Laserfiche WebLink
RESOLUTION NO. 2003-055 <br /> <br />RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF <br />SANTA ANA URGING THE CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE <br />TO REJECT ASSEMBLY BILL 789 (MOUNT JOY) TO <br />REDUCE THE ABILITY OF CITIES AND COUNTIES TO <br />REMOVE ABANDONED VEHICLES FROM PRIVATE <br />PROPERTY <br /> <br />bk:5/27/03 <br /> <br /> BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA ANA AS <br />FOLLOWS: <br /> <br /> Section 1. The City Council of the City of Santa Ana hereby finds, determines <br />and declares as follows: <br /> <br />The City's community preservation efforts are focused on ensuring safe, <br />orderly and aesthetically pleasing neighborhoods and commercial areas. <br />Code enforcement officers annually address numerous complaints relating <br />to abandoned vehicles, improper storage of inoperable vehicles, and vehicle <br />repair businesses operated under the guise of car "hobbyists." These uses <br />of residential property create urban blight by contributing to rodent <br />infestation, hazardous oil spills and the accumulation of debris. The City <br />Council has found that these abandoned vehicles, if not fully enclosed within <br />a building, constitute a public nuisance. <br /> <br />Section 22661 of the California Vehicle Code authorizes cities and counties <br />to adopt ordinances to prevent a public nuisance by the abatement of <br />abandoned vehicles on public and private property. This state law is <br />designed to ensure that due process is provided to the vehicle's owner, by <br />requiring pre-abatement notice and, in proper circumstances, a public <br />hearing. The law permits cities and counties to abate as a public nuisance <br />abandoned vehicles located on private property when the vehicle is readily <br />visible from the street or from a neighbor's private property. <br /> <br />Introduced by Assembly Member Dennis L. Mountjoy on February 20, 2003, <br />Assembly Bill 789 would amend this section of the California Vehicle Code <br />to limit the ability of cities and counties to abate the public nuisance caused <br />by abandoned vehicles on private property. According to the Committee <br />Report to the Assembly Committee on Appropriations, the bill's sponsor, <br />"Automotive Aftermarket Services, wants to immunize persons who store old <br />cars out in the open generally in their backyards from the sanctions imposed <br />under local abandoned vehicle abatement ordinances." <br /> <br />Under current law, an abandoned vehicle on private property is subject to <br />abatement unless it is completely enclosed within a building in conformance <br /> <br />Resolution No. 2003-055 <br /> Page 1 of 3 <br /> <br /> <br />