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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)
A. Inspections. Whenever an enforcement officer charged with the enforcement of any provision of this code inspects a property and determines that conditions constituting a violation of the Municipal Code exist thereon, the enforcement officer shall have the authority to issue an administrative citation to any person responsible for the violation.
B. Development review conditions. Every person who applies for and receives a permit, license, or any type of land use approval (such as, but not limited to, a development review approval, a subdivision map approval, a conditional or special use permit, a zoning requirement modification, a variance, or other discretionary approval) shall comply with all mandatory approval conditions imposed upon the issuance of the permit, license, or other such approval. If a person violates any condition of such permit, license, or similar land use approval, that person may be issued an administrative citation.
C. Notice of administrative citation issuance. The enforcement officer shall generally issue a notice of administrative citation to the owner or owners of the real property upon which the violation exists as the person presumed under this chapter to be responsible for the violation, or to any other person deemed responsible for the violation. A person to whom a notice of administrative citation is issued shall be liable for and shall pay to the city the administrative fine or fines described in the notice of administrative citation when due pursuant to the provision of this chapter. Each administrative citation shall contain the following information:
1. The date of the violation;
2. The address or a definite description of the location where the violation occurred;
3. The section of this code violated and a brief description of the violation;
4. The amount of the fine for the code violation;
5. A description of the fine payment process, including a description of the time within which and the place to which the fine shall be paid;
6. An order prohibiting the continuation or repeated occurrence of the code violation described in the administrative citation;
7. A description of the administrative citation review process, including the time within which the administrative citation may be contested and the city office from which a request for hearing form to contest the administrative citation may be obtained;
8. The name and signature of the citing enforcement officer.
D. Continuing violations. Each day a violation of this code exists shall be a separate and distinct violation and may be subject to a separate administrative fine. A notice of administrative citation may charge a violation for one or more days on which a violation exists and for violation of one or more applicable code sections. Pursuant to Government Code Section 53069.4(a)(2)(A), a person responsible for a continuing violation shall be given not less than two calendar days to correct or otherwise remedy a continuing violation before a subsequent citation may be issued.
E. Prior violations. The city may take into consideration the fact that a person has been previously issued a notice of administrative citation when the city is determining whether to accept an application or to grant any permit, license or any similar type of land use approval for that person, and such notice of administrative citation may be used as evidence that the person has committed acts that are not compatible with the health, safety, and general welfare of other persons and businesses within the city.
G. Service of notice. The notice of administrative citation and any amended notice of administrative citation shall be served by mail or personal service as provided in Section 1.24.150.
(Ord. O-2020-001, § 1, 2020: Ord. 2009-003, § 1 (part), 2009)
If the director receives a request from any person required to comply with a notice of administrative citation, the director may grant an extension of any fine due date or abatement deadline if the director determines that such an extension of time will not create or perpetuate imminent danger to the public health and safety. The director shall have the authority to place reasonable conditions on such an extension.
(Ord. 2009-003, § 1 (part), 2009)
A. Amount of fine. The amounts of the fines for code violations imposed pursuant to an administrative citation shall be set forth in a schedule of fines established by resolution of the city council and shall not exceed the maximum fine or penalty amounts for infractions set forth in subdivision (b) of Section 36900 of the California Government Code. In the event no fine is specified in the schedule of fines authorized by this section, the maximum fines shall be those set forth in subdivision (b) of Section 36900 of the California Government Code.
B. Repeat violations. The schedule of fines shall specify any increased fines for repeat violations of the same code provision by the same person within thirty-six months from the date of an administrative citation.
C. Late payment charges. Any person who fails to pay to the city any fine imposed pursuant to an administrative citation on or before the date that the fine is due shall be liable for the payment of any applicable late payment charges set forth in the schedule of fines.
(Ord. 2009-003, § 1 (part), 2009)
A. Due date. The fine shall be paid to the city within thirty days from the date of the issuance of the administrative citation, or, in the event of an appeal, as determined by the hearing administrator.
B. Refunds. Any administrative citation fine paid pursuant to Section 1.24.080(A) shall be refunded if it is determined by the hearing administrator, after a hearing, that the person charged in the administrative citation was not responsible for the violation or that there was no violation as charged in the administrative citation.
C. Further violations. Payment of an administrative citation fine shall not excuse or discharge any continuation or repeated occurrence of the code violation that is the subject of the administrative citation. The issuance of a notice of administrative citation or the payment of a fine does not preclude the city from taking any other enforcement or legal action regarding a code violation that is not corrected, including issuing additional notices of administrative citation or the initiation of criminal or civil proceedings.
(Ord. 2009-003, § 1 (part), 2009)
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