Chapter 15.16
HOUSING CODE
Sections:
15.16.020 Uniform Housing Code 1997 Amendments.
Prior legislation: Ords. 797, 882, 944 and 1007.
15.16.010 Established.
The Uniform Housing Code, 1997 Edition, including Exhibit A attached thereto, with amendments, additions and deletions thereto is adopted by reference. [Ord. 1087 § 2, 2002; Ord. 1051 § 2, 1999].
15.16.020 Uniform Housing Code 1997 Amendments.
A. Section 202 is amended to read as follows:
All building or portions thereof which are determined to be substandard as defined in this code are hereby declared to be public nuisances and shall be abated by repair, rehabilitation, demolition or removal in accordance with the procedure specified in Chapter 17 of the Code.
B. Section 204 is amended by adding the following paragraph at the end of said section to read as follows:
Any person violating any of the provisions or failing to comply with any of the mandatory requirements of the ordinances of Lake Elsinore shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. Any person convicted of a misdemeanor under the ordinance of Lake Elsinore shall be punished by a fine of not more than one thousand dollars, or by imprisonment not to exceed six months, or by both such fine and imprisonment. Each such person shall be guilty of a separate offense for each and every day during any portion of which any violation of any provision of the ordinance of Lake Elsinore is committed, continued, or permitted by any such person and shall be punished accordingly.
C. Deletions.
Chapter 11 is deleted.
Chapter 12 is deleted.
Chapter 13 is deleted.
Chapter 14 is deleted.
Chapter 15 is deleted.
Chapter 16 is deleted.
D. Chapter 17, Abatement of Substandard and Unsafe Buildings, is added to read as follows:
CHAPTER 17
ABATEMENT OF SUBSTANDARD AND UNSAFE BUILDINGS
SECTION 1701: STATEMENT OF INTENT – Upon finding any building to be in this category, the Building Official shall notify the owner of record as indicated on the Riverside County Tax Assessors Records, of the intent of the City in condemning the building, also advising the owner, that a Preliminary Title Report has been ordered to determine who the concerned parties are, the cost of which will be assessed against the property owner. If the owner does not respond within fifteen days from receipt of this statement, the Building Official shall proceed to the next step.
SECTION 1702: FIRST NOTICE – The Building Official, upon determining that a building or structure is unsafe or substandard shall give a written notice of defects to all parties concerned in the manner hereinafter stated. The notice shall specify the conditions which render the building or structure unsafe or substandard. The notice shall require the owner to obtain all necessary permits from the Division of Building and Safety and to correct or abate the unsafe or substandard conditions, either by repair, demolition or removal within thirty days after the date of notice. If a building is encumbered by a mortgage or deed of trust of record, and the owner of the building shall not have complied with the order on or before the expiration of thirty days after the mailing and posting of the notice, the mortgagee or beneficiary under the deed of trust may, within fifteen days after the expiration of the thirty day period, comply with the requirements of the notice.
SECTION 1703: MANNER OF GIVING NOTICE – The Building Official shall post a copy of the notice of defects in a plainly visible place on the building or structure and he shall send a copy, by registered or certified mail, postage prepaid, return receipt requested, to the owner of the land on which the building or structure is located, as such person’s name and address appears on the last County equalized assessment roll, and to each mortgage or beneficiary under any deed of trust, that is of record; to the holder of any lease that is of record, and to the record holder of any other estate or interest in the building or structure or the land upon which such building or structure is located, at the last known address of such interest holders.
SECTION 1704: ORDER TO VACATE – Whenever, in the opinion of the Building Official, extreme and imminent hazard exists, he shall be given written notice ordering the occupants of any such building to immediately vacate and, in the event compliance with the order is not voluntarily and promptly obtained, he shall request the law enforcement agency having jurisdiction to effect such a vacation or forthwith take such action at law as is required to cause the premises to be vacated. A copy of the order to vacate, which shall include the reasons for the order, shall be posted on the building and mailed to all concerned parties and filed in the Building Department files in the same manner as the notice of defects. Upon giving such order to vacate, the Building Official shall cause to be posted at each entrance to the building a notice to read: DANGER – THIS BUILDING UNSAFE FOR OCCUPANCY – DIVISION OF BUILDING AND SAFETY – DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT – CITY OF LAKE ELSINORE, such notice shall remain posted until the required repair, demolition or removal are completed. Such notice shall not be removed without written permission of the Building Official and no person shall enter the building except for the purpose of making the required repairs or the demolition of the building, without the written permission of the Building Official.
SECTION 1705: NOTICE OF ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEEDING – Whenever the first notice of defects has been given, the Building Official shall record in the office of the County Recorder of Riverside County, a notice that an administrative proceeding has been commenced for the abatement of a public nuisance, describing the real property affected and stating that the costs incurred therein may become a lien on said property, and directing inquiry for further details to his office, giving the address thereof.
SECTION 1706: APPEAL – Any person entitled to service under this ordinance may appeal the proceedings by filing a written appeal on a form furnished by the Building Official within thirty days of receipt of the first notice. Failure to do so constitutes a waiver of the owner’s right to a hearing and adjudication of the notice or any portion thereof.
1. Upon receipt of any appeal the Building Official shall set a hearing date to not be less than ten days or more than sixty days from the date the appeal was received.
2. The Building Official upon setting the hearing date of the Appeals Board, shall notify the appellant(s) at the address shown on the Appeal, of the date, time and place the hearing will be held. This notification shall be given not less than ten days prior to the hearing date.
3. Except for orders to vacate made pursuant to Section 2(e) of the Ordinance, enforcement of any notice issued under this ordinance shall be stayed pending the outcome of any appeal properly and timely filed.
SECTION 1707: HEARING – At the time fixed in the notice, the Board of Appeals shall proceed to hear the testimony of the Building Official, and the owner of the building or structure or his representative if present at said hearing, and other concerned parties who may desire to testify, regarding the condition of the building or structure, the estimated cost of reconstruction, repair or removal, and any other relevant matter. Upon the conclusion of the hearing, the Board shall make its decision and, in the event that it so concludes, it may declare the building or structure to be a nuisance and direct the owner to abate the same by having the building or structure properly reconstructed or repaired, or by having it razed or removed, and further notifying the owner that if said nuisance is not abated within thirty days after posting and mailing of the Board’s decision, the building or structure will be razed or removed by the City of Lake Elsinore and the expense thereof shall be a lien on the lot or parcel of land upon which the building or structure is located, or make a personal obligation of the property owner.
1. At any time within ten days after the Board’s decision directing the abatement of a nuisance, the Building Official shall post a copy of the Board’s decision on the building or structure and mail copies thereof to all parties concerned in the same manner as the first notice, and he shall file an affidavit thereof to all parties concerned in the same manner as the first notice and he shall file an affidavit thereof in the Building Division files, the Board may grant any extension of time to abate said nuisance that it may deem justifiable upon good cause being shown.
SECTION 1708: TIME TO BRING ACTION – Unless the owner or holder of an interest of record brings an action in a court of competent jurisdiction within thirty days after the date of mailing and posting on said premises of the notice of the decision of the Board, contesting the validity of any proceedings leading up to and including the decision of the Board, all objections to the proceedings and decisions will be deemed to have been waived.
SECTION 1709: SECOND NOTICE – If the order of the Building Official in the first notice is not complied with within forty-five days after giving notice and no appeal has been filed the Building Official shall give a second notice to all parties concerned by posting and mailing in the same manner as the first notice. The second notice shall be entitled “Notice to Abate Nuisance”; the notice shall direct the owner of the building or structure to effect all necessary abatement within thirty days from receipt of the second notice or show cause why such building or structure should not be condemned as a nuisance and abated as wherein provided. The failure of the owner or any other person to receive such notice shall not affect in any manner the validity of any proceeding taken hereunder.
SECTION 1710: JURISDICTION TO ABATE – Thirty days after the mailing and posting of the Board of Appeals decision or the second notice, the City shall have jurisdiction to abate such nuisance by razing or removing the building or structure. In the event that the nuisance is not abated within the prescribed time, the City may thereupon raze and remove the building or structure as hereinafter described under its direction and supervision.
SECTION 1711: METHOD OF ABATEMENT – Abatement of all buildings or structures under the direction and supervision of the City pursuant to the provisions of this ordinance shall be done in the following manner:
1. If in the event the nuisance can be abated by repair or rehabilitation, the Building Official may employ such architectural or engineering assistance on a contract basis as he may deem reasonably necessary to prepare plans and specifications to facilitate said repair or rehabilitation.
2. Actual work to be done whether it be repair and rehabilitation or demolition and removal, shall be accomplished by private contract. A minimum of three bids shall be received from reputable licensed contractors prior to contracting for work to be done.
SECTION 1712: COST RECOVERY – Repair or demolition cost recovery shall be accomplished in the following manner:
A. Statement of Expense. The Building Official shall keep a complete and accurate account of all costs incurred in the performance of any work pursuant to the provision of this ordinance.
A verified statement of expense showing the gross and net expense of the work performed and all other costs shall be given to the City Clerk who shall schedule it for City Council consideration to set a hearing date. The date, time, place, and purpose of the hearing shall be published once in a local newspaper. A copy of the statement and notice shall be accomplished in the same manner as is prescribed for the first notice.
B. Hearing on Statement of Expense. At the time fixed for the hearing on the statement of expense the City Council shall consider the statement, together with any objections or protests which may be raised by the property owner or other concerned parties. The Council may make any such revision, correction or modification in the statement as it may deem just, and thereafter shall render its decision on the statement. The Council’s decision on the statement and all protests and objection, which may be made, shall be final and conclusive.
C. Method of Payment for Cost Recovery. Shall be determined by the City Council as a part of the decision rendered in the hearing of the statement of expense.
1. The Council may make the charges a personal obligation of the property owner and direct the City Attorney to collect the same using all appropriate legal remedies.
2. Or the Council may order the charge to be made a special assessment and lien against the property involved and order said assessment recorded on the assessment roll in behalf of the City.
D. Payment and Recordation of Lien. All concerned parties shall be notified of the City Council’s decision of the hearing in the same manner as the first notice and shall be given opportunity to pay said charges. If payment is not received within ten days after receipt of the Council’s decision on the statement, the Finance Director shall file in the Office of the County Recorder of Riverside County a notice of lien, describing the real property affected, a summary of the action taken to abate the nuisance and the amount of the lien claimed by the City of Lake Elsinore.
1. Priority. Immediately upon its being placed on the assessment roll the assessment shall be deemed to be complete, the several amounts assessed shall be payable, and the assessments shall be liens against the lots or parcels of land assessed, respectively. The lien shall be subordinate to all existing special assessment liens previously imposed upon the same property, and shall be paramount to all other liens except for state, county and municipal taxes with which it shall continue until the assessment and all interest due and payable thereon are paid.
2. Interest. All such assessment remaining unpaid after thirty days from the date of recording on the assessment roll shall become delinquent and shall bear interest at the rate per annum from and after said date as determined by the City Council.
3. The amount of the assessment shall be collected at the same time and in the same manner as ordinary municipal taxes are collected; and shall be subject to the same penalties and procedures and sale in case of delinquency as provided for ordinary municipal taxes. All laws applicable to the levy, collection and enforcement of municipal taxes shall be applicable to such assessment.
4. All money recovered by payment of the charge or assessment or from the sale of the property at foreclosure sale shall be paid to the City of Lake Elsinore.
E. Release of Lien. Upon payment in full of the costs of the abatement proceedings and the expense of the work done, the Building Official shall execute and record with the County Recorder a release of the recorded lien on the property. If an assessment has been placed on the assessment roll and is thereafter paid to the Building Official, he shall notify the County Auditor who shall cancel the assessment on the roll.
F. Fees shall be set pursuant to Chapter 3.40 LEMC.
[Ord. 1087 § 2, 2002; Ord. 1051 § 2, 1999].