Victorville Municipal Code Ch. 6.78 Africanized Honey Bee Abatement

This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the "Africanized Honey Bee Abatement Ordinance of the City of Victorville."

(Ord. No. 2266, 1-18-11)

For the purpose of this chapter, the following terms, phrases, words and their derivations shall have the meaning given in this section. When not inconsistent with the context, words used in the present tense include the future, words used in the plural number include the singular number, and words used in the singular number include the plural number. The word "shall" is always mandatory and not merely directory.

(1) AHB" means the Africanized honey bee.

(2) City" is the City of Victorville.

(3) "Person" means any person, firm, partnership, association, corporation, company or organization of any kind.

(4) "Private premises" means any vacant lot or building lot, any residential, commercial or industrial structure under construction, any dwelling, house, building, or other structure, designed or used either wholly or in part for private residential purposes, whether inhabited or vacant, and shall include any yard, grounds, walk, easements, driveway, porch, steps, vestibule or mailbox belonging to or appurtenant to such dwelling, house, building, or other structure, and any business or professional establishment.

(5) "Public place" means any and all streets, sidewalks, boulevards, alleys or other public ways and any and all public parks, squares, grounds and buildings

(Ord. No. 2266, 1-18-11)

For the purpose of enforcing this chapter, the city may designate any person as its deputy in the performance of the duties enjoined upon him by this chapter.

(Ord. No. 2266, 1-18-11)

It is the duty of every owner, occupant and person in control of any kind or interest therein in the city to abate therefrom and from any and all portions of a property or public road easements adjacent to such property, all honey bee hives and colonies that constitute a health or safety hazard, or which may endanger or injure neighboring persons or property.

(Ord. No. 2266, 1-18-11)

If and when it appears that honey bees constitute a health or safety hazard, abatement and removal shall be caused as follows:

(a) When, in the opinion of the city or its officers, an extreme hazard exists which constitutes an immediate threat to public health, safety and welfare, and is deemed necessary by the city or its officers to abate such hazard as promptly as possible, said honey bee hives must be removed immediately.

(b) Whenever a city representative deems it necessary to enforce the duty set forth in Section 6.78.040 of this chapter, such officer shall require immediate compliance by any or all of the following methods:

(1) By personal service;

(2) By telephone.

(c) The failure of the owner to receive such notice shall not affect the power of the city or its officers or employees to proceed as provided in this section, nor shall it invalidate the assessment against the subject property.

(Ord. No. 2266, 1-18-11)

All abatement and removal of honey bee hives that have been deemed to constitute a health or safety hazard shall be performed by a trained, certified, licensed pest control operator. Said pest control operator must show training, certification and licenses in order to be placed on an eligibility list which is part of the city Africanized Honey Bee Action Plan.

(Ord. No. 2266, 1-18-11)

The city or its officers may cause a bill to be sent to the responsible party for any and all costs incurred that are administrative fees and such bill shall be due and payable to the city within thirty days after the billing date. If payment is not received within the allotted time, the city will assess the amount of the cost of the bill plus any additional fees by the county auditor in accordance with Section 6.78.080 of this chapter.

(Ord. No. 2266, 1-18-11)

The city or its officers shall keep an account of the cost of abatement of the hazard. After confirmation of a report, a copy of the same shall be filed with the county auditor on or before August 10th. The descriptions of the parcels reported shall be those used for the same parcels on the county assessor's map book for the current year. The county auditor shall enter each assessment on the county tax roll opposite the parcel of land. The amount of the assessment shall be collected at the time and in the manner of ordinary municipal taxes. If delinquent, the amount is subject to the same penalties and procedures of foreclosure and sale provided for ordinary municipal taxes. As an alternative method, the county tax collector, at his discretion, may collect the assessments without reference to the general taxes by issuing separate bills and receipts for the assessments. Laws relating to the levy, collection and enforcement of county taxes shall apply to such special assessments.

(Ord. No. 2266, 1-18-11)

(a) All or any portion of any erroneous assessment, penalty or costs heretofore entered shall on order of the board of appeals be canceled by the auditor if uncollected, or, except in the case provided for in subdivision (5) of this subsection, refunded by the city treasurer if collected, if it or they were entered, charged or paid:

(1) More than once;

(2) Through clerical error;

(3) Through the error or mistake of the board of appeals or of the officer, board or commission designated by them to give notice or to destroy the bees, in respect to any material fact, including the case where the cost report rendered and confirmed as hereinbefore provided shows the city abated the bees but such is not the actual fact;

(4) Illegally;

(5) On property acquired after the lien date by the state or by any county, city, school district or other political subdivision and because of this public ownership not subject to sale for delinquent taxes.

(b) No order for a refund under subsection (a) of this section shall be made except on a claim:

(1) Verified by the person who paid the special assessment, his guardian, executor or administrator;

(2) Filed within sixty days after making the payment to be refunded.

(Ord. No. 2266, 1-18-11)

Whenever the tax roll has been corrected or a refund has been made hereunder by reason of an erroneous assessment, a corrected written report of the type required by Section 6.78.080, relating to the work for which such erroneous assessment was levied, may be prepared by the officer who prepared the original report. Such report shall show the cost of abatement in front of or on the parcel or lot where the work has been done and shall state that it is proposed to assess such cost against such lot or parcel. A copy of such corrected report shall be mailed to the owner of the lot or parcel as shown upon the current assessment rolls. In all other respects, Section 6.78.080 shall apply to such corrected assessment, except that the time for doing all things therein specified shall relate from the date of confirmation of the corrected assessment.

(Ord. No. 2266, 1-18-11)

It is a misdemeanor for any person, natural or corporate, owning, possessing, or controlling any premises to fail to perform the duty set forth in Section 6.78.040 of this chapter, or to fail to comply with the requirements set forth in Section 6.78.050 of this chapter, or to interfere with the performance of the duties herein specified for any of the officers named in this chapter or their deputies, or to refuse to allow any such officers or their deputies or employees, or approved private contractors, to enter upon any premises for the purpose of removing any honey bee hives, or to interfere in any manner whatsoever with said officers in the work of removal herein provided.

(Ord. No. 2266, 1-18-11)

Any person, firm, company, or corporation violating any of the provisions of this chapter shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and upon arrest and conviction shall be punished by a fine of not in excess of one thousand dollars and imprisonment of not more than six months or both.

(Ord. No. 2266, 1-18-11)