the end of the period of sixty (60) days, giving the description of the respective pieces or parcels of land upon which such charges exist, shall immediately be prepared by the Finance and Administrative Services Director, and shall be by him or her forwarded to and filed with the Auditor-Controller of the County of Orange who shall thereupon cause an entry to be made on the tax roll opposite the description of the property therein described as follows: "Weed and Cleaning Tax... $ __________," filling in the amount of the expense shown in the statements of the Finance and Administrative Services Director in each particular case, plus a penalty of twenty-five (25) percent to cover the incidental expense of collection. The Auditor-Controller shall thereafter cause a corresponding entry to be made on the tax bill for such property, and thereafter before any payment shall be received for any tax for the redemption of the property, the amount of the weed and cleaning tax shall first be paid.

(Prior code § 22-40)

In all respects, other than as set forth in this chapter, the weed and cleaning taxes shall be collected and the collection thereof enforced in the same manner, under the same conditions and pursuant to the same notices as other taxes upon real property in the City.

(Prior code § 22-41)

Any weed or cleaning taxes, penalties or costs paid more than once, or erroneously or illegally collected by reason of a clerical error, may, by order of the Council, be refunded by the Director of Finance and Administrative Services; provided, however, that no order of the Council to refund weed or cleaning taxes, penalties or costs shall be made except upon a verified claim therefor filed within six (6) months after making of the payment sought to be refunded, or in the case of a double assessment of such taxes, within two (2) years after such payment.

(Prior code § 22-42)

No assessment or act relating to the assessment of collection of weed or cleaning taxes shall be illegal on account of informality or because the same was not completed within the time required by law; nor shall any such taxes ever be held illegal on account thereof.

(Prior code § 22-43)

It shall be unlawful for any person, owner, lessee or agent in possession of any premises within the City to refuse to allow the Public Works Director or Beaches, Parks and Recreation Director or employees to enter upon such premises at any time during the hours of daylight for the purpose of removing any earth, soil, grass, weeds, dead trees, tin cans, rubbish, refuse or waste material or other unsanitary substances or objects which may endanger or injure neighboring property or the health, safety or welfare of the residents of the vicinity of such property, or to interfere with the Public Works Director or Beaches, Parks and Recreation Director or employees in the work of removing any such earth, soil, grass, weeds, dead trees, tin cans, rubbish, refuse or waste material, or objects which may endanger or injure neighboring property or the health, safety or welfare of residents of the vicinity of such property in any manner whatsoever.

(Ord. 1140 § 23, 1994; prior code § 22-44)

The provisions of Sections 8.76.130 through 8.76.180 of this chapter shall not affect any proceedings commenced pursuant to Sections 8.76.050 through 8.76.150 of this chapter, but the provisions of Sections 8.76.170 and 8.76.180 are intended to provide an alternate procedure.

(Prior code § 22-45)

During the annual abatement process, the Beaches, Parks and Recreation Director may elect to use an alternative procedure as outlined in Chapter 39560 through 39588 of the Government Code of the State of California.

(Prior code § 22-46)

For maximum compliance with the above chapter, it is the intent of this chapter that all police officers and other City human resources so empowered, shall enforce the above provisions. The Beaches, Parks and Recreation Director shall manage the implementation of this chapter.

(Ord. 1140 § 24, 1994; prior code § 22-47)