A. Pursuant to authority provided in Article 1, Chapter 13, Part 2, Division 3 of Title 4 of the Government Code of the State of California, and other applicable law, the City hereby establishes a procedure which may be utilized for abatement of public nuisances consisting of weeds, rubbish or other material dangerous or injurious to neighboring property or to the health or welfare of residents of the vicinity. This procedure is in addition to any other procedure that is currently authorized for abatement of weeds, rubbish, or other dangerous or injurious material. The purpose of this procedure is to enable the City, through its Department of Public Works, to issue a Notice of Violation requiring the owner of any parcel of land or premises as shown on the last Equalized Assessment Roll to remove weeds, rubbish or other materials which may be dangerous or injurious and constitute a public nuisance therefrom or from in front of such parcel or premises and upon a failure of the owner to satisfy the requirement within the time specified, to authorize the City, subject to the procedures herein prescribed, to remove the weeds, rubbish or other dangerous or injurious materials constituting such nuisance and to cause the cost of such removal to become a Special Assessment against the property.
B. Notice of Violation. Whenever a City employee charged with the duty of public nuisance abatement inspection discovers the existence of such public nuisance as that term is addressed in Section 58.02 of the Los Angeles Municipal Code, that employee shall issue a Notice of Violation for the parcel or premises upon which the nuisance is discovered to the person listed as the owner of the parcel of land or premises, as shown on the last Equalized Assessment Roll. Said Notice of Violation shall require that person to remove the weeds, rubbish or other dangerous or injurious materials constituting the public nuisance within 25 days from the date of the notice, or attend a hearing, at a specified time and place, not sooner than 10 days nor longer then 15 days from the date of the notice, to show cause why that person should not be required to cause the removal. A copy of the Notice of Violation shall be posted in a conspicuous place on the parcel or premises and a copy shall also be mailed to the person listed as the owner as shown on the last Equalized Assessment Roll. The Notice of Violation shall state:
(1) The street address, or the approximate street address if no street address has been assigned, and the assessor’s book, page and parcel number and description as shown on the tax roll, of the property on which the nuisance exists;
(2) A specific description of the condition(s) existing on the parcel or premises which violates Subsection A of Section 58.02 of the Los Angeles Municipal Code;
(3) That the condition(s) constitute(s) a public nuisance;
(4) That the owner is required to abate the nuisance within 25 days from the date of the notice or to appear at a hearing conducted by the Board of Public Works, or its designee, at a time, date and location specified in the notice.
(5) That upon any such appearance the owner will be given the opportunity to present and to elicit testimony and other evidence to show cause why the alleged nuisance should not be abated by the owner or if the owner does not do so, by the City using its own forces or through contract;
(6) That such appearance may be made by the submission of written materials if they have been received at the mailing address specified in the notice prior to the scheduled hearing;
(7) That in the event the nuisance is not abated by the owner on or before the date specified for abatement in the notice, and cause has not been demonstrated at the specified hearing to the satisfaction of the Board of Public Works or its designee why the City should not abate the nuisance, the City may, by its own forces or by contract, abate the nuisance forthwith or as soon as reasonably possible thereafter;
(8) That the cost of abatement by the City, including administrative costs and overhead, shall become a special assessment against the parcel or premises, which, upon confirmation by the City Council and recordation of the order of confirmation in the Office of the County Recorder, shall cause a lien to attach to the property.
C. Pre-abatement Hearing. The matter shall be scheduled for hearing before the Board of Public Works or its designee (hereinafter, “the Board”) on the date and time specified in the Notice of Violation for a hearing. In the event the nuisance is determined not to have been abated prior to the hearing, the Board shall determine whether the condition(s) existing on or in front of the property constitute(s) a public nuisance in violation of Subsection A of Section 58.02 of the Los Angeles Municipal Code. The person notified to appear, or the actual owner of the parcel or premises in the event the person notified is not the owner, or any person representing the owner, who attends the hearing, shall be given an opportunity to present and to elicit testimony and any other evidence to show cause why the alleged nuisance should not be abated by the owner or by the City using its own forces or through contract. The Board shall proceed with the hearing whether or not such person is in attendance. Written material shall be considered by the Board if it is received prior to the scheduled hearing. At the conclusion of the scheduled hearing, the Board shall make a determination either that the City lacks cause to require the abatement or that the condition(s) constituting the nuisance shall be abated forthwith or as soon as reasonably possible thereafter. The person notified to appear, and any other person who appeared at the scheduled hearing as, or on behalf of, the owner, either physically or by the submission of written material, shall be notified in writing of the determination of the Board.
D. Abatement. Subsequent to notice being given by the Board as required by Subsection C of this section, but not prior to the abatement date specified in the Notice of Violation, the City or its contractor may enter upon the parcel or premises and abate the nuisance. Notwithstanding any provision of this article, the City may at any time exercise its lawful authority to summarily and immediately abate any public nuisance posing an imminent danger to the public health or safety.
E. Cost of Abatement. The cost of abatement of the nuisance shall include the administrative costs and overhead of the City and the cost of work performed by City forces or by contractor(s) under contract(s) awarded by the Board on the basis of competitive bids to the lowest and best regular responsible bidder. In the event a contract has been awarded, the contractor shall keep a complete account and submit an itemized written report with respect thereto to the Board upon completion of the abatement work.
F. Determination of Costs. The Board shall establish the cost of the abatement work performed by City forces or by City contractor(s). Notice of the date and time the Board will consider the matter shall be given to the owner as shown on the last Equalized Assessment Roll and to any other person who was previously given Notice of Violation in connection with the nuisance abated. The notice shall identify the property by location, the nature of the condition which has been abated, and the cost of the abatement and proposed assessment, and shall also state that the person may appear at the date, time and location specified therein to present objections, if any, to establishing the cost and proposed assessment as set forth therein. The notice shall further state that a failure to appear may result in the cost being established as proposed, that a cost established by the Board shall be recommended to the City Council as a special assessment against the parcel or premises; and further, that if the assessment as recommended or as modified by the City Council is confirmed pursuant to Subsection G of this Section, a lien shall attach to the parcel or premises upon recordation of a copy of the order confirming the assessment in the Office of the County Recorder.
On the date and time fixed to consider the matter, the Board shall consider an evidence presented regarding the proposed assessment, and at the conclusion thereof, shall fix the cost of the abatement work and prepare a report to the City Council summarizing the matter and the evidence received therein. The Board shall forward its report and any recommendations with respect thereto to the City Council for proceedings on the matter of confirmation of the assessment.
G. Confirmation of the Assessment. Upon receipt of the report of the matter from the Board, the City Clerk shall calendar the matter for City Council proceedings to consider confirmation of the assessment. Persons who appeared at the Board hearing to determine the cost of the abatement work shall be given notice by the City Clerk of the date and time when the City Council will consider confirmation of the assessment. The date and time specified shall be at least 15 days after notice is given. The notice shall also state that interested persons may inspect the Board’s written report at the location specified therein and that objections to the report, if any, will be accepted in written form by the City Clerk until 5 days prior to the date specified in the notice of City Council consideration of the matter. Upon consideration of the written materials submitted, the City Council may:
(1) confirm the assessment as recommended by the Board;
(2) reduce the assessment, adopting findings in support thereof, and confirm said modified assessment;
(3) disallow the assessment; or
(4) return the matter to the Board with specific instructions regarding additional issues to be considered or evidence to be taken by the Board.
In the event the matter is returned to the Board, the Board shall give written notice to all persons previously noticed in connection with the nuisance abated that there will be further proceedings on the issues or evidence specified by the City Council. The notice of the date and time of those proceedings, the procedures to be followed by the Board in conducting those proceedings, and the report of the Board with respect thereto shall conform to the requirements and procedures contained in Subsection F of this section. Upon resubmittal of the matter to the City Council, the Council shall proceed as hereinbefore set forth in this subsection.
The action of the City Council in adopting a proposed decision or a modified proposed decision and an order confirming as assessment shall be final.
H. Collection of the Assessment. After an assessment is made and confirmed by the City Council pursuant to Subsection G of this Section, the order confirming the assessment shall be recorded by the City Clerk in the Office of the County Recorder and, upon recordation of the order, a lien shall attach to the property upon which the nuisance was located. The collection of the costs shall be made by direct billing or by assessment and enforcement of the lien in the manner provided in Sections 39578 through 39588 of the Government Code, which are incorporated herein by reference as set forth on the effective date of this section or as said provisions may be amended from time to time or otherwise appear in the law.
I. The provisions of Los Angeles Administrative Code Section 22.326 shall not apply to proceedings governed by this section.
SECTION HISTORY
Added by Ord. No. 160,172, Eff. 8-22-85.