Chapter 7.08 — WEED ABATEMENT

This chapter shall be known and may be referred to as the "City of Union City Weed Abatement Ordinance."

(Ord. 36-60 § 1, 1960)

It is the intent of this weed abatement ordinance to provide regulations whereby the City may, upon following the procedure hereinafter set forth, abate weeds in an effort to protect the health and safety of the citizens of Union City from the hazards created by weed growth upon streets, sidewalks or private property and from all rubbish, refuse and dirt upon parkways, sidewalks or private property.

(Ord. 36-60 § 2, 1960)

For the purpose of this chapter, the following words and phrases shall have the meanings respectively ascribed to them by this section:

"Fire Chief" means the Fire Chief of the City or his or her duly authorized representative;

"Owner" means the owner, agent of the owner, lessee and occupant or person in possession of any lot, parcel, tract or piece of land;

"Tax Collector" means the person collecting property taxes levied on real property for the City;

"Weeds" means weeds which when mature bear wingy or downy seeds, or which will attain such a large growth as to become a fire menace when dry, or which are otherwise noxious or dangerous, or grass, or deleterious unhealthy growth or other noxious matters which may be found.

(Ord. 36-60 § 5, 1960)

All weeds growing upon the streets, sidewalks or private property are declared to be a public nuisance. All rubbish, refuse, and dirt upon parkways, sidewalks or private property are declared to be a public nuisance.

(Ord. 36-60 Art. 3, 1960)

It shall be the duty of the owner of land, improved or unimproved, to at once remove from the sidewalk abutting or adjoining such parcel of land all earth, dirt, grass, weeds, dead trees, tin cans, rubbish, refuse and waste material or other insanitary or dangerous substances or objects. (Ord. 36-60 § 25, 1960)

It shall be the duty of the owner of any parcel of land or unimproved, to keep such parcel of land free from all earth, dirt, grass, weeds, dead trees, tin cans, rubbish, refuse and waste material of all kinds, and other unsanitary substances or objects which may endanger or injure neighboring property, or the health, safety, or welfare, or be offensive to the senses of the residents of the vicinity of such property.

(Ord. 36-60 § 26, 1960)

No person shall refuse to allow the Fire Chief to enter upon any premises at any time during the hours of daylight for the purpose of removing any earth, dirt, grass, weeds, dead trees, tin cans, rubbish, refuse or waste material of any kind 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 where a previous notice to clean has been given. (Ord. 36-60 § 27, 1960)

Whenever the Fire Chief finds any earth, dirt, grass, weeds, dead trees, tin cans, rubbish, refuse, waste material of any kind or other insanitary substance or object, in or upon the sidewalk abutting or adjoining any parcel of land or in or upon any parcel of land or grounds, which may endanger or injure neighboring property, or the health, safety or welfare of or be offensive to the senses of the residents of the vicinity, or obstruct such sidewalks and thereby endanger or injure persons traveling thereon, he/she shall give notice to remove such earth, dirt, grass, weeds, dead trees, tin cans, rubbish, refuse or waste material, or other insanitary substances or objects, in the manner hereinafter provided.

(Ord. 36-60 § 33, 1960)

The notice to clean premises shall be in writing, signed by the Fire Chief and substantially in 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 Section 33 of the Union City Ordinance No. 36-60 which ordinance is on file in the office of the City Clerk thereof. Pursuant to the provisions of said ordinance, you are hereby notified to remove at once, and in any event within ten days from the date of this notice, from the property hereinafter described, all earth, dirt, grass, weeds, dead trees, tin cans, rubbish, refuse and waste material of all kinds, and other insanitary substances or objects which may endanger or injure neighboring property, or the health, safety or welfare of, or be offensive to the senses of the residents of the vicinity of such property, and thereafter keep the said premises free therefrom. In the event you shall fail so to do within the time hereinabove limited, the undersigned will cause the same to be removed, and the charges therefor will be a lien upon said premises, or upon the lot or parcel of land adjoining and abutting the sidewalk in the event the sidewalk is the parcel to be cleaned. The said property is situated in the City of Union City, California, and is described as follows:

Dated this __________ day of ____, 20. Fire Chief of the City of Union City"

(Ord. 36-60 § 34, 1960)

Notice to clean premises shall be given by posting a copy thereof in a conspicuous place on the property involved and by delivering a copy of 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 a copy of such notice in the United States mail at Union City, California, postage prepaid, 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 Fire Chief, then to the general delivery at Union City, California.

(Ord. 36-60 § 35, 1960)

Within ten days from the date of posting and serving or mailing notice to clean premises, the owner, or any person interested in the property, land or lots affected by the notice may appeal to the City 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 by him presented to the City 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. (Ord. 36-60 § 36, 1960)

If the owner of the premises described in the notice to clean premises shall fail to remove any such earth, dirt, grass, weeds, dead trees, tin cans, rubbish, refuse, or waste material of any kind, or other insanitary substances or objects which may endanger or injure neighboring property, or the health, safety or welfare of, or be offensive to the senses of the residents of the vicinity of such property, from the property described in such notice, within the time therein limited in accordance with the provisions of this chapter, it shall be the duty of the Fire Chief to remove any and all such earth, dirt, grass, weeds, dead trees, tin cans, rubbish, refuse and waste material of all kinds, and other unsanitary substances or objects therefrom. (Ord. 36-60 § 42, 1960)

The Fire Chief shall make out a certified statement of the expenses incurred by him for making the removal pursuant to Section 7.08.115, and shall place the same on file with the City Clerk within ten days after such removal. Such statement shall, as to each piece of property therein referred to, show the number of the lot and block, and also 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; provided, however, that one or more lots or parcels may be set forth in one and the same statement. (Ord. 36-60 § 43, 1960)

Within two days after the filing of the statement of expenses referred to in Section 7.08.120, in the office of the City Clerk, the City Clerk shall cause to be conspicuously posted in at least three public places within the City, a notice substantially in the following form:

" NOTICE RE EQUALIZATION OF WEED AND CLEANING TAXES.

Notice is hereby given, that the City Council of the City of Union City, will on the ________, day of ______, 20, in the Council Chamber in the City Hall of the said City, beginning at the hour of ________ o'clock P.M. of the said day, hear any protests or objections to weed or cleaning taxes, for the purpose of correcting, modifying, or confirming the same, and the failure to make any objections 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 of said City, and is open to public inspection. Dated this day of ______, 20.

City Clerk of the City of Union City, California"

(Ord. 36-60 § 49, 1960)

A statement of all amounts remaining unpaid at the end of such period of thirty days, certified by the City Clerk and giving the description of the respective pieces or parcels of land upon which such charges exist, shall thereupon be prepared and certified by the City Clerk, and shall be by him/her immediately forwarded to and filed with the Tax Collector, 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 statement of the City Clerk in each particular case, plus to an amount cover incidental expense of collection. The Tax Collector shall thereafter cause a corresponding entry to be made on the tax bill for the property: and thereafter before any payment shall be received for any tax for the redemption of the property, the amount of weed and cleaning tax shall first be paid.

(Ord. 36-60 § 50, 1960; amended during 1990 republication)

In all respects, other than as in this chapter recited, the weed or 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. (Ord. 36-60 § 51, 1960)

Any weed or cleaning taxes, penalties or costs thereon paid more than once, or erroneously or illegally collected by reason of a clerical error, may, by order of the City Council, be refunded by the City Treasurer; provided, however, that no order of the City Council to refund weed or cleaning taxes, penalties, or costs, shall be made except upon a verified claim therefor, filed within six months after making of the payment sought to be refunded, or in the case of a double assessment of such taxes, within two years after such payment. (Ord. 36-60 § 52, 1960)

No assessment or act relating to the assessment or collection of weed or cleaning taxes is illegal on account of informality, not because the same was not completed within the time required by law; nor shall any such taxes ever be held illegal on account thereof. (Ord. 36-60 § 53, 1960)