The following definitions apply to the use of these terms for the purposes of this chapter:
"Appellant"
means a citee who has submitted a valid and timely request for hearing to contest an administrative citation issued pursuant to the provisions of this chapter.
"Citee"
means the person given an administrative citation charging him or her as a responsible person for a code violation.
"City"
means the city of Westminster or the area within the territorial city limits of the city of Westminster, and such territory outside of this city over which the city has jurisdiction or control by virtue of any constitutional provision or any law.
"City manager"
means the city manager or his or her successor as chief executive officer of the city of Westminster, or designee.
"Enforcement officer"
means any of the following: (1) the city manager, or city officers or employees designated by him or her; (2) any peace officer pursuant to California Penal Code Section 832(3); any city public safety officer; (4) any city code enforcement officer; (5) any Orange County health care agency inspector; (6) any city building inspector; (7) any Orange County fire agency inspector; (8) any city animal control officer; and (9) any state or federal employee or officer authorized by statute to enforce applicable state and federal laws.
"Extenuating circumstances"
include, but are not limited to, the following circumstances: financial hardship; a cite issued with incorrect information, such as the cite was not issued to the responsible person, the address is incorrect, or the violations cited are incorrect; a legitimate data entry or data processing error.
"Hearing officer"
means the city manager or designee.
"Issue"
means giving a citation to the citee and issuance occurs on the date when a citation is personally served on the citee, the date it is mailed to the citee, or the date it is posted on real property where a property related violation occurs.
"Issuing department"
means the city department that has the authority and responsibility for enforcing the code section(s) designated on a citation as having been violated.
"Land use approval"
means any approval required for a particular use of land, including, but not limited to, permits, licenses, conditional use permits, variances, or subdivision maps.
"Owner"
means the record owner of a parcel according to the county's latest equalized property tax assessment roll, and includes any part owner, joint owner, tenant in common, or joint tenant, of the whole or a part of parcel.
"Person"
includes a natural person or legal entity, and the owners, majority stockholders, corporate officers, trustee, general partners of a legal entity.
"Responsible person"
means any individual who is the owner or occupant of real property, owner of authorized agent of any business, company, or entity, or the parent of the legal guardian of any person under the age of eighteen years, who causes or maintains a violation of the Westminster Municipal Code or applicable state codes. For the purposes of this chapter, there may be more than one responsible person for any one code violation.
(Ord. 2451 § 1, 2009; Ord. 2495 § 1, 2012)
A. 
Any person violating any provision of the Westminster Municipal Code, or applicable state code, may be issued an administrative citation by an enforcement officer as provided in this chapter.
B. 
Every person who applies for and receives any type of land use approval shall comply with all conditions imposed upon the issuance of said land use approval. Violation of any condition of such land use approval may be subject to an administrative fine or penalty as provided under the provision of this chapter.
C. 
Each day a violation of this code exists shall be a separate violation and be subject to a separate fine. An administrative citation may charge a violation for one or more days on which a violation exists, and for violation of one or more code sections.
D. 
An administrative citation shall be on a form approved by the city manager and shall contain the following information:
1. 
Name of the responsible person;
2. 
Date, time and address or definite identification of the location where the violation(s) was observed;
3. 
The code section(s) violated and a description of the violation(s);
4. 
The amount of the fine for the violation(s);
5. 
The amount of any processing fees, if applicable;
6. 
A description of the fine payment process, including a specified time within which and the place to which the fine shall be paid;
7. 
Notification of the right to appeal, including the time within which the administrative citation may be appealed in writing, and the place to submit a written request for appeal;
8. 
The name and signature of the enforcement officer; and
9. 
Date the citation was issued.
(Ord. 2451 § 1, 2009)
An administrative citation may be issued to a citee by an enforcement officer for violation(s) of the Municipal Code or applicable state codes in the following manner:
A. 
Personal Service. The enforcement officer shall attempt to locate and personally serve the responsible person and obtain the signature of the responsible person on the administrative citation. If a responsible person refuses to sign the administrative citation, the failure or refusal to sign shall not affect the validity of the administrative citation or of subsequent proceedings.
B. 
Mail. If the enforcement officer is unable to serve the responsible person by personal service, the administrative citation shall be mailed to the responsible person by certified mail, return receipt requested and by regular, first class mail. Service by mail shall be deemed effective as of the date of deposit in the U.S. mail.
C. 
Posting Notice. If the enforcement officer does not succeed in personally serving the responsible person, by certified mail or regular mail, the enforcement officer shall post the administrative citation on any real property within the city, in which the enforcement officer has knowledge that the responsible person has legal interest, and such posting shall be deemed effective service on the date of posting.
(Ord. 2451 § 1, 2009)
A. 
The fine shall be paid in full within thirty days from the date of service of the administrative citation, as indicated on the citation.
B. 
A late payment fine of fifty percent of the citation amount shall accrue if the fine is not paid within thirty days from the date of service of the citation.
C. 
Hardship Fine Mitigation. Any citee who is financially unable to pay the administrative fine may file a request for a hardship fee mitigation with the city manager within fifteen days from the date of service of the citation. The request shall be in writing (whether or not on a form provided by the city) and shall describe why the fine cannot be paid, and shall include supporting documents. The request shall be made under penalty of perjury. Once filed, the requirement for payment of an administrative fine shall be stayed while the city manager determines whether or not to grant the request. The city manager's determination shall be in writing and served on the responsible party. If the city manager does not waive the fine or establish a payment system, the administrative fine shall be paid within fifteen days of the date of service of the city manager's decision.
D. 
Any administrative citation fine paid pursuant to Section 1.14.050 shall be refunded in accordance with Section 1.14.080 if it is determined, after a hearing, that the citee was not responsible for the violation or that there was no violation as charged in the administrative citations.
E. 
Payment of a fine shall not excuse the citee from correcting the code violation. The issuance of a citation and/or payment of a fine does not bar the city from taking other enforcement action regarding a code violation that is not corrected, including but not limited to, issuing additional administrative citations.
(Ord. 2451 § 1, 2009)
A. 
Any citee may contest the citation by submitting a written request to the city for an appeal hearing, clearly stating the reasons for the appeal, within fifteen days from the date of service of the administrative citation, together with an advanced deposit of the fine.
B. 
In lieu of depositing the fine, the citee may timely submit an approved hardship waiver outlining the extenuating circumstance(s) that warrants waiver of this requirement. If citee has submitted a hardship waiver, then city approval of the hardship waiver shall be required prior to any appeal hearing made pursuant to this chapter. If the city, at its sole discretion, rejects the hardship waiver, then the citee shall comply with subsection A prior to the scheduling of any hearing.
C. 
A hearing before the hearing officer shall be set for a date that is not less than fifteen, nor more than sixty days from the date the request for hearing is filed. The person requesting the hearing shall be notified of the time and place set for the hearing at least ten days prior to the date of the hearing.
(Ord. 2451 § 1, 2009; Ord. 2495 § 2, 2012)
A. 
No hearing to contest an administrative citation before a hearing officer shall be held unless and until a written request for hearing form has been timely submitted and the fine has been deposited. The requirement for a deposit of the fine prior to the holding of a hearing under this chapter may be waived by the city, at its sole discretion, if appellant timely submits an approved hardship waiver outlining the extenuating circumstance(s) warranting waiver of the advanced deposit of the fine.
B. 
The hearing officer shall only consider evidence that is relevant to whether the violation(s) occurred and whether the appellant is the responsible person who caused and/or maintained the violation(s) of the Municipal Code or other applicable state code on the date(s) specified in the administrative citation.
C. 
The appellant shall be given the opportunity to testify and present witnesses and any relevant evidence concerning the charges set forth in the administrative citation.
D. 
The formal rules of evidence shall not apply. All relevant evidence may be considered, and the hearing officer has the discretion to exclude evidence if he or she finds such evidence to be irrelevant or needlessly repetitive. The hearing officer has the authority to cut off presentation of evidence if he or she reasonably believes that the evidence being presented is irrelevant or needlessly repetitive.
1. 
The failure of the appellant to appear at the administrative hearing shall constitute a forfeiture of the fine and shall be considered a concession that the citation was properly issued.
2. 
Notwithstanding the above, upon a showing of good cause by the appellant, the hearing officer may excuse the appellant's failure to appear at the hearing and reschedule the hearing. Under no circumstances shall the hearing be rescheduled more than one time.
E. 
The administrative citation and any additional documents submitted by the enforcement officer shall constitute prima facie evidence of the respective facts contained in those documents.
F. 
Neither the enforcement officer nor any other representative of the city shall be required to attend the hearing, nor shall the hearing officer require that there be submitted any evidence, other than the citation, that may exist among the public records of the city on the violation. However, any such appearance and/or submission may be made at the discretion of the enforcement officer or any city employee or agent.
G. 
If the enforcement officer submits an additional written report concerning the administrative citation to the hearing officer for consideration at the hearing, than a copy of this report also shall be served by mail on the appellant at least five days prior to the date of the hearing.
H. 
At least ten days prior to the hearing, the appellant shall be provided with copies of the citations, reports, and other documents submitted or relied upon by the enforcement officer. No other discovery disclosure is required, although formal rules of evidence shall not apply.
I. 
The hearing officer may continue the hearing and request additional information from the enforcement officer or the appellant prior to issuing a written decision.
(Ord. 2451 § 1, 2009; Ord. 2495 § 3, 2012)
A. 
After considering all of the testimony and evidence submitted at the hearing, the hearing officer shall issue a written decision to uphold, modify or revoke the fine amount of the administrative citation and shall list in the decision the reasons for that decision. The decision of the hearing officer shall be final.
B. 
If the decision is to uphold the citation, the city shall retain the fine deposited, if applicable. Where a hardship waiver has been submitted to and approved by the city and the decision is to uphold the citation, then appellant shall pay the fine pursuant to this chapter. If the decision is to revoke the citation, then the city shall refund the fine deposit to the appellant within thirty days of the service of the decision.
C. 
The hearing officer's decision shall include that an aggrieved party may file a petition for review with the California Superior Court, county of Orange, pursuant to California Government Code Section 53069.4.
D. 
The hearing officer's written decision shall be served on the appellant within twenty days from the date of the hearing by mailing to the appellant by certified mail, return receipt requested, via the U.S. mail. Service of the hearing officer's decision shall be deemed to have been completed on the date of mailing.
E. 
The hearing officer shall not be a city employee. The employment, performance evaluation, compensation and benefits of the hearing officer, if any, shall not be directly or indirectly conditioned upon the amount of the fine or number of administrative citations upheld by the hearing officer.
(Ord. 2451 § 1, 2009; Ord. 2495 § 4, 2012)
If the hearing officer's decision is in favor of the city, the appellant may seek judicial review of the hearing officer's decision by doing one of the following:
A. 
Any party aggrieved by a decision of the hearing officer on an administrative citation may obtain review of the hearing officer's decision by filing a petition for review with the California Superior Court, county of Orange, in accordance with the timelines and provisions set forth in California Government Code Section 53069.4; or
B. 
File a petition for writ of mandate pursuant to California Code of Civil Procedure Sections 1094.5 and 1094.6.
(Ord. 2451 § 1, 2009)
A. 
The city, at its discretion, may pursue any and all legal and equitable remedies for the collection of unpaid fines and penalties. Pursuit of one remedy does not preclude the pursuit of any other remedies until the total fines and penalties owed by a person under this chapter have been collected.
B. 
Any citee who has unpaid and/or delinquent fines may be refused the issuance of a land use approval or other city approval pertaining to the property, real or personal, that is the subject of the citation issued pursuant to this chapter.
(Ord. 2451 § 1, 2009)
Except as specifically provided herein, all notices to be given pursuant to this chapter shall be served on the citee in accordance with the provision set forth in Section 1.14.030 of the Westminster Municipal Code. Failure to receive any notice specified in this chapter does not affect the validity of proceedings conducted herein.
(Ord. 2451 § 1, 2009)