All matters to be adjudicated by the administrative hearing officer shall be commenced against the party alleged to have violated one or more code provisions by issuing and serving upon that party a charging document and shall be conducted in accordance with the following procedures:
(A) The charging document shall be issued by a city officer or employee authorized to exercise code enforcement authority and served as provided for in division (D) of this section.
(B) Any charging document issued pursuant to this section shall contain the following information:
(1) The name, city department, position, and identification number, if applicable, of the person issuing the charging document;
(2) The name and address of the person or entity being charged with one or more code violations (“respondent”);
(3) The name and address of the person to whom the charging document is given if that person is not the respondent;
(4) The section(s) of the code alleged to have been violated;
(5) The date, time, and place of the alleged violation(s);
(6) A legally sufficient description of the activity or conduct alleged to constitute a violation of each code section set forth in the charging document or a legally sufficient description of the facts giving rise to the allegations set forth in the charging document;
(7) The complainant’s name if the complainant is not the issuing city officer or employee.
(8) The city officer or employee shall certify the correctness of the information required by this section, by signing his or her name to the charging document to be issued. Compliance with this section shall establish a prima facie case.
(9) A charging document issued pursuant to this section also shall set forth:
(a) The date, time and place of the adjudicatory hearing to be held with respect to the violation(s) alleged in the charging document and
(b) The legal authority and jurisdiction under which the hearing will be held.
(C) The hearing shall be scheduled with reasonable promptness, provided that for hearings scheduled in all nonemergency situations, the respondent shall have at least 15 days after service of process to prepare for a hearing if requested by the respondent. For purposes of this division, “nonemergency situation” means any situation that does not reasonably constitute a threat to the public interest, safety or welfare.
(D) The respondent named in a charging document shall be given notice of the date of the adjudicatory hearing which may appear on the face of the notice of violation, citation, or other charging document. Notice may be given in any of the following ways:
(a) By first class mail or by overnight or two-day commercial delivery service at the respondent's last known address or if the respondent is a business entity, at any address identified for its registered agent or at its principal place of business; or
(b) By personal service;
(c) By posting upon the property that is the site of the alleged violation(s) when the respondent is the owner or person in control of the property; or
(d) By any other means permitted by law for service of civil summons.
(E) If service is provided by first class mail or by overnight or two-day commercial delivery service, the 15-day period shall begin to run on the day that the notice is deposited in the mail or given to the commercial delivery service, as applicable.
(F) The original or a legible copy of the notice of violation, citation, or other charging document shall be filed with the office of administrative hearings as soon as practicable at the place and in the manner as the administrative hearings supervisor directs. Upon receiving the original or legible copy of the charging document, the administrative hearings supervisor shall select a hearing date and give respondent notice of the date, time, and place of the hearing in the manner set forth in this section, unless the charging document sets forth the date, time, and location of the hearing and was served on the respondent as provided in this section.
(G) Parties to an adjudicatory hearing may be represented by an attorney, present witnesses, and cross examine opposing witnesses. Parties may request the administrative hearing officer to issue subpoenas according to the authority granted in this chapter.
(Ord. 2685, passed 4-24-2017)