(A) Administrative abatement and penalties order.
(1) An administrative abatement and penalties order shall address each contested violation in the compliance order and contain findings of fact for each such violation. The findings shall be supported by evidence received at the hearing.
(2) An administrative abatement and penalties order shall affirm, reject, or modify the terms of the compliance order. The administrative abatement and penalties order may impose or order any or all of the following:
(a) Administrative penalties;
(b) An order to abate the nuisance within a specific time;
(c) Administrative costs, including, but not limited to, costs of investigation, staffing costs incurred in preparation for the hearing and the hearing itself, costs for all reinspections necessary to enforce the compliance order and prospective costs to serve, prepare and record a nuisance abatement lien or assessment lien; and
(d) Interest on the penalties and costs imposed at the legal rate from the date of the order.
(3) The administrative abatement and penalties order shall also state that if the responsible party fails, refuses, or neglects to abate the condition constituting the violation within the time set forth therein, the city may abate the condition at the expense of the responsible party, and the expense thereof recovered by way of special assessment or lien on the property.
(4) The administrative abatement and penalties order shall be served upon any responsible party and the enforcement officer pursuant to § 15.4 of this chapter.
(B) Administrative penalties.
(1) In determining the amount of the administrative civil penalties to be assessed, the hearing officer may consider some or all of the following factors:
(a) The duration of the violation;
(b) The frequency of recurrence of the violation;
(c) The seriousness of the violation;
(d) The history of the violation;
(e) The responsible party's conduct;
(f) The good faith effort by the responsible party to comply;
(g) The economic impact of the penalty on the responsible party;
(h) The impact of the violation upon the community; and
(i) Any other factors that justice may require.
(2) Administrative penalties imposed shall accrue from and after the date specified in the compliance order and shall cease to accrue on the date the violation is corrected as determined by the enforcement officer. It is the responsibility of the responsible party to immediately notify the enforcement officer when the responsible party has caused the violation to be corrected. Administrative penalties may be suspended for any period of time during which the violator has filed for necessary permits and such permit applications are actively pending before the city, state, or other appropriate agency.
(3) The City Manager may establish a penalty schedule for use as a guideline in determining the amount of administrative civil penalties.
(C) Requirement to abate.
(1) The public nuisance found to exist on the property shall be abated by having such property, building, or structures rehabilitated, repaired, or demolished within the time specified, and in the manner and means specifically set forth in any administrative abatement and penalties order issued by the administrative hearing officer.
(2) Every person subject to an administrative abatement and penalties order shall comply with that order and shall keep the property which is the subject of the order free of any subsequent violation of the administrative abatement and penalties order. The responsible party shall also comply with all applicable laws, permits, or other approvals of the federal, state or local governments in any and all actions taken pursuant to or in order to comply with the order, including, without limitation, the payment of all applicable permit fees.
(3) Any such person who fails to comply with an administrative abatement and penalties order is guilty of a misdemeanor.
(D) Failure to obey administrative abatement and penalties order; dangerous conditions.
(1) Whenever the required abatement is not commenced or completed within the time limits prescribed in a compliance order or administrative abatement and penalties order and a building is in such condition as to make it immediately dangerous to the life, limb, property, or safety of the public or its occupants, or if the city's Building Department determines that abatement of a building cannot be accomplished without making it immediately dangerous to life, limb, property, or safety of the public or its occupants, the building official shall order the building to be vacated pursuant to a notice to vacate.
(2) Every notice to vacate ordered shall be served pursuant to § 15.4 of this chapter, and shall also be posted at or upon each exit of the building or upon any individual unit to be vacated in substantially the following form:
DANGEROUS BUILDING
DO NOT ENTER
UNSAFE TO OCCUPY
You are hereby ordered and required to vacate this building/premises on or before ________.
It is a misdemeanor pursuant to Red Bluff Municipal Code § 15.12 to occupy this building on or after or to remove or deface this notice.
Building Department
City of Red Bluff
By ___________.
(3) Whenever a notice to vacate is posted, the enforcement officer shall specify in the notice and order to vacate the conditions that necessitate an immediate notice to vacate.
(4) No person shall remain in or enter any building, structure, or premises that have been so posted, except that entry may be made to abate the property or building under permit without the consent of the Building Department. No person shall remove or deface any such notice after it is posted until the required abatement has been completed, and a certificate of occupancy issued pursuant to the provisions of the Red Bluff Municipal Code and the California Building Code, if necessary. Any person violating this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.
(5) The Building Department may permit occupancy of the building or individual units if the owner corrects those problems which pose an immediate danger to life, limb, property, and safety of the public or occupants.
(6) Whenever a notice to vacate has been posted and served in accordance with this section, the Building Department may order the immediate disconnection of any utility services determined to be hazardous by the building official. If the sewer service is ordered disconnected pursuant to this section, city water service to such building shall also be disconnected in order to prevent the accumulation of sewage on such premises. It is unlawful and a misdemeanor for any person to fail to disconnect utility services when ordered to do so pursuant to the provisions of this section.
(7) Prior to issuing a notice to vacate, the Building Department shall obtain the approval of the City Attorney or his or her representative.
(E) Interference with work prohibited. It is unlawful and a misdemeanor for any person to obstruct, impede, or interfere with any officer, employee, contractor, or authorized representative of the city, or with any person who owns or holds legal interest in a property on which a condition exists that has been ordered abated and/or vacated under the provisions of this chapter when such persons are engaged in the work of abating and/or vacating such property or condition pursuant to the provisions of this chapter, or is performing any necessary act preliminary to or incidental to such work or authorized or directed pursuant to this chapter.
(F) Compliance report. If an enforcement officer determines that compliance with an administrative abatement and penalties order has been achieved, the enforcement officer shall notify the responsible party of said compliance and the date in which the property has been deemed to be in compliance.
(G) Compliance dispute; hearing; finality.
(1) If an enforcement officer does not file a compliance report pursuant to § 15.7 of this chapter, any person subject to an administrative abatement and penalties order who believes that compliance has been achieved may request a compliance hearing by filing a written request for a hearing with the City Manager.
(2) The compliance hearing shall be conducted by the hearing officer to conduct the hearing pursuant to § 15.6 of this chapter.
(3) The administrative hearing officer shall determine whether compliance with the administrative abatement and penalties order has been achieved and, if so, when achieved. The determination shall be issued and served in accordance with the provisions of § 15.4 of this chapter.
(Ord. 1074, passed 7-18-2023)