(A) Determination Of Responsible Party: Upon discovering or observing any violation of this code, the enforcement officer shall determine the party responsible for the violation. If a business or other entity is the responsible party it shall be deemed to be the person who is in immediate control of the business or site on that day. The enforcement officer may also determine that the owner(s) or officer(s) of the business or property or entity are the responsible party.
(B) Determination Of An Automatic Violation:
1. Any violation defined by this code or the schedule of penalties as an automatic violation; or
2. 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; or
3. Repeat or chronic violations where either formal or informal notice of the violation, and previous reasonable opportunities to correct, have been provided; or
4. Noncontinuing violations for which it is not possible or practical to provide prior notice and an opportunity to correct.
(C) Issuance Of Notice To Correct:
1. Except as provided in subsection (B) of this section, the enforcement officer may issue a written notice to the responsible party of the violation. Said notice need not be in any particular form, but shall include:
(a) The date of the violation;
(b) The address or a description of the location where the violation occurred;
(c) A description of the nature of the violation of this code, including identifying the code section(s) violated;
(d) Identify what action is necessary to correct the violation;
(e) Provide the responsible party with not less than ten (10) days to correct the violation, unless: 1) a lesser time is specified elsewhere in this code for correcting the violation(s); or 2) 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
(f) An explanation of the consequences of a failure to correct the violation.
(D) Methods Of Issuance Of Notice:
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 attempt to obtain the signature of that person on the administrative citation. If that person refuses to or does not sign the administrative citation, the lack of signature shall in no way affect the validity of the citation and subsequent proceedings. If the responsible party refuses to sign the citation, the enforcement officer may either leave the citation with the responsible party or mail the citation in accordance with this subsection.
2. For property related 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. In lieu of personally serving the responsible party, if the violation is at a business, the enforcement officer may leave a copy of the citation with a person who is apparently in charge at the person's place of business and thereafter mailing, by first class postage, a copy of the citation to the recipient at the address where the copy was left, or by leaving a copy at the recipient's dwelling or usual place of abode, in the presence of a competent member of the household over the age of eighteen (18), and thereafter mailing, by first class mail, to the address where the copy was left.
(E) Issuance Of Administrative Citation: 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 method defined in this section.
(F) Additional Violations Of Same Code Section: The notice provided pursuant to subsection (C) of this section shall be sufficient notice for subsequent violations of the same code section occurring within one year of the notice even if the violation occurs at a different location, and the enforcement officer may proceed directly to issuing an administrative citation for future violations of the same code section occurring within one year of the notice even if the violation occurs at a different location. (Ord. 2013-7, 11-4-2013)