A. Responsible Party. Upon discovering or observing any violation of this code, the enforcement officer shall determine the party responsible for the violation.
1. If a business, the responsible party shall be deemed to be the person who is in immediate control of the business on site that day. The enforcement officer may also determine that the owner of the business is the responsible party.
2. The enforcement officer may also determine that the responsible party is the person who maintains or permits a violation of the Municipal Code to occur at their property. This includes record owner, the current lessee, or other person in possession of the property at the time the violation occurred.
B. Except as provided for in subsection D of this section, prior to issuing an administrative citation to a responsible party, the enforcement officer shall provide written notice to the responsible party of the violation. That notice need not be in any particular form, but shall, at a minimum:
1. Describe the nature of the code violation, including identifying the code section(s) violated;
2. Identify what action is necessary to correct the violation;
3. Provide the responsible party with not less than seven (7) calendar days to correct the violation, unless: a) a lesser time is specified elsewhere in this code for correcting the violation; or b) the enforcement officer determines that a lesser time is necessary to protect the public health, safety or welfare of the citizens of the city; and
4. Explain the consequences of a failure to correct the violation.
C. The notice required in subsection B of this section may be sent to the responsible party by first class mail, certified mail, overnight mail, facsimile, e-mail, hand delivery, or by any other method reasonably likely to provide notice to the responsible party, by sending the notice to the responsible party's business address, principal place of business address, residence address, or other address known to the enforcement officer by reliable information. The time within which to correct the violation shall run from the date the notice is sent.
D. The notice required by subsection B of this section may be dispensed with for the following violations: 1) violations that create an immediate danger to the public health, safety and welfare, as determined by the enforcement officer, and for which immediate correction is required; 2) noncontinuing violations for which it is not possible or practical to provide prior notice and an opportunity to correct; and 3) repeat or chronic violations where either formal or informal notice of the violation, and previous reasonable opportunities to correct, have been provided. Examples of noncontinuing violations where notice is not practical include, but are not limited to, violations relating to drinking alcoholic beverages in public, the maintaining of vicious animal(s), animal(s) at large, habitually barking dogs and other noise violations, the spillage of hazardous waste, the lighting of fires, and fireworks violations.
E. If after the expiration of the time period provided to the responsible party to correct the violation, the responsible party has not corrected the violation, the enforcement officer may issue an administrative citation to the responsible party by any one of the following methods:
1. The enforcement officer may attempt to locate the responsible party at the location of the violation during regular business hours if a business, or at any reasonable time if not a business. If the enforcement officer is able to locate the responsible party, the enforcement officer shall either leave the citation with the responsible party, securely post the citation on the front door of the residence or business, or mail the citation in accordance with subsection E4 of this section.
2. For property related violations, including planning, zoning and building violations, the enforcement officer may securely post the citation in a conspicuous place on the property and mail a copy of the citation to the responsible party by first class mail within five (5) days of posting to the responsible party's business address, principal place of business address, residence address, or other address known to the enforcement officer by reliable information.
3. For sanitation and health violations, title 4 of this code, the enforcement officer may securely post the citation on the front door of the residence or business of the responsible party if the violation arose from or occurred at that location.
4. The enforcement officer may mail the citation to the responsible party by certified and first class mail to the responsible party's business address, principal place of business address, residence address, or other address known to the enforcement officer by reliable information.
The failure of any person to receive an administrative citation shall not affect the validity of any proceedings taken under this chapter. Notice shall be effective on the date the citation is received if personally served, on the date the citation was posted if posted, or on the date mailed if sent by certified mail.
F. The notice provided pursuant to subsection B of this section shall be sufficient notice for subsequent violations of the same code section occurring within twelve (12) months of the notice even if the violation occurs at a different location, and the enforcement officer may proceed directly to an administrative citation on future violations of the same code section occurring within twelve (12) months of the notice even if the violation occurs at a different location. (Ord. 2013-003, 6-25-2013; amd. Ord. 2024-006, 4-9-2024)