The city council of the city of Visalia hereby finds and determines that enforcement of the Visalia Municipal Code, other ordinances adopted by the city, conditions on entitlements and terms of city agreements are matters of local concern and serve important public purposes. The city council further finds that there is a need for an alternative method of enforcement of violations of this code. The council further finds and declares that an appropriate method for enforcement for violations of the code is an administrative citation, civil penalty and abatement program. Consistent with its powers as a charter city, the city of Visalia hereby adopts this administrative enforcement procedure provision in order to achieve the following goals:
A. To protect the public peace, health, safety and welfare of the communities in the city of Visalia;
B. To provide for an administrative process that has objective criteria for the imposition of penalties and abatement orders and provides for a fair process to appeal the imposition of administrative enforcement orders;
C. To provide a method to penalize responsible parties who fail or refuse to comply with provisions of the city code, ordinances, agreements, or conditions on entitlements in the city of Visalia;
D. To minimize the expense and delay where the sole remedy is to pursue responsible parties in the civil or criminal justice system. (Ord. 2006-15 § 2 (part), 2006; Ord. 9925 § 1 (part), 2000)