HomeMy WebLinkAboutMC-140
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ORDINANCE NO.
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ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF SAN BERNARDINO AMENDING CHAPTER 8.27
OF THE SAN BERNARDINO MUNICIPAL CODE; GIVING PUBLIC SERVICES
SUPERINTENDENT THE AUTHORITY TO DECLARE EXISTENCE OF A PUBLIC
NUISANCE AND ORDER ABATEMENT THEREOF; PROVIDING FOR ABATEMENT OF
SEASONAL AND RECURRENT NUISANCES; AND PROVIDING FOR HEARINGS
BEFORE BOARD OF BUILDING COMMISSIONERS, SUBJECT TO APPEAL TO MAYOR
AND COMMON COUNCIL.
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THE MAYOR AND COMMON COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SAN BERNARDINO DO
ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS:
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SECTION 1. Section 8.27.010 of the San Bernardino Municipal
9 Code is amended to read:
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"A.
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The existence of weeds, dry vegetation of any type, dead
11 trees, rubbish, refuse, and dirt upon streets, road sides,
12 sidewalks, parkways between sidewalks and curbs, vacant lots,
13 easements or other property is hereby declared a pUblic nuisance,
14 and the periodic removal thereof is necessary to protect the
15 health and safety of the inhabitants of the City.
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B. As used in this chapter, the term "weeds" includes
17 recurrent and seasonal growth of weeds, weed seeds, weed
18 seedlings, sage brush, chaparral, and any other brush or
19 vegetation which attains such extensive growth as to become, when
20 dry, a fire menace; poison oak and poison ivy or other plants
21 which are noxious or dangerous; and dry grass, stubble, brush,
22 dead wood, litter or flammable material which creates a fire
23 hazard. The terms "rubbish" and "refuse" include, but are not
24 limited to, empty containers, abandoned asphalt or concrete,
25 rubble, or waste materials of any kind."
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SECTION 2. Section 8.27.020 of the San Bernardino Municipal
27 Code is amended to read:
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"8.27.020 Refusal of owner to remove nuisances - Misdemeanor -
MC-140.
1 Penalty - Power of arrest - Notices to appear.
2 Any owner, agent or person having charge of or occupying any
J lot or premises within the City who refuses or neglects for a
4 period of five days after receiving notice from the Public
5 Services Superintendent of the City to remove any of the things
6 declared to be a nuisance in Section 8.27.010 shall be guilty of a
7 misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof shall be punished by a
8 fine not exceeding fifty dollars, or by imprisonment in the County
9 jail not exceeding thirty days, or by both fine or imprisonment in
10 the discretion of the court. The Public Services Superintendent
]1 and his designated subordinates shall enforce the provisions of
12 this chapter and may arrest and issue notices to appear for
13 violations hereof pursuant to Sections 836.5 and Chapter 5C of
14 Part 2, Title 3 (853.6 et seq.) of the California Penal Code."
15 SECTION 3. Section 8.27.030 of the San Bernardino Municipal
16 Code is amended to read:
17 "8.27.030 Declaration and order to abate public nuisance -
18 Right of protest and hearing.
19 A. Whenever any of the public nuisances described or
20 mentioned in Section 8.27.010 exist in the City, the Public
21 Services Superintendent may find and declare the same to be a
22 public nuisance under the provisions of this chapter and may order
23 the abatement of such public nuisance as hereinafter provided.
24 The Public Services Superintendent may also find and declare that
25 weeds and vegetation on specified parcels of property are seasonal
26 and recurrent nuisances and order the periodic abatement of such
27 nuisances as hereinafter provided.
28 B. Any owner whose property is found by the Public Services
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1 Superintendent to support a nuisance may protest the finding and
2 be heard by the Board of Building Commissioners, according to the
3 terms of the Notice received pursuant to Section 8.27.040 of the
4 San Bernardino Municipal Code."
5 SECTION 4. Section 8.27.040 of the San Bernardino Municipal
6 Code is amended to read:
7 "8.27.040 Notice to clean premises; protests and notice of
8 hearing thereon.
9 A. When the Public Services Superintendent finds a nuisance
10 to exist, he shall cause a "Notice to Clean premises" to be given
11 in regard to all property on which, or abutting that property on
12 which, the nuisance exists. A notice shall be mailed to each
13 property owner as their names and addresses appear on the latest
14 assessment roll of the County or as they may be otherwise known.
15 In addition to the date and a description of the property by
16 street designation and any other information deemed appropriate by
17 the Public Services Superintendent, the contents of the notice
18 shall be in substantially the following form:
19 'NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN pursuant to Section
20 8.27.040 of the San Bernardino Municipal Code that the
21 Public Services Superintendent of the City of San
22 Bernardino has determined that a nuisance exists on or
23 abutting the property described in this Notice or on
24 the parkway thereof. The nuisance consists of one or
25 more of the following: weeds, sage brush, chaparral,
26 brush, dry vegetation or vegetation which attains such
27 extensive growth as to become a fire menace when dry,
28 poison oak or ivy or other plants which are noxious or
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1 dangerous, dry grass, stubble, brush, dead wood,
2 litter, flammable material which creates a fire
3 hazard, empty containers, abandoned asphalt or
4 concrete, rubble, or waste materials. You must abate
5 or remove this nuisance; otherwise, it will be removed
6 and abated by the City of San Bernardino, in which
7 case the cost of such removal shall be assessed upon
8 the property from which, or abutting that property
9 from which, said nuisance is removed, and such costs
10 will constitute a tax lien upon such lots or land
11 until paid.
12 Any person objecting to this determination of a
13 nuisance or the proposed removal and abatement of said
14 nuisance shall file a written protest with the City
15 Clerk not later than 10 days from the date of this
16 notice. The City Clerk shall transmit such protest
17 promptly to the Board of Building Commissioners of San
18 Bernardino.
19 NOTICE IS FURTHER GIVEN that said protest shall
20 be heard before the Board of Building Commissioners in
21 the Council Chambers at City Hall, 300 North "D"
22 Street, San Bernardino, California, on the first
23 Friday of the next month after the date of this notice
24 at 10:00 o'clock in the morning. If a timely protest
25 has been filed, you or your agent may appear at said
26 hearing and be heard and may present and hear evidence
27 concerning the proposed abatement.'
28 B. In addition to mailing the notice in the manner and form
29 equired herein, such notice may (permissive) be conspicuously post d
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1 on or adjacent to the property to be charged with the costs of
2 aba tement. "
3 SECTION 5. Section 8.27.050 of the San Bernardino Municipal
4 Code is amended to read:
5 "8.27.050 Notice to clean regrowth - Seasonal and recurrent
6 nuisances.
7 A. Whenever the Public Services Superintendent has
8 determined that weeds or other dry vegetation of any type on
9 specified parcels of property are seasonal or recurrent nuisances,
10 the notice provided for in Section 8.27.040 shall have this
]1 additional language added to the first paragraph of the notice:
12 'The Public Services Superintendent has also
]3 determined that the property described in this Notice
14 supports the growth of weeds and dry grass which are
15 seasonal and recurrent nuisances that must also be
16 removed and abated hereafter from time to time.
17 Notice of a regrowth of this nuisance during this
18 calendar year will be given by postcard only without
19 further hearing. Failure to abate such recurring
20 conditions will result in the City abating such
21 nuisance, in which case the cost of such removal shall
22 constitute a tax lien upon the property described in
23 this Notice until paid. The efficient and economical
24 control of such seasonal and recurrent nuisances may
25 require preventative chemical control of such weeds,
26 weed seeds and weed seedlings, and the City may
27 require preventative chemical control of such
28 nuisance.'
29 B. After such seasonal and recurrent nuisance has been
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abated once and the nuisance recurs in the same calendar year, the
Public Services Superintendent shall cause a postcard notice to be
mailed to the property owners as their names and addresses appear
on the latest assessment roll of the County or as they may be
known to the Public Services Superintendent. The notice shall
show the property address to which the notice relates and the
contents of the postcard notice shall be in substantially the
following form:
'NOTICE OF REGROWTH
A "NOTICE TO CLEAN PREMISES" was previously
mailed to you declaring a nuisance on the above
property. That notice, which required removal or
abatement of such nuisance, also declared that
substantial regrowth must be abated.
The above property was recently inspected and the
removal of the following items is required at this
time:
You are hereby urged to perform the abatement work
indicated within ten days from the date of this
Notice. If the property is not cleaned and the
nuisance abated within that time, the City will have
the work done to abate the nuisance and will assess
the cost thereof as a tax lien against the property.'"
SECTION 6. Section 8.27.060 of the San Bernardino Municipal
Code is amended to read:
"8.27.060 Hearing by Board of Building Commissioners -
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1 Appeal to Mayor and Common Council.
2 At the time set for hearing, the Board of Building
3 Commissioners shall hear and consider all objections or protests
4 to the finding of nuisance and the proposed removal of the
5 nuisance and may continue the hearing from time to time. Upon the
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Iconclusion of the hearing, the Board shall allow or overrule any
or all objections, and if the nuisance is confirmed the Public
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Services Superintendent shall be deemed to have acquired
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jurisdiction to have the work of removal performed. The decision
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of the Board is final, subject to the right of the property owner
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to appeal to the Mayor and Common Council pursuant to Chapter 2.64
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lof the San Bernardino Municipal Code, except that the notice of
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!appeal must be filed within ten days from the hearing and decision
IbY the Board.
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The decision of the Mayor and Cornmon Council shall
15 be final and conclusive. Any person or persons failing to protest
16 as authorized in Section 8.27.030 or failing to appeal after prote t
17 as authorized in this section shall be deemed to have waived any
18 and all objections, and the Public Services Superintendent shall
19 be deemed to have acquired jurisdiction to abate the nuisance and
20 ave the work of removal performed."
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SECTION 7. Section 8.27.070 of the San Bernardino Municipal
22 Code is amended to read:
23 "Upon acquiring jurisdiction, the Public Services
24 superintendent shall abate the nuisance, and he and his assistants
25 or deputies, or any person, firm or corporation under contract to
26 do the work are expressly authorized to enter upon private
27 roperty for that purpose."
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SECTION 8. Section 8.27.080 of the San Bernardino Municipal
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1 Code is amended to read:
2 "At least annually, the Public Services Superintendent shall
3 solicit bids for the performance of the work described in this
4 chapter. All bids so submitted shall be accompanied by cash,
5 cashiers check, money order, or certificate of deposit payable to
6 the City in the sum of three hundred dollars, which sum must be
7 forfeited to the City upon failure of the bidder to enter into the
8 contract awarded. The Mayor and Common Council may reject any and
9 all proposals or bids and readvertise or may order the Public
JO Services Superintendent to abate the nuisance."
]1 SECTION 9. Section 8.27.090 of the San Bernardino Municipal
]2 Code is amended to read:
]3 "A. Any property owner shall have the right to have any such
J4 nuisance removed at his own expense provided the same is done
]5 within ten days after the mailing of the 'Notice to Clean
]6 Premises', as provided in Section 8.27.040, and to the
]7 satisfaction of the Public Services Superintendent.
18 B. In lieu of removing the nuisance, an owner of a lot or
]9 parcel larger than one acre or two hundred feet by two hundred
20 feet in area, or of two or more subdivided and unimproved lots
2] adjacent to one another and under the same ownership, may
22 construct at his own expense a fifty-foot fire break around the
23 entire perimeter of the lot, lots or parcel within the ten-day
24 period and to the satisfaction of the Public Services
25 Superintendent; provided, that such fire break must be one hundred
26 feet in width when adjacent or in close proximity to a building;
27 and provided further, that a fifty-foot fire break shall be
28 constructed adjacent to any public highway on the lot, lots or
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parcel. 11
SECTION 10. Chapter 8.27 of the San Bernardino Municipal
Code is amended by adding Section 8.27.091 to read:
"8.27.091 Removal of seasonal and recurrent nuisance by
property owner - Time limit.
A. Any property owner shall have the right to have any
seasonal and recurrent nuisances removed at his own expense
provided the same is done within ten days from the date of mailing
of the postcard notice provided for under Section 8.27.050 and to
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the satisfaction of the Public Services Superintendent.
B. In lieu of removing the nuisance, a fire break may be
installed and maintained as provided for in Section 8.27.090."
SECTION 11. Section 8.27.100 of the San Bernardino Municipal
Code is amended to read:
"8.27.100 Assessment for abatement by City - Filing of
objection.
A. The Public Services Superintendent shall, upon completion
and approval of abatement by the City, forthwith make an
assessment to cover the cost of abating the nuisance, including
all incidental expenses. The assessment shall itemize the work
erformed and shall show the cost therefor, the amount of each
assessment against each lot or portion of lot described by the lot
and block number or parcel number according to the official maps
of the County Assessor; provided, however, that where the work
erformed covers only a portion of a lot or parcel, the assessment
shall be levied against the entire lot or parcel assessed for
taxes.
B. A notice shall be mailed to each person against whose
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C-140
1 property an assessment is to be made, giving notice of the date
2 that the assessment will be heard by the Board of Building
3 Commissioners and giving notice that any objection to the
4 assessment may be made in person at the hearing or filed within
5 ten days in writing with the City Clerk, who shall forward the
6 notice to the Board of Building Commissioners."
7 SECTION 12. Section 8.27.110 of the San Bernardino Municipal
8 Code is amended to read:
9 "Upon the hearing, the Board shall make such modifications in
10 the assessment as are warranted by the evidence presented. The
11 decision of the Board is final, subject to a right of appeal to
12 the Mayor and Common Council pursuant to Section 2.64 of the San
13 Bernardino Municipal Code. Any such appeal must be filed with the
14 City Clerk within ten days of the decision of the Board of Buildin
15 Commissioners."
16 SECTION 13. Section 8.27.120 of the San Bernardino Municipal
17 Code is amended to read:
18 "A. The Clerk of the Board of Building Commissioners shall
19 file a notice of the various amounts assessed against the
20 respective parcels of land with the City Clerk, who shall then
21 cause a notice of the assessments to be posted for at least three
22 days on or near the main door of the Council Chambers in the City
23 Hall, San Bernardino, California. The notice shall give the time
24 when the assessment shall be submitted to the Mayor and Common
25 Council for confirmation. Upon confirmation by the Mayor and
26 Common Council, the various amounts mentioned in the assessments
27 shall constitute special assessments against the respective
28 parcels of land and shall constitute liens on the property for the
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1 amount of such assessments respectively. After the assessments
2 are made, the City may directly bill the owner of the properties.
3 If any payment is not received within twenty days of mailing,
4 collection of the assessments shall be made as provided in Section
5 8.27.130. The direct billing procedure set forth herein is
6 discretionary on the part of the City, and the failure of a
7 property owner to receive a bill shall not affect the validity of
8 the assessment, lien or collection procedures of Section 8.27.130.
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B. The action of the Mayor and Common Council in confirming
10 the cost of abating such nuisance shall be conclusive evidence
]1 that such nuisance existed; that notices of removing the same were
]2 given as herein provided; that the amount of such lien is the
13 actual amount expended by the City in abating the nuisance, and
]4 that all of the notices and proceedings were duly and regularly
IS taken."
16 I HEREBY CERTIFY that the foregoing ordinance was duly
17 adopted by the Mayor and Common Council of the City of San
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Bernardino at a
meeting thereof, held on
regular
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the
, 1982, by the following vote,
1st day of
~larch
20 to wit:
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AYES:
Council Members Castaneda, Reilly, Hernan0ez, gotts,
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Quiel, Hobbs
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NAYS:
None
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ABSENT:
Council Member Strickler
2S
.~>,~a<h
" City Clerk
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The foregoing ordinance is hereby approved this
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of
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/ i jll~l)
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. 1982.
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Approved as to form:
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/.7~ JI d -0
6 t/c,. ,/Y-'7~
City A torney
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