HomeMy WebLinkAbout41991
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Ordinance No. 41.99
AN ORDINANCE OF THE COUNTY OF BUTTE — FIRE PREVENTION AND
PROTECTION
The Board of Supervisors of the County of Butte ordains as
follows:
Section 1. Chapter 38A of the Butte County Code is repealed and
replaced as follows:
CHAPTER 38A — FIRE PREVENTION AND PROTECTION ORDINANCE
38A-1 Authority and Title.
Pursuant to the authority granted to it by sections 14930 and
14931 of the Health and Safety Code of the State of California,
article I, section 1 of the Butte County Charter, article XI, section
7 of the California Constitution and sections 25845, 53069.4 and
54988 of the California Government Code, the Board of Supervisors
does enact this chapter, which shall be known and may be cited as the
"Fire Prevention and Protection Ordinance."
38A-2 Findings and Purpose.
(a) Butte County's geographic and climatic conditions are
naturally prone to seasonal wildfires. Many of the County's native
and non-native plant species can be highly flammable during normal
dry periods, and when coupled with high wind events, may cause
significant wildfires within the County, as demonstrated by the 2018
Camp Fire and the 2020 North Complex Fire, which resulted in
catastrophic losses to life, property, and the environment.
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(b) Of paramount importance to the Board of Supervisors and the
citizens of Butte County is the protection of lives and property from
the threat of fire, and the safety of fire and law enforcement
personnel during wildfires.
(c) It is the intent of this Chapter to encourage the owners
and occupants of real property in the unincorporated areas of the
County to maintain their properties to:
(1) Reduce the risk of uncontrolled fires and the harm they may
cause;
(2) Minimize the spread of any fire to other properties and
buildings;
(3) Reduce obstructions to fire suppression efforts if a fire
does occur;
(4) Increase the opportunity for firefighters to successfully
protect lives, residences and other valuable buildings from
wildfires;
(5) Protect populated areas, such as metropolitan areas,
suburban areas, and urban and rural subdivisions from encroaching
wildfires;
(6) Reduce the spread of residential and other building fires
into the wildland vegetation; and
(7) Prevent interference with fire hazard abatement activities.
(d) It is the further intent of the Board of Supervisors for
County personnel to seek and obtain voluntary compliance with this
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Chapter, and to provide appropriate remedies if voluntary compliance
lis not obtained.
138A-3 Administration.
This Chapter shall supplement and be in addition to the other
fire prevention and protection statutes, regulations, and ordinances
enacted by the State, the County or any other governmental agency
having jurisdiction, including but not limited to the California Fire
Code and Public Resources Code sections 4290 and 4291.
Except as otherwise provided, this Chapter shall be administered(
and implemented by the Fire Chief, in conjunction with the Department
of Development Services, Code Enforcement Division.
38A-4 Definitions.
Except where the context otherwise requires, the following
definitions shall govern the construction of this Chapter:
(a) "Abatement" means mitigation or elimination of a Fire
Hazard and such ongoing maintenance as is necessary to prevent the
recurrence of a Fire Hazard.
(b) "Abatement Costs" means any costs or expenses reasonably
related to the abatement of conditions which violate this Chapter,
and shall include, but not be limited to, enforcement, investigation,
collection and Administrative Costs, and the costs associated with
the removal or correction of the violation.
(c) "Administrative Costs" means any costs or expenses
reasonably related to the administration of an abatement action, and
shall include, but not be limited to, the cost of County staff time
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[reasonably related to enforcement, for items including, but not
limited to, site inspections, travel time, investigations, telephone
contacts, and time spent preparing summaries, reports, notices, and
correspondence, warrants and hearing packets. The time expended by
staff from Development Services, Butte County Fire, and Auditor -
Controller calculating the above costs and preparing itemized
invoices showing such costs and prepare itemized invoices, may also
be recovered.
(d) "Building" means any structure or vehicle meeting at least
one of the following:
(1) Is occupied and used as a business or residence three
months of the year or more in any combination of days;
(2) Has one or more utilities connected to it, including but
not limited to, natural gas, propane or electricity. This includes
any means of connection, permitted or otherwise;
(3) Has three or more walls, and a roof, and is greater than
119 square feet in size; or
(4) Is used for mechanical processing.
The definition of a Building shall not include recreational
vehicles with tires in good repair, not standing on leveling jacks
or posts, and not otherwise meeting the above criteria.
(e) "Combustible Material" means seasonal and recurrent weeds,
stubble, brush, dry leaves, mulch, wood, tumbleweeds, rubbish,
recyclable material, litter or flammable materials of any kind.
(f) "Discing" means tilling the soil so as to turn under or
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remove vegetation by mechanical or hand operated methods including,
but not limited to, tractor drawn soil tilling equipment, self
propelled rototilling equipment or hand hoeing.
(g) "Firebreak" means a continuous area of land which is
created and maintained in accordance with the requirements of this
chapter.
(h) "Fire Hazard" means that condition which exists when weeds,
grass, rank growths, or brush grow or accumulate upon a parcel and
create, or when dry will create, a medium for the rapid spread of
fare.
(i) "Fire Chief" means the Fire Chief of the County of Butte
or his or her designees.
(j) "Grass" means any herbaceous plant, cultivated or not,
which will attain, when mature, such a height as to be a medium for
the rapid spread of fire.
(k) "Hazardous Vegetation" means any vegetation that is flammable
and endangers the public safety by creating a Fire Hazard, including
but not limited to seasonal and recurrent weeds, stubble, brush, and
dry leaves.
(1) "Legal Parcel" or "parcel" means a parcel of real property
that may be separately sold in compliance with the Subdivision Map
Act (Division 2 (commencing with Section 66410) of Title 7 of the
Government Code), including an Improved Parcel, Unimproved Parcel,
and Urban Parcel as further defined herein.
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(1) "Improved Parcel" means a parcel of land identified by an
assessor's parcel number upon which a Building is located.
(2) "Unimproved Parcel" means a parcel of land identified by an
assessor's parcel number upon which no Building is located.
(m) "Mowing" means cutting or shredding weeds, grass and other
vegetation by hand or mechanical methods.
(n) "Obstruction" means any material or object, including
natural growing vegetation, which is placed or allowed to accumulate
so as to interfere with fire suppression or the abatement of fire
hazards.
(o) "Occupant" means an adult person or an entity having a
possessory interest in a parcel, including a tenant, resident or
other person or entity having possession, use or control of the
parcel.
(p) "Owner" means an adult person or an entity having an
ownership interest in a parcel, but does not include persons having
only a security interest in a parcel.
(q) "Rank growth" means vegetation of any type, cultivated or
not, which has attained or if allowed to mature will attain, a height
and density to be a medium for the rapid spread of fire.
(r) "Urban parcel," whether improved or unimproved, means any
of the following:
(1) Those parcels located in the unincorporated areas of the
County that are inside the spheres of influence of the cities of
Biggs, Chico, Gridley, Oroville and Paradise, as such spheres are
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established and amended from time to time by the Butte County Local
Agency Formation Commission;
(2) Those parcels located in the unincorporated areas of the
County that are outside of the spheres of influence referred to in
section (r)(1) above, but within an approved subdivision that has
Lots six (6) acres in size or smaller, where fifty (50) percent or
more of the lots within such subdivision have been developed and
improved with residences;
(3) Those parcels located in the unincorporated areas of the
County that are outside of the spheres of influence referred to in
section (r)(1) above, and within the following geographical
boundaries in the community of Palermo: North boundary of Ophir Road
between Lincoln Boulevard and Upper Palermo Road, to the East boundary
of Upper Palermo Road and Palermo Honcut Highway between Ophir Road
and South Villa Avenue, to the South boundary of South Villa Avenue
between Palermo Honcut Highway and Occidental Avenue, to the West
boundary of Occidental Avenue and Wyman Avenue to the Oroville city
limits; and
(4) Those parcels located in the unincorporated areas of the
County that are outside the spheres of influence referred to in
section (r)(1) above, and within the following geographical
boundaries in the North Chico Specific Plan: North boundary of Rock
Creek, North of Keefer Road, to the East boundary of Hicks Lane to
the Chico city limit at the Chico Municipal Airport, to the South
boundary of Sycamore Creek, to the West boundary of Highway 99.
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(s) "Utility generator" means any device, or combination of
devices, used to generate energy, including but not limited to, gas,
diesel, or propane generators, wind generators, solar powered
generator arrays, and hydroelectric generators. Any battery or
capacitor or similar storage bank is included in this definition.
(t) "Weed" means any plant, whether herbaceous or woody and of
whatever height, except a tree, which grows wild, and includes brush -
type plants such as manzanita and poison oak.
38A-5 Duty of Owners and Occupants; Public Nuisance Declared.
(a) Any person that owns, leases, controls, operates, or
maintains any parcel in the unincorporated area of Butte County shall
create Firebreaks where a Fire Hazard exists, to slow or stop the
spread of fire.
(b) Maintaining a parcel that is not in compliance with the
requirements set out in this Chapter is hereby declared to be
unlawful, and a public nuisance, which may be abated in accordance
with this Chapter.
38A-6 Defensible Space and Hazardous Vegetation Management
(a) Any person that owns, leases, controls, operates, or
maintains any parcel within the unincorporated area of the County
shall satisfy the following requirements:
(1) Maintain the area immediately around and adjacent to any
Building free of Combustible Materials. Combustible Materials shall
not be stored under decks and the area under decks shall be maintained
free of Hazardous Vegetation. Only low -growing vegetation with high -
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moisture content, such as flowers, ground covers and green lawns,
free of dead vegetative debris, shall be allowed within five (5) feet
hof any Building.
(2) Remove or prune flammable plants and shrubs near windows and
funder eave vents (a recommended no -planting zone).
(3) Clean roofs and gutters of dead leaves, debris, and pine',
Ineedles.
(4) Provide and maintain a screen over the outlet of every
chimney or stovepipe that is attached to any fireplace, stove, or
other device that burns any solid or liquid fuel. The screen shall
be constructed of nonflammable material with openings not more than
1/2 inch.
(5) Maintain an area adjacent to any Building with a one -hundred
(100) -foot Firebreak made by removing and clearing away all Hazardous
Vegetation or other Combustible Material from each side of the
Building to the parcel boundary line, whichever is closer. Within the
one hundred (100) -foot Firebreak: i) weeds and dry grass shall be
mowed to a height of four (4) inches or less; ii) grass, brush and
small trees under mature trees shall be removed to reduce vertical
continuity; and iii) trees shall be pruned up to six (6) feet from
the ground. For shorter height trees, pruning shall not exceed 1/3
of the overall tree height. Tree placement shall be planned to ensure
the mature canopy is no closer than ten (10) feet to the edge of any
Building. Trees and shrubs shall be limited to small clusters of a
few each to break up the continuity of the vegetation across the
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landscape. This subsection does not apply to single tree specimens,
ornamental shrubbery, or similar plants which are used as ground
cover and do not form a means of rapidly transmitting fire from the
native growth to any Building.
(6) Remove the portion of any tree which extends within ten (10)
feet of the outlet of any chimney or stovepipe. Maintain any tree
adjacent to or overhanging any Building free of dead and dying wood.
(7) Clear Hazardous Vegetation on each side of a street or
driveway for a horizontal distance of ten (10) feet from the edge of
the travel way and a vertical height of fourteen (14) feet from the
road surface. Vegetation within ten (10) feet of a street or driveway
shall be cut to (4) inches or less above ground. This applies to
public and private driveway(s) and any public or private streets that
border or bisect a parcel.
(8) Any portion of a parcel, improved or unimproved, within one
hundred (100) feet of a Building on an adjacent parcel shall comply
with subsection (a) (5) above in order to provide the adjacent Building
no less than 100 feet of defensible space.
(b) Firebreaks may be required adjacent to and along parcel
boundary lines for a width of 30 feet on any parcel when an
accumulation of vegetation on said parcel creates a significant Fire
Hazard to the adjacent parcel.
(c) A Firebreak for a distance of 20 feet from the edge of travel
Iway shall be required along any parcel adjacent to an identified
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1wildfire evacuation route as determined by the county enforcement
lofficial.
(d) Urban Parcels as defined in section 38A-4 shall comply with
all Firebreak requirements specified in Section 38A -6(a -c). In
addition, the following requirements shall also be satisfied:
(1) For unimproved urban parcels that are one and one fourth
1(1.25) acre in size or smaller Firebreaks shall be required on the
entire area of each parcel. On unimproved urban parcels that ares
greater than one and one fourth (1.25) acre in size, Firebreaks shall
be required adjacent to and along all parcel boundary lines for a'
maximum width of thirty (30) feet. Required firebreaks may be created
by mowing to a maximum height of four (4) inches, discing or removing
the annual weeds, grasses, rank growth and trimmings, and by removing
obstructions.
(2) All utility generators, privately owned power poles and
petroleum-based products (gasoline, diesel, liquid propane, etc.)
shall have a maintained Firebreak of no less than 10 feet in all
directions around, above, and below. The furthest measurement shall
include any connections or ground contact points. Privately owned
power poles and overhead distribution lines not owned or maintained
by a utility company shall have a maintained 10 -foot clearance around
all conductors. Any dead, diseased, dying, damaged, or otherwise
unhealthy tree or limb of a tree that may fall onto or contact
(conductors shall be mitigated as to eliminate any threat of failure
to the conductor wires.
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(e) The Fire Chief may approve reduced Firebreak requirements
around Buildings to mitigate erosion potential on steep slopes, to
prevent destruction of unique wildlife habitat, endangered species
and/or vernal pools, or for other environmental factors. Each special
circumstance will be evaluated based on the facts of the situation.
The Fire Chief is encouraged to coordinate with soil conservation,
fish and wildlife, corps of engineers, water quality or other agency
representatives when weed abatement activities are indicated on
properties where significant environmental considerations may arise.
(f) Specimen shrubs may be retained within Firebreaks, provided
that:
(1) They are spaced at a distance equal to no less than three
(3) times their widest diameter and are not less than fifteen (15)
feet from other specimens or buildings.
(2) All specimens are kept free of dead wood and litter.
(g) Specimen trees may be retained within firebreaks provided
that:
(1) All specimens are kept free of dead wood and litter.
(2) All specimens shall be trimmed of limbs to a minimum of 6
feet from the ground or 1/3 of their height from the ground, whichever
is lesser.
(3) Crowns of adjacent specimens are not interlaced to
constitute a medium for the rapid spread of fire.
(h) Firebreaks may include fire resistive vegetation, such as
green lawns, ice plant, green ivy, and other plants recognized by the
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Fire Chief as being fire resistive. Any fire resistive plants must
The maintained in a state to resist the spread of fire.
I38A-7 Notice of Existence of Fire Hazard
Whenever the Fire Chief determines that a Fire Hazard exists onl
a parcel, the Fire Chief may choose to notify the owner(s) and/or
occupant(s) of the parcel, through issuance of a "Courtesy Request
to Abate Fire Hazard." If the owner(s) and/or occupants fail to
voluntarily comply with Courtesy Request to Abate Fire Hazard, the
Fire Chief may refer the matter to Butte County Code Enforcement. In
all cases, the Fire Chief has the discretion to refer a parcel to
Code Enforcement without first issuing a Courtesy Request to Abate
Fire Hazard.
38A-8 Administrative Abatement Procedures.
(a) Whenever the Fire Chief informs Butte County Code
Enforcement that a public nuisance (as defined in this Chapter)
exists, a Code Enforcement Officer shall post a 72 -Hour Notice to
Abate on the parcel where the public nuisance exists, and mail a copy
of the same to those persons shown on the latest County tax roll to
be the owners of the parcel. The 72 -Hour Notice to Abate shall inform
the owner and/or tenants of the basis for the violation; explain that
if the violation is not corrected, the matter will be set for a
Nuisance Abatement Hearing; and explain that to prevent the accrual
of additional costs and the potential award of an administrative
penalty, the owner or tenant must contact the Code Enforcement Office
and arrange a time for a Code Enforcement Officer or the Fire Chief
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to inspect the parcel, and confirm that the violation(s) have been
corrected.
(b) If the nuisance continues to exist after the expiration of
the seventy-two (72) hour period, a Code Enforcement Officer may set
the matter for hearing by issuing a Notice of Nuisance Abatement
Hearing. If the matter is set for hearing, the Code Enforcement
Officer shall post the parcel upon which the public nuisance exists
at the nearest accessible entry point to the parcel, and shall mail,
with a proof of service, notices to those persons known to be in
possession of the parcel, if any, and to persons shown on the latest
County tax roll to be the owners of the parcel at least ten (10) days
prior to the hearing. Both the mailed and posted notice shall be in
substantially the following form:
NOTICE OF NUISANCE ABATEMENT HEARING
The owner(s) and occupant(s) of real property
described on the latest equalized Butte County
tax roll as A. P. No. and having a
street address of is (are) hereby
notified to appear before a Hearing Officer of
the County of Butte at on
20 at the hour of
o'clock m., to show
cause, if any there be, why the use of said real
property should not be found to be a public
nuisance and abated pursuant to the Butte County
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Code Chapter 38A. The Butte County Fire Chief,
in conjunction with the Department of
Development Services, Code Enforcement
Division, has determined that conditions exist
on the above property which constitute a public
nuisance and violate Butte County Code
section(s) 38A- , as follows:
. After hearing, if a violation is
found to have existed at the time the Notice of
Nuisance Abatement Hearing was posted on the
property, the Administrative Costs incurred in
prosecuting the violation, including, but not
limited to, the cost of the Hearing Officer, the
cost of prior time and expenses associated with
bringing the matter to hearing, attorneys' fees,
the cost associated with any appeals from the
decision of the Hearing Officer, the cost of
judicially abating the violation, the cost of
labor and material necessary to physically abate
the violation, the cost of securing expert and
other witnesses, and any Administrative
Penalties awarded by the Hearing Officer, may
become a lien against the subject property, and
the administrative and abatement costs and may
also be assessed against the property in the
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same manner as taxes. If a lien is recorded, it
will have the same force and effect as an
abstract of judgment which is recorded as a
money judgment obtained in a court of law. If
you fail to appear at the hearing or if you fail
to raise any defense or assert any relevant
point at the time of hearing, the County will
assert, in later judicial proceedings to enforce
an order of abatement, that you have waived all
rights to assert such defenses or such points.
In preparing for such hearing, you should be
aware that if an initial showing is made by the
County representatives that is sufficient to
persuade the Hearing Officer that a public
nuisance existed on your property at the time
the Notice of Nuisance Abatement Hearing was
posted, you will then have the burden of proving
that no public nuisance existed on your
property. Therefore, you should be prepared to
introduce oral and documentary evidence proving
why, in your opinion, your use of the property
is not a public nuisance as defined in this
Chapter. A copy of the Butte County Code Chapter
38A relating to Fire Prevention and Protection
is available online at www.buttecounty.net to
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assist you in the preparation of your
presentation.
If an initial showing sufficient to persuade the
Hearing Officer that a public nuisance existed
on your property is made by the Fire Chief and/or
Code Enforcement Officer, your failure to
sustain the burden of showing that no public
nuisance existed on the property may result in
a decision by the Hearing Officer that a public
nuisance did exist, and that the County is
entitled to recover its Administrative Costs,
and any Administrative Penalty that the Hearing
Officer deems warranted.
Further, if the Hearing Officer finds that a
public nuisance continues to exist on your
property, and you fail to abate the nuisance
promptly, the County may abate the nuisance. If
the County abates the nuisance, in addition to
being able to recover its Administrative Costs
and Penalties, you may be responsible for the
actual costs of the abatement. In either
circumstance, all Administrative and Abatement
Costs may be specially assessed against your
parcel by the Auditor -Controller's Office and
added to your tax bill as a special assessment,
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and any Administrative Penalty may be recorded
against your property as a judgment lien.
Special assessments have the same priority, for
collection purposes, as other county taxes and,
if not paid, may result in a forced sale of your
property.
Finally, if the Hearing Officer finds that a
public nuisance exists on your property, a
violation of the Butte County Code Chapter 38A,
the County will contend that you are bound by
such finding at any subsequent judicial action
to enforce the Hearing Officer's order.
IMPORTANT: READ THIS NOTICE CAREFULLY.
IN ORDER TO PREVENT THE ACCRUAL OF COSTS AND
POTENTIAL ADMINISTRATIVE PENALTIES, YOU MUST
CONTACT THE CODE ENFORCEMENT OFFICE, AND ARRANGE
A TIME FOR A CODE ENFORCEMENT OFFICER TO INSPECT
YOUR PROPERTY, AND CONFIRM THAT THE VIOLATION(S)
HAVE BEEN CORRECTED.
FAILURE TO APPEAR AND RESPOND AT THE TIME SET
FORTH IN THIS NOTICE WILL LIKELY RESULT IN
ADMINISTRATIVE AND/OR JUDICIAL ABATEMENT AND
TERMINATION OF USES OF OR CONDITIONS ON YOUR
PROPERTY WHICH THE FIRE CHIEF CONTENDS ARE IN
VIOLATION OF THE BUTTE COUNTY CODE.
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Dated:
II
BUTTE COUNTY DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT SERVICES
By:
(c) All hearings conducted under this Chapter shall be held
before a Hearing Officer designated pursuant to the protocol set
forth in that document entitled the "Butte County Administrative
Hearing Officer Program." The Program is based upon an alphabetical
rotation through attorneys currently under contract through the
Program.
(d) At the time and place set for the hearing, the Hearing
Officer shall hear testimony and receive written and/or documentary
evidence relating to the alleged violation. Additional procedural
rules may be adopted by resolution of the Board of Supervisors. The
Director of Development Services, or his or her designee, shall record
the audio of the hearing, and provide a copy of the recording to the
Hearing Officer following the conclusion of the hearing. The Hearing
Officer shall preserve the record of the hearing, and all photographs
and demonstrative and documentary evidence introduced at the time of
the hearing, for
a period of
three
(3)
years.
(e) Within
five (5) days
after
the
hearing is closed, the Hearing
Officer shall render his or her written decision relating to the
existence or nonexistence of the alleged public nuisance. If a
violation is found to have existed at the time the Notice of Nuisance
Abatement Hearing was posted, the decision shall include a statement
that the County is entitled to recover its Administrative Costs and
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Jany Administrative Penalty awarded by the Hearing Officer
If the
JHearing Officer determines that the violation continues to exist, the
decision shall also order that the owner of the property, or persons
known to be in possession of the property, abate the violation within''
a reasonable time, not to exceed ten (10) days from the date the
decision is placed in the mail. The decision shall contain findings
of fact and conclusions of law. A copy of the decision shall be mailed
by certified mail, return receipt requested, to the person or persons
shown on the last County tax roll to be the owners of the parcel
which is the subject of the hearing and the occupant of such parcel,
if any. All other persons noticed pursuant to this section shall be
mailed a copy of the decision by first class mail, postage prepaid.
(f) The decision of the Hearing Officer shall be final and
conclusive on the date the certified mail set forth in subsection (e)
above, is deposited in the mail..
(g)(1) Notwithstanding any other provisions of this Code, if a
final decision of the Hearing Officer finds that a violation exists
and the public nuisance is not voluntarily abated within ten (10)
days of said decision being placed in the mail by the Hearing Officer,
the Fire Chief and/or the Director of Development Services, or his
or her designee, may abate the public nuisance by removing the Fire
Hazards from the property, pursuant to a warrant issued by a court
of competent jurisdiction. The owner of the property shall be
responsible for paying all of the County's Abatement Costs and
Administrative Costs, including but not limited to, those cost items
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set forth in the notice required by subsection (a) above, and any
Administrative Penalties awarded by the Hearing Officer. The Fire
Chief and the Director of Development Services, or his or her
designee, shall keep an accounting of the Abatement and Administrative
Costs for each case. Upon completion of the abatement of the nuisance,
whether by the Director of Development Services or his or her
designee, or the owner or tenant, the Director of Development Services
or his or her designee shall post the property and send a bill to the
owner, and any persons known to be in possession of the property,
requesting payment of the County's Abatement and Administrative
Costs, as well as any Administrative Penalty. The bill shall also
state that failure to pay the Costs and Penalty within fifteen (15)
days from service of the bill may result in the recording of a lien
and the placement of a special assessment against the property.
(2) If the County's Costs and any Administrative Penalty are not
paid within fifteen (15) days from service of the bill, the Director
of Development Services shall render an itemized report to the Clerk
of the Board of Supervisors for submittal to the Board of Supervisors
for hearing and consideration regarding the proposed lien and special
assessment. The report shall include the names and addresses of the
owner of record and any persons known to be in possession of the
property, and an itemized account of the County's Abatement Costs,
Administrative Costs, and any Administrative Penalty. At least
fifteen (15) days prior to said hearing, the Clerk of the Board of
Supervisors shall give notice, with an affidavit of service, of said
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Ihearing to all persons named in the Director of Development Services'
report and the Director of Development Services or his or her designee
shall post the property with a copy of the notice. The notice shall
describe the property by assessor's parcel number and street number
or other description sufficient to enable identification of the
property and contain a statement of the amount of the proposed lien
and special assessment. The notice shall also contain a statement
that the Board will hear and consider objections and protests to the
proposed lien and special assessment at the designated time and place.
(h) At the time and place fixed in the notice, the Board of
Supervisors shall hear and consider the proposed lien and special
assessment together with objections and protests thereto. At the
conclusion of the hearing, the Board of Supervisors may make such
modifications and revisions to the proposed lien and special
assessment as it deems just and may order that the proposed lien and
special assessment be recorded by the Director of Development Services
and specially assessed against the property by the Auditor -
Controller's Office. The lien shall have the same force, priority and
effect as a judgment Lien and the special assessment shall have the
same priority as other County taxes.
(i) The notice of lien shall, at a minimum, identify the record
owner or possessor of the property, set forth the date upon which the
decision of the Hearing Officer was issued, describe the real property
subject to the lien, set forth the amount of the Costs and Penalties
incurred to date and, if applicable, the date upon which the abatement
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was completed. If the abatement has not yet been completed, the notice
shall so state and shall also indicate that the lien is a partial
Ilien and that additional Abatement Costs will be incurred in the I
[future.
It is the intent of the Board of Supervisors that any Abatement
and/or Administrative Costs incurred after the filing of the notice
of abatement lien relate back to the date upon which the lien was
recorded for purposes of priority; however, in order to preserve its
rights, after all Abatement Costs and Administrative Costs have been
incurred and the abatement is complete, the Department of Development
Services shall cause a supplemental notice of abatement lien to be
recorded. The supplemental notice shall contain all of the information
required for the original notice and shall also refer to the
recordation date and the recorder's document number of the original
notice.
(j) The decision of the Hearing Officer or Board of Supervisors
may be recorded by the Director of Development Services. In the event
of such recordation, and in the further event that the violation is
(corrected and all Costs and any Administrative Penalty is paid, a
notice of such correction shall be recorded. The Director of
Development Services is authorized to prepare and record a notice of
correction. Correction of the violation shall not excuse the property
(owner's liability for costs incurred during the administrative
abatement process (Abatement Costs, Administrative Costs, and
Administrative Penalty as defined in this Chapter). In any action
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to foreclose on a lien issued pursuant to this Chapter, the County
shall be entitled to an award of attorney's fees.
138A-9 Administrative Civil Penalties.
(a) In addition to any other remedies provided by County Code
or State Law, in the event a parcel owner fails to bring a parcel
into compliance after receiving a 72 -Hour Notice, and the County is
required to issue a Notice of Nuisance Abatement Hearing, the County
representatives may request, and the Hearing Officer may award, an
Administrative Civil Penalty of up to $1,000.
(b) In determining whether the award of an Administrative Civil
Penalty is warranted, the County representatives may present evidence
of, and the Hearing Officer shall consider, the nature, circumstances,
and gravity of the violation(s), any prior history of violations, the
degree of culpability of the owner and occupants, and the financial
burden to the person(s) upon whom the penalty will be imposed.
(c) At the Nuisance Abatement Hearing, the Hearing Officer shall
determine the total amount of the Administrative Penalty, if any, and
that amount shall be reflected in the decision and awarded to the
County. The decision of the Hearing Officer shall be final and
conclusive on the date the decision is deposited in the mail.
(d) Following the issuance of a Hearing Officer's decision,
the Director of Development Services, or his or her designee, may
compromise the amount of any administrative penalty imposed by the
Hearing Officer. When determining whether to compromise any penalty
amount, the Director, or his or her designee, shall take into
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consideration the diligence of the parcel owner in working to correct
the nuisance conditions on the parcel and obtaining compliance with
the requirements set forth in this Chapter. The compromise shall be
subject to any terms and conditions prescribed by the Director, or
his or her designee, which may include, without limitation, a
condition requiring that the subject legal property and all
responsible parties remain free of any additional violations for a
specified period of time. Any person accepting a compromise penalty)
hereunder shall be required to execute a Compromise Agreement in a
form approved by County Counsel.
38A-10 Non-exclusive Remedy; Alternative Methods of Enforcement.
This Chapter is cumulative to all other remedies now or hereafter
available to abate or otherwise regulate or prevent public nuisances.
(a) The County may, in its discretion, abate a violation of
this Chapter by the prosecution of a civil action, including an action
for injunctive relief, without first going through the administrative
procedures set forth herein. The remedy of injunctive relief may take
the form of a court order, enforceable through civil contempt
proceedings, prohibiting the maintenance of a violation of this
Chapter, or requiring compliance with other terms.
(b) The County may also abate a violation of this Chapter
through the abatement process established by Government Code Section
25845.
38A-11 Summary Abatement.
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Notwithstanding any other provision of this Chapter, whenever
the existence of Fire Hazards on a parcel constitutes an immediate
threat to the public health or safety, and where the procedures sett
forth in section 38A-8 would not result in abatement of that nuisance
within a short enough time period to avoid that threat, the Fire
Chief may direct any officer or employee of the County to summarily
abate the nuisance. The Fire Chief shall make reasonable efforts to
notify the owners or occupants of the parcel, but the formal notice
and hearing procedures set forth in this Chapter shall not apply. No
summary abatement shall occur prior to consultation with the Office
of County Counsel. The County may nevertheless recover its costs for
abating that nuisance in the manner set forth in this Chapter.
38A-12 No Duty to Enforce.
Nothing in this Chapter shall be construed as imposing on the
Fire Chief, the Director of Development Services, Code Enforcement,
or any employee, agent of contractor of the County of Butte, any duty
to abate any Fire Hazards, nor to take any other action with regard
to any non-compliance with the provisions of this Chapter, and neither
the County nor any Department dead or employee shall be held liable
for failure to seek abatement of a Fire Hazard, nor for alleged
failure to take any other action with regard to the provisions in
this Chapter.
38A-13 Use of Money Collected Under This Chapter.
All money collected for penalties for violations of this Chapter
and all money collected for recovery of costs of enforcement of this
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Chapter shall be made available to the Departments, who are involved
in the enforcement of this Chapter.
Section 2. CEQA
The Board hereby finds that this ordinance is exempt from the
California Environmental Quality Act ("CEQA") pursuant to Section
15061(b)(3) because it can be seen with certainty that there is no
possibility of a significant effect on the environment from the
adoption of these regulations. This ordinance revises and updates
an existing Fire Prevention and Protection ordinance and is
designed to assist property owners in determining how to protect
their properties from fire. Where it can be seen with certainty
that there is no possibility that the activity in question may
have a significant effect on the environment, the activity is not
subject to CEQA. Moreover, this ordinance is also categorically
exempt pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15308, Class 8: Actions
by Regulatory Agencies for Protection of the Environment, which
exempts actions taken by regulatory agencies, as authorized by
state or local ordinance, to assure the maintenance, restoration,
enhancement, or protection of the environment where the regulatory
process involves procedures for the protection of the environment.
Section 3. Severability
If any section, subsection, sentence, clause, word, or phrase
of this ordinance is held to be unconstitutional or otherwise
invalid for any reason, such decision shall not affect the validity
of the remainder of this ordinance. The Board of Supervisors
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hereby declare that they would have passed this ordinance, and
each section, subsection, sentence, clause, word or phrase
thereof, irrespective of the fact that one or more sections,
subsections, sentences, clauses, words, or phrases be declared
invalid or unconstitutional.
Section 4. Effective Date and Publication.
This Ordinance shall take effect thirty (30) days after the
date of its passage. The Clerk of the Board of supervisors is
authorized and directed to publish this Ordinance before the
expiration of fifteen (15) days after its passage. This Ordinance
shall be published once, with the names of the members of the Board
of Supervisors voting for and against it, in a newspaper of general
circulation published in the County of Butte, State of California.
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PASSED AND ADOPTED by the Board of Supervisors of the County of Butte,
State of California, on the 9t" day of February, 2021 by the following
vote:
AYES: Supervisors Lucero, Ritter, Kimmelshue, and Chair Connelly
NOES: Supervisor Teeter
ABSENT: None
ABSTAIN: None
Bill Connelly, Chafr
Butte County Board of Supervisors
ATTEST:
Andy Pickett, Chief Administrative Officer
and Clerk of the Board
By:
Deputo(/
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