(A) Any violations of the Town Fire Code shall be deemed a public nuisance.
(B) The owner of any property within the town has the primary responsibility for keeping the property free of public nuisances. Tenants and occupants, for the purposes of this chapter, shall be deemed to be the agents of the owner.
(C) All entries and inspections shall be done in a lawful and reasonable manner. If an owner, lawful occupant, or the respective agent thereof refuses permission to enter and/or inspect, the Fire Chief of the Ross Valley Fire Department or the duly authorized enforcement officer (collectively hereinafter, "Fire Chief") may seek an administrative inspection warrant pursuant to the procedures provided by Cal. Code of Civil Procedure §§ 1822.50 through 1822.59, as may be amended from time to time, or the successor provisions thereto.
(D) Whenever the Fire Chief believes a public nuisance exists, the Fire Chief shall commence abatement proceedings.
(E) The Fire Chief shall cause a written notice to be issued to abate such nuisance. Notice requiring the abatement of such nuisance shall be given by mail to the owner of the property upon which, or in front of which, such nuisance exists, at such owner's address as shown on the last equalized Assessment Roll of the County of Marin. Such notice shall contain the following:
(1) The street address and Assessor's Parcel Number for the affected property.
(2) The date of the inspection of the property by the Fire Department during which such nuisance was discovered.
(3) A description of the nuisance and its location on, or in front of, the property.
(4) The abatement action which the owner is required to take and a time limit for such abatement.
(5) A statement that if the owner fails to abate such nuisance within the prescribed time and the Fire Department, or other town agent, will abate the nuisance.
(6) A statement that if the Fire Department, or other town agent, is required to abate the nuisance the cost of such abatement will be assessed as a lien or special assessment against the property.
(7) A statement that the determination of the existence of a nuisance may be appealed to the Fire Chief within the time limit to abate the nuisance.
(F) Abatement. Should the owner of the affected property (i) fail to abate the nuisance; and (ii) fail to appeal the determination of the existence of a nuisance to the Fire Chief within the period set forth in the notice requiring abatement, the Fire Chief is authorized to perform such abatement and shall keep an accurate account of the cost of such abatement, including administrative costs.
(G) The Fire Chief shall mail written notice of the costs of the abatement to the owner of the affected property who may, within fifteen days of the date of such mailing, request a hearing by the Fire Chief with respect to such cost. The Fire Chief shall hold a hearing within 30 days of receiving the request. The Fire Chief may make any corrections or modifications if it deems the proposed costs to be excessive or incorrect. The decision of the Fire Chief shall be final.
(H) Assessment of cost. The cost of such abatement as finally fixed and determined by the Fire Chief may be recovered in an appropriate civil action, including costs of litigation and attorney fees, or may be enforced by a nuisance abatement lien or special assessment against the parcel of land as more particularly set forth in Cal. Gov't Code §§ 38773.1 and 38773.5, respectively. At least 30 days prior to recordation of the nuisance abatement lien, or submission of the report to the Tax Collector for collection of this special assessment, the Fire Chief shall give notice to the record owner of the property of the intent to collect abatement and related administrative costs against the property. In addition to any information required by state law, the notice shall include a summary of costs associated with enforcement of this chapter and abatement of the nuisance.
(I) Emergency abatement. Notwithstanding any other provisions of this chapter, whenever the Fire Chief determines that any real property or any building, structure or condition thereon is dangerous or constitutes an immediate threat to public health or safety, the Fire Chief shall, without being required to comply with the procedures of this section, immediately cause such public nuisance to be abated, provided all other legal constitutional requirements are complied with.
(J) Remedies are cumulative. Nothing in this chapter shall be deemed to prevent the town from commencing a civil or criminal proceeding to abate a public nuisance or from pursuing any other means available to it under provisions of applicable ordinances or state law to correct hazards, deficiencies or violations of law in real property in addition to or as alternatives to the proceedings set forth in this chapter.
(Ord. 774, passed 12-4-2013; Am. Ord. 804, passed 12-7-2016; Am. Ord. 842, passed 12-4-2019; Am. Ord. 873, passed 12-7-2022)