For the purposes of this chapter, the following definitions shall apply unless the context clearly indicates or requires a different meaning.
ABANDONED PERSONAL PROPERTY. Any item, object, thing, material or substance that, by its condition of damage, deterioration, disrepair, nonuse, obsolescence or location on public real property or on private real property, causes a reasonable person to conclude that the owner has permanently relinquished all right, title, claim and possession thereto, or that the object, thing, material or substance cannot be used for its intended or designed purpose. ABANDONED PERSONAL PROPERTY may include junk and vehicles.
ABANDONED STRUCTURE. A building or other structure that is vacant and is maintained in a condition of disrepair or deterioration, as discernible from a public right-of-way or adjoining real property. Factors that may also be considered in a determination of an ABANDONED STRUCTURE include, without limitation:
(1) Present operability and functional utility;
(2) The presence of non-functional, broken or missing doors or windows, such that entry therein by unauthorized persons is not deterred;
(3) The existence of real property tax delinquencies for the land upon which the structure is located;
(4) Age and degree of obsolescence of the structure, and the cost of rehabilitation or repair versus its market value.
ATTRACTIVE NUISANCE. Any condition, device, equipment, instrument, item or machine that is unsafe, unprotected and may prove detrimental to minors whether in a structure or in outdoor areas of developed or undeveloped real property. This includes, without limitation, any abandoned or open and accessible wells, shafts, basements or excavations; any abandoned refrigerators and abandoned or inoperable motor vehicles; any structurally unsound fences or structures; or, any lumber, trash, fences, debris or vegetation which may prove hazardous or dangerous to inquisitive minors. An ATTRACTIVE NUISANCE shall also include pools, standing water or excavations containing water, that are unfenced or otherwise lack an adequate barrier thereby creating a risk of drowning, or which are hazardous or unsafe due to the existence of any condition rendering such water to be clouded, unclear or injurious to health due to, without limitation, any of the following: bacterial growth, infectious or toxic agents, algae, insect remains, animal remains, rubbish, refuse, debris, or waste of any kind.
BUILDING. Any structure having, or originally designed to be used for the shelter or enclosure of persons, animals, chattels, equipment, or property of any kind, and shall also include structures wherein things may be grown, made, produced, kept, handled, stored, or disposed of, and all appendages, accessories, apparatus, appliances, and equipment installed as a part thereof.
CITY. The City of Santa Fe Springs.
CITY MANAGER. The City Manager or his or her duly authorized representative(s).
CODE or CODES. The Santa Fe Springs Municipal Code and laws incorporated therein by reference and any adopted and uncodified ordinances.
CODE ENFORCEMENT OFFICER. Any individual employed by the city with primary enforcement authority for city codes, or his or her duly authorized representative(s).
CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES. Any substance that is declared by state or federal law to be a controlled substance.
DIRECTOR OF POLICE SERVICES. The Director of Police Services or their duly authorized representative(s).
GRAFFITI. Any unauthorized inscription, word, figure, mark, or design that is written, marked, etched, scratched, drawn, or painted on any real or personal property.
HAZARDOUS MATERIALS. Any material or substance of any kind that is declared by any federal, state, or local law, ordinance, or regulation to be composed of hazardous material.
HEARING OFFICER. An impartial person that is appointed by the City Manager, or a designee thereof, to conduct review hearings of abatement notices and make determinations related thereto.
INCIDENTAL EXPENSES. Include, but shall not be limited to, the actual expenses and costs of the city, such as preparation of notices, specifications, contracts, inspection of work, costs of printing and mailings required hereunder, costs of any filing and/or recordation with the Los Angeles County Recorder’s Office or other governmental agency, and the costs of administration and legal services.
INOPERABLE VEHICLE. Includes, without limitation, any vehicle that is immobilized or mechanically incapable of being driven on a public right-of-way. Factors that may be used to determine this condition include, without limitation, vehicles that have a "non-operational" status with the California Department of Motor Vehicles, vehicles lacking or not displaying current registration, a working engine, transmission, wheels, inflated tires, doors, windshield or any other part or equipment necessary for its legal and safe operation on a highway or any other public right-of-way.
JUNK. Includes, but is not limited to, any cast-off, damaged, discarded, junked, obsolete, salvaged, scrapped, unusable, worn-out or wrecked appliance, device, equipment, furniture, fixture, furnishing, object, material, substance, tire, or thing of any kind or composition. JUNK may include inoperable vehicles and abandoned personal property, as well as any form of debris, refuse, rubbish, trash or waste. Factors that may be considered in a determination that personal property is junk include, without limitation, its:
(1) Condition of damage, deterioration, disrepair or nonuse.
(2) Approximate age and degree of obsolescence.
(3) Location, and, if outdoors, whether or not said personal property appears, due to its design or materials of composition, to be intended for indoor use.
(4) Present operability, functional utility and status of registration or licensing, where applicable.
(5) Cost of rehabilitation or repair versus its market value.
JUNKYARD. Real property of any zoning classification on which junk is kept, maintained, placed or stored to such a degree that it constitutes a principal use or condition on said premises. The existence of a JUNKYARD is not a nuisance when it is an expressly permitted use in the applicable zone and the premises are in full compliance with all provisions of the Santa Fe Springs Zoning Ordinance, and all other applicable provisions of the Santa Fe Springs Municipal Code, as well as all future amendments and additions thereto.
OWNER. Means and includes any person having legal title to, or who leases, rents, occupies or has charge, control or possession of, any real property in the city, including all persons shown as owners on the last equalized assessment roll of the Los Angeles County Assessor’s Office. OWNERS include persons with powers of attorney, executors of estates, trustees, or who are court appointed administrators, conservators, guardians or receivers. An OWNER of personal property shall be any person who has legal title, charge, control, or possession of, such property.
PERSON. Any individual, partnership of any kind, corporation, limited liability company, association, joint venture or other organization or entity, however formed, as well as trustees, heirs, executors, administrators, or assigns, or any combination of such persons. PERSON also includes
any public entity or agency that acts as an owner in the city.
PERSONAL PROPERTY. Property that is not real property, and includes, without limitation, any appliance, article, device, equipment, item, material, product, substance or vehicle.
PROPERTY or PREMISES. Any privately owned real property, or improvements thereon, or portions thereof, as the case may be. PROPERTY includes any parkway or unimproved public easement abutting or adjacent to such real property.
PUBLIC NUISANCE. Anything which is, or likely to become, injurious or detrimental to health, safety or welfare, or is offensive to the senses, or an obstruction to the free use of property, so as to interfere with the comfortable enjoyment of life or property, or unlawfully obstructs the free passage or use, in the customary manner, of any public park, square, street, highway or other public right-of-way. All conditions hereafter enumerated in this chapter, or that otherwise violate or are contrary to any provision of the Santa Fe Springs Municipal Code, are PUBLIC NUISANCES by definition and declaration, and said enumerated conditions shall not, in any manner, be construed to be exclusive or exhaustive. A PUBLIC NUISANCE shall also exist when a person fails to comply with any condition of a city approval, entitlement, license or permit or when an activity on, or use of, real property violates, or is contrary to, any provision or requirement of the Santa Fe Springs Municipal Code.
PUBLIC RIGHT-OF-WAY. Every form of public property that is dedicated to, used, or reserved for, pedestrian or vehicular traffic and includes, without limitation, alleys highways, roads, streets, and sidewalks, as well as adjoining areas that a public entity owns, controls or has a right to use or improve. PUBLIC RIGHT-OF-WAY also means similar areas in privately owned developments that are dedicated to, used, or reserved for common or general pedestrian or vehicular traffic.
RESPONSIBLE PERSON. Any person, whether as an owner as defined in this chapter, or otherwise, that allows, causes, creates, maintains, or permits a public nuisance, or any violation of the Santa Fe Springs Municipal Code or county or state law, or regulation thereof, to exist or continue, by any act or the omission of any act or duty. A RESPONSIBLE PERSON shall also include employees, principals, joint venturers, officers, agents, and/or other persons acting in concert with, or at the direction of, and/or with the knowledge and/or consent of the owner and/or occupant of the lot, building or structure on, or in which, a public nuisance or violation exists or existed. The actions or inactions of a responsible person’s agent, employee, representative or contractor may be attributed to that responsible person.
STRUCTURE. That which is built or constructed, an edifice, wall, fence, or building of any kind, or any piece of work artificially built up or composed of parts joined together in some definite manner. For purposes of this chapter, this definition shall supersede any other definition of this term in the Santa Fe Springs Municipal Code.
VEHICLE. Any device, by which any person or property may be propelled, moved, or drawn upon a highway or other public right-of-way, and includes all vehicles as defined by the California Vehicle Code, and all future amendments thereto. VEHICLE does not include devices:
(1) That are propelled exclusively by human power such as bicycles and wheelchairs; or
(2) Those that are used exclusively upon stationary rails or tracks.
('64 Code, § 17A-1.17) (Am. Ord. 580, passed 3-27-80; Am. Ord. 620, passed 8-12-82; Am. Ord. 993, passed 6-26-08; Am. Ord. 1128, passed 5-16-23)