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HomeMy WebLinkAbout4.03 Muni Code Weed Refuse CITY CLERK File # D[]~~-[5][Q] AGENDA STATEMENT CITY COUNCIL MEETING DATE: July 15, 2008 SUBJECT: Adoption of Ordinance Amending Dublin Municipal Code Chapter 5.70 (Weeds and Refuse) Report Prepared by Elizabeth H Silver, Assistant City Attorney and Stephen Muzio, Associate Attorney ATTACHMENTS: 1. Ordinance Amending Dublin Municipal Code Chapter 5.70 relating to Weeds and Refuse Clean copy of ordinance. 2. RECOMMENDATION,>1/.p/ f,,/ 1. Waive reading and ADOPT the Ordinance Amending Chapter 5.70 of the Dublin Municipal Code relating to Weeds and Refuse (Attachment 1). FINANCIAL STATEMENT: None. DESCRIPTION: At its March 22, 2006 Goals and Objectives meeting, the City Council reviewed and approved with high priority the comprehensive update to certain chapters of the Dublin Municipal Code (DMC). One chapter proposed for review is DMC Chapter 5.70, which declares that the City Council may declare the growth of weeds and the accumulation of refuse on any property in the City to be a nuisance. It also provides for the abatement of any such nuisance. The Chapter requires that property owners on whose property the nuisance is maintained abate it. In the event that the owner neglects to do so, the City may abate the weeds and refuse and hold the owner responsible for covering the City's expenses. The City has the additional remedy of imposing a special assessment on the property, which will then cause the owner to be assessed the amount owed as part of his or her annual property tax bill, levied by the Alameda County Auditor-Controller. Staff has reviewed the ordinance and recommends that a number of minor changes be made to improve the Chapter's clarity and ensure its consistency with the rest of the DMC. Staff also recommends certain substantive changes be made to this Chapter to ensure the Dublin Municipal Code contains uniform procedures for the collection of costs incurred by the City in the abatement of nuisances. Assessment procedure. Cities are authorized by GC sections 38773 and 38773.5 to engage in these abatement and assessment activities. When a city levies an assessment against property, it should comply with the requirements ofGC ~ 38773.5. We recommend the Council amend the provisions of this chapter ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- COPY TO: ITEM NO. '1:3 Page 1 of2 to incorporate proposed new section 1.04.061 which will provide uniform procedures for recovery of the City's costs of abating nuisances. Accordingly, part of Section 5.70.100 and all of Section 5.70.110 have been deleted and a new section inserted, which refers to the provisions of the new Section 1.04.061. As amended, the Chapter would provide that once the Council has established, by resolution, the costs to the City of abating the nuisance, the provisions in Section 1.04.061 shall take effect. This new Section describes the steps the City Administrative Services Director shall take following the resolution of the City Council. The Director will record a Notice of Lien with the County Recorder, provide notice to the property owner by certified mail, and file a certified copy of the Council's resolution confirming the costs of abatement with the County Auditor-Controller prior to August 1. The City Fire Marshal has reviewed this ordinance and concurs with the suggested changes. On June 17,2008, the City Council held a public hearing regarding the proposed ordinance. Following the public hearing the City Council waived the reading and introduced the ordinance. RECOMMENDATION Staff recommends that the City Council: 1) waive reading and ADOPT the Ordinance Amending Chapter 5.70 ofthe Dublin Municipal Code relating to Weeds and Refuse (Attachment 1). 1076756.3 Page 2 of2 I O;y II ORDINANCE NO. AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF DUBLIN AMENDING CHAPTER 5.70 OF THE DUBLIN MUNICIPAL CODE RELATING TO WEEDS AND REFUSE RECITALS WHEREAS, pursuant to California Government Code Sections 38773 and 38773.5, the City of Dublin may adopt procedures by which nuisances may be summarily abated at the expense of persons maintaining them, and by which such expenses may also be imposed as a special assessment on that parcel of land on which the nuisance is abated; and WHEREAS, the City of Dublin Municipal Code Chapter 5.70 permits the City Council to declare the growth of weeds and accumulation of refuse on any property in the City to be a nuisance and provides procedures for the abatement of said nuisance, secured by a special assessment on the parcel of land on which the nuisance is abated; and WHEREAS, the City Council has enacted a new Chapter 1.04.061 of the Dublin Municipal Code which establishes uniform procedures for the collection of costs incurred by the City in the abatement of nuisances; and WHEREAS, the City Council further wishes to clarify the provisions and procedures contained in the City of Dublin Municipal Code Chapter 5.70. NOW, THEREFORE, the City Council of the City of Dublin does hereby ordain as follows: Section 1. Chapter 5.70 of the Dublin Municipal Code is revised as follows, with deletions indicated in strikethrough and additions indicated in underline: 5.70.010 Definitions. As used in this chapter: "Owner" means any person owning property, as shown on the last equalized assessment roll for eCity taxes or the lessee, tenant or other person having charge or possession of the property. "Person" means any individual, partnership, corporation, association or other organization, however formed. "Property" means all real property, including, but not limited to, front yards, side yards, back yards, driveways, walkways, sidewalks, parkway strips, curbs, the area between the back of the sidewalk and the property line, parking lots, and shall include any building located on such property. '1.-1er't')-:;1l-/ ,3 7//:41)1 I C ATTACHMENT 1 ~ ~ 1'1 "Refuse" means nonputrescible solid wastes consisting of both combustible and noncombustible wastes, including, but not limited to, paper, wrappings, cardboard, tin cans, yard clippings, leaves, wood, dry grass, bedding, crockery and similar materials. "Weeds" shall have the definition in Government Code Section 39561.5, as it may be amended. 5.70.020 Public nuisance. No owner having charge or control of any property within the jurisdictional area of the eCity of Dublin shall permit weeds and/or refuse to remain or accumulate upon said property or upon public sidewalks or streets between said property and the center line of any public street. Every property owner shall destroy or remove such weeds, and remove or cause to be removed such refuse from his/her property and from the abutting half of any street or alley between the lot lines as extended. 5.70.030 Resolution declaring nuisance. Whenever any such weeds are growing upon any property or properties within the jurisdictional area of the eCity of Dublin or refuse shall accumulate upon property or upon public sidewalks or streets between property and the center line of any public street, the City Council may pass a resolution declaring the same to be a public nuisance, and order the City Manager or his/her designee to give notice of the passage of such resolution by posting and publication in the same manner and for the time as set forth in Section 5.68.090, and stating therein that, unless such nuisance be abated without delay by the destruction or removal of such weeds and refuse, the work of abating such nuisance will be done by the eCity of Dublin, and the expense thereof assessed upon the lots and lands from which, and/or in the front and rear of which, such weeds and refuse shall have been destroyed or removed. Such resolution shall fix the time and place for hearing any objections to the proposed destruction or removal of such weeds and refuse. 5.70.040 Form of notice. The notice shall be substantially in the following form: NOTICE TO DESTROY OR REMOVE WEEDS AND REFUSE NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that on pursuant to the provisions of Section 5.6870.030 or Chapter 5.6870 oi"the Municipal Code of the City of Dublin, the City Council of the City of Dublin passed a resolution declaring that all weeds and/or refuse, as the same are defined in Section 5.6870.010 of the Municipal Code of the City of DublintJ:Hs ordinaflee, growing or accumulating upon any private property or in any public street or alley, constitute or constitutes a public nuisance, and that such nuisance must be abated by the destruction or removal thereof. NOTICE IS FURTHER GIVEN that property owners shall, without delay, remove or cause to be removed all such weeds and refuse from their property, and from the abutting half of the street in front and alleys, if any, behind such property, and between the lot lines thereof as extended, or such weeds will be destroyed and removed and such refuse will be removed and such nuisance or nuisances created thereby abated by the City of Dublin, in which case the costs of such destruction and/or removal will be assessed upon the lots and lands from which, or from the front or rear of which such weeds and accumulation of refuse, have been destroyed or removed; and such costs will constitute a lieB--special assessment upon such lots or lands 3~ II until paid and will be collected upon the next tax roll upon which general municipal taxes are collected. All property owners having any objections to the proposed destruction or removal of such weeds and/or refuse are hereby notified to attend a meeting of the City Council of the City of Dublin to be held at City Hall on , at o'clock p.m., when and where their objections will be heard and be given due consideration. Dated: This day of ,+920 . City Manager City of Dublin 5.70.050 Hearing. At the time stated in the notice, the City Council shall hear and consider any and all objections to the proposed destruction or removal of such weeds and/or refuse, and may continue the hearing from time to time. The City Council by motion or resolution shall allow or overrule any and all objections, if any, after which the City Council shall thereupon be deemed to have acquired jurisdiction to proceed and perform the work of destruction or removal of the weeds and refuse. 5.70.060 Order to abate nuisance. The Council shall by resolution order the City Manager and his/her designee to abate such nuisance, or cause the same to be abated, by having the weeds and/or refuse referred to removed or destroyed by cutting, discing, chemical spraying or any other method as may be determined by the City Council. The City Manager and his/her assistants, employees, contracting agents or other representatives, are hereby expressly authorized to enter upon private property for such purposes. Any property owner shall have the right to destroy or remove such weeds and remove refuse himself/herself, or have the same destroyed or removed at his/her own expense, provided that such weeds and/or refuse shall have been removed prior to the arrival of the City Manager or his/her authorized representatives to remove them. 5.70.070 Notice to owner prior to abatement. Prior to abatement of the nuisance, the City Manager or his/her designee shall give notice to the owner of the property that the nuisance shall be abated by the eCity unless it is abated by the owner prior to the scheduled date of abatement by the eCity. The notice shall specify the scheduled date(s) of abatement which shall be at least ten (10) calendar days following the date notice is given. Notice shall be given by at least one (1) ofthe following methods: A. Posting on the property. B. Mailing notice to the owner at the owner's address as shown on the last equalized assessment roll, provided if mailed notice is given five (5) days shall be added to the time specified above for such mailed notice. Any owner shall have the right to abate the nuisance at his/her own expense prior to the abatement by the eCity. 5.70.080 Account and report of cost. The City Manager or his/her designee shall keep an account of the cost of abating such nuisance and embody such account in a report and assessment list to the City Council which shall be filed with the City Clerk. Such report shall refer to each separate lot or parcel of land by 4c:? 11 description sufficient to identify such lot or parcel, together with the expense proposed to be assessed against each separate lot or parcel of land. 5.70.090 Notice of report. The City Clerk shall post copies of such report and assessment on the bulletin boards at the Dublin Civic Center together with a notice of the filing thereof and of the time and place when and where it will be submitted to the City Council for hearing and confirmation, notifying property owners that they may appear at such time and place and object to any matter contained therein. A like notice shall also be published twice in a newspaper of general circulation in accordance with California Government Code Section 6062a, circulated within the eCity of Dublin. The posting and first publication of the notice shall be made and completed at least ten (10) days before the time such report shall have been submitted to the City Council. Such notice, as so posted and published shall be substantially in the following form: NOTICE OF HEARING ON REPORT AND ASSESSMENT FOR WEED AND REFUSE ABATEMENT NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that on the City Manager filed with the City Clerk a report and assessment on abatement of weeds and refuse within the City of Dublin, copies of which are posted on the bulletin boards at the Dublin Civic Center. NOTICE IS FURTHER GIVEN that on at the hour of o'clock p.m., at City Hall, said report and assessment list shall be presented to the City Council of the City of Dublin for consideration and confirmation, and that any and all persons interested, having any objections to said report and assessment list, or to any matter or thing contained therein, may appear at said time and place and be heard. DATED: This day of ,+9~. 5.70.100 Hearing and confirmation. At the time and place fixed for receiving and considering such report, the City Clerk shall hear the same together with any objections which may be raised by any of the property owners liable to be assessed for the work of abating such nuisance, and the City Manager shall attend such meeting with his/her record thereof, and upon such hearing, the Council may make such modifications in the proposed assessment therefore as it may deem necessary, after which such report and assessment list shall be confirmed by resolution. The amount of the cost of abating such 1'11:lisance upon, or in the front or rear of, the yarious lots or parcels of land respectiyely referred to in such report, shull constitute special assessmel'lts against such respective lots or parcels of land, and after thus made and confirmed, shall constitute a lien on such property f{)r the amOl:lBt of such assessm.ent, until paid. 5.70.110 CalleetiaB. The City Manager or his/her designee shall cause the amount of the assessm.ent to be entered on the applicable city assessment roll opposite the description of the partie1:llar property and the amooot shall be collected together with all other taKes thereon upon the property. Thereafter, such amounts shall be collected at the same time and in the same manner as gel'leral eity taxes are collected and shall be subjeet to the same pel'lalties and interest, and the same procedure afld sale in case of delinquency as pro'lided for city taxes. ,^...llla'.vs and ordinances applicable to the ie'.)', eolleetion and enforeemel'lt of city taxes are hereby made applicable to such special assessmel'lt. '5~t) The property O\\'fler has the optio1'1, if he/she so desires of paying the assessmel'lt directly to the Colleetor's Offiee 13ef-ore the el'ltry 01'1 the assessmel'lt roll. 5.70.110 Recoverv of abatement expensesAssessmeDt lieD. The procedures governing the recovery of the City's costs of abating nuisances shall be those provided in Section 1.04.061. 5.70.120 Remedy. The remedy provided for in this chapter to secure the removal and/or destruction of weeds and refuse is hereby declared to be additional or alternative to any other remedy provided by law. Section 2. Severability. The provisions of this Ordinance are severable and if any provision, clause, sentence, word or part thereof is held illegal, invalid, unconstitutional, or inapplicable to any person or circumstances, such illegality, invalidity, unconstitutionality, or inapplicability shall not affect or impair any of the remaining provisions, clauses, sentences, sections, words or parts thereof of the ordinance or their applicability to other persons or circumstances. Section 3. Effective Date. This Ordinance shall take effect and be enforced thirty (30) days following its adoption. Section 4. Posting. The City Clerk of the City of Dublin shall cause this Ordinance to be posted in at least three (3) public places in the City of Dublin in accordance with Section 36933 of the Government Code of the State of California. PASSED, APPROVED AND ADOPTED this _ day of , 2008. AYES: NOES: ABSENT: ABSTAIN: Janet Lockhart, Mayor ATTEST: 0~/I Carolyn Parkinson, Interim City Clerk 1~ 11 ORDINANCE NO. AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF DUBLIN ********** AMENDING CHAPTER 5.70 OF THE DUBLIN MUNICIPAL CODE RELATING TO WEEDS AND REFUSE RECITALS WHEREAS, pursuant to California Government Code Sections 38773 and 38773.5, the City of Dublin may adopt procedures by which nuisances may be summarily abated at the expense of persons maintaining them, and by which such expenses may also be imposed as a special assessment on that parcel of land on which the nuisance is abated; and WHEREAS, the City of Dublin Municipal Code Chapter 5.70 permits the City Council to declare the growth of weeds and accumulation of refuse on any property in the City to be a nuisance and provides procedures for the abatement of said nuisance, secured by a special assessment on the parcel of land on which the nuisance is abated; and WHEREAS, the City Council has enacted a new Chapter 1.04.061 of the Dublin Municipal Code which establishes uniform procedures for the collection of costs incurred by the City in the abatement of nuisances; and WHEREAS, the City Council further wishes to clarify the provisions and procedures contained in the City of Dublin Municipal Code Chapter 5.70. NOW, THEREFORE, the City Council ofthe City of Dublin does hereby ordain as follows: Section 1. Chapter 5.70 of the Dublin Municipal Code is revised as follows: 5.70.010 Definitions. As used in this chapter: "Owner" means any person owning property, as shown on the last equalized assessment roll for City taxes or the lessee, tenant or other person having charge or possession of the property. "Person" means any individual, partnership, corporation, association or other organization, however formed. "Property" means all real property, including, but not limited to, front yards, side yards, back yards, driveways, walkways, sidewalks, parkway strips, curbs, the area between the back of the sidewalk and the property line, parking lots, and shall include any building located on such property. "Refuse" means nonputrescible solid wastes consisting of both combustible and noncombustible wastes, including, but not limited to, paper, wrappings, cardboard, tin cans, yard clippings, leaves, wood, dry grass, bedding, crockery and similar materials. "Weeds" shall have the definition in Government Code Section 39561.5, as it may be amended. 5.70.020 Public nuisance. No owner having charge or control of any property within the jurisdictional area of the City of Dublin shall permit weeds and/or refuse to remain or accumulate upon said property or upon public sidewalks or streets between said property and the center line of any public street. ATTACHMENT 2 ~~II Every property owner shall destroy or remove such weeds, and remove or cause to be removed such refuse from his/her property and from the abutting half of any street or alley between the lot lines as extended. 5.70.030 Resolution declaring nuisance. Whenever any such weeds are growing upon any property or properties within the jurisdictional area of the City of Dublin or refuse shall accumulate upon property or upon public sidewalks or streets between property and the center line of any public street, the City Council may pass a resolution declaring the same to be a public nuisance, and order the City Manager or his/her designee to give notice of the passage of such resolution by posting and publication in the same manner and for the time as set forth in Section 5.68.090, and stating therein that, unless such nuisance be abated without delay by the destruction or removal of such weeds and refuse, the work of abating such nuisance will be done by the City of Dublin, and the expense thereof assessed upon the lots and lands from which, and/or in the front and rear of which, such weeds and refuse shall have been destroyed or removed. Such resolution shall fix the time and place for hearing any objections to the proposed destruction or removal of such weeds and refuse. 5.70.040 Form of notice. The notice shall be substantially in the following form: NOTICE TO DESTROY OR REMOVE WEEDS AND REFUSE NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that on pursuant to the provisions of Section 5.70.030 or Chapter 5.70 of the Municipal Code of the City of Dublin, the City Council of the City of Dublin passed a resolution declaring that all weeds and/or refuse, as the same are defined in Section 5.70.010 of the Municipal Code of the City of Dublin, growing or accumulating upon any private property or in any public street or alley, constitute or constitutes a public nuisance, and that such nuisance must be abated by the destruction or removal thereof. NOTICE IS FURTHER GIVEN that property owners shall, without delay, remove or cause to be removed all such weeds and refuse from their property, and from the abutting half of the street in front and alleys, if any, behind such property, and between the lot lines thereof as extended, or such weeds will be destroyed and removed and such refuse will be removed and such nuisance or nuisances created thereby abated by the City of Dublin, in which case the costs of such destruction and/or removal will be assessed upon the lots and lands from which, or from the front or rear of which such weeds and accumulation of refuse, have been destroyed or removed; and such costs will constitute a special assessment upon such lots or lands until paid and will be collected upon the next tax roll upon which general municipal taxes are collected. All property owners having any objections to the proposed destruction or removal of such weeds and/or refuse are hereby notified to attend a meeting of the City Council of the City of Dublin to be held at City Hall on , at 0' clock p.m., when and where their objections will be heard and be given due consideration. Dated: This City Manager City of Dublin day of ,20_. 5.70.050 Hearing. At the time stated in the notice, the City Council shall hear and consider any and all objections to the proposed destruction or removal of such weeds and/or refuse, and may continue the hearing from time to time. The City Council by motion or resolution shall allow or overrule any and all objections, if any, after '1 ~ fl which the City Council shall thereupon be deemed to have acquired jurisdiction to proceed and perform the work of destruction or removal of the weeds and refuse. 5.70.060 Order to abate nuisance. The Council shall by resolution order the City Manager and his/her designee to abate such nuisance, or cause the same to be abated, by having the weeds and/or refuse referred to removed or destroyed by cutting, discing, chemical spraying or any other method as may be determined by the City Council. The City Manager and his/her assistants, employees, contracting agents or other representatives, are hereby expressly authorized to enter upon private property for such purposes. Any property owner shall have the right to destroy or remove such weeds and remove refuse himself/herself, or have the same destroyed or removed at his/her own expense, provided that such weeds and/or refuse shall have been removed prior to the arrival of the City Manager or his/her authorized representatives to remove them. 5.70.070 Notice to owner prior to abatement. Prior to abatement of the nuisance, the City Manager or his/her designee shall give notice to the owner of the property that the nuisance shall be abated by the City unless it is abated by the owner prior to the scheduled date of abatement by the City. The notice shall specify the scheduled date(s) of abatement which shall be at least ten (10) calendar days following the date notice is given. Notice shall be given by at least one (1) of the following methods: A. Posting on the property. B. Mailing notice to the owner at the owner's address as shown on the last equalized assessment roll, provided if mailed notice is given five (5) days shall be added to the time specified above for such mailed notice. Any owner shall have the right to abate the nuisance at his/her own expense prior to the abatement by the City. 5.70.080 Account and report of cost. The City Manager or his/her designee shall keep an account of the cost of abating such nuisance and embody such account in a report and assessment list to the City Council which shall be filed with the City Clerk. Such report shall refer to each separate lot or parcel of land by description sufficient to identify such lot or parcel, together with the expense proposed to be assessed against each separate lot or parcel of land. 5.70.090 Notice of report. The City Clerk shall post copies of such report and assessment on the bulletin boards at the Dublin Civic Center together with a notice of the filing thereof and of the time and place when and where it will be submitted to the City Council for hearing and confirmation, notifying property owners that they may appear at such time and place and object to any matter contained therein. A like notice shall also be published twice in a newspaper of general circulation in accordance with California Government Code Section 6062a, circulated within the City of Dublin. The posting and first publication of the notice shall be made and completed at least ten (1 oy days before the time such report shall have been submitted to the City Council. Such notice, as so posted and published shall be substantially in the following form: NOTICE OF HEARING ON REPORT AND ASSESSMENT FOR WEED AND REFUSE ABATEMENT IO~. II NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that on the City Manager filed with the City Clerk a report and assessment on abatement of weeds and refuse within the City of Dublin, copies of which are posted on the bulletin boards at the Dublin Civic Center. NOTICE IS FURTHER GIVEN that on at the hour of o'clock p.m., at City Hall, said report and assessment list shall be presented to the City Council of the City of Dublin for consideration and confirmation, and that any and all persons interested, having any objections to said report and assessment list, or to any matter or thing contained therein, may appear at said time and place and be heard. DATED: This day of ,20_. 5.70.100 Hearing and confirmation. At the time and place fixed for receiving and considering such report, the City Clerk shall hear the same together with any objections which may be raised by any of the property owners liable to be assessed for the work of abating such nuisance, and the City Manager shall attend such meeting with his/her record thereof, and upon such hearing, the Council may make such modifications in the proposed assessment therefore as it may deem necessary, after which such report and assessment list shall be confirmed by resolution. 5.70.110 Recovery of abatement expenses. The procedures governing the recovery of the City's costs of abating nuisances shall be those provided in Section 1.04.061. 5.70.120 Remedy. The remedy provided for in this chapter to secure the removal and/or destruction of weeds and refuse is hereby declared to be additional or alternative to any other remedy provided by law. Section 2. Severability. The provisions of this Ordinance are severable and if any provision, clause, sentence, word or part thereof is held illegal, invalid, unconstitutional, or inapplicable to any person or circumstances, such illegality, invalidity, unconstitutionality, or inapplicability shall not affect or impair any of the remaining provisions, clauses, sentences, sections, words or parts thereof of the ordinance or their applicability to other persons or circumstances. Section 3. Effective Date. This Ordinance shall take effect and be enforced thirty (30) days following its adoption. Section 4. Posting. The City Clerk of the City of Dublin shall cause this Ordinance to be posted in at least three (3) public places in the City of Dublin in accordance with Section 36933 of the Government Code of the State of California. PASSED, APPROVED AND ADOPTED this _ day of ,2008. AYES: NOES: ABSENT: ABSTAIN: ATTEST: City Clerk II~ II Janet Lockhart, Mayor