San Clemente Municipal Code Ch. 1.16 General Penalty

A. .....No person, corporation or other entity, whether as principal, agent, employee or otherwise, shall violate, cause the violation of, maintain a violation, or otherwise fail to comply with any of the requirements of this code or adopted codes. Any violation of any provision of this code and adopted codes constitute a misdemeanor unless specifically designated as an infraction by this code or prosecuted as an infraction in the discretion of the City Attorney, City Prosecutor, or District Attorney in the interest of justice.

B. .....Any conviction of a misdemeanor under the provisions of this code shall, unless otherwise specified, be punishable by a fine not exceeding $1,000.00, or imprisonment in the county jail for a term not exceeding six months, or by both such fine and imprisonment.

C. .....Any conviction of an infraction under the provisions of this code shall, unless otherwise specified, be punishable by a fine not exceeding $100.00 for the first offense, a fine not exceeding $200.00 for the second offense of the same provision within one year, and a fine not exceeding $500.00 for each additional offense of the same provision within one year.

D. .....Every day any violation of this code or any other ordinance of the City or any such order, rule or regulation continues shall constitute a separate and distinct offense for which the full penalty therefore may be imposed.

E. .....Any violation of this code, codes adopted by the City, or provisions of state or federal law that may be enforced by the City, or any rules, regulations, permits, conditions of approval, or approvals issued by or applicable to the City may be enforced by any means authorized by law, including but not limited to, criminal prosecution, civil action for restraining order and injunctive relief, receivership, administrative or abatement proceeding. The remedies provided in this code are intended to be cumulative and not exclusive, and may be pursued individually, consecutively, or in conjunction with each other.

F. .....Officers and employees of the City who have the discretionary power to enforce an ordinance, order, rule or regulation may, pursuant to Section 1.12.010 of this title, and subject to the provisions thereof, arrest a person without a warrant whenever any such officer or employee has reasonable cause to believe that the person to be arrested has committed a misdemeanor in the officer's or employee's presence which he or she has the discretionary duty to enforce, and to issue a notice to appear and to release such person upon his or her written promise to appear in court. No officer or employee shall be allowed by his or her superior to exercise the arrest and citation authority herein conferred unless such officer or employee is within a classification of City officers and employees designated by ordinance of the City to exercise such arrest and citation authority.

G. Payment of Fees. .....Any person convicted of any criminal offense related to an arrest shall pay to the City any criminal justice administration fee imposed on the City by the County of Orange.

(Ord. 1305 § 1, 2005; Ord. 1288 § 1, 2004; Ord. 1259 § 1, 2002; Ord. 1188 § 1, 1997: Ord. 1163 § 1, 1995; Ord. 1123 §§ 1, 2, 1993; prior code § 1-7)

(Ord. No. 1479, § 1, 3-3-2009; Ord. No. 1485, § 1, 5-5-2009; Ord. No. 1526, § 1, 12-7-2010; Ord. No. 1664, § 2, 9-18-2018)

Editor's note— Ord. No. 1664, § 2, adopted Sept. 18, 2018, amended § 1.16.010 and in so doing changed the title of said section from "General penalty—Misdemeanors, infractions—Continuing violations—Booking fees" to "General penalty—Misdemeanors, infractions—Continuing violations—Enforcement by any means authorized by law—Booking fees," as set out herein.

Whenever any person shall be convicted of any violation of law within the City, which violation constitutes a misdemeanor, and shall be sentenced to imprisonment in the City jail, such person may be required by the terms of his or her sentence to perform labor upon any public street, highway, way, building or other public work of the City.

(Prior code § 1-8)

A. .....Any violation of the San Clemente Municipal Code, adopted codes, or state or federal law or regulation enforceable by the City is unlawful and a public nuisance. The City Attorney may, in addition to or in lieu of prosecuting a criminal action hereunder, commence an action or actions, proceeding or proceedings, for the abatement, removal, and enjoinment of such violations in the manner provided by law, and shall take such other steps and shall apply to such court or courts as may have jurisdiction to grant such relief as will abate or remove such violations and restrain and enjoin any person from conducting activities contrary to the provisions of this chapter.

B. .....The prevailing party in any civil or administrative action, proceeding or special proceeding to abate a nuisance may recover its reasonable attorney's fees, provided that the City elected, at the initiation of such individual action or proceeding, to recover its own attorney's fees. In no action or proceeding shall an award of attorney's fees to a prevailing party exceed the amount of reasonable attorney's fees incurred by the City in the action or proceeding. A civil or administrative action or proceeding includes, but is not limited to, any civil action, inspection or abatement warrant proceeding, administrative proceeding, or appeal from an administrative proceeding. The city shall be deemed the prevailing party in the action or proceeding if a violation is shown to have existed at the time the action or proceeding is initiated by the city, even if the violation is abated prior to the conclusion of the proceeding or hearing. Any recovery of attorney's fees for abatement of a nuisance shall be in accordance with this section.

C. .....In addition to recovery of any other costs as provided by this code, in any action to abate a nuisance, the City shall be entitled to recover from the property on which the nuisance exists and against the property owner and any other violators jointly and severally, all actual, staff and administrative costs, including but not limited to those incurred in investigations, inspections, abatement, enforcement and providing any notice required by this code or state or federal law.

(Ord. 1300 § 1, 2005)

(Ord. No. 1501, § 1, 3-16-2010; Ord. No. 1617, § 2, 2-16-2016; Ord. No. 1664, § 3, 9-18-2018)