(A) The City Manager, or his or her designee, shall enforce the provisions of this chapter, subject to the approval of the City Council, and shall have the power to establish rules and regulations, consistent with the provisions of this chapter, governing the keeping, collection, removal and disposal of solid waste.
(B) Violation of any provision of this chapter shall constitute an infraction and will be grounds for issuance of a notice of violation and assessment of a fine by a City Manager, or his or her designee. Absent compliance by the respondent within the deadline set forth in the notice of violation, the City Manager or designated enforcement agency shall commence an action to impose penalties, pursuant to the city's standard procedures or the standard procedures.
(C) A violation may be punishable by:
(1) A fine of $100 for a first violation;
(2) A fine of $200 for a second violation of the same provision of this code within any 12 consecutive-month period;
(3) A fine of $500 for each additional violation of the same provision of this code within any 12 consecutive-month period. Any violation after the third violation of the same provision of this chapter within any 12 consecutive-month period may be charged so each day that a violation of this chapter continues shall constitute a separate and distinct offense.
(D) Other remedies allowed by law may be used, including civil action or prosecution as misdemeanor. The city may pursue civil actions in the California courts to seek recovery of unpaid administrative citations. The city may choose to delay court action until such time as a sufficiently large number of violations, or cumulative size of violations exist such that court action is a reasonable use of city staff and resources.
(E) Compliance deadline extension considerations. The city may extend the compliance deadlines set forth in a notice of violation issued in accordance with this section if it finds that there are extenuating circumstances beyond the control of the respondent that make compliance within the deadlines impracticable, including the following:
(1) Acts of God such as earthquakes, wildfires, flooding, and other emergencies or natural disasters;
(2) Delays in obtaining discretionary permits or other government agency approvals; or
(3) Deficiencies in organic waste recycling infrastructure or edible food recovery capacity and the city is under a corrective action plan with CalRecycle pursuant to 14 CCR § 18996.2 due to those deficiencies.
(F) Appeals process. Persons assessed a penalty for an uncorrected violation may request a hearing to appeal the citation within 30 days of the assessment of the penalty by filing a notice of appeal with the City Clerk. Evidence may be presented at the hearing. The city will appoint a hearing officer who shall conduct the hearing and issue a final written order. The hearing shall be conducted in accordance with city's procedure.
(`67 Code, § 4-3-14) (Ord. 71-4, passed 6-28-71; Am. Ord. 2022-001, passed 4-12-22)