Tiburon Municipal Code Art. IV Administrative Citations

Article IV of this chapter provides for administrative citations which are in addition to all other legal remedies, criminal or civil, which may be pursued by the town to address any violation of this Code or other public nuisances.

The purpose and intent of this article is to effectively enforce this Code and/or other public nuisances from violations and/or nuisances committed by a discreet first time offender.

(Ord. No. 439 N.S., § 9 (part))

(a) Certain violations of this Code, as set forth by resolution, shall be deemed enforceable by administrative citations.

(b) The town clerk shall maintain a current list of the violations of this Code which are set forth under section 31-12(a).

(c) The town attorney maintains the right to pursue any code violation, including those set forth under section 31-12(a), with all other legal remedies, criminal or civil or as required by law.

(Ord. No. 439 N.S., § 9 (part))

(a) Whenever a code enforcement officer determines that a violation of this Code subject to section 31-12 occurred, the code enforcement officer shall have the authority to issue an administrative citation to any person responsible for the violation, subject to the limitations contained in subsection (c) of this section.

(b) Each administrative citation shall contain the following information:

(1) The date of the violation;

(2) The address or a definite description of the location where the violation occurred;

(3) The section of this Code violated and a description of the violation;

(4) The amount of the fine for the code violation;

(5) A description of the fine payment process, including a description of the time within which and the place to which the fine shall be paid;

(6) An order prohibiting the continuation or repeated occurrence of the code violation described in the administrative citation;

(7) The name and signature of the citing code enforcement officer.

(c) Prior to issuing an administrative citation 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 pre-citation 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) The compliance date by which the violation shall be corrected or otherwise remedied, which shall be no less than fifteen days and no more than sixty days from the date the pre-citation notice is given, as determined to be reasonable by the code enforcement officer;

(5) A statement that if the violation is not corrected by the specified compliance date, that an administrative citation will be issued which imposes a fine, for the amount of which will be specified; and

(6) The name, signature and department of the code enforcement officer issuing the pre-citation notice.

(Ord. No. 439 N.S., § 9 (part))

(a) The amounts of the fines for code violations imposed pursuant to this chapter shall be set forth in the schedule of fines established by resolution of the town council. If no fine is established by resolution for a particular infraction, the fine for that resolution shall be as set forth in the then-current bail and penalty schedule published by Marin County Courts pursuant to California Rule of Court 850.

(b) The schedule of fines shall specify any increased fines for repeat violation of the same code provision by the same person within thirty-six months from the date of an administrative citation.

(c) The schedule of fines shall specify the amount of any late payment charges imposed for the payment of a fine after its due date.

(Ord. No. 439 N.S., § 9 (part))

(a) The fine shall be paid to the town within thirty days from the date of the administrative citation.

(b) Any administrative citation fine paid pursuant to subsection (a) of this section shall be refunded in accordance with section 31-20(d) if it is determined, after a hearing, that the person charged in the administrative citation was not responsible for the violation or that there was no violation as charged in the administrative citation.

(c) Payment of a fine under this chapter shall not excuse or discharge any continuation or repeated occurrence of the code violation that is the subject of the administrative citation.

(Ord. No. 439 N.S., § 9 (part))

(a) Any recipient of an administrative citation may contest that there was a violation of this Code or that he or she is the responsible party by completing a request for hearing form and returning it to the town within thirty days from the date of the administrative citation, together with an advance deposit of the fine or notice that a request for an advance deposit hardship waiver has been filed pursuant to section 31-17.

(b) A request for hearing form may be obtained from the department specified on the administrative citation.

(c) The person requesting the hearing shall be notified of the time and place set for the hearing at least ten days prior to the date of the hearing.

(d) If the code enforcement officer submits an additional written report concerning the administrative citation to the hearing officer for consideration at the hearing, then a copy of this report also shall be served on the person requesting the hearing at least five days prior to the date of the hearing.

(Ord. No. 439 N.S., § 9 (part))

(a) Any person who intends to request a hearing to contest that there was a violation of the code or that he is the responsible party and who is financially unable to make the advance deposit of the fine as required in section 31-16(a) may file a request for an advance deposit hardship waiver.

(b) The request shall be in writing and shall explain, under penalty of perjury, the advance deposit requirement will impose an undue financial burden. The request shall be filed with the town clerk, together with any supporting documents, within ten days of the date of the administrative citation.

(c) The requirement of depositing the full amount of the fine as described in section 31-16(a) shall be stayed unless or until the town manager or his designee makes a decision not to issue the advance deposit hardship waiver.

(d) The town manager or his designee may, in their discretion, waive in whole or in part the requirement of an advance deposit set forth in section 31-16 and issue an advance deposit hardship waiver if the cited party, demonstrates to the satisfaction of the town manager or his designee, the person's actual financial inability to deposit with the town the full amount of the fine in advance of the hearing.

(e) If the town manager or his designee decides not to issue an advance deposit hardship waiver, the person shall remit the deposit to the town within ten days of the day of the decision or thirty days from the date of the administrative citation, whichever is later.

(Ord. No. 439 N.S., § 9 (part))

The town manager shall designate the hearing officer for the administrative citation hearing. In the event that the hearing involves the application and interpretation of the town's building code, the hearing officer shall possess the qualifications required under section 105.1 of the Uniform Building Code (1994 ed.).

(Ord. No. 439 N.S., § 9 (part))

(a) No hearing to contest an administrative citation before a hearing officer is required or shall be valid unless the fine has been deposited in advance in accordance with section 31-16 or an advance deposit hardship waiver has been issued in accordance with section 31-17.

(b) A hearing before the hearing officer shall be set by the town clerk for a date that is not less than fifteen days and not more than sixty days from the date that the request for hearing is filed in accordance with the provisions this article.

(c) At the hearing, the party contesting the administrative citation shall be given the opportunity to testify and to present evidence concerning the administrative citation.

(d) The failure of any recipient of an administrative citation to appear at the administrative citation hearing shall constitute a forfeiture of the fine and a failure to exhaust their administrative remedies.

(e) The administrative citation and any additional report submitted by the code enforcement officer shall constitute prima facie evidence of the respective facts contained in those documents.

(f) The hearing officer may continue the hearing for good cause, and request additional information from the code enforcement officer or the recipient of the administrative citation prior to issuing a written decision, provided that the hearing shall not be continued for more than fifteen days.

(Ord. No. 439 N.S., § 9 (part))

(a) After considering all of the testimony and evidence submitted at the hearing, and within fifteen days after the conclusion of the hearing, the hearing officer shall issue a written decision to uphold or cancel the administrative citation and shall list in the decision the reasons for that decision. The decision of the hearing officer shall be supported by substantial evidence and shall be final.

(b) If the hearing officer determines that the administrative citation should be upheld, then the fine amount on deposit with the town shall be retained by the town.

(c) If the hearing officer determines that the administrative citation should be upheld and the fine has not been deposited pursuant to an advance deposit hardship waiver, the hearing officer shall set forth in the decision a payment schedule for the fine, which shall not extend more than one hundred eighty days from the date of the decision.

(d) If the hearing officer determines that the administrative citation should be canceled and the fine was deposited with the town, then the town shall promptly refund the amount of the deposited fine, together with interest at the average rate earned on the town's portfolio for the period of time that the fine amount was held by the town.

(e) The recipient of the administrative citation shall be served with a copy of the hearing officer's written decision.

(f) The employment, performance evaluation, compensation and benefits of the hearing officer shall not be directly or indirectly conditioned upon the amount of administrative citation fines upheld by the hearing officer.

(Ord. No. 439 N.S., § 9 (part))

Any person who fails to pay to the town any fine imposed, pursuant to the provisions of this article, on or before the date that fine is due also shall be liable for the payment of any applicable late payment charges set forth in the schedule of fines.

(Ord. No. 439 N.S., § 9 (part))

The town may collect any past due administrative citation fine or late payment charge by use of all available legal means, including but not limited to procedures set forth in section 31-42 (code enforcement assessment lien; tax collection) of title V where the violation involves real property. The town also may recover its collection costs pursuant to section 1-10.

(Ord. No. 439 N.S., § 9 (part))

Any person aggrieved by an administrative decision of a hearing officer on an administrative citation may obtain review of the administrative decision by filing a notice of appeal with the municipal courts of Marin County in accordance with the timelines and provisions set forth in Government Code section 53069.4.

(Ord. No. 439 N.S., § 9 (part))

(a) The administrative citation, pre-citation notice, administrative hearing officer decision, and all notices required to be given by this article shall be provided to the responsible party in accordance with the provisions of section 1-7 of this Code.

(b) Failure to receive any notice specified in this article does not affect the validity of proceedings conducted thereunder.

(Ord. No. 439 N.S., § 9 (part))