As used in chapter, the following definitions shall apply. For purposes of this chapter, these definitions shall supersede any conflicting definitions of the same terms elsewhere in this code.
ABATE OR ABATEMENT. Action or any enforcement effort (e.g., meetings, notices, citations) to remove, stop, terminate, cease, repair, replace or otherwise remedy a public nuisance or violation or a related activity or condition by means and in such manner as to address any interests of the health, safety or general welfare of the public.
ABATEMENT COSTS. All costs, fees, and expenses, incidental or otherwise, incurred by the city in identifying, inspecting, investigating, seeking or causing the abatement of a violation or public nuisance.
ATTRACTIVE NUISANCE. Any building, structure, device, equipment, instrument, item, machine, or condition that is unsafe, unprotected and may prove detrimental to minors whether in a structure or in outdoor areas of developed or undeveloped real property. ATTRACTIVE NUISANCES include, without limitation, any abandoned or open and accessible building, structure, well, shaft, basement or excavation; any abandoned refrigerators and abandoned or inoperable vehicles; any structurally unsound fences or structures; or any lumber, trash, fences, debris or vegetation which may prove hazardous or dangerous to minors. An ATTRACTIVE NUISANCE shall also include pools, standing water or excavations containing water that are unfenced or otherwise lack an adequate barrier, thereby creating a risk of drowning, or which are hazardous or unsafe due to the existence of any condition rendering such water to be clouded, unclear or injurious to health due to, without limitation, any of the following: bacterial growth, infectious or toxic agents, algae, insect remains, animal remains, rubbish, refuse, debris, or waste of any kind.
BUILDING. Any structure designed, used, or maintained for the shelter or enclosure of persons, animals, chattels, equipment, or property of any kind, and shall also include structures wherein things may be grown, made, produced, kept, handled, stored, or disposed of, and all appendages, accessories, apparatus, appliances, and equipment installed as a part thereof.
CODE or CODES. The Menifee Municipal Code and any code, law, or regulation incorporated therein by reference or reasonable implication.
CODE ENFORCEMENT FEES. Fees incurred by the City to defray its costs of code enforcement actions, pursuant to Government Code section 54988 and Health and Safety Code section 17951 (and any successor statutes thereto), the City Building Code, and any other applicable local, state, or federal law, as well as by the city's police powers as authorized by the California Constitution, including, but not limited to, the time and other resources of public officials and city consultants expended by them in identifying, inspecting, investigating, seeking or causing the abatement of a violation at a real property. Examples of code enforcement actions include, but are not limited to, site inspections, drafting reports, taking photographs, procuring other evidence, engaging in meetings with officials of the City or other agencies, engaging in conferences and communications with responsible persons, their agents or representatives, concerning a violation, as well as with attorneys for the city at any time, and appearances before judicial officers or reviewing authorities during the commencement or pendency of a judicial or administrative hearing. The time and resources that public officials and city consultants further expend to confirm that a real property remains free of a violation while a responsible person is on probation to a court or when a matter concerning a property remains pending before a reviewing authority in an administrative action shall also constitute code enforcement actions. Specifically with respect to attorneys' fees, the prevailing party in any proceeding relating to a public nuisance shall be entitled to attorneys' fees.
CODE ENFORCEMENT OFFICER. Any individual employed by the city with primary enforcement authority for city codes, or his or her duly authorized representative.
COMPLIANCE PERIOD. The period of time and/or required schedule set forth in a notice of abatement and/or an order of abatement within which all nuisance abatement actions referenced in such notice of abatement and/or order of abatement must be completed.
DRUG HOUSE. Every building or place used for the purpose of unlawfully selling, serving, storing, keeping, manufacturing, or giving away any controlled substance, precursor, or analog specified in this division, and every building or place wherein or upon which those acts take place, is a nuisance which shall be enjoined, abated, and prevented, and for which damages may be recovered, whether it is a public or private nuisance.
FIRE HAZARD. Includes, but shall not be limited to, any device, equipment, waste, vegetation, condition, thing, or act which is in such a condition that it increases or could cause an increase of the hazard or menace of fire to a greater degree than that customarily recognized as normal by persons in the public service regularly engaged in preventing, suppressing, or extinguishing fire or that otherwise provides a ready fuel to augment the spread and intensity of fire or explosion arising from any cause, or any device, equipment, waste, vegetation, condition, thing, or act which could obstruct, delay, hinder, or interfere with, or may become the cause of obstruction, delay, or hindrance of, the operations of the fire department or other emergency service personnel or the egress of the occupants in the event of fire.
GRAFFITI. Any unauthorized inscription, word, figure, mark, or design that is written, marked, etched, scratched, drawn, or painted on or otherwise glued, posted, or affixed to or on any real or personal property (including, but not limited to, buildings, structures, and vehicles), regardless of the nature of the material to the extent that the same was not authorized in advance by the owner thereof.
HAZARDOUS MATERIAL. Any material or substance of any kind that is declared by any federal, state, or local law, ordinance, or regulation to be composed of hazardous material.
HEARING OFFICER. The City Manager or any city employee or other person appointed by the City Manager or his/her designee to hear all timely appeals as set forth in this chapter.
INCIDENTAL EXPENSES. Includes, but shall not be limited to, the actual expenses and costs of the city, such as preparation of notices, specifications, contracts, inspection of work, costs of printing and mailings required hereunder, costs of any filing and/or recordation with the County Recorder's Office or other governmental agency, and the costs of administration and legal services.
INOPERABLE VEHICLE. Means and includes, without limitation, any vehicle that is incapable of being lawfully driven on a street and/or highway. A vehicle not properly registered shall be considered inoperable. Other factors that may be used to determine this condition include, without limitation, vehicles that lack a working engine, transmission, wheels, inflated tires, doors, windshield or any other part or equipment necessary for its legal and safe operation on a highway or any other public right-of-way.
JUNK. Means and includes, but is not limited to, any cast-off, damaged, discarded, junked, obsolete, salvaged, scrapped, unusable, worn-out or wrecked appliance, device, equipment, furniture, fixture, furnishing, object, material, substance, tire, or thing of any kind or composition. The term JUNK may include abandoned personal property, as well as any form of debris, refuse, rubbish, trash or waste. Factors that may be considered in a determination that personal property is JUNK include, without limitation, its:
(1) Condition of damage, deterioration, disrepair or nonuse.
(2) Approximate age and degree of obsolescence.
(3) Location.
(4) Present operability, functional utility and status of registration or licensing, where applicable.
(5) Cost of rehabilitation or repair versus its market value.
JUNKYARD. Real property of any zoning classification on which junk is kept, maintained, placed or stored to such a degree that it constitutes a principal use or condition on said premises. The existence of a JUNKYARD is not a nuisance when it is an expressly permitted use in the applicable zone and it is in full compliance with all provisions of the Menifee Zoning Code, and all other applicable provisions of the Menifee Municipal Code and any other applicable law or regulation, as well as all future amendments and additions thereto.
NEIGHBORING COMMUNITY STANDARDS. Those conditions that are present on a majority of properties within a 300 foot radius of a property. A property that is the subject of a neighborhood standard comparison, or any other abandoned property within the 300 foot radius, shall not be counted toward the majority.
NOTICE OF ABATEMENT. A notice of public nuisance and intention to abate, as described in section 11.20.050.
ORDER OF ABATEMENT. An order issued by a hearing officer following an appeal of a notice of abatement.
OWNER. Means and includes any person having legal title to, or who leases, rents, occupies or has charge, control or possession of, any real property in the city, including all persons shown as owners on the last equalized assessment roll of the Riverside County Assessor's Office. OWNERS include persons with powers of attorney, executors of estates, trustees, or who are court appointed administrators, conservators, guardians or receivers. An OWNER of personal property shall include any person who has legal title, charge, control, interest in, or possession of such property. An OWNER constitutes a responsible person as defined below.
PUBLIC NUISANCE. Anything which is, or is likely to become, injurious or detrimental to health, safety or welfare; or is offensive to the senses; or an obstruction to the free use of property so as to interfere with the comfortable enjoyment of life or property; or unlawfully obstructs the free passage or use, in the customary manner, of any sidewalk, public park, square, street or highway. All conditions hereafter enumerated in this article, or that otherwise violate or are contrary to any provision of the Menifee Municipal Code or any public nuisance under any local, state, or federal law, standard or regulation, are public nuisances by definition and declaration, and said enumerated conditions, shall not, in any manner, be construed to be exclusive or exhaustive. A PUBLIC NUISANCE shall also exist when a person fails to comply with any condition of a city approval, entitlement, license or permit or when an activity on, or use of, real property violates, or is contrary to, any provision or requirement of the Menifee Municipal Code.
RESPONSIBLE PERSON. Any person, business, or entity whether as an owner or otherwise, that allows, causes, creates, maintains, suffers, or permits a public nuisance, or any violation of the Menifee Municipal Code or county or state law, or regulation thereof, to exist or continue, by any act or the omission of any act or duty. The term RESPONSIBLE PERSON shall also include employees, principals, joint venturers, officers, agents, and/or other persons acting in concert with, or at the direction of, and/or with the knowledge and/or consent of the owner and/or occupant of the lot, building or structure on, or in which, a public nuisance or violation exists or existed. The actions or inactions of a responsible person's agent, employee, representative or contractor may be attributed to that responsible person. Any act of a minor which results in the creation or maintenance of a violation or public nuisance under this code shall be imputed to the parent or guardian having custody and control of the minor for all purposes, including the duty to abate the violation or public nuisance and the imposition of administrative penalties and costs as provided for herein. The parent or guardian having custody and control of the minor shall be jointly and severally liable with the minor for any and all penalties or costs imposed pursuant to this chapter.
STRUCTURE. That which is built or constructed, an edifice, wall, fence, or building of any kind, or any piece of work artificially built-up or composed of parts joined together in some definite manner.
VACANT. Real property or any building or structure thereon that is not legally occupied. Factors that may be used, either alone or in combination, to determine whether real property, or buildings or structures thereon, is VACANT include, but shall not be limited to, overgrown and/or dead vegetation; accumulation of newspapers, circulars, flyers, and/or mail; past due utility notices and/or disconnected utilities; accumulation of trash, junk, and/or other debris; the absence of window coverings such as curtains, blinds, and/or shutters; the absence of furnishings and/or personal items consistent with residential and/or commercial furnishings consistent with the permitted uses within the zone of the real property; and statements by neighbors, passersby, delivery agents, government employees that the property is vacant.
VEHICLE. Any device, by which any person or property may be propelled, moved, or drawn upon a highway or other public right-of-way, and includes all vehicles as defined by the California Vehicle Code, and all future amendments thereto. The term VEHICLE does not include devices that are propelled exclusively by human power such as bicycles and wheelchairs, or those that are used exclusively upon stationary rails or tracks.
VIOLATION. Means and includes any prohibited activity, condition, or use on land or in connection with a building or a structure that is caused, allowed to exist, or maintained (whether due to an affirmative act, inaction, or omission) by a responsible person in disregard of, or nonconformity with, any other provision, regulation, permit, approval, prohibition, or requirement of the Menifee Municipal Code, or any applicable county, state, or federal laws or regulations. Any such VIOLATION shall also constitute an unlawful public nuisance for each and every day or part thereof, during which it is allowed, committed, continued, maintained or permitted by a responsible person.
WEEDS. Includes, but shall not be limited to, any of the following:
(1) Any plant, brush, growth, or other vegetation that bears seeds of a downy or wingy nature;
(2) Any plant, brush, growth, or other vegetation that attains such large growth as to become, when dry, a fire hazard;
(3) Any plant, brush, growth, or other vegetation that is noxious or dangerous;
(4) Poison oak and poison ivy when the conditions of growth are such as to constitute a threat to the public health; or
(5) Dry grass, rubble, brush, or other flammable plant, growth, or other vegetation that endangers the public safety by creating or tending to create a fire hazard.
(Ord. 2018-254, passed 12-5-2018)