A. Administrative Notice: A Code Compliance Officer may issue, either in person or by United States first class mail, an administrative notice to a person suspected or known to have committed a Code offense and/or to be the owner of property upon which a Code offense is being committed. The administrative notice shall identify the Code offense, the location upon which the Code offense occurred or is occurring, and the recommended corrective action for the Code offense. The administrative notice may also state that the alleged violator has, at the discretion of the Code Compliance Officer, up to fifteen (15) days to correct or abate the Code offense. If the alleged violator and/or owner of property upon which a Code offense is being committed is unable to correct or abate the Code offense within the prescribed time, that person may request in writing an extension of no more than thirty (30) additional days from the Code Compliance Officer. Any extension granted by the Code Compliance Officer shall be in writing and shall specifically state the date of expiration. If the Code offense is not corrected or abated, as outlined in the administrative notice, within the prescribed time or any extension thereto, the Code Compliance Officer may issue a citation, as provided in subsection B of this section.
B. Citation: A Code Compliance Officer is authorized to issue a citation upon the belief that a Code offense has occurred, whether or not an administrative notice has first been issued in regard to said Code offense. The citation shall be given to the person responsible for the violation and/or to the owner of the property upon which the violation has occurred, either by personal service or by United States first class mail. Said citation shall state the nature of the Code offense, the time and date said Code offense occurred, the civil penalty applicable to that Code offense as set forth in a schedule of civil penalties which shall be adopted by resolution of the City Council from time to time, and the manner for paying the civil penalty or requesting a hearing before a Hearing Officer to contest the citation.
C. Response To Citation; Payment Of Penalty: Once a citation is issued, the alleged violator and/or the owner of the property upon which the violation has occurred shall, within fifteen (15) days of the time of issuance of the citation, either pay the civil penalty set forth in the citation or request a hearing in writing according to the procedure set forth in this chapter. The civil penalty may be paid either in person at City Hall, or by United States first class mail, postage prepaid and postmarked within said prescribed fifteen (15) days. Payment of the civil penalty shall be deemed to be an admission of the Code offense. (Prior Code § 2-5-3)