Sonoma Municipal Code Art. II Procedures for Administrative Notice and Order for Code Violations and…

A. Whenever a code enforcement officer determines that a violation of a provision of this code has occurred, the code enforcement officer may issue an administrative notice and order to the responsible party for the violation.

B. Each administrative notice and order shall contain the following elements:

1. The date of the violation or, if the date of the violation is unknown, the date the violation is identified;

2. The address or a definite description of the location where the violation occurred, such as a tax assessor parcel number (A.P.N.);

3. The section of this code that the responsible party has violated and a description of how the responsible party has violated the section;

4. A description of the action necessary to correct the violation and a reasonable time designated to correct the violation prior to the imposition of penalties;

5. The amount of the penalty for the code violation;

6. An explanation of how the penalty shall be paid, the time period in which it shall be paid, and the consequences of failure to pay the penalty;

7. An order prohibiting the continuation or repeated occurrence of the code violation described within administrative notice and order;

8. A description of the administrative review procedures. The description shall include the time, date and place of the hearing, which shall be at least 10 days after the date of the administrative notice and order. The description shall also state that the purpose of the hearing will be to make a determination on the existence of the violation(s) and public nuisance and on the adoption of an administrative order, including imposition of civil penalties and administrative costs under this chapter;

9. The name, date, and signature of the code enforcement officer;

10. A statement that any violation of this code is deemed to constitute a public nuisance, which if not corrected or abated as required under this notice and order may be found to exist and ordered to be abated after a public hearing, with abatement and related administrative costs being imposed on the responsible person and/or property owner, and collected judicially, or by special assessment or tax collection, as provided under this chapter.

C. For a continuing violation of this code pertaining to building, plumbing, electrical, or other similar structural or zoning issues, that do not create an immediate danger to health or safety, the code enforcement officer shall serve a correction notice on the person responsible for the violation containing the following information:

1. The date the violation was observed;

2. The address or a description of the location where the violation was observed;

3. The section of this code violated and a description of the violation;

4. A date not less than 10 days and not more than 90 days from the date of the notice constituting a reasonable time by which the violation is to be corrected or remedied;

5. The statement that failure to correct or remedy the violation by the date established will result in proceedings being commenced under this chapter; and

6. The name and signature of the enforcement officer issuing the correction notice. (Ord. 03-2018 § 3 (Exh. C), 2018; Ord. 02-2005 § 3, 2005).

If the responsible party does not comply with the order within a reasonable time, the code enforcement officer may file in the office of the county recorder a certificate describing the property and certifying the following:

A. That the building, structure, or property is in violation of this code or of an uncodified ordinance adopted by the city council;

B. That the owner has been so notified.

This certificate may be filed either prior to the administrative hearing designated in the administrative notice and order, or prior to any continuance thereof, or within a reasonable time following the filing of the administrative enforcement order as that term is defined in SMC 1.30.180.

Whenever the corrections ordered in the administrative notice and order shall thereafter have been completed or the building, structure, or property has been repaired, demolished, or removed so that it no longer exists as a violation thereof, the code enforcement officer shall, at his sole discretion, either file, or cause to be filed, with the county recorder, or, in lieu of such filing, provide to the property owner with notice, a new certificate certifying that the building, structure, or property has been brought into compliance with the administrative notice and order, or that all required corrections have been made so that the building, structure, or property conforms to the requirements contained in the administrative notice and order. (Ord. 03-2018 § 3 (Exh. C), 2018; Ord. 02-2005 § 3, 2005).