(a) It is unlawful for a responsible party under this chapter to violate any provision of this chapter and any violation will be punished as a misdemeanor as provided under Chapter 10, Section 10.99 of this Code.
(b) The provisions of this chapter will be enforced by the code enforcement division of the city or any other officer or employee designated by the city manager.
(c) The code enforcement division and any other officer or employee designated by the city manager, who observes a violation of any of the provisions of this chapter shall take one or more of the actions described below in order to resolve the violation:
(1) Initiate a report to the city officer or employee or issue a notice and order to comply to the responsible parties.
(2) Prepare a request for a long form criminal complaint. The request will be forwarded to the city attorney for approval. The city attorney will file the complaint with the City of Sierra Vista Municipal Court against the mortgagee or any other party as deemed appropriate by the city attorney. The city attorney may reduce criminal violations to petty offenses or defer prosecution in the interest of justice.
(3) A notice and order to comply is not required if the responsible party is the same and the party has been charged criminally within the previous twenty-four months for the same or similar code violation.
(4) Police officers may cite any violation of this chapter as a criminal offense without notice by using the Arizona traffic ticket complaint form for enforcement.
(d) In addition to any enforcement remedy otherwise available, the code enforcement division and any other officer or employee designated by the city manager has authority to require a responsible party to implement additional maintenance and/or security measures as may be reasonably required to prevent further decline of the property.
(Ord. 2015-009, passed 12-17-15)