Vernon Municipal Code Ch. 15.04 General Provisions

The Director of Public Works shall be the Building Official, City Engineer, Traffic Engineer, and Superintendent of Streets, unless otherwise designated by the City Administrator. In this title and wherever else the same may be appropriate in this Code, or in State statutes whenever reference is made to Building Official, City Engineer, Traffic Engineer, or Superintendent of Streets, they shall be deemed to refer to the Director of Public Works, or any other person appointed to perform such duties by the City Administrator.

(Prior code § 24.1)

A. Indemnification Agreements. Each person upon whose behalf an application is made for any permit under this title, and each person at whose request and for whose benefit work is performed under or pursuant to a permit issued under this title shall, and by virtue of the making of such application or the performance of any portion of such work agrees to, defend, indemnify, and save harmless the City, and each of its officers, agents, and employees, from and against all liabilities, demands, claims, damages, losses, costs, and expenses of whatsoever kind or nature, including, but not limited to, any and all direct and indirect costs of defense made against, or incurred or suffered by, and any such indemnitee and resulting directly or indirectly from any and all activities and operations performed under or pursuant to such permit or any and all activities, operations, and conditions in any manner connected therewith or pertaining thereto. Such indemnity shall include, but not be limited to, any and all liabilities, demands, claims, damages, losses, costs, and expenses caused, or alleged to have been caused, by any negligent or other act of any such indemnitee.

B. Indemnification Bonds. Whenever the Building Official determines that any work proposed to be performed under any permit to be issued pursuant to this title might endanger any adjoining or nearby public or private property, he may require, as a condition precedent to the issuance of such permit, that there be provided a cash bond (or a surety bond by an authorized surety company acceptable to and approved by the City Attorney) in a substance and form acceptable to and approved by the City Attorney, in a penal sum prescribed by the Building Official, conditioned upon the repair, in the manner directed by and strictly in accordance with the requirements of the Building Official, or any and all damages to private property (other than utilities) which, in the opinion of the Building Official, was wholly or partially caused as the direct or indirect result of any work under such permit and, at the option of the Public Works Director, either: (1) the repair, in the manner directed by, and strictly in accordance with the requirements of, the Public Works Director, of any and all damages, to public wages, other public property, substructures, and utilities (whether private or publicly owned) which, in the opinion of the Public Works Director, was wholly or partially caused as the direct or indirect result of any work under such permit; or (2) the payment of the cost of any such repairs made by the City or the owner of any utility, or both.

C. Insurance. Whenever the Building Official determines that any work proposed to be performed under any permit to be issued pursuant to this title might constitute more than ordinary hazard to human life or might endanger any adjoining or nearby public or private property, he may require, as a condition precedent to the issuance of such permit, that there be provided and maintained either or both of the following insurance coverages in an amount recommended by the Building Official and approved by the City Attorney in substance and form and by an insurance company acceptable to and approved by the City Attorney:

1. Personal injury and property damage coverage as to all work to be performed under such permit; or

2. The following coverage, for the benefit of the City, either by way of endorsement, or separate policy, or such modification thereof as may be acceptable to and approved by the City Attorney:

The company agrees to defend, indemnify, and save harmless the City and each of its officers, agents, and employees from and against any and all liabilities, demands, claims, damages, losses, costs, and expenses of whatsoever kind or nature, including, but not limited to, any and all direct and indirect costs of defense made against, or incurred or suffered by, any such indemnitee as a direct or indirect consequence of injury, sickness or disease, including death, to persons or injury to, or destruction of, property, including, but not limited to, the loss of use of property, resulting directly or indirectly from, or in any manner connected with or pertaining to, the hereinafter described activities and conditions.

This indemnity shall include, but not be limited to, any and all liabilities, demands, claims, damages, losses, costs, and expenses claimed by any named insured or by any officer, agent, or employee of any named insured or caused, or alleged to have been caused, by any negligent or other act of any such indemnitee.

Written notice to the company or any of its authorized agents by any such indemnitee of any liability, demand, claim, damage, loss, cost or expense as soon as practicable after such indemnitee acquires knowledge thereof shall constitute sufficient compliance with the requirements for notice under this policy for the purpose of this endorsement.

This policy shall not be canceled, nor shall there be any reduction in coverage or limits of liability, unless and until 30 days' written notice thereof has been served upon the City Clerk of the City of Vernon. This endorsement shall control over all other provisions of this policy and other endorsements thereto.

Described Activities and Conditions. All operations, activities, and conditions in any manner connected with or pertaining to any work performed under the following described permit: (Describe permit).

Special Exclusions Applicable to the Coverage. The coverage granted by this endorsement does not apply:

1. To liabilities assumed by the City of Vernon and each of its officers, agents, and employees under any contract or agreements;

2. To any obligations for which the City of Vernon may be held liable under any Worker's Compensation or disability benefits' law or under any similar law; or

3. To injury to, or destruction of, property owned or occupied by or rented to or used by the City of Vernon, its officers, agents, and employees.

D. Exercise of Rights. The Building Official shall have no duty to exercise any of the discretionary rights granted to him by subsections A, B, and C of this section, and his or her failure to exercise such rights shall give no right or cause of action to any person.

(Prior code § 24.2)

A. Whenever the City Council of the City of Vernon shall find that changes or modifications in the requirements contained in the Codes are necessary because of local conditions, the City Council may, in its discretion and subject to such conditions and limitations, as it may impose, relieve an applicant for a permit from one or more of the requirements of the California Building Code, California Mechanical Code, California Plumbing Code, California Fire Code, and the National Electric Code, (hereinafter referred to as "Codes"), or any other ordinance of the City of Vernon relating to building construction, drainage, street frontage requirements, health or fire requirements, insofar as they relate to the building construction, and without limiting the foregoing, may authorize the substitution of materials, types of construction and safety equipment or devices. No change or modification of the requirements contained in said Codes shall be authorized by the Council as to any hotel, lodging house, motel, apartment house or dwelling, or portion thereof, or any building or structure accessory thereto, unless the Council first makes a written finding that such modifications or changes are needed; makes such findings available as a public record and transmits a copy thereof, together with the modification or change, to the Department of Housing and Community Development.

B. All applications for permits seeking the allowance of a variance or exception from the requirements of said Codes shall be presented to the City Council by the Building Official, or the Fire Chief with his or her written recommendations. The Building Official or Fire Chief shall, prior to making his or her recommendations, solicit and include therein the recommendations of other departments of the City which may be affected by the request for a variance or exception from the requirements of said Codes.

C. Any applicant for a permit seeking a variance or exception from the requirements of said Codes, which variance or exception has been refused or granted subject to conditions or limitations, pursuant to the foregoing provisions of this section, may request a hearing before the City Council for the purpose of obtaining a new or different decision with respect to said request for a variance or exception. Such request for a hearing must state the following:

1. The name and mailing address of the applicant for purposes of the requested hearing.

2. A method of identification of the application or applications involved and the previous decision of the Building Official or Fire Chief or of the City Council, if any, with respect to each application.

3. The specific ruling which the applicant requests be made by the City Council with respect to each such application.

4. A brief summary in nontechnical language of the points or contentions to be made by the applicant at the requested hearing, which summary shall be sufficient to inform any interested person who may wish to meet or refute applicant's presentation at the hearing.

D. The City Council shall set a time and place for a hearing on such application, provided it shall comply with the foregoing requirements, which hearing shall take place not more than 30 days after receipt of the applicant's request, and upon not less than 10 days' written notice from the City Clerk, mailed to the applicant by United States mail, postage prepaid, to the address shown on the request for hearing. In the event that the request for hearing does not comply with the foregoing requirements, no hearing shall be set and the City Clerk shall advise the applicant of the City Council's findings and that no hearing shall be set until such requirements are met. Such latter notice shall be mailed by the City Clerk to the applicant by United States mail, postage prepaid, to the address shown on the request for hearing, and if no adequate address is shown thereon, the City Clerk shall make a reasonable effort to locate an address for the applicant to which the notice may be mailed, and, failing to find such address, no notice shall be sent.

(Prior code § 24.3)

Any applicant for a permit seeking a variance or exception from the requirements of the California Building Code, California Mechanical Code, California Plumbing Code, California Fire Code, and National Electric Code or any other ordinance of the City of Vernon relating to building construction, drainage, street frontage requirements, health or fire requirements shall pay a processing fee at the time of submittal of said request which shall be established by resolution.

(Prior code § 24.4)

A violation of any provision or any section of this title or any California Code or any part thereof is punishable by a fine of not more than $500.00 or by imprisonment in the County Jail for a period of not more than six months, or by both such fine and imprisonment. Each day or any portion thereof during which any violation of any provision or any section of this title or of any California Code or part thereof is committed, continued or permitted, constitutes a separate and individual offense.

(Prior code § 24.5)

Every violation of any provision or any section of a California Code as adopted or amended herein is declared to be a public nuisance.

(Prior code § 24.6)

All regulations adopted by the Building Official for the implementation or enforcement of any California Code pursuant to its provisions shall be subject to the limitation set forth in Section 2.08.070, Limitations, of the Code of the City of Vernon.

(Prior code § 24.8)

All current offenses set forth in various primary codes as adopted or amended from time to time are considered offenses under this Code pursuant to Government Code Sections 50022.1 through 50022.4, or successor Section 5; but may be enforced at the sole discretion of the Director, or appropriate enforcement official, under either this chapter or under the provisions of Chapter 1.08.

(Prior code § 24.68)