Chapter 8.31
ADMINISTRATIVE CITATION APPEAL HEARING PROCESS
Sections:
8.31.010 Applicability of administrative appeal hearing procedures.
8.31.020 Duties of administrative hearing officer.
8.31.030 Limitations on authority of administrative hearing officer.
8.31.040 Administrative hearing officer.
8.31.050 Scheduling the administrative appeal hearing.
8.31.060 Preparation and form of notice of administrative appeal hearing.
8.31.070 Time for and method of service of notice of administrative appeal hearing.
8.31.080 Proof of service of notice of administrative appeal hearing.
8.31.090 Report and recommendation.
8.31.100 Admissibility of evidence at administrative appeal hearing.
8.31.110 Rights of parties at administrative appeal hearing.
8.31.120 Failure to attend administrative appeal hearing.
8.31.130 Hearing officer’s determination on appeal.
8.31.140 Duty to prepare and serve notice of decision and compliance order.
8.31.150 Time in which to serve notice of decision and compliance order.
8.31.160 Form of notice of decision and compliance order.
8.31.170 Service of notice of decision and compliance order.
8.31.180 Effective date of notice of decision and compliance order.
8.31.190 Failure to obey notice of decision and compliance order.
8.31.210 Lien/collection--Recovery of penalties and costs.
8.31.010 Applicability of administrative appeal hearing procedures.
The procedures adopted in this chapter for the selection of administrative hearing officers shall not replace, substitute for, or in any way affect the administrative hearing board processes created by the California codes, uniform codes and national codes adopted by the city and the administrative hearings provided by such codes shall be treated separate and apart from the administrative appeal hearing procedures adopted herein. (Ord. 888 §1(part), 2013)
8.31.020 Duties of administrative hearing officer.
The administrative hearing officer ("hearing officer") shall conduct all administrative appeal hearings of any timely and properly filed appeal from an administrative citation pursuant to the procedures set forth in this chapter. The hearing officer shall review all evidence, documents, and written testimony and hear all oral testimony submitted by the parties and render all decisions and findings in writing to the appellant with a duplicate copy to the citing officer. The hearing officer may decide to uphold the administrative citation, rescind the citation in part or in its entirety, and/or reduce the amount or waive payment of the administrative fine. (Ord. 888 §1(part), 2013)
8.31.030 Limitations on authority of administrative hearing officer.
The hearing officer’s authority to hear and consider appeals shall be limited to passing on only those appeals pertaining to matters within his or her subject matter jurisdiction. The hearing officer shall consider at the hearing on the appeal only those matters or issues which are specifically raised by the appellant in his or her appeal and which are relevant to the issues of the hearing. The hearing officer shall not have the authority to waive any requirements of the municipal code and/or any applicable statutes, rules, codes or regulations, except as otherwise provided in this chapter. (Ord. 888 §1(part), 2013)
8.31.040 Administrative hearing officer.
The city manager shall serve as hearing officer, or shall appoint a neutral person to serve as hearing officer. (Ord. 911 §1(part), 2016: Ord. 888 §1(part), 2013)
8.31.050 Scheduling the administrative appeal hearing.
An appeal hearing based on a request for hearing shall be set for a date not less than ten days nor more than sixty days from the date the city has determined that a timely and complete appeal of an administrative citation has been filed unless the enforcement officer determines that the matter is urgent or that good cause exists for an extension of time, in which case the hearing date may be shortened or extended, as warranted by the circumstances. (Ord. 911 §1(part), 2016: Ord. 888 §1(part), 2013)
8.31.060 Preparation and form of notice of administrative appeal hearing.
Once the date, time and place for the administrative appeal hearing is determined, the citing officer or his or her designee shall prepare a notice of administrative appeal hearing ("hearing notice"), which shall be in substantially the same form as follows:
You are hereby notified that a hearing will be held before the City Manager or his or her designee at _________________ on the ____ day of ____________, ________, at the hour of ______ to hear your appeal of the Administrative Citation served upon you. You may be present at the hearing. You may be, but need not be, represented by an attorney. You may present any relevant evidence at the hearing and you will be given a full opportunity to cross-examine all witnesses testifying against you.
(Ord. 911 §1(part), 2016: Ord. 888 §1(part), 2013)
8.31.070 Time for and method of service of notice of administrative appeal hearing.
The citing officer or his or her designee shall cause a copy of hearing notice to be provided to each appellant either by causing a copy of said notice to be delivered to each appellant personally or by causing a copy of said notice to be delivered by certified mail, postage prepaid, return receipt requested, and addressed to each appellant at the address shown on the appeal. (Ord. 888 §1(part), 2013)
8.31.080 Proof of service of notice of administrative appeal hearing.
Proof of service of the hearing notice shall be certified at the time of service by a written declaration under penalty of perjury executed by the persons effecting service, declaring the date and manner in which service was made. The declaration shall be affixed to a copy of the hearing notice and retained by the citing officer or his or her designee. (Ord. 888 §1(part), 2013)
8.31.090 Report and recommendation.
The citing officer shall prepare an administrative hearing packet for the hearing officer to review prior to the hearing. The packet shall include a copy of the written appeal and any supporting documents, a copy of the administrative citation, a staff report if any, and any other evidence relevant to the violation(s). (Ord. 888 §1(part), 2013)
8.31.100 Admissibility of evidence at administrative appeal hearing.
At the administrative appeal hearing, the hearing officer shall review all evidence, documents, and written testimony and hear all oral testimony offered either in support of appellant’s claim or in support of the administrative citation, provided such evidence and testimony is relevant to the issues of the hearing. The hearing officer has the authority to determine the relevance of any evidence to the issues of the hearing. The hearing officer also has the authority to exclude unduly repetitious and cumulative evidence, regardless of its relevancy. (Ord. 888 §1(part), 2013)
8.31.110 Rights of parties at administrative appeal hearing.
Each party appearing at the hearing shall have the following rights: (A) to call and examine witnesses; (B) to introduce documentary and physical evidence; (C) to cross-examine opposing witnesses; (D) to impeach any witness regardless of which party first called the witness to testify; (E) to rebut evidence; and (F) to be represented by anyone who is lawfully permitted to do so. (Ord. 888 §1(part), 2013)
8.31.120 Failure to attend administrative appeal hearing.
If the appellant fails to attend the scheduled administrative appeal hearing, the hearing will proceed without appellant and he or she will be deemed to have waived his or her rights to be orally heard at the appeal hearing. (Ord. 888 §1(part), 2013)
8.31.130 Hearing officer’s determination on appeal.
Following the appeal of an administrative citation, the hearing officer may decide to uphold the administrative citation, establish a modified schedule for compliance, overturn some or all of the findings of the citing officer and/or rescind the citation in part or in its entirety, and/or reduce the amount or waive payment of the administrative fine. In the event the hearing officer determines to rescind the administrative citation in its entirety, the recipient of the administrative citation shall not be required to pay the administrative fine imposed by said citation and the appeal fee shall be refunded. (Ord. 888 §1(part), 2013)
8.31.140 Duty to prepare and serve notice of decision and compliance order.
The hearing officer shall sign their decision and then provide same to city staff who will then prepare and serve a written notice of decision and compliance order ("decision and compliance order") upon each appellant and the citing officer following the administrative appeal hearing. The decision of the hearing officer shall be final, except as otherwise provided by this chapter. The notice of decision shall include the following language:
The time within which judicial review of the penalty imposed by this order must be sought is governed by Government Code Section 53069.4. Judicial review must be sought not later than twenty (20) days after service of the order imposing or confirming such penalty.
(Ord. 911 §1(part), 2016: Ord. 888 §1(part), 2013)
8.31.150 Time in which to serve notice of decision and compliance order.
The hearing officer shall serve the written notice of decision and compliance order to each appellant within twenty calendar days from the date the hearing is deemed closed. The hearing officer shall also provide or cause to be provided a copy of the decision and compliance order to the citing officer. (Ord. 888 §1(part), 2013)
8.31.160 Form of notice of decision and compliance order.
The decision and compliance order for an administrative citation shall state whether the administrative citation has been either upheld, in full or in part, or rescinded, in full or in part. In addition, the decision and compliance order shall contain a brief summary of the evidence considered, findings of fact, a determination of the issues presented, the effective date of the decision, and a compliance order, if applicable, which shall specifically describe the actions which shall be required to be taken to remedy the code violations indicated in the decision and compliance order and shall require the actions to be completed within a specified time period and by a specified deadline. In addition, the decision and compliance order shall contain a compliance order, if applicable, which shall require the administrative citation recipient to pay all applicable administrative fines no later than twenty calendar days from the date of issuance of the notice of decision and compliance order. The amount of the fine for which the recipient shall be responsible shall be as set forth in the administrative citation. Payment of the administrative fine shall be ordered to be made to the issuing department or division unless otherwise directed by the city. (Ord. 888 §1(part), 2013)
8.31.170 Service of notice of decision and compliance order.
The hearing officer shall cause a copy of the notice of decision and compliance order to be provided to each appellant either by causing a copy of the decision and compliance order to be delivered to each appellant personally or by causing a copy of said decision and compliance order to be delivered to each appellant by certified mail, postage prepaid, return receipt requested, and addressed to appellant at the address shown on the appeal. A copy of the decision and compliance order shall also be provided to the citing officer. (Ord. 888 §1(part), 2013)
8.31.180 Effective date of notice of decision and compliance order.
The effective date of the hearing officer’s notice of decision and compliance order shall be as stated therein or, if none provided, the date of the decision and compliance order. (Ord. 888 §1(part), 2013)
8.31.185 Judicial review.
An appellant may seek judicial review of a hearing officer’s decision by filing a petition for review with the superior court, pursuant to Government Code Section 53069.4, within twenty days after the effective date of the hearing officer’s notice of decision and compliance order. (Ord. 911 §2, 2016)
8.31.190 Failure to obey notice of decision and compliance order.
A. Failure to obey a notice of decision and compliance order shall be deemed a separate infraction/violation for purposes of this section. A fourth violation and subsequent violations of this section within a twelve-month period shall be deemed a misdemeanor.
B. If, after the notice of decision and compliance order becomes final, the person(s) to whom the decision and compliance order is directed shall fail, neglect or refuse to obey such order, the code compliance manager or other authorized agent may: (1) cause such person to be prosecuted for an infraction violation for the offense of contempt of the hearing officer’s decision and compliance order and/or (2) institute any appropriate administrative or legal action or proceeding necessary to gain compliance.
C. For each day that the person(s) to whom the decision and compliance order is directed fails, neglects or refuses to obey such order, a new offense is committed. (Ord. 888 §1(part), 2013)
8.31.200 Attorneys’ fees.
The prevailing party in any proceeding conducted pursuant to this chapter and associated with the abatement of a public nuisance or correction of any code violation or other issues as set forth herein shall be entitled to recovery of attorneys’ fees incurred in any such proceeding. (Ord. 888 §1(part), 2013)
8.31.210 Lien/collection--Recovery of penalties and costs.
A. Administrative penalties and abatement costs shall be a debt to the city and subject to all remedies for debt collection as allowed by law.
B. When a violation involves privately owned real property and the abatement costs and penalties are unpaid within the prescribed time set forth in the applicable order, the amount of such costs and penalties may be recorded as a lien upon and against the real property or collected as special assessments without further hearing.
C. In addition to any other means of enforcement, the city attorney is authorized to bring a civil action against the responsible party for collection of administrative penalties and abatement costs in any court of competent jurisdiction. (Ord. 888 §1(part), 2013)