§ 150.113 ABATEMENT CRITERIA.

   (A)   Notice of determination. Except as provided in division (B) below, the Building Official will serve a written notice of determination to each property owner as found on the latest available copy of the County Assessor's Role. Said notice of determination may be delivered by hand-delivery, telephone, telegram, facsimile or other reasonable means, and must clearly indicate that the structure is an imminent hazard and dangerous and that, as such, it constitutes a public nuisance. The notice must set forth those factors which, in the opinion of the Building Official, make the structure an imminent hazard and dangerous, and must also include a directive from the Building Official of the specific action or actions to be taken by the property owner. The notice must specify that within 48 hours from the time of issuance of the notice of determination, the owner or other party of record with an equitable or legal interest in said property shall abate the nuisance in accordance with the directives written in the notice of determination by the Building Official.

   (B)   Notice of determination exception. No notice shall be required when the Building Official, after considering all the facts, determines, in writing, that the structure is an imminent hazard and dangerous, and that it must be abated immediately and that time and circumstances do not permit the giving of notice to the owner. In those cases where time and circumstances do not permit the city to give the owner notice before abatement, the Building Official may cause the nuisance to be abated by the city with city resources or city contractees.

   (C)   Appeal of notice of determination.

      (1)   A notice of determination delivered by the Building Official, that a building or structure is an imminent hazard and dangerous and therefore must be abated, may be appealed by the property owner or any other party of record with an equitable or legal interest in said property. Such appeal must be made to the Building Official within 48 hours of delivery of such notice of determination by the Building Official.
Such appeal must be accompanied by a written Hazard Abatement Plan signed by a State of California licensed engineer or architect or by a written report by a State of California licensed engineer or architect stating why the engineer or architect feels the building or structure is not an imminent hazard or dangerous at this time. Such report must include a recommendation by the engineer or architect as to what should and/or should not be done at this time. If the Building Official accepts the proposed Hazard Abatement Plan in lieu of the notice of determination, the Hazard Abatement Plan must be implemented within 24 hours of acceptance by the Building Official. If the Building Official accepts an engineer's report and agrees there is no imminent hazard, the Building Official must rescind in writing his former notice of determination.

      (2)   Should the Building Official disagree with the Hazard Abatement Plan, or should the Building Official disagree with the engineer's or architect's report, a hearing must be conducted within 24 hours by the City Board of Appeals.

   (D)   Board of Appeals hearing.

      (1)   At the hearing, the appellant shall have the right to call witnesses, submit evidence and to cross-examine the witnesses of the city. All witnesses must be sworn.

      (2)   A record of the entire proceedings will be made by tape recording. Any relevant evidence may be submitted regardless of the existence of any common law or statutory rule which might make improper the admission of such evidence over objection in civil actions in the courts of this state.

      (3)   At the close of this hearing, the Board of Appeals will act to either uphold, overrule or modify the determination and order of the Building Official. The determination and order of the Building Official will be upheld, unless the Board of Appeals finds, based upon the evidence in the record, that the Building Official erred in determining that the structure is an imminent hazard and dangerous. The decision of the Board of Appeals, with the reasons therefor, may be given orally on the record. If given orally, the decision must be memorialized in writing and served upon the applicant within 24 hours of the time the oral decision is rendered.

      (4)   If the Board of Appeals upholds the decision of the Building Official, the property owners of record will be ordered to abate the public nuisance within the time set forth in the order. If the structure is determined not to be an imminent hazard and dangerous, the Building Official's determination and order will be vacated. The decision of the Board of Appeals will be final on the date it is rendered.

   (E)   Hazard Abatement Plan.

      (1)   If a Hazard Abatement Plan is approved by the Building Official, the owner or other interested party of record must execute such plan within 24 hours of obtaining approval of the plan from the Building Official or Public Works Engineer/Director, or his designee. Within 24 hours of completion of the abatement work, the owner or other interested party of record will provide the Building Official with a written certification that the public nuisance, as described in the Building Official's notice of hazard, has been abated.

      (2)   If the work performed pursuant to the Hazard Abatement Plan amounts to temporary abatement, the owner or other party of record, before proceeding with permanent repairs, must obtain required permits and file a damage assessment report with the Building Official. The damage assessment report must be reviewed and approved by the Building Official before permanent repairs are performed.

   (F)   Failure to perform. In those instances where the property owner or other interested party of record either does not respond to the Building Official's notice of hazard or approved Hazard Abatement Plan, responds untimely, or responds timely but fails to abate the public nuisance within the required time period, the imminent hazard and dangerous structure will be subject to immediate abatement by the Building Official.

   (G)   Public nuisance. All structures or portions which, after inspection by an authorized city official, are determined to be an imminent hazard and dangerous, either to the public, occupants of the subject structure, or to any adjacent structures, are hereby declared to be public nuisances and must be abated by the owner in accordance with the procedures specified in divisions (D) and (E) of this section.

   (H)   Suspension of abatement work. Notwithstanding any provisions to the contrary, the Building Official is authorized to suspend abatement work by the city, or the city's contractees, and to allow the property owner or other party of legal interest to complete the abatement work.

   (I)   Change of status. When the conditions making a structure an imminent hazard and dangerous have been abated, the structure will no longer be considered an imminent hazard and dangerous. However, if the abatement work is temporary in nature, as determined by the Building Official, the structure will remain subject to the provisions of this subchapter.

   (J)   Demolition permit. If the owner of any building or structure has decided to demolish rather than repair, the owner, or the owner's representative, must obtain a demolition permit.

(Ord. 990, passed 11-6-95; Am. Ord. 1233, passed 12-20-10)