The purpose of this chapter is to enable the City to impose and collect civil administrative fines in conjunction with the enforcement of provisions of this code. Notwithstanding the provisions herein, the city has, and shall continue to employ, the philosophy of voluntary compliance when seeking compliance with this code. Prior to the implementation of the enforcement policies and penalties stated herein, voluntary compliance approaches, when practical, should first be used in order to educate city property owners and businesses concerning the requirements of this code and the corrective action necessary to correct a violation of this code.
(Ord. 2009-003, § 1 (part), 2009)
A. Enforcement of the Municipal Code. This chapter makes any violation of the provisions of the Pismo Beach Municipal Code, including but not limited to all construction and property maintenance codes adopted by reference and amended pursuant to Title 15 of the Code, subject to administrative fines.
B. Administrative authority. This chapter establishes the procedures for the imposition, enforcement, collection, and review of civil administrative fines pursuant to California Government Code Section 53069.4.
C. Remedies not exclusive. The use of the administrative enforcement remedies provided by this chapter is solely at the city's discretion. By adopting this chapter, the city does not intend to limit its discretion to choose the use of any other remedy, civil or criminal, or other administrative procedures, for the abatement of such violations that the city may select in a particular case, including procedures for the imposition of civil or criminal penalties.
D. Strict liability of the owner. Because serious code violations may impact public health, welfare, and safety and the adequacy and safety of housing, this chapter is intended to impose strict civil liability upon the owners of real property (or the owner of a business where the violation is caused by or relates to the operation of a business) for all violations of the Pismo Beach Municipal Code which may occur in the City of Pismo Beach regardless of the existence of specific or general intent or prior knowledge of such violations and, further, regardless of any intent (or lack thereof) to violate the code.
(Ord. 2009-003, § 1 (part), 2009)
The following definitions apply to the use of these terms for the purposes of this chapter:
A. “Code violation” means any violation of the Pismo Beach Municipal Code.
B. “Director” means the department head, or his or her designee as approved by the City Manager, responsible for enforcing the municipal code with respect to his or her department.
C. “Hearing administrator” means the person designated to serve as the hearing officer for administrative hearings. The hearing officer shall be a a city department head, or his or her designee, from a city department other than the department that issued the administrative citation. The employment, performance evaluation, compensation and benefits of the hearing officer, if any, shall not be directly or indirectly conditioned upon the amount of notice of administrative citation fines upheld by the hearing officer.
D. “Issued” means giving, mailing, or posting a notice of administrative citation to a person where "issuance" is deemed to have occurred on the earlier of the date when a notice of administrative citation is personally served on a person, the date it is mailed to a person by posting in the regular United States mail, or the date it is physically posted on real property where a property related code violation is occurring.
E. “Notice of administrative citation” means an official city Municipal Code violation notice issued to a person(s) notifying them that they are in violation of the Pismo Beach Municipal Code with respect to certain real property or the operation of a certain business. In the case of an initial notice, if the violation has not been corrected by a specified date, a civil administrative fine will be imposed. Subsequent notices regarding the same type of violation, within any twelve-month period, may be cause for imposing additional administrative fines without warning.
F. “Person” means any of the following:
1. An individual who causes a code violation to occur.
2. An individual who maintains or allows a code violation to continue, by his or her action or failure to act in a lawful manner.
3. An individual whose agent, employee, or independent contractor causes a code violation by its action or failure to act in a lawful manner.
4. An individual who is an owner of real property where a property related code violation occurs.
5. An individual who is an owner of a business or who is the on-site manager of a business and who normally works at the site when the business is open and is responsible for the activities at such premises.
For purposes of this subsection “person” includes a natural person or a legal entity including but not limited to, the owners, majority stockholders, corporate officers, trustees, and general partners of a legal entity. There shall be a legally rebuttable presumption that the record owner of a parcel as listed on the county's latest equalized property tax assessment rolls is the person responsible for a code violation on such parcel. In addition, where applicable, a commercial lessee, sublessee, or operator of a business on a parcel shall be presumed responsible for code violations relating to the operation of the business on that parcel.
(Ord. 2009-003, § 1 (part), 2009)
A. Enforcement Officer defined. For the purposes of this chapter, "enforcement officer" shall mean those city employees designated by the director and all peace officers providing law enforcement services in the City of Pismo Beach.
B. Limitations. Nothing in this chapter shall be construed or interpreted as providing a code enforcement officer designated by the director with the authority to enforce any provision of the California Penal Code, the California Vehicle Code or any other statute that is specifically required to be enforced solely by the city's law enforcement agency.
C. Persons to retain exclusive authority. Nothing in this chapter shall limit or otherwise restrict any employee, agent or official of the city from exercising any exclusive authority to enforce any law or regulation as provided by any applicable statute, regulation, or policy.
D. Right to inspect. Enforcement officers are authorized to inspect all real property and other premises to ascertain whether such real property and other premises are in full compliance with the provisions of this Code and/or applicable statutes, codes and regulations. All such inspections shall be conducted in such a manner as to be consistent with this code, all state and federal law, and the constitutions of the United States and the State of California.
(Ord. 2009-003, § 1 (part), 2009)
Pursuant to the authority of California Government Code Section 38771, any continuing violation of the Pismo Beach Municipal Code constitutes a public nuisance. Therefore, any person owning or having possession of any real property in the City of Pismo Beach who is in violation of any provision of the Pismo Beach Municipal Code may be determined to be maintaining a public nuisance; provided, however, that it shall not be the intent of the city that this chapter preempt any private nuisance right of action or any and all other legal remedies available to private parties to abate such nuisances.
(Ord. 2009-003, § 1 (part), 2009)
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