15.44.240   Housing used for drug activity.
   A.   Definitions. For the purposes of this section, the following definitions shall apply:
   1.   "Controlled substance" means a drug, substance, or immediate precursor, as listed in the Uniform Controlled Substance Act, Health and Safety Code Section 11054, et. seq., as that Act now exists or as it may hereafter be amended.
   2.   "Drug-related nuisance" means the holding, maintenance or use of a residential unit for the purpose of unlawfully selling, serving, storing, keeping, manufacturing, or giving away any controlled substance and/or the possession of items used for the purpose of weighing, packaging, cutting or diluting any controlled substance.
   3.   "Drug-related use" means any use of a controlled substance in a residential unit.
   4.   "Illegal drug dealing activity" means any possession for sale, any sale, storage, possession, or manufacturing of a controlled substance from or in a residential unit.
   5.   "Landlord" means an owner, lessor, or sublessor (including any person, firm, corporation, partnership, or other entity) who receives or is entitled to receive rent for the use of any rental unit, or the agent, representative or successor of any of the foregoing.
   6.   "Rental unit" means any dwelling, apartment, dwelling unit, or room, including but not limited to, any single-family residence, duplex, apartment complex, residential hotel and condominium for which rent is paid. This term shall also include mobile and manufactured homes whether rent is paid for the home and the land upon which the home is located, or the rent is paid for the land alone.
   7.   "Tenant" means a tenant, subtenant, lessee, sublessee, any person entitled to use or occupancy of a rental unit, or any other person who is using or occupying a rental unit.
   B.   Prohibition. A landlord shall not knowingly cause or permit any rental unit to be used or maintained for any drug-related use, illegal drug dealing activity, or drug-related nuisance.
   C.   Notice of Violation.
   1.   If the police chief determines that a rental unit is being used or maintained in violation of this section, he/she may order the landlord to comply with said section. The order shall be presented to the landlord either by personal service or by a letter sent certified mail with a return receipt requested. The order shall contain as enclosures sufficient documentation to establish that the premises are being used or maintained for any drug-related use, illegal drug activity or drug-related nuisance.
   2.   Nothing in this chapter shall be interpreted as authorizing the release of documentation which would violate an individual's rights to privacy or any other applicable provision of law that precludes the release of confidential records. Nothing in this chapter shall authorize a search of any rental unit or seizure of any property by a landlord under color of authority of the city or any employee or official thereof.
   D.   Failure to Comply with Notice of Violation. A landlord shall in good faith comply with the notice prescribed by this section. If the landlord fails to comply with the notice, then the police chief may take any lawful action to enforce this section. Good faith compliance may be shown by the landlord's obtaining the voluntary surrender of the premises by the tenant; or the landlord's commencement and prosecution of unlawful detainer proceedings; or the landlord's demonstration in writing to the satisfaction of the city attorney that commencement of unlawful detainer proceedings is not supported by the evidence received by the city and by the landlord, taken as a whole.
   E.   Public Nuisance. In addition to any other remedy provided by this chapter or in law, a violation of this section shall constitute a public nuisance which may be abated by civil action.
   F.   Construction. Nothing contained in this chapter shall be construed or interpreted in such a way as to create a principal-agent relationship between the city and the landlord.
   G.   Severability. If any section, sentence, clause, phrase, part, or portion of this chapter is for any reason held to be invalid or unconstitutional by any court of competent jurisdiction, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of this chapter. It is declared that this chapter and each section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase, part, or portion thereof, would have been adopted or passed irrespective of the fact that any one or more sections, sentences, clauses, phrases, parts, or portions be declared invalid or unconstitutional. (Prior code § 7942)