A. No person or entity owning, leasing, occupying or having charge or possession of any property within the unincorporated area of the County of Yolo shall cause, permit, maintain, conduct or otherwise suffer or allow a public nuisance as defined in this chapter to exist. It shall be the duty of every owner, occupant, and person that controls any land or interest therein within the unincorporated area of the County of Yolo to remove, abate, and prevent the reoccurrence of the public nuisance upon such land. Such duty of an owner shall exist regardless of whether the owner is in actual possession of their real property, and may include an obligation to take action to evict or otherwise remove an occupier who creates a public nuisance upon the owner's property. Nothing in this chapter shall be deemed to authorize or permit any activity that violates any provision of State or federal law.
B. In any enforcement action brought pursuant to this chapter, whether by administrative proceedings, judicial proceedings, or summary abatement, each person who causes, permits, suffers, or maintains the nuisance to exist shall be personally liable for:
1. All costs incurred by the County, including, but not limited to, abatement costs and any and all costs incurred to undertake, or to cause or compel any responsible party to undertake, any abatement action in compliance with the requirements of this chapter, whether those costs are incurred prior to, during, or following enactment of this chapter.
2. Any administrative penalty imposed pursuant to this chapter. In the event that an administrative penalty is imposed on two (2) or more persons for the same violation, all such persons shall be jointly and severally liable for the full amount of the administrative penalty imposed. Payment of administrative penalties does not excuse or discharge any continuation or repeated occurrence of the violation that is the subject of the notice. Payment of the administrative penalty does not bar the County from taking any other enforcement action regarding a violation that is not corrected.
C. Interest shall accrue on all amounts due under this chapter, from the effective date of the decision to the date paid pursuant to the laws applicable to civil money judgments.
D. At such time as the information becomes known, the Enforcing Officer shall make a demand for abatement costs and/or accrued administrative penalty by issuing an invoice to the licensee and/or the owner of the property subject to enforcement action.
E. Whenever the amount of abatement costs incurred by the County to abate the nuisance, or the amount of any administrative penalty imposed pursuant to this chapter has not been satisfied in full within ninety (90) calendar days after service of the invoice, and/or has not been timely appealed to the Superior Court in accordance with Government Code section 53069.4, subdivision (b), or if appealed, such appeal has been dismissed or denied, all or any part of this obligation may constitute a lien against the real property on which the violation occurred.
F. In addition to any other remedy, including but not limited to recovering amounts due under this chapter from the bond required by § 12-04.06, the County may prosecute a civil action through the Office of the County Counsel to collect any abatement costs and/or any administrative penalty imposed pursuant to this chapter.
G. Issuance of a warning shall not be a requirement prior to enforcement of any provision of this chapter. Cultivation of cannabis in violation of this chapter and any code violation that exists to facilitate the cultivation of cannabis in violation of this chapter may be subject to the immediate imposition of penalties in accordance with § 12-04.25(A). Citations for cannabis related code violations shall be served concurrently with citations for cannabis cultivation in accordance with §12-04.25 et seq. of the County Code. (§ 2, Ord. 1557, eff. January 21, 2023)