(a) No owner of any real estate premises within the City shall transfer legal or equitable ownership of that premises without first obtaining a pre-sale inspection of the exterior of the premises and a certificate of occupancy, pursuant to this chapter. The purpose of the inspection is to enable the City to identify whether any violations of this zoning code or any other applicable codes, ordinances, or regulations exist on the premises, such that necessary repairs may be identified and required prior to transfer.
(b) Application for a pre-sale inspection shall be made by the owner of the premises or their representative on such form, and accompanied by an administrative fee, as may be prescribed from time to time by the Code Enforcement Officer.
(c) Within seven business days after an application for pre-sale inspection is submitted, the code official shall complete the inspection and compile a list of any conditions requiring repair prior to transfer. The code official may extend this deadline for successive seven day periods if such delay is the result of circumstances beyond their control.
(d) No owner is obligated to consent to the pre-sale inspection of premises required by this section, and no criminal penalty shall arise from any such refusal of consent. If the owner of the premises refuses to consent to the pre-sale inspection, then the code official may either:
(1) Appear before any court of competent jurisdiction and request an administrative search warrant to allow an exterior inspection of the premises. The application for the search warrant shall specify the basis upon which the warrant is being sought, together with any evidence supporting such basis, and shall include a statement that the inspection will be limited to determining whether there are violations of this zoning code or any other applicable codes, ordinances, or regulations existing on the premises; or
(2) Perform a plain-view exterior inspection of the premises. In performing any such plain-view exterior inspection, the code official shall limit their inspection to a visual assessment of the exterior of the premises and shall not enter onto the curtilage of the premises while performing the inspection.
(e) If a search warrant is issued pursuant to this section, no owner, occupant, or representative thereof shall fail or refuse, upon presentation of the warrant, to properly permit entry onto the premises by the code official or his duly authorized designee for the purpose of performing the inspection and consistent with the terms of the warrant. Failure or refusal to permit entry onto the premises following presentation of a warrant pursuant to this section shall be a violation of this zoning code punishable pursuant to Section 1268.99.
(f) Upon completion of the inspection and satisfactory repair of any conditions identified by the code official pursuant to this section, the code official shall issue a certificate of occupancy for the premises. Such certificate shall be valid for a period of 180 days from the date of issuance. If no transfer of the premises has occurred within that period, then a new inspection shall be required.
(Ord. 18-04. Passed 4-24-18.)