Chapter 18.114
ENFORCEMENT, PENALTIES
AND LEGAL PROCEDURES

Sections:

18.114.010  Issuance of permits by the City departments – Authority to issue citations.

18.114.020  Violations and penalties.

18.114.030  Authority of enforcement officer.

18.114.040  Abatement of public nuisance.

18.114.050  Limitation of actions attacking certain decisions.

18.114.060  Manner of enforcement discretionary.

18.114.070  Conclusive notice.

18.114.010 Issuance of permits by the City departments – Authority to issue citations.

(a) All departments, officials and public employees of the City of Santa Clara vested with the duty or authority to issue permits or licenses shall conform to the provisions of this chapter, and shall issue no permit or license for uses, buildings, structures or purposes in conflict with the provisions of this chapter; and any such permit or license issued in conflict therewith shall be null and void.

(b) In accordance with the provisions of California Penal Code Section 836.5(a), employees of the City of Santa Clara Planning and Inspection Department, as directed and designated from time to time by the Director of planning and inspection, are hereby authorized to issue citations for violations of this title. The procedures to be followed for the issuance of said citations are those that are or may be authorized from time to time by provisions of the California Penal Code. (Zoning Ord. § 57-1).

18.114.020 Violations and penalties.

(a) It shall be unlawful for any person whether as principal, agent, employee, trustee or otherwise who occupies, owns, manages, operates or otherwise controls the use of any premises or establishment of property subject to regulation under this Title 18 to fail to comply with any of its provisions or to otherwise violate, maintain or permit a violation or cause a violation of any of the provisions of this title or entitlement conditions obtained under this title.

(b) Except when more specific provisions contained in this Title 18 [entitled "Zoning"] are intended to supersede the provisions of SCCC 1.05.070, the following shall apply:

(1) Pursuant to SCCC 1.05.070, the City, in its prosecutorial discretion, may enforce violation(s) of the provisions of this Title 18 as a criminal, civil, and/or administrative action. (Ord. 1694 § 1, 9-10-96; Zoning Ord. § 57-2).

18.114.030 Authority of enforcement officer.

Enforcement of this title may be accomplished by the individuals identified in SCCC 18.114.010 in any manner authorized by this title or by any other law, including but not limited to issuance of criminal citations, civil actions and abatement. Those individuals identified in SCCC 18.114.010 may be referred to in this title as "the enforcement officer." (Ord. 1694 § 1, 9-10-96; Zoning Ord. § 57-3).

18.114.040 Abatement of public nuisance.

(a) Nonexclusive Authority to Abate. The City may choose to abate any public nuisance or violation of this title through any of the abatement methods set forth in this title or in other local, State or Federal law and nothing contained in this title shall be construed as limiting, prejudicing or adversely affecting the City's ability to concurrently or consecutively use any of these proceedings as the City may deem are applicable. Proceeding under this section will not preclude the City from proceeding under other sections of this title. Whenever an enforcement officer determines that any condition exists in violation of the provisions of this title, he/she may take enforcement action pursuant to this section.

(b) Right of Entry. The enforcement officer may enter any property or premises at all times to perform any duty imposed upon him/her by this title whenever the enforcement officer has cause to believe a violation of provisions of this title is occurring; provided, that:

(1) The enforcement officer shall present proper credentials, state the reason for entry and request entry from the owner or occupant.

(A) If entry is denied, he/she may seek a court-ordered inspection warrant if cause exists pursuant to the Code of Civil Procedure Section 1822.50 et seq.;

(B) If entry is denied, the enforcement officer shall have recourse to every remedy provided by law to secure entry.

(2) The enforcement officer shall make a reasonable effort to locate the owner of unoccupied property or premises, inform the owner of the reasons for entry and request entry.

(3) The enforcement officer shall not enter any property or premises in the absence of permission to enter unless an inspection warrant has been issued by a court of competent jurisdiction. (Ord. 1694 § 1, 9-10-96; Zoning Ord. § 57-4).

18.114.050 Limitation of actions attacking certain decisions.

Any action or proceeding to attack, review, set aside, void, or annul any decision of matters contained in this title within the authority of jurisdiction of the Zoning Administrator, the architectural control committee, the Planning Commission, or the City Council, or concerning any of the proceedings, acts or determinations taken, done, or made prior to such decision, or to determine the reasonableness, legality, or validity of any condition attached thereto, shall not be maintained in any court by any person unless such action or proceeding is commenced within thirty (30) days after the date of such decision. Thereafter all persons are barred from any such action or proceeding or any defense of invalidity or unreasonableness of such decision or of such proceedings, acts, or determinations. (Zoning Ord. § 57-5).

18.114.060 Manner of enforcement discretionary.

Nothing in this title shall be construed as requiring the City to enforce the prohibitions in this title in a particular manner. The City expressly retains all lawful discretion in enforcement decisions, including without limitation, those arising from the police power and the City's constitutional powers as a charter city. Any other provision of the City Code or this title is subordinate to this reservation. In the City's prosecutorial discretion, and as the City's resources permit, this title may be enforced in a manner consistent with the circumstances of each violation, including without limitation, the City's consideration of efforts made in good faith by the violator to remedy violations; the burden of enforcement on City resources; to manner in which the City has historically enforced similar violations; and, the possibility of negotiated resolutions of disputes with the City. Nothing in this section or the absence of any similar provisions from any other City law shall be construed to impose a duty upon the City to enforce such other provision of law. (Ord. 1694 § 1, 9-10-96; Zoning Ord. § 57-6).

18.114.070 Conclusive notice.

Mailing of notice of any hearing or order under this title to the owners of the real property concerned as the owners' names and addresses are shown on the last equalized roll upon which the City taxes are collected shall be conclusively deemed to be the proper persons and addresses for mailing the resolution and the failure of any or all of the addressees to receive the notice shall not invalidate any of the proceedings. Further, the posting of notice of a hearing or order pursuant to this title shall be conclusively deemed to be adequate notice to any and all occupants, users, or possessors of the property or its contents and the failure of such occupant, user or possessor to see, read, understand or otherwise receive the notice shall not invalidate any of the proceedings. (Ord. 1694 § 1, 9-10-96; Zoning Ord. § 57-7).