Section
General Provisions
90.01 Definitions
90.02 Findings
90.03 Provisions supplementary to other laws
Prohibitions
90.15 Abandonment prohibited
90.16 Use of alley, street or public parking lot for storage of vehicles
90.17 Permits
Administration and Enforcement
90.30 Enforcement by Chief of Police
90.31 Authority of peace officer or city employee to remove vehicles
90.32 Authority of contractor to remove abandoned vehicle
90.33 Right of entry
90.34 Abatement and removal procedures
90.35 Storage of vehicles
90.36 Notice and hearing for low value vehicles
90.37 Disposition; prohibition against reconstruction
90.38 Notice to Department of Motor Vehicles, California Highway Patrol
90.39 City administrative costs
90.99 Penalty
GENERAL PROVISIONS
For the purpose of this chapter, the following definitions shall apply unless the context clearly indicates or requires a different meaning.
ABANDONED VEHICLE. Shall mean and include the following:
(1) PUBLIC NUISANCE VEHICLE. Any vehicle or parts thereof, that is abandoned, wrecked, dismantled or inoperative, that is left on public or private property, not including highways; and that creates a condition tending to reduce the value of private property, promotes blight and deterioration, invites plundering, creates fire hazards, constitutes an attractive nuisance endangering the health and safety of minors, harbors rodents and insects, or, jeopardizes health, safety and general welfare.
(2) ABANDONED VEHICLE. A vehicle is “abandoned” if it is left on a highway, public property, or private property in such inoperable or neglected condition that the owner's intention to relinquish all further rights or interests in it may be reasonably concluded. In reference to highways, “abandonment” is presumed to have occurred if a vehicle is left 72 hours or more on the highway, or is parked, resting or otherwise immobilized on any highway or public right-of-way; and lacks an engine, transmission, wheels, tires, doors, windshield, or any other part or equipment necessary to operate safely on the highway. Such vehicles are presumed to be a hazard to public health, safety, and welfare and may be removed immediately upon discovery by a peace officer or other designated employee.
(3) WRECKED VEHICLE. Any vehicle that is damaged to such an extent that it cannot be operated upon the highway. A vehicle which has been wrecked in a traffic accident, and which has been removed from the roadway to a storage facility, but which has not been claimed by its owner will not be considered an abandoned vehicle.
(4) DISMANTLED VEHICLE. Any vehicle that is partially or wholly disassembled.
(5) INOPERATIVE VEHICLE. Any motor vehicle that cannot be moved under its own power.
AXLE. A structure or portion of a structure consisting of one or more shafts, spindles, or bearings in the same vertical transverse plane by means of which, in conjunction with wheels mounted on said shafts, spindles, or bearings, a portion of the weight of a vehicle and its load, if any, is continuously transmitted to die roadway when the vehicle is in motion.
BUS.
(1) Except as provided in division (2) of this definition, a BUS is any vehicle, including a trailer bus, designed, used, or maintained for carrying more than 15 persons, including the driver.
(2) A vehicle designed, used, or maintained for carrying more than ten persons, including the driver, which is used to transport persons for compensation or profit, or is used by any nonprofit organization or group, is also a BUS.
(3) This definition does not alter the definition of a schoolbus, school pupil activity bus, general public paratransit vehicle, farm labor vehicle, or youth bus.
(4) A vanpool vehicle is not a bus.
CAMPER. A structure designed to be mounted upon a motor vehicle and to provide facilities for human habitation or camping purposes. A camper having one axle shall not be considered a vehicle.
EMPLOYEE. A city employee designated by the Chief of Police.
HIGHWAY. A way or place of whatever nature, publicly maintained and open to the use of the public for purposes of vehicular traffic. Highway includes a street, and all or any part of the entire width of the right-of-way of said highway.
MOTOR VEHICLE. A vehicle that is self-propelled. MOTOR VEHICLE does not include a self-propelled wheelchair, motorized tricycle, or motorized quadricycle, if operated by a person who, by reason of physical disability, is otherwise unable to move about as a pedestrian. For purposes of Cal. Vehicle Code, Chapter 6 (commencing with § 3000) of Division 2, MOTOR VEHICLE includes a recreational vehicle as that term is defined in Cal. Health and Safety Code, § 18010(a), but does not include a truck camper.
MOTOR TRUCK or MOTORTRUCK. A motor vehicle designed, used, or maintained primarily for the transportation of property.
PEACE OFFICER. An individual as defined in Cal. Penal Code, Chapter 4.5 (commencing with § 830) of Title 3 of Part 2.
RECREATIONAL VEHICLE. Means both of the following:
(1) A motor home, travel trailer, truck camper, or camping trailer, with or without motive power, designed for human habitation for recreational, emergency, or other occupancy, that meets all of the following criteria:
(a) It contains less than 320 square feet of internal living room area, excluding built-in equipment, including, but not limited to, wardrobe, closets, cabinets, kitchen units or fixtures, and bath or toilet rooms.
(b) It contains 400 square feet or less of gross area measured at maximum horizontal projections.
(c) It is built on a single chassis.
(d) It is either self-propelled, truck-mounted, or permanently towable on the highways without a permit.
(2) A park trailer, as defined in Cal. Health and Safety Code, § 18009.3.
SEMITRAILER. A vehicle designed for carrying persons or property, used in conjunction with a motor vehicle, and so constructed that some part of its weight and that of its load rests upon, or is carried by, another vehicle.
TRAILER COACH. A vehicle, other than a motor vehicle, designed for human habitation or human occupancy for industrial, professional, or commercial purposes, for carrying property on its own structure, and for being drawn by a motor vehicle. A PARK TRAILER, as described in Cal. Health and Safety Code, § 18009.3, is a trailer coach.
TRUCK TRACTOR.
(1) A motor vehicle designed and used primarily for drawing other vehicles and not so constructed as to carry a load, other than a part of the weight of the vehicle and the load so drawn. As used in this section, LOAD does not include items carried on the truck tractor in conjunction with the operation of the vehicle if the load-carrying space for these items does not exceed 34 square feet.
(2) Notwithstanding division (a) of this definition, a TRUCK TRACTOR, operated by a motor carrier whose owner is licensed by the Department of the California Highway Patrol to transport explosives pursuant to Cal. Veh. Code, Division 14 (commencing with § 31600), may be equipped with a cargo container used exclusively for the transportation of explosives or munitions-related security material, as specified by the United States Department of Defense.
VEHICLE. A device in, upon, or by which any person or property is or may be propelled, moved or drawn upon a highway, excepting a device moved by human power or used exclusively upon stationary rails or tracks.
('63 Code, § 3-10.01) (Ord. 542-C.S., passed 4-2-92; Am. Ord. 739-C.S., passed 3-17-09)
In addition to and in accordance with the determination made and the authority granted by the state under Cal. Veh. Code, § 22660 to remove abandoned, wrecked, dismantled or inoperative vehicles or parts as public nuisances, the City Council makes the following findings and declarations:
(A) The accumulation and storage of abandoned, wrecked, dismantled, or inoperative vehicles or parts, on private or public property, including highways, creates a condition tending to reduce the value of private property, promotes blight and deterioration, invites plundering, creates fire hazards, constitutes an attractive nuisance creating a hazard to the health and safety of minors, creates a harborage for rodents and insects and is injurious to the health, safety and general welfare.
(B) Therefore, the presence of an abandoned, wrecked, dismantled or inoperative vehicle or parts, on private or public property, including highways, is declared to constitute a nuisance which may be abated in accordance with the provisions of this chapter.
('63 Code, § 3-10.02) (Ord. 542-C.S., passed 4-2-92)
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