CHAPTER 26
WEEDS & REFUSE
4.26.002 Definitions.
a. "Owner" shall mean 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, including a beneficiary, trustee or property manager as defined in Section 4.32.202.
b. "Person" shall mean any individual, partnership, corporation, association, or other organization, however formed.
c. "Property" shall mean 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 agricultural and other undeveloped land, and shall include any building located on such property.
d. "Refuse" as used in this chapter 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.
e. "Weeds" as used in this chapter shall have the definition in Government Code Section 39561.5, as it may be amended.
(Sec. 1, Ordinance No. 13-11, adopted June 28, 2011; Sec. 2, Ordinance No. 22-09, adopted November 10, 2009)
4.26.004 Public Nuisance.
No owner having charge or control of any property within the jurisdictional area of the City of Oakley 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. All such weeds, refuse, and similar materials are hereby declared a public nuisance. 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.
(Sec. 2, Ordinance No. 22-09, adopted November 10, 2009)
4.26.006 Notice to Abate.
a. Whenever the Community Development Director or his/her designee determines that property is maintained in violation of Section 4.26.004, he or she shall give notice to the owner to remove such weeds, refuse, or similar materials within ten (10) calendar days of the mailing or posting of the notice.
b. The notice shall contain all of the following information:
1) That the owner has the right to appeal the determination, as provided for in Section 4.26.008;
2) That if the owner fails to perform the abatement work described in the notice within the time prescribed, the City shall itself perform the work, as provided for in Section 4.26.010;
3) That if the City performs the abatement work, the owner shall be charged for the City’s costs, including administrative and legal expenses, as provided for in Section 4.26.018; and
4) If the owner fails to compensate the City for its costs of performing the abatement work within thirty (30) days of the City billing the owner, the costs shall become an assessment against the property to be collected at the same time and in the same manner as other City taxes, as provided for in Section 4.26.018.
c. Notice shall be given either by posting such notice in a conspicuous place on the property or by mailing it to the owner by certified or registered mail.
(Sec. 2, Ordinance No. 22-09, adopted November 10, 2009)
4.26.008 Appeal.
Within seven calendar days of the posting or mailing of notice, the owner may appeal the determination and order of the Community Development Director. Such appeal shall be in writing and filed with the City Clerk. The City Manager shall review the appeal and consider such other evidence as he/she considers relevant in making a decision. The City Manager’s decision shall be final and mailed to the owner certified or registered mail within fourteen (14) calendar days of receipt of the appeal by the City Clerk. If the City Manager affirms the determination of the Community Development Director, he/she shall set a new date by which the owner must abate the weeds, refuse, or similar materials on his/her property.
(Sec. 2, Ordinance No. 22-09, adopted November 10, 2009)
4.26.010 Abatement by Community Development Director.
a. If the owner does not appeal the Community Development Director’s decision and does not perform the abatement work required within the time provided in the notice, the Community Development Director may enter upon the owner’s property and remove or destroy, or cause to be removed or destroyed, the weeds, refuse, or similar materials constituting a nuisance.
b. If the owner appeals the Community Development Director’s decision, the City Manager affirms that decision, and the owner does not perform the abatement work required in the City Manager’s order within the time provided therein, the Community Development Director may enter upon the owner’s property and remove or destroy, or cause to be removed or destroyed, the weeds, refuse, or similar materials constituting a nuisance.
(Sec. 2, Ordinance No. 22-09, adopted November 10, 2009)
4.26.012 Alternative Procedure.
Nothing in this chapter shall prevent the City from using the procedures set forth in California Government Code Section 39560 et seq.
(Sec. 2, Ordinance No. 22-09, adopted November 10, 2009)
4.26.014 Record of Costs.
The Community Development Director shall keep an account of any abatement work performed under this chapter, including administrative and legal costs, on each separate lot or parcel of land, the name of the owner thereof, and the date that notice was given, or in case of appeal, the date of determination by the City Manager. Such costs shall become, when confirmed, a special assessment against the property.
(Sec. 2, Ordinance No. 22-09, adopted November 10, 2009)
4.26.016 Confirmation of Costs.
After the completion of any abatement work performed under this chapter and computation of the costs of the work, including administrative and legal costs, the Community Development Director shall transmit to the City Council the record of costs. The owner shall be given ten (10) calendar days’ notice, by certified or registered mail, of the hearing at which the Council will consider the costs. The owner may file an appeal of the costs within seven calendar days of the date on which the notice was mailed; the appeal shall state the grounds for the appeal. The Council shall hold a hearing to confirm the costs and consider any appeal. Its determination shall be final, and if confirmed by resolution, the costs shall become a special assessment against and lien upon the property.
(Sec. 2, Ordinance No. 22-09, adopted November 10, 2009)
4.26.018 Billing and Assessment.
Subsequent to the confirmation of the costs of abatement by the City Council, the owner shall be billed for those costs. If the owner fails to remit payment within thirty (30) days of the mailing of the bill, a certified copy of the Council’s resolution shall be filed with Contra Costa County Auditor-Controller, who shall enter such assessment on the tax roll against the premises. The assessment shall be collected at the same time and in the same manner as other City taxes. It shall be subject to the same penalties and the same procedure and sale in case of delinquency as provided for such taxes. All laws applicable to the levy, collection, and enforcement of City taxes shall be applicable to such assessment.
(Sec. 2, Ordinance No. 22-09, adopted November 10, 2009)
4.26.020 Summary Abatement.
a. Where, in the discretion of the Fire Marshal or the Building Official or the Community Development Director or the City Manager, the presence of weeds, refuse or dirt constitutes an immediate threat to fire safety or to the public health, said weeds, refuse or dirt shall be abated forthwith upon order of said Marshal, Building Official, Community Development Director or Manager without the necessity of an order of abatement from the City Council upon the following conditions:
1) The threat to the public safety or health is immediate.
2) The officer involved shall use reasonable efforts to notify the owner or occupant of property to abate the threat immediately.
3) The abatement shall be restricted to those weeds, refuse or dirt as constitute an immediate threat.
4) A written report shall be made to the City Council at the next regularly scheduled Council meeting explaining the nature of the threat, attempts to contact the owner or occupant and the cost of abatement.
b. The Council may thereafter issue its order to the owner to show cause why any costs of abatement incurred by the City should not be paid for by the owner or person in control of said property. Notice of the hearing upon said order shall be given by mailed notice as provided for in Section 4.26.006. Following said hearing, the Council may direct the City Attorney to institute appropriate proceedings for the collection of any costs it finds to have been incurred by the City in the abatement.
(Sec. 2, Ordinance No. 22-09, adopted November 10, 2009)
4.26.022 Violation an Infraction.
Whenever in this chapter any act is prohibited or is declared to be unlawful, or the doing of any act is required, or the failure to do any act is declared to be unlawful, the violation of any such provision is hereby declared to be an infraction. Every violation determined to be an infraction is punishable by (a) a fine not exceeding $100 for a first violation; (b) a fine not exceeding $200 for a second violation of the same act within one year; (c) a fine not exceeding $500 for each additional violation of the same act within one year. Each day such a violation continues shall be regarded as a new and separate infraction.
(Sec. 2, Ordinance No. 22-09, adopted November 10, 2009)
4.26.024 Cost of Abatement: A Personal Obligation.
All persons owning, possessing or controlling land on which a nuisance defined in this chapter is created, caused, committed or maintained and all persons creating, causing, committing or maintaining said nuisance shall be jointly and severally responsible for its removal. The cost of abatement of said nuisance shall be the personal obligation of each person owning, possessing or controlling land on which a nuisance is created, caused, committed or maintained and each person creating, causing, committing or maintaining a nuisance shall be jointly and severally liable therefor.
(Sec. 2, Ordinance No. 22-09, adopted November 10, 2009)
4.26.026 Judicial Action in Lieu of Lien.
Instead of recording and transmitting to the Tax Collector an order confirming assessment, pursuant to Section 4.26.018, the City Council may order the City Attorney to institute an action in any court of competent jurisdiction against the person owning, possessing or controlling the land on which said nuisance was located for the cost of abatement thereof as a personal obligation or by appropriate remedy as allowed by law and for damages, if any. If there are other persons who created, caused, committed or maintained said nuisance, and if said other persons were named in and given notice as required by Section 4.26.006, the City may also institute action in any court of competent jurisdiction against said other persons for the cost of abatement thereof as a personal obligation of said other persons or by appropriate remedy as allowed by law and for damages, if any.
(Sec. 2, Ordinance No. 22-09, adopted November 10, 2009)
4.26.028 Remedies Cumulative.
The remedies provided for herein are cumulative and shall be in addition to such other remedies as are allowed by law.
(Sec. 2, Ordinance No. 22-09, adopted November 10, 2009)