Subd. 1. Purpose. The administrative enforcement procedures established within this section are intended to provide the City of Shorewood with an informal, cost-effective and more efficient alternative to criminal prosecution or civil litigation for certain violations of the City Code. The city retains the right, at its sole discretion, to enforce provisions of this code by bringing criminal charges or commencing civil litigation in any case where the city determines it is appropriate or necessary, but finds that an administrative process is beneficial to the residents of the city and further finds that that such a process is a legitimate and necessary alternative method of enforcing code violations.
Subd. 2. Procedure.
a. Administrative notice. A Code Compliance Officer may issue, either in person or by United States first class mail, an administrative notice to a person suspected or known to have committed a code offense or to be the owner of property upon which a code offense is being committed. The administrative notice shall identify the code offense, the location upon which the code offense occurred or is occurring, and the recommended corrective action for the code offense. The administrative notice may also state that the alleged violator has, at the discretion of the Code Compliance Officer, up to ten days after the issuance of the administrative notice to correct or abate the code offense. If the alleged violator or owner of property upon which a code offense is being committed is unable to correct or abate the code offense within the prescribed time, that person may request in writing an extension of no more than 30 additional days from the City Council. Any extension granted by the City Council shall be in writing and shall specifically state the date of expiration. If the code offense is not corrected or abated within the prescribed time or any extension thereto, the Code Compliance Officer may issue a citation, as provided below.
b. Citation. A Code Compliance Officer is authorized to issue a citation upon the belief that a code offense has occurred, whether or not an administrative notice has first been issued in regard to the code offense. The citation shall be given to the person responsible for the violation or to the owner of the property upon which the violation has occurred, either in person or by United States first class mail. The citation shall state: i) the nature of the code offense; ii) the time and date the code offense occurred; iii) the civil penalty applicable to that code offense; and, iv) the manner for paying the civil penalty or requesting a hearing before a Hearing Officer to contest the citation.
c. Responding to a citation / payment. The alleged violator or the owner of the property upon which the violation has occurred shall, within ten days of the issuance of the citation either request a hearing in writing according to the procedure set forth in this section or, within 15 days of the issuance of the citation, pay the civil penalty set forth in the citation. The civil penalty may be paid either in person at City Hall, or by United States first class mail, postage prepaid and postmarked within the prescribed 15 days. Payment of the civil penalty shall be deemed to be an admission of the code 0ffense.
Subd. 3. Appeal to Hearing Officer.
a. Requesting a hearing. Any person contesting a citation issued pursuant to this section may, within ten days of the issuance of the citation, request a hearing before a Hearing Officer. Any request for a hearing shall be made in writing on a form provided by the city, shall be accompanied by the fee required in the City of Shorewood Master Fee Schedule, and either delivered personally to the city at City Hall or mailed to the city by United States first class mail, postage prepaid and postmarked within the prescribed ten days. The hearing shall be held at City Hall within 30 days of the date the city receives a timely hearing request. Failure to attend the hearing constitutes a waiver of the violator’s rights to an administrative hearing and an admission of the violation. A Hearing Officer may waive this result upon good cause shown. The Hearing Officer shall determine good cause, which shall not include forgetfulness or intentional delay.
b. Hearing Officer. The City Council shall by resolution from time to time appoint a list of persons authorized to act as a Hearing Officer. The Hearing Officer is authorized to conduct an informal hearing to determine if a code offense has occurred. The Hearing Officer shall have the authority to uphold or dismiss the citation or reduce, stay or waive the civil penalty imposed upon such terms and conditions as the Hearing Officer shall determine. The Hearing Officer’s decision shall be made in writing on a form provided by the city for such purpose. A copy of the Hearing Officer’s decision shall be served either in person or by United States first class mail upon the person requesting the hearing. The Hearing Officer’s decision is final, except for appeal in limited cases to the City Council, as set forth below, or as allowed under state law.
c. Conduct of hearing. At the hearing, the parties will have the opportunity to present testimony, documents and exhibits and question witnesses. The Hearing Officer shall tape record the proceedings and receive testimony and exhibits. Strict rules of evidence will not apply. The Hearing Officer must receive and give weight to evidence, including hearsay evidence that possesses probative value commonly accepted by reasonable and prudent persons in the conduct of their affairs.
d. Outcome of hearing. If the Hearing Officer upholds the citation, the appellant shall pay the cost of the Hearing Officer plus any civil penalties that result from the citation. If the Hearing Officer dismisses the citation and waives the penalty, the city shall pay the costs for the Hearing Officer and refund the application fee for the appeal request.
Subd. 4. Appeal of Hearing Officer’s decision.
a. The Hearing Officer’s decision shall be appealable to the City Council only for the following matters:
(1) An alleged failure to obtain a required permit, license, or other approval from the City Council as required by the City Code;
(2) An alleged violation of a permit, license, or other approval, or the conditions attached to the permit, license or approval, that was issued by the City Council; or
(3) An alleged violation of regulations governing a person or entity who has received a license issued by the City Council.
b. An appeal to the City Council of the Hearing Officer’s decision must be made in writing on a form provided by the city and must be served on the City Clerk either in person or by United States first class mail, postage prepaid, within ten days of the Hearing Officer’s decision.
c. The City Council will hear all timely appeals. The city will serve a notice of hearing upon the appellant in person or by United States first class mail at least ten days in advance of the date of the hearing. The parties to the hearing will have an opportunity to present oral or written arguments regarding the Hearing Officer’s decision.
d. The City Council shall consider the record, the Hearing Officer’s decision, and any additional arguments before making a determination. The City Council is not bound by the Hearing Officer’s decision, but may adopt all or part of the Hearing Officer’s decision. The City Council’s decision may be voted upon and given at the hearing or may be given in writing within 30 days of the hearing.
e. The failure of the appellant to appear in front of the City Council or participate in the appeal constitutes a waiver of the violator’s right of appeal and an admission of the violation. The Council may waive the result upon good cause shown. The determination of a showing of good cause shown shall be made solely at the discretion of the City Council but does not include forgetfulness and intentional delay.
Subd. 5. Failure to pay.
a. In the event a person charged with a code offense fails to pay the civil penalty and correct or abate the code offense for which a citation was issued within the prescribed time, a late charge of 15% shall be imposed thereon for each seven days the civil penalty remains unpaid and the code offense remains uncorrected or unabated beyond the due date.
b. An unpaid civil penalty and accrued late charges will constitute a personal obligation of the person(s) to whom the citation was issued and the city shall have the right to collect such unpaid civil penalty and accrued late charges, together with the city’s costs and reasonable attorney’s fees, in criminal or civil proceedings.
c. Pursuant to M.S. §§ 429.101, 514.67 and other applicable law, a lien in the amount of the civil penalty and any accrued late charges may be assessed against the property where the code offense occurred and collected in the same manner as taxes. Any such assessment shall not preclude the city from issuing additional citations for a continuing code offense, nor shall it preclude the city from making additional assessments against the same property resulting from a continuing or new code offense.
d. The city may suspend or revoke a license or permit or other approval associated with the code offense if the civil penalty and accrued late charges are not timely paid.
Subd. 6. Subsequent violations. If a second citation for a code offense is issued by the city to the alleged violator or owner of the property upon which the violation has occurred within 24 months of the issuance of a previous citation for the same code offense, the civil penalty shall increase by 25% over the scheduled civil penalty amount. If a third citation for a code offense is issued by the city to the alleged violator or the owner of the property upon which the violation has occurred within 24 months of the issuance of a previous citation for the same code offense, the civil penalty shall increase by 50% over the scheduled civil penalty amount. If a fourth citation for a code offense is issued by the city to the alleged violator or the owner of the property upon which the violation has occurred within 24 months of the issuance of a previous citation for the same code offense, the civil penalty shall increase by 100% over the scheduled civil penalty amount.
(Ord. 458, passed 4-27-2009; Am. Ord. 551, passed - -2018)