HomeMy WebLinkAbout11A - 2ND READ ORD - CODE ENFORCEMENT FEESREQUEST FOR
COUNCIL ACTION
CITY COUNCIL MEETING DATE:
MARCH 3, 2015
TITLE:
ORDINANCE SECOND READING: CODE
ENFORCEMENT REMEDIES AND
ADMINISTRATIVE FINES RELATING TO
CODE VIOLATIONS
(STRATEGIC PLAN NO. 5, 1)
CITY MANAGER
RECOMMENDED ACTION
Place ordinance on second reading and adopt.
DISCUSSION
CLERK OF COUNCIL USE ONLY:
APPROVED
❑ As Recommended
❑ As Amended
❑ Ordinance on 1" Reading
❑ Ordinance on 2nd Reading
❑ Implementing Resolution
❑ Set Public Hearing For
CONTINUED TO
FILE NUMBER
On February 17, 2015, the City Council introduced first reading and authorized publication of title
for the following Ordinance by a vote of 6 -0 (Tinajero absent):
ORDINANCE NO. NS -2876 - AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY
OF SANTA ANA AMENDING CHAPTER 1 AND CHAPTER 8 OF THE SANTA ANA
MUNICIPAL CODE REGARDING CODE ENFORCEMENT PROVISIONS, INCLUDING
CIVIL PENALTIES, RECOVERY OF ATTORNEYS' FEES, AND REMOVAL OF
UTILITIES
STRATEGIC PLAN ALIGNMENT
Approval of this item supports the City's efforts to meet Goal #5 Community Health, Livability,
Engagement & Sustainability, Objective #1 (Establish a comprehensive community engagement
initiative to expand access to information and create opportunities for stakeholders to play an
active role in discussing public policy and setting priorities).
FISCAL IMPACT
There is no fiscal impact associated with this action.
Maria D.'Huizar,
Clerk of the Council
ATTACHMENT: Ordinance No. NS -2876
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SMS 02/17/15
ORDINANCE NO. NS -XXX
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY
OF SANTA ANA AMENDING CHAPTER 1 AND CHAPTER
8 OF THE SANTA ANA MUNICIPAL CODE REGARDING
CODE ENFORCEMENT PROVISIONS, INCLUDING CIVIL
PENALTIES, RECOVERY OF ATTORNEYS' FEES, AND
REMOVAL OF UTILITIES.
THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA ANA DOES ORDAIN AS
FOLLOWS:
Section 1. The City Council of the City of Santa Ana hereby finds, determines
and declares as follows:
A. The Community Preservation Division for the City of Santa Ana's Planning
& Building Agency seeks supplemental enforcement tools already used by
other cities in California, to further safeguard and promote the health and
safety of the Santa Ana community. Community Preservation inspectors
are tasked with inspecting, analyzing, and enforcing Santa Ana Municipal
Code (SAMC) violations to ensure compliance. The proposed Ordinance
provides additional enforcement tools to aid in SAMC violation
enforcement, including: (1) Civil Penalties, (2) Attorney's Fees and (3) the
Disconnection of utilities.
B. These additions are requested for various reasons. The Community
Preservation Division routinely recommends cases to the City Attorney's
Office for civil prosecution. At present, successful civil litigation results in
a temporary restraining order and /or a preliminary injunction to stop a
nuisance. Amending the SAMC to allow for civil penalties and attorneys'
fees in those actions for code violations, will help deter continuing
violations or nuisances and will allow the City to recover the cost of
professional services provided by the City Attorney's Office spent
litigating civil cases. Additionally, all businesses are required to have a
certificate of occupancy that confirms that the business is operating in
compliance with the SAMC. If a business does not have a certificate of
occupancy, or is not operating in accordance with the certificate of
occupancy, this ordinance confirms the City's ability to disconnect the
utilities to such businesses until compliance with the certificate of
occupancy requirements is obtained. Non - compliant businesses pose a
threat to the health and safety, and well -being of the public and to the
business owner and its employees due to those violations of the SAMC or
other applicable codes.
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C. This ordinance came before the City Council of the City of Santa on
February 17, 2015.
D. The Request for Council Action for this ordinance dated February 17,
2015, and duly signed by the City Manager, shall, by this reference, be
incorporated herein, and together with this ordinance, any amendments or
supplements.
E. All provisions of the Santa Ana Municipal Code which are repeated herein
are repeated solely in order to comply with the provisions of Section 418
of the City Charter. Any such restatement of existing provisions of the
Code is not intended, nor shall it be interpreted, as constituting a new
action or decision of the City Council, but rather such provisions are
repeated for tracking purposes only in conformance with the Charter.
Section 2. Pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act ( "CEQA ") and
the State CEQA Guidelines, the adoption of this ordinance is exempt from CEQA review
pursuant to 14 California Code of Regulations section 15061(b)(3), which is applicable if
it can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility that the project may have a
significant effect on the environment. As a result, a Notice of Exemption will be filed
upon adoption of this ordinance.
Section 3. Section 1 -8 of Chapter 1 of the Santa Ana Municipal Code is hereby
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 1 -8. Violations — general penalties; continuing violations; fines; alternative
enforcement
(a) Criminal Violations. Unless otherwise specifically stated in this Code, it
shall be unlawful and a misdemeanor for any person to violate or fail to comply
with any provision of this Code and where no specific penalty is provided therefor
in this Code, the violation of any provision of this Code shall be punished by a
fine not exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000.00) or imprisonment for a term
not exceeding six (6) months or by both such fine and imprisonment. However,
any such violation constituting a misdemeanor under this Code may, at the
discretion of the city attorney, be prosecuted as an infraction. Each day any
violation of any provision of this Code shall constitute a separate offense.
(b) Administrative Violations. In addition to any other remedy provided by
this Code, violations of this Code may be addressed through the use of an
administrative citation as set forth in sections 1 -21.1 through 1 -21.9. Use of
sections 1 -21.1 through 1 -21.9 shall not prevent the use of other methods of
enforcement or abatement as provided by this Code. Such methods include but
are not limited to criminal and civil actions.
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(c) Civil Violations — Injunctions and Civil Penalties.
(i) In addition to any other remedy provided by this Code, any
provision of this Code may be enforced by injunction issued by the
Superior Court upon a suit brought by the City of Santa Ana.
(ii) As part of a civil action filed to enforce provisions of this Code, a
court may assess a maximum civil penalty of two thousand five
hundred dollars ($2,500) per violation of the Municipal Code for
each day during which any person commits, continues, allows or
maintains a violation of any provision of this Code.
Section 4. Section 1 -13 of Chapter 1 of the Santa Ana Municipal Code is hereby
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 1 -13. Same — Abatement as Nuisance; special assessment; attorneys' fees
(a) Public Nuisance Abatement. In addition to the penalties provided in this
Code, any condition caused or permitted to exist in violation of any of the provisions
of this Code, uniform or adopted codes, or any provision of State or Federal law
that may be enforced by the city, shall be deemed a public nuisance and may be,
by this city, summarily abated as such by filing criminal or civil actions, and each
day such condition continues shall be regarded as a new and separate offense.
(b) Recovery of Attorneys' Fees Authorized. The prevailing party in any
judicial action, administrative proceeding, or special proceeding to abate a nuisance
may recover its reasonable attorneys' fees, provided that the city elected, at the
initiation of such individual action or proceeding, to recover its own attorneys' fees.
In no judicial action or administrative proceeding shall an award of attorneys' fees to
a prevailing party exceed the amount of reasonable attorneys' fees incurred by the
city in the judicial action or administrative proceeding. A judicial action includes, but
is not limited to, any civil or criminal action, inspection or abatement warrant,
administrative proceeding, or appeal from an administrative proceeding.
"Abatement" shall include any action taken by the City to cause or otherwise obtain
compliance with this municipal code or other codes, as specified herein, even if the
violation is ultimately corrected by the violator. Any recovery of attorneys' fees for
abatement of a nuisance shall be in accordance with this section.
Section 5. Section 8 -95 of Chapter 8 of the Santa Ana Municipal Code is hereby
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 8 -95. Certificate of occupancy (Chapter 1, Division II, Section 111).
Chapter 1, Division II, Section 111.1 of the building code is amended to read
as follows:
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Chapter 1, Division II, Section 111.1 — Certificate of Occupancy
(1) Use and occupancy. No building or structure shall be used or occupied,
and no change in the existing occupancy classification of a building or structure or
portion thereof shall be made, until the building official has issued a certificate of
occupancy therefor as provided herein. Issuance of a certificate of occupancy shall
not be construed as an approval of a violation of the provisions of this code or other
ordinances of the jurisdiction.
Exception: Certificates of occupancy are not required for work exempt from
permits under Section 105.2
(2) No alteration to an existing building which changes the floor area of the
building or which changes the means of egress from the building shall be made
until the building official has issued a certificate of occupancy therefor as provided
herein.
(3) No change of occupant within a building or portion thereof shall be made
until the building official has issued a certificate of occupancy therefor as provided
herein.
Exception: Group R, Divisions 2 and 3, and Group U Occupancies.
(4) Code violations- Disconnection of utilities
(i) No building or structure shall be occupied, nor shall a
business operate without a valid Certificate of Occupancy.
A business operating in a manner inconsistent with its
Certificate of Occupancy is operating in violation of this
code provision.
(ii) Violation of this code provision may result in the
disconnection of any or all utilities.
(iii) A building, structure, or business whose utilities have been
disconnected shall not have the utilities reconnected until
an inspection has been made by the city's building official
and the building official has determined that the building
complies with this code.
(iv) A building or structure that is new construction can likewise
not be occupied or its utilities connected until an inspection
has been made by the city's building official and the building
official has determined that the building complies with this
code.
(v) Removing or defacing a notice posted in relation to
violations of this code provision or this code, shall constitute
a separate and distinct violation of this code provision.
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Section 6. Any provision of the Code that is inconsistent with the provisions of
this Ordinance, to the extent of such inconsistencies and no further, is hereby repealed
or modified to that extent necessary to effect the provisions of this Ordinance.
Section 7. If any section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase or portion of this
ordinance 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 of this ordinance. The City Council of the City of Santa Ana hereby declares that it
would have adopted this ordinance and each section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase
or portion thereof irrespective of the fact that any one or more sections, subsections,
sentences, clauses, phrases, or portions be declared invalid or unconstitutional.
Section 8. This ordinance shall become effective thirty days after its adoption by
the City Council.
ADOPTED this day of
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
Sonia R. Carvalho, City Attorney
Bv:
Sandra M. Schwarzmann
Senior Assistant City Attorney
AYES:
Councilmembers
NOES: Councilmembers
ABSTAIN: Councilmembers
NOT PRESENT: Councilmembers
2015
Miguel A. Pulido
Mayor
CERTIFICATE OF ATTESTATION AND ORIGINALITY
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I, MARIA D. HUIZAR, Clerk of the Council, do hereby attest to and certify that the
attached Ordinance No. NS -XXX to be the original ordinance adopted by the City
Council of the City of Santa Ana on , and that said ordinance was
published in accordance with the Charter of the City of Santa Ana.
Date:
Clerk of the Council
City of Santa Ana
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