Chapter 6.20
ABATEMENT OF ANIMAL PESTS
Sections:
6.20.020 Infestation with animal pests, insects, etc.
6.20.030 Dangerous or insanitary buildings, etc. – Abatement.
6.20.040 Complaint and hearing on dangerous or insanitary condition.
6.20.050 Abatement proceedings.
6.20.060 Expense of abatement.
6.20.070 Assessment against property – Recordation of lien.
6.20.080 Lien to draw interest – Statute of limitations.
6.20.090 Alternative method of collection.
6.20.100 Collected with City taxes.
6.20.010 Definitions.
The word “Building Official” shall mean the Director of Planning and Inspection or his/her regularly authorized deputy. (Ord. 1879 § 1, 3-29-11).
6.20.020 Infestation with animal pests, insects, etc.
It is hereby declared to be a public nuisance and it shall be unlawful for any person owning or having control of any real property or premises in the city to suffer or permit said real property or premises, or any part thereof, to be maintained in a condition so infected or infested with animal pests, rodents, bugs, beetles or insects that there is caused thereby a danger of infection or infestation of, or an actual infection or infestation of, any inhabited and/or habitable dwellings with animal pests, rodents, bugs, beetles or insects. (Ord. 1879 § 1, 3-29-11).
6.20.030 Dangerous or insanitary buildings, etc. – Abatement.
Every dangerous or insanitary condition which may exist upon any premises in the city may be abated by the Building Official and/or Health Officer in the manner provided herein. (Ord. 1879 § 1, 3-29-11).
6.20.040 Complaint and hearing on dangerous or insanitary condition.
The Building Official and/or Health Officer may file with the City Manager a written complaint, setting forth facts showing that a dangerous or insanitary condition exists upon any premises in the city. Upon receipt of such complaint, the City Manager shall present the same to the City Council, and the City Council shall forthwith by resolution or motion fix a time and place for a public hearing on such complaint.
The Building Official and/or Health Officer shall cause a copy of such resolution and complaint to be served upon the person in possession of such premises, or upon the owner thereof, not less than five days prior to the time fixed for such hearing. Such service may be made by delivery of a copy of such resolution and complaint to the owner or occupant personally, or by enclosing the same in a sealed envelope, postage prepaid, addressed to the occupant at such premises, or to the owner at his/her last known address as the same appears on the last equalized assessment rolls of the City and depositing the same in the United States mail. Service shall be deemed completed at the time of the deposit in the United States mail. (Ord. 1879 § 1, 3-29-11).
6.20.050 Abatement proceedings.
Upon the date at the place and hour fixed for the hearing on such complaint, the City Council shall hear such evidence as may be presented by any interested party. Such hearing may be continued from time to time by the City Council. Upon completion of such hearing, the City Council shall either dismiss the complaint or shall direct that the dangerous or insanitary conditions be abated. The decisions of the City Council on all protests and objections which may be made shall be final and conclusive. The Building Official and/or Health Officer shall forthwith give written notice, in the manner provided in SCCC 6.20.040, to the owner or occupant of said premises to abate such condition forthwith. If such abatement is not commenced within five days thereafter, and diligently prosecuted to completion, the Building Official and/or Health Officer shall cause the same to be abated.
The City Council shall order to be paid, and the Auditor shall audit, and the Treasurer shall pay all sums which may be necessarily expended by the Building Official and/or Health Officer in abating such condition. The City Council shall further order the manner in which said sums are to be collected in event said sums are not paid within five days of giving notice prescribed in SCCC 6.20.060 for requesting payment.
In lieu of employing a contractor or other person to abate such condition, the Building Official and/or Health Officer may call upon the Street Department or other departments of the City to abate such condition. (Ord. 1879 § 1, 3-29-11).
6.20.060 Expense of abatement.
The expense incurred by the Building Official and/or Health Officer or any department of the City in the abatement of any dangerous or insanitary condition shall be assessed against the real property upon which the same was located. The Building Official and/or Health Officer shall give the owner or occupant of such premises a written notice in the manner provided in SCCC 6.20.040, showing the itemized cost of such abatement, and requesting payment thereof within five days after such notice. (Ord. 1879 § 1, 3-29-11).
6.20.070 Assessment against property – Recordation of lien.
If the amount of such expense as shown in such statement is not paid to the Building Official and/or Health Officer within five days after such notice, the Building Official and/or Health Officer may record in the Office of the County Recorder of the County of Santa Clara, State of California, a certificate substantially in the following form, to wit:
NOTICE TO LIEN
Pursuant to authority vested in me by resolution No. ________ of the City Council of the City of Santa Clara, passed on the ________ day of ________, 20___, and the provisions of Ordinance No. ________, I did on the ________ day of ________, 20___, cause a dangerous (insanitary) condition located upon the hereinafter described real property to be abated at the expense of the owner thereof, in the amount of $________, and that said amount has not been paid nor any part thereof, and the City of Santa Clara does hereby claim a lien upon the hereinafter described real property in said amount; the same shall be a lien upon the said real property until said sum with interest thereon at the rate of six percent (6%) per annum from the date of the recordation of this lien in the Office of the County Recorder of the County of Santa Clara, State of California, has been paid in full. The real property hereinabove mentioned and upon which a lien is claimed is that certain parcel of land lying and being in the City of Santa Clara, County of Santa Clara, State of California, and particularly described as follows, to wit:
(Insert description of property)
Dated this ____ day of ________, 20___
_________________________________
Building Official and/or Health Official
City of Santa Clara
And the same shall be a lien against the property described therein until the amount thereof, plus accrued interest, has been paid in full. (Ord. 1879 § 1, 3-29-11).
6.20.080 Lien to draw interest – Statute of limitations.
The amount of such lien shall draw interest at the rate of six percent per annum from the date of the recordation of such lien in the Office of the County Recorder, and the statute of limitations shall not run against the right of the City of Santa Clara to enforce the payment of such lien. If any such lien is not paid, the City may file and maintain an action to foreclose such lien. (Ord. 1879 § 1, 3-29-11).
6.20.090 Alternative method of collection.
As an alternative method of collection of the amount of lien, the City Council, after ordering to be paid all sums necessarily expended in abating such condition, may order the notice of lien to be turned over to the assessor and the tax collector of the City, whereupon it shall be the duty of those officers to add the amount of the assessment to the next regular bill for taxes levied against the lot or parcel of land. If the City taxes are collected by the County officials, the notice of lien shall be delivered to the County Auditor, who shall enter the amount thereof on the County assessment book opposite the description of the particular property and the amount shall be collected together with all other taxes thereon against the property. (Ord. 1879 § 1, 3-29-11).
6.20.100 Collected with City taxes.
Thereafter the amount of the lien shall be collected at the same time and in the same manner as ordinary City taxes are collected, and shall be subject to the same penalties and interest and to the same procedure and sale in case of delinquency as provided for ordinary City taxes. All laws applicable to the levying, collection and enforcement of the City taxes and County taxes are hereby made applicable to such special assessment taxes. (Ord. 1879 § 1, 3-29-11).