(a) The court shall, upon due notice as set out herein, conduct proceedings to implement and enforce provisions of this article.
(b) The court shall establish procedures for use in hearings, providing ample opportunity for presentation of evidence and testimony by respondents or persons opposing charges brought by the city or its building officials relating to alleged violations of this article.
(c) The City Attorney's office shall present all cases before the court.
(d) In the conduct of all proceedings before the court, the purpose of such proceedings shall be to determine whether or not a building or structure complies with the standards set out in this article. Precedent to any such proceedings the city shall make a diligent effort to identify the owner or owners of the building or structure under review and likewise shall make a diligent effort to discover each mortgagee and lienholder. Before conducting the proceedings, the city shall notify each owner or owners of the building or structure under review as well as each mortgagee and lienholder which the city could reasonably identify and shall give an opportunity to both the owner and the mortgagee or lienholder to appear at the proceeding. Any order issued by the court pursuant to said proceeding shall specify a reasonable time for the building to be vacated, secured, repaired, removed, or demolished by the owner or for the occupants to be relocated by the owner and an additional reasonable time for the ordered action to be taken by any of the mortgagees or lienholders in the event the owner fails to comply with the order within the timeframe provided for action by the owner. The city is not required to furnish any notice to a mortgagee or lienholder other than a copy of the order in the event the owner fails to timely take the ordered action. Subsequent to each proceeding, the court shall make written findings of fact as to whether or not the building or structure under review is in fact a dangerous building as that term is defined herein.
(e) If the court finds that the building or structure is a dangerous building or structure as defined in Section 19-50 of this article, the court shall issue an order to vacate, secure, repair, remove or demolish said building or structure, as appropriate. As necessary, the court may also issue a warrant authorizing the city to vacate, secure, repair, remove or demolish said building or structure as appropriate, after the time has expired for the owner, mortgagee, or lienholder to take the ordered actions.
(f) In addition to written findings of fact as required herein, the court shall keep a record of its proceedings and official actions.
(g) Notice.
(1) Unless other requirements are specified herein, notice of all proceedings before the court must be given:
a. by certified mail, return receipt requested, to the record owners of the affected property, and to each holder of a recorded lien against the affected property, as shown by the records in the office of the County Clerk of the county in which the affected property is located if the address of the lienholder can be ascertained from the deed of trust establishing the lien or from other applicable instruments on file in the office of the County Clerk;
b. to all unknown owners, by posting a copy of the notice on the front door of each improvement situated on the affected property or as close to the front door as practicable; and
c. by filing the notice in the official public record of real property in the county in which the property is located.
(2) The notice shall be mailed and posted before the tenth day before the date of the proceeding before the court and must state the date, time, and place of the proceeding. In addition, the notice shall be published in a newspaper of general circulation in the city on one occasion before the tenth day before the date fixed for the hearing.
(3) All notices sent by mail shall contain as a minimum the following:
a. an identification, which is not required to be a legal description, of the building and the property on which it is located;
b. a description of the violation of city codes or articles that exist at the building; and
c. a statement that the city will vacate, secure, repair, remove, or demolish the building if ordered action is not taken within a reasonable time.
(4) Following each proceeding, the court shall issue an order and a warrant containing provisions as set out herein which shall be mailed, filed, and published in accordance with subsection (k)(1) of this section. Each such order shall specify the action to be taken as part of the notice and shall specify a reasonable time within which the owner is to take such action. The order shall provide further notice and specify an additional reasonable time within which any mortgagee or lienholder may undertake the ordered action in the event the owner fails to comply with the order within the time specified for action by the owner. The city shall not be required to furnish any notice to a mortgagee or lienholder other than a copy of the order in the event the owner fails to timely take the ordered action. The city may immediately proceed with actions authorized in the order; provided, however, that the city may obtain a warrant for any such actions and shall obtain a warrant for any actions for which a warrant is required by law. The court may issue any and all warrants that the court has authority to issue under state and federal law.
(h) Authority of the court. Following notice and hearing, the court may:
(1) declare a building dangerous in accordance with the standards set out in this article;
(2) upon a proper showing as set out herein, issue an order specifying a reasonable time for the building or other structure to be vacated, secured, repaired, removed or demolished by the owner or upon the refusal of the owner to comply, by the mortgagee or lienholder. The court may also issue a warrant authorizing the city to vacate, secure, repair, remove or demolish said building or structure as appropriate after the time has expired for the owner, mortgagee, or lienholder to take the ordered actions; or
(3) upon a finding that the owner was actually notified of the provisions of this article and any other applicable city building standards, and a further finding that after the owner received notice of the article's provisions, the owner committed acts in violation of the article or failed to take action necessary for compliance with the article, the court then may determine the amount and duration of a civil penalty which the city may be entitled to recover for such violations, not to exceed $1,000.00 a day for each violation of this article.
(i) Standards. The following standards shall be applied by the court in determining whether or not to order a building or structure repaired, removed, vacated, demolished, or secured, or a combination of such remedies:
(1) If the dangerous building or structure can be reasonably repaired so that it will no longer be in a condition which is in violation of this article, it shall be ordered repaired.
(2) If the dangerous building or structure is in such condition as to make it dangerous to the health, safety, or general welfare of its occupants or of the public, it shall be ordered to be vacated.
(3) In any case where a dangerous building or structure is so damaged or destroyed that it cannot be repaired so that its existence will no longer be in violation of the terms of this article, it shall be ordered demolished or removed.
(4) If open to the public such as to constitute a threat to public health or safety, the court may order such building secured by such means as the court shall deem appropriate.
(5) If the court finds that the building or structure is unoccupied and is a dangerous building or structure as defined herein, the court shall issue an order and/or warrant ordering the termination of utility service.
(j) Civil penalties final.
(1) An assessment of a civil penalty by the court as provided in this article is final and binding and constitutes prima facie evidence of the penalty in any court of competent jurisdiction in a civil suit brought by the city for final judgement as provided elsewhere herein.
(2) To enforce any civil penalty as assessed hereunder, the City Secretary shall file with the district clerk of the appropriate county wherein the property is located a certified copy of the court's order establishing the amount and duration of the civil penalty. No other proof is required for a district court to enter final judgement on said penalty.
(k) Judicial review of decisions.
(1) Any persons jointly or severally aggrieved by any decision of the civil municipal court may present a petition to a district court, duly verified, setting forth that the decision is illegal, in whole or in part, and specifying the grounds of the illegality. The petition must be presented to the district court within 30 calendar days after the date a copy of the final decision and order of the civil municipal court is mailed by first class mail, certified, return receipt requested, to all persons entitled to receive notice as provided herein. The civil municipal court shall mail that copy promptly after the decision becomes final. In addition, a copy shall be published one time in a newspaper of general circulation in the city within ten calendar days after the date of the mailing of the copy as provided herein, and a copy shall also be filed in the office of the City Secretary.
(2) On presentation of the petition, the district court may allow a writ of certiorari directed to the civil municipal court to review the decision of the civil municipal court and shall prescribe in the writ the time, which may not be less than ten days, within which a return on the writ must be made and served on the relator or the relator's attorney.
(3) The civil municipal court may not be required to return the original papers acted on by it. It is sufficient for the civil municipal court to return certified or sworn copies of the papers or parts of the papers as may be called for by the writ.
(4) The return must concisely set forth other facts as may be pertinent and material to show the grounds for the decision appealed from and shall be verified.
(5) The allowance of the writ does not stay proceedings on the decision appealed from, but the district court and for due cause shown, may grant a restraining order or injunction.
(6) If, on a hearing by the district court, it appears to the district court that testimony is necessary for the proper disposition of the matter, the district court may take evidence or appoint a referee to take evidence as it may direct and report the evidence to the district court with the referee's findings of fact and conclusions of law, which constitute a part of the proceedings on which the determination of the district court shall be made. The district court may reverse or affirm, in whole or in part, or may modify the decision brought up for review.
(7) Costs may not be allowed against the city unless it appears to the district court that the city acted with gross negligence, in bad faith, or with malice in making the decision appealed from.
(8) If the decision of the civil municipal court is affirmed or not substantially reversed but only modified, the district court shall allow to the city all attorneys fees and other costs and expenses incurred by it and shall enter a judgment for those items, which may be entered against the property owners as well as all persons found to be in occupation of the property subject to the proceedings before the civil municipal court.
(l) Civil municipal court's decision final. If no appeals are taken to a court of proper jurisdiction from the decision of the civil municipal court within the required period as specified herein, the decision of the civil municipal court is, in all things, final and binding.
(m) Lien; abstract.
(1) An abstract of judgment shall be issued against all parties found to be the owners of the subject property or in possession of the property.
(2) A lienholder shall not have standing to bring a judicial review as provided herein on the grounds that the lienholder was not notified of the proceedings before the civil municipal court or was unaware of the condition of the property, unless the lienholder had first appeared before the civil municipal court and entered an appearance in opposition to the proceedings.
(Ord. No. 2893, § 2, 1-13-00; Ord. No. 3113, § 4, 3-21-02)