On behalf of the town, the county may choose to undertake the following legal actions to correct and/or abate nuisances and violations of this chapter. The Director of Environmental Health Services or their designee is authorized to promulgate regulations and take any and all other actions reasonable and necessary to enforce the provisions of this chapter, including but not limited to, entering the premises of any food provider during regular business hours to verify compliance, and by the issuance of administrative citations. The remedies and penalties provided by this chapter are cumulative and in addition to any other remedies available at law or in equity.
(A) Administrative citations. Administrative citations may be issued for violations of this chapter at the discretion of the Director. The issuance of an administrative citation under this chapter shall not supersede or limit the remedies provided elsewhere in this Code or California law, including other administrative citation remedies. Issuance of an administrative citation may be exercised in place of, but shall not be considered a waiver of, the use of any other available enforcement remedy.
(B) Process and service of citation.
(1) Prior to issuance of citation penalty, the county shall issue a violation warning letter to the facility operator and provide the facility operator 30 days to correct the violation(s).
(2) The violation warning letter and/or citation shall be mailed to the food facility operator named in the facility's permit.
(3) The failure of any interested person to receive the violation warning letter and/or citation shall not affect the validity of the proceedings.
(C) Administrative citation penalty schedule. Following the violation warning letter described in division (B)(1) above and 30-day cure period, if the violations remains, the county may issue the following administrative penalties:
(1) A fine not exceeding $100 for the first violation;
(2) A fine not exceeding $200 for a second violation of the same Code provision within one year; and
(3) A fine not exceeding $500 for each additional violation in excess of two, of the same Code provision within one year.
(D) Response to citation penalty. Following receipt of citation penalty, food facility operator shall have 30 days to pay the fine as indicated on the citation, or to request a waiver of payment of the penalty due to unique undue hardship. This waiver may be granted by the Director upon demonstration by a food facility operator to the satisfaction of the Director that strict application of the requirements would cause undue hardship. An "undue hardship" includes but is not limited to the following: (1) a situation unique to the food facility where a suitable alternative that conforms with the requirements of this chapter does not exist for a specific application; and (2) imposing the provisions of this chapter would cause significant economic hardship. "Significant economic hardship" may be based on, but not limited to, demonstrating that suitable foodware or foodware accessories made of compliant compostable natural fiber is not available at a commercially reasonable price and the additional cost associated with providing the compliant foodware or foodware is particularly burdensome to the food facility based on the type of operation(s) affected, the overall size of the business/operation, the number, type and location of its facilities, the impact on the overall financial resources of the food facility, and other factors. Reasonable added cost for a suitable item as compared to a similar item that the food facility can no longer use shall not by itself constitute adequate grounds to support an exemption for such item. In determining whether a significant economic hardship has been established, the Director or designee shall consider the following information: ability of the food facility to recover the additional expense by increasing its prices; the availability of tax credits and deductions; outside funding; and other options.
(E) Nonpayment of citation for more than one year deemed nuisance. Nonpayment of any assessed violation for longer than one year shall constitute a nuisance and be subject to the nuisance abatement procedures in Marin County Code Chapter 1.05, including payment of civil penalties of up to $2,500 per violation per day and enforcement and other abatement costs incurred by the County.
(Ord. 878, passed 4-5-2023)