HomeMy WebLinkAbout6.1 AmendDMC NuisanceAbateCITY C ERK File #660-10
AGENDA STATEMENT
CITY COUNCIL MEETING DATE: JUNE 1, 1999
SUBJECT:
Public Hearing: Amendment to Dublin Municipal Code
to Provide for Recovery of Attorneys' Fees for Nuisance
Abatement (Report prepared by Elizabeth H. Silver, City
Attorney)
ATTACHMENTS:
Proposed Ordinance Adding Sections 1.04.070
and 1.04.080 to Dublin Municipal Code
RECOMMENDATION:.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Open public hearing
Receive Staff.report and public comment
Question Staff and the public
Close public hearing and deliberate
Waive reading and introduce ordinance adding
sections 1.04.070 and 1.04.080 to the Dublin
Municipal Code to provide for recovery of
attorneys' fees for nuisance abatement
FINANCIAL STATEMENT: The ordinances would a!!0w.th~.City to recover
attorneys' fees in certain nuisance abatement actions.
' tained ~
DESCRIPTION: The City periodically becomes aware of properties which are mare i a
manner that violates one or more provisions of the Municipal Code. For example, conditions could e~st
on a property in violation of the Zoning Ordinance, the Building Code, Electrical Code, MechanicalCode,
Housing Code and/or the Fire Code. Although the Municipal Code currently provides for the recovery of
attorneys' fees in the context of administrative nuisance abatement proceedings (DMC § 5.64.170, the
Property Maintenance Ordinance), the City has no mechanism in place to recover the cost of attorneys'
fees if the CitY must pursue abatement of a nuisance through court proceedings. The cost of judicial
abatement or a civil injunction could be substantial, depending on the nature of the violations.
The draf~ ordinance (Attachment 1) would add section 1.04.070 to the Code. This section would..
provide for the recovery of reasonable attorneys' fees for the prevailing party in "any action, administrative
proceeding, or special proceeding to abate a nuisance." The City's authority to adopt this ordinance is
found in the 1996 amendment to GovernmentCode see~i~g~_7~7~..~_~.T~p~.,~s~e.~.~_n~wo.~,~ul~..apply to any
future effort by the city to abate the nuisance conditions on private property, whether by administrative
abatement, judicial abatement, or civil injunction. The recovery of attorneys' fees will reduce the expense
to the City's general fund generated by code enforcement efforts. Language is included to limit tke.
applicability of this section to those situations wher~.~e...C, ity elects to seek recovery of ks attorneys' fees.
This protects the City from an award of attorneys' fees to the property owner, if he or she prevails; the
City will be abie to elect this option only when it feels confident it will prevail.
ITEM NO.
COPIES TO:
conditi°n~ ........ pefiodl The City's authority to adopt'this Ordinance is found in
· 7. Under this sectle~'~ih~ pi:op~ o~'eiz ~fi's-i 'p'~i~)the City three times
the cost of abatement.,_ This section contains,ag e~xception for Health and Safety Code section 17980 which
regulates abatement of substandard buildings.
Recommendation:
Staff recommends that the Council conduct a public hearing,~aiv, e,th.e.readi_ng and .!~t?duce the
draft ordinance (Attachment 1).
F:\wpdwaarsw\l 14\0iXagenda\i999~attyfees.504.d°c "
EHS:rj.'a
ORDINANCE NO.
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF DUBLIN
ADDING SECTIONS 1.04.070 AND 1.04.080
TO THE DUBLIN MUNICIPAL CODE
The City Council of the City of Dublin does ordain as follows:
SECTION 1. Section 1.04.070 is added to the Dublin Municipal Code to read as follows:
A1.04.070 Recovery of attorney fees for nuisance abatement actions or proceedings.
In any action, administrative proceeding, or special proceeding initiated by the City to
abate a nuisance, the prevailing party may recover attorneys' fees. Recovery of attorneys' fees
by the prevailing party is limited to those individual actions or proceedings in which the City
elects, at the initiation of that individual action or proceeding, to .seek recovery of its own
attorneys' fees. The award of attorneys' fees to the prevailing party shall in no circumstances
exceed the amount of reasonable attorneys' fees incurred by the City in the action or
proceeding.
SECTION 2. Section 1.04.080 of the Dublin Municipal Code to read as follows:
A1.04.080 Recovery of treble damages upon second or subsequent judgment
finding property owner responsible for nuisance conditions.
Upon entry of a second or subsequent civil or criminal judgment within a two-year
period finding that a property owner is responsible for a condition which may be abated as a
nuisance, the court may order the property owner to pay treble (three 6roes) the cost of
abatement. This section shall not apply to conditions abated pursuant to section 17980 of the
California Health and Safety Code.
SECTION 3. Posting and Effective Date
This Ordinance shall take effect and be in force thirty (30) days from and after the date of its
passage. 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 CM~£omia.
PASSED, APPROVED AND ADOPTED by the City Council of the City of Dublin this
day of June, 1999, by the following vote:
AYES:
NOES:
ABSENT:
ATTEST:
City Clerk
Mayor
j:\va, v\~t,rRswxn4\0~\oP.v\~,~\,~rn'~r~.~ms:~..."~ K2/G/6-1-99/ord-atty)tees
Attachment 1