§ 90.99 PENALTY.

   (A)   Any person violating any provision of this chapter for which no specific penalty is prescribed shall be subject to § 10.99.

   (B)   In addition to the remedies provided in §§ 90.02 through 90.04, any violation of the terms of §§ 90.01 through 90.04 shall subject the violator to the penalties and remedies, either criminal or civil or both, as set forth in § 10.99.

   (C)   Authorization to record, log, investigate, and enforce violations of §§ 90.16, 90.17, and 90.18 is given to the Planning and Zoning/Code Administrator, City Administrator, sworn officers with the Police Department, or other persons designated by the City Administrator.

   (D)   Any person, owner/operator of a vehicle, conveyance, or device, commercial establishment or owner/operator of any commercial establishment in violation of any section in this chapter for which no specific penalty is prescribed shall be subject to § 10.99.

   (E)   Violations of §§ 90.16, 90.17, and 90.18 shall constitute either a misdemeanor in violation of G.S. § 14-4 or, at the election of the city, shall subject the offender to a civil penalty upon the issuance of a citation for the violation as hereinafter provided.

   (F)   In the event that a civil penalty is issued for violations of §§ 90.16, 90.17, or 90.18, if the prescribed penalty is not paid it may be recovered by the city in a civil action in the nature of debt.

   (G)   Unless otherwise provided by a specific provision of any city ordinance or in this section, the civil penalty for violation of § 90.16 or § 90.18 (excluding commercial or otherwise business establishment deemed to be in violation of § 90.18(B) as well as § 90.17) shall be for an amount not to exceed $50 for each violation and each time any single violation occurs, it may be considered as a separate violation.

   (H)   Specific to commercial and otherwise business establishments, the owners and/or operators of the establishment, establishment management and/or employees, shall be responsible and liable for any violations of §§ 90.15 through 90.19 by patrons or guests of the establishment.

   (I)    Specific to commercial and otherwise business establishments, violations of §§ 90.17 through 90.19 may be subject to either civil or criminal penalties or both.

   (J)   Specific to commercial and otherwise business establishments, upon receipt of a complaint alleging a violation or the observance of a violation of §§ 90.17 and/or 90.18(B), an authorized official as set forth in division (C) above shall investigate and confirm the violation. Upon any confirmed violation, at the discretion of the authorized investigating official a verbal or written warning of the violation with the request for abatement may be issued or may be disregarded in lieu of civil and/or criminal penalties.

   (K)   Specific to commercial and otherwise business establishments, within any 30-day period upon confirmation of any first penalized violation (not including violations where a warning was issued) as established in §§ 90.17 and/or 90.18(B), an authorized official may issue the offender as noted in § 90.99(H) a civil penalty in the amount of $100. In the event of subsequent violations within any 30-day period, then the civil penalty shall be increased for each additional violation up to the third penalized violation. Subsequent violations beyond the third within any 30-day period may be charged as a misdemeanor in violation of G.S. § 14-4, upon conviction, be guilty of a Class 3 misdemeanor and subject to a fine not to exceed $500 and/or imprisonment not to exceed 30 days.

   (L)   Specific to commercial and otherwise business establishments in violation of §§ 90.17 and/or 90.18(B), the date of the first penalized violation shall establish the beginning date for the initial 30-day period. The next violation within that 30-day period shall be considered the second violation. Any violations that follow within that 30-day period shall be numbered sequentially. The penalty shall be:

      (1)   Any violation: Verbal or written warning at discretion of authorized official.

         (a)   First penalized violation: $100 civil penalty.

            (Starts 30-day period)

         (b)   Second penalized violation: $200 civil penalty.

         (c)   Third and subsequent penalized violations: $300 civil penalty OR misdemeanor.

      (2)   Once the 30-day period has run from the first penalized violation, the next penalized violation shall be considered to be a first penalized violation for the purposes of establishing a new 30-day period.

   (M)   Specific to commercial and otherwise business establishment violations of § 90.18(B) or § 90.17), violators that are issued a civil written code and ordinance violation notice citation must pay the fine issued on that citation within 72 hours of the issue date and time, which penalty may provide for an additional $50 delinquency charge for each 72-hour period thereafter upon nonpayment until paid in full.

   (N)   Specific to violations of § 90.16 or § 90.18 (excluding commercial or otherwise business establishment deemed to be in violation of § 90.18(B) or § 90.17), the owners and/or apparent operators of the noise making equipment, device, or entity, or established adult or parental residents or owner of the offending residential property shall be responsible and liable for any violations of these sections or for any violations of these sections by any juveniles or guests under their control.

   (O)   Specific to violations of § 90.16 or § 90.18 (excluding commercial or otherwise business establishment deemed to be in violation of § 90.18(B) or § 90.17), upon receipt of a complaint alleging a violation or the observance of a violation of these aforementioned sections, an authorized official as set forth in division (C) above shall investigate and confirm the violation. Upon any confirmed violation, at the discretion of the authorized investigating official a verbal or written warning of the violation with the request for abatement may be issued or may be disregarded in lieu of civil and/or criminal penalties.

   (P)   Specific to violations of § 90.16 or § 90.18 (excluding commercial or otherwise business establishment deemed to be in violation of § 90.18(B) or § 90.17), violators that are issued a civil written code and ordinance violation notice citation must pay the fine issued on that citation within 15 days of the issue date and time, which penalty may provide for an additional $50 delinquency charge for each 15-day period thereafter upon nonpayment until paid in full.

   (Q)   At the discretion of the authorized investigating official, any violation of § 90.16 or § 90.18 (excluding commercial or otherwise business establishment deemed to be in violation of § 90.18(B) or § 90.17) may be charged as a misdemeanor in violation of G.S. § 14-4, upon conviction, be guilty of a Class 3 misdemeanor and subject to a fine not to exceed $500 and/or imprisonment not to exceed 30 days.

   (R)   The City Attorney, or their designee, is authorized to file suit on behalf of the city to collect any unpaid citations and any delinquency charge, and the Planning and Zoning/Code Administrator, or their designee, is authorized to verify and sign complaints on behalf of the city in such suits. If litigation is required to recover the penalties and delinquency charges, the City Attorney or their designee in addition to the penalties and delinquency charges may recover reasonable attorney's fees and other costs incurred in bringing the action and collecting the judgment.

   (S)   Remedies. This chapter may also be enforced through equitable remedies including but not limited to nuisance abatement procedures as issued by a court of competent jurisdiction.

(Ord. 40, passed 11-1-1990; Ord. -, passed 11-7-2002; Ord. -, passed 9-2-2004; Ord. passed 6- -2016; Ord. 2024-02, passed 8-8-2024)