Yuba County Municipal Code Ch. 9.35 Regulation of Travel on Levees

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State Law reference— Regulation of traffic on public grounds, Vehicle Code § 21113.

It shall be unlawful for any person to drive, operate, stop, park, or leave standing any vehicle upon any levee that is within this County except on and over levee crown roadways and ramps where said roadways and ramps are specifically posted by the governing boards of the public agency having jurisdiction over the particular levee involved by signs indicating the areas over which any of said actions may take place; provided, however, that driving over such levee crown roadways and ramps shall be done in such a manner as not to cause any damage to the levee or its structure, and in any case, at a speed not to exceed 25 miles per hour.

(Prior Code, § 9.35.010; Ord. No. 369; Ord. No. 1484)

The following words, terms, and phrases, when used in this Chapter, shall have the meanings ascribed to them in this Section, except where the context clearly indicates a different meaning:

(1) Levee means and includes ten feet on either side of the levee toe.

(2) Levee toe means the point of intersection of the levee slope with natural ground.

(3) Vehicle means a device by which any person or property may be propelled, moved, or drawn upon a highway or any off-road motorized device by which any person or property may be propelled, carried, transported, moved or drawn, except a device moved solely by human power.

(Prior Code, § 9.35.020; Ord. No. 369; Ord. No. 1484)

This Chapter shall not apply to:

(1) Levee maintenance vehicles and equipment operated by or under the supervision of the various levee districts, reclamation districts, County of Yuba, State of California or the United States of America.

(2) Those portions of levees on which there exist State or County highways.

(3) Property owners whose lands adjoin a levee closed to public use and who have received prior written permission from the governing board of the public entity having jurisdiction over the particular levee so closed to public use to use said levee for access to and from said adjoining property. Any authorized use shall be done in such a manner as not to cause any damage to the levee or its structure, and in any case, at a speed not to exceed 25 miles per hour.

(4) Travel on the levees by authorized emergency vehicles as defined by Section 165 of the California Vehicle Code.

(5) Travel by bicycle on established or proposed regional bicycle and walking paths as identified on the County Proposed Regional Park and Trail System Map.

(6) Agricultural equipment and agricultural vehicles that are used by owners of agricultural land when that agricultural land is next to the levee.

(Prior Code, § 9.35.030; Ord. No. 369; Ord. No. 1484)

Any violation of this Chapter shall constitute a misdemeanor, and shall be punishable by a fine not exceeding $1,000.00, or by imprisonment for a period not exceeding one year, or by both such fine and imprisonment. In addition to any fine and/or imprisonment, all violators of this Chapter shall be personally and generally liable for any and all damages caused by them upon the levees and for repairs thereto.

(Prior Code, § 9.35.040; Ord. No. 369; Ord. No. 1484)

State Law reference— Penalties for ordinance violations, Government Code § 25132, Penal Code § 19.

(a) Whenever a peace officer determines that a person was driving a vehicle in violation of Section 9.35.010 of this Chapter, the peace officer may cause the removal and seizure of that vehicle without the necessity of arresting the person. A vehicle so impounded shall be impounded for 30 days.

(b) Once the vehicle is impounded for travel on the levee, the impounding agency, within two working days of impoundment, shall send a notice by certified mail, return receipt requested, to the legal owner of the vehicle, at the address obtained from the vehicle registration, informing the owner that the vehicle has been impounded. Failure to notify the legal owner within two working days shall prohibit the impounding agency from charging for more than 15 days' impoundment when the legal owner redeems the impounded vehicle. The impounding agency shall maintain a published telephone number that provides information 24 hours a day regarding the impoundment of vehicles and the rights of a registered owner to request a hearing.

(c) The registered and legal owner of a vehicle that is removed and seized under Chapter 9.35 of this Code or their agents shall be provided the opportunity for a storage hearing to determine the validity of, or consider any mitigating circumstances attendant to, the storage of the impounded vehicle.

(d) Any period in which a vehicle is subjected to storage under this Section shall be included as part of the period of impoundment.

(e) (1)

The impounding agency shall release a vehicle to the registered owner or his or her agent prior to the end of 30 days' impoundment under any of the following circumstances:

a. When the vehicle is a stolen vehicle.

b. When the vehicle is subject to bailment and is driven by an unlicensed employee of a business establishment, including a parking service or repair garage.

(2) No vehicle shall be released pursuant to this Subdivision without presentation of the registered owner's or agent's currently valid driver's license to operate the vehicle and proof of current vehicle registration.

(f) The registered owner or his or her agent is responsible for all towing and storage charges related to the impoundment, and any administrative charges authorized under this Code.

(g) A vehicle removed and seized under Section 9.35.010 shall be released to the legal owner of the vehicle or the legal owner's agent prior to the end of 30 days' impoundment if all of the following conditions are met:

(1) The legal owner is a motor vehicle dealer, bank, credit union, acceptance corporation, or other licensed financial institution legally operating in this state or is another person, not the registered owner, holding a security interest in the vehicle.

(2) The legal owner or the legal owner's agent pays all towing and storage fees related to the seizure of the vehicle. No lien sale processing fees shall be charged to the legal owner who redeems the vehicle prior to the 15th day of impoundment. Neither the impounding authority nor any person having possession of the vehicle shall collect from the legal owner of the type specified in paragraph (1), or the legal owner's agent any administrative charges imposed pursuant to Title 13 of this Code unless the legal owner voluntarily requested a poststorage hearing.

(3) The legal owner or the legal owner's agent presents a copy of the assignment, as defined in Subdivision (b) of Section 7500.1 of the Business and Profession Code, and any one of the following: a certificate of repossession for the vehicle, a security agreement for the vehicle, or title showing proof of legal ownership for the vehicle. Any documents presented may be originals, photocopies, or facsimile copies, or may be transmitted electronically. The law enforcement agency, impounding agency, or any person acting on behalf of those agencies shall not require any documents to be notarized. The law enforcement agency, impounding agency, or any person acting on behalf of those agencies may require the agent of the legal owner to produce a photocopy or facsimile copy of its repossession agency license or registration issued pursuant to Chapter 11 (commencing with Section 7500) of Division 3 of the Business and Professions Code, or to demonstrate, to the satisfaction of the law enforcement agency, impounding agency, or any person acting on behalf of those agencies that the agent is exempt from licensure pursuant to Section 7500.2 or 7500.3 of the Business and Professions Code.

(4) No administrative costs authorized under Title 13 of this Code shall be charged to the legal owner of the type specified in paragraph (1), who redeems the vehicle unless the legal owner voluntarily requests a poststorage hearing. A legal owner or a legal owner's agent shall not be required to request a poststorage hearing as a requirement for release of the vehicle to the legal owner or the legal owner's agent. The law enforcement agency, impounding agency, or any person acting on behalf of those agencies shall not require any documents other than those specified in this paragraph. The law enforcement agency, impounding agency, or any person acting on behalf of those agencies shall not require any documents to be notarized.

(h) (1)

A legal owner or the legal owner's agent that obtains release of the vehicle pursuant to Subdivision (f) may not release the vehicle to the registered owner of the vehicle or any agents of the registered owner, unless the registered owner is a rental car agency, until after the termination of the 30-day impoundment period.

(2) The legal owner or the legal owner's agent may not relinquish the vehicle to the registered owner until the registered owner or that owner's agent presents his or her valid driver's license or valid temporary driver's license to the legal owner or the legal owner's agent. The legal owner or the legal owner's agent shall make every reasonable effort to ensure that the license presented is valid.

(3) Prior to relinquishing the vehicle, the legal owner may require the registered owner to pay all towing and storage charges related to the impoundment and any administrative charges authorized under Title 13 of this Code that were incurred by the legal owner in connection with obtaining custody of the vehicle.

(i) (1)

A vehicle removed and seized under Subdivision (a) shall be released to a rental car agency prior to the end of 30 days' impoundment if the agency is either the legal owner or registered owner of the vehicle and the agency pays all towing and storage fees related to the seizure of the vehicle.

(2) The owner of a rental vehicle that was seized under this Section may continue to rent the vehicle upon recovery of the vehicle. However, the rental car agency may not rent another vehicle to the driver of the vehicle that was seized until 30 days after the date that the vehicle was seized.

(3) The rental car agency may require the person to whom the vehicle was rented to pay all towing and storage charges related to the impoundment and any administrative charges authorized under Section 22850.5 that were incurred by the rental car agency in connection with obtaining custody of the vehicle.

(j) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Section, the registered owner and not the legal owner shall remain responsible for any towing and storage charges related to the impoundment, any administrative charges authorized under Title 13 of this Code, and any parking fines, penalties, and administrative fees incurred by the registered owner.

(k) The law enforcement agency and the impounding agency, including any tow yard acting on behalf of the law enforcement agency or impounding agency, shall not be liable to the registered owner for the improper release of the vehicle to the legal owner or the legal owner's agent provided the release complies with the provisions of this Section.

(Ord. No. 1484)

If any section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase, provision or portion of this Chapter, or the application thereof to any person or circumstances, is for any reason held to be invalid or unconstitutional by the decision of any court of competent jurisdiction, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions or provisions of this Chapter, or their applicability to distinguishable situations or circumstances. In enacting this Chapter, it is the desire of the Board of Supervisors to validly regulate to the full measure of its legal authority in the public interest, and to that end, the Board of Supervisors declares that it would have adopted this Chapter and each section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase, provision, or portion thereof, irrespective of the fact that any one or more sections, subsections, sentences, clauses, phrases or portions thereof might be declared invalid or unconstitutional in whole or in part, as applied to any particular situation or circumstances, and to this end the provisions of this Chapter are intended to be severable.

State Law reference— Similar provisions, Government Code § 23.