Nuisance means anything which (1) is injurious or threatening to health or safety, (2) obstructs the customary free use or passage of any stream, park, street, pathway, public easement, or highway, or (3) is specifically declared by this Code or state law to be a nuisance. Examples of a nuisance include, but are not limited to:
(a) 
Any explosives, flammable liquids or hazardous materials which are stored in a manner or an amount contrary to state law or this Code;
(b) 
Any building or structure which is made, erected, altered, maintained, partially destroyed or abandoned contrary to state law or this Code;
(c) 
Any obstruction or excavation which interferes with the ordinary use of public streets, ways, alleys, thoroughfares, sidewalks, pathways, public easements, or public grounds unless otherwise permitted by law;
(d) 
Any accumulation of debris, garbage, refuse, weeds, overgrowth, livestock waste, or machine or equipment parts which constitute:
(1) 
A fire hazard,
(2) 
A hazard to pedestrian or vehicular traffic,
(3) 
A harborage for rats, vermin, or insect infestation, or
(4) 
Any other hazard to public health or safety;
(e) 
Any vehicle that is inoperative, abandoned, wrecked, dismantled or unregistered or is registered with a certificate of planned nonoperation, unless the vehicle is wholly parked or stored in a garage or carport or wholly screened from off-site view;
(f) 
Auto repair or maintenance being performed on vehicles registered to someone living off the premises where the vehicle is located;
(g) 
Any recreational vehicle, trailer or boat parked or stored for more than 30 days out of any consecutive 45 days in driveways or in the areas between setback lines and property lines;
(h) 
Any swimming pool, pond, well, or other body or container of water stagnant, polluted or otherwise maintained in an unhealthy or unsafe condition;
(i) 
A drainfield that fails and causes flow of effluent above ground;
(j) 
Maintenance of any premises in such condition as to be detrimental to the public health, safety or general welfare or in such manner as to constitute a public nuisance as defined by Civil Code Section 3480;
(k) 
Property, including but not limited to, building exteriors which are maintained in such condition as to become so defective, unsightly, or in such condition of deterioration or disrepair that the same causes appreciable diminution of the property values of surrounding property or is materially detrimental to proximate properties and improvements. This includes but is not limited to the keeping or disposing of or the scattering over the property or premises of any of the following:
(1) 
Lumber, junk, trash or debris,
(2) 
Abandoned, discarded or unused objects or equipment,
(3) 
Any device, decoration, design, fence or structure which is unsightly by reason of its condition or its inappropriate location,
(4) 
Permitting or allowing any graffiti to remain on any building, wall, fence or structure;
(l) 
Unshielded outdoor light sources which are directly visible from offsite.
(§ 2, Ord. 374, eff. February 17, 1995)
(a) 
Upon discovery of any public nuisance as defined in Section 6-5.01, the City Manager or his or her designee shall serve a notice to abate to the property owner and any responsible person by certified mail. The notice shall also be posted on the subject property or building.
(b) 
The notice to abate shall specify the property address, describe the nuisance and instruct the owner and/or possessor to abate that condition or activity. The notice shall further inform the owner and the possessor that if the nuisance is not abated within 30 calendar days of service of the notice, the Town may abate the nuisance and require the owner and/or possessor to pay the cost of the abatement. The notice shall state that the property owner and/or possessor will receive at the conclusion of the enforcement case a summary of enforcement costs associated with the processing of the case. Cost of abatement shall include, but not be limited to: attorneys' fees and costs for the prevailing party, personnel costs, both direct and indirect, for administration and code enforcement, including, but not limited to, costs incurred in inspecting the property, costs incurred in documenting the nuisance, the actual expenses and costs of the Town in preparation of notices, specifications and contracts, and the cost of printing and mailing the notices and documents. The prevailing party shall be entitled to recovery of its attorneys' fees from the other party only if, at the outset of the action, the Town elects to recover its attorneys' fees. Any recovery of attorneys' fees pursuant to this section shall be subject to the terms and conditions set forth in subdivision (b) of Government Code Section 38773.5 and any successor statutes thereto.
(c) 
If the owner and/or possessor fail to pay such costs, those costs may be collected by the City Attorney, or be specially assessed to the parcel and shall be subject to the same collection procedures, including any lien, special assessment, penalty and sale procedures that are provided for delinquent taxes.
(d) 
The notice shall further state that either the owner or the possessor, or both, may request a hearing to contest the abatement action and/or assessment of cost by filing a written request for a hearing within 15 days of service of the notice to abate with the Town officer who ordered the abatement. Failure to request this hearing within this time period shall waive any right to appeal the Town's action.
(§ 1, Ord. 513, eff. January 11, 2009)
Upon a timely request for a hearing, and providing that there is no immediate threat to public health and safety, the Town shall postpone any abatement action and assessment of costs until the owner and any possessor is given an opportunity to be heard and present evidence to the City Council as to why the abatement and assessment of costs should not proceed. The City Clerk shall mail a notice of the date, time and place of the hearing to the owner and any possessor and all property owners within 500 feet of the subject property at least 10 days prior to the hearing date. After the hearing, the Council shall issue and serve a written decision upon the owner and any possessor of the property. The decision of the Council shall be final and conclusive in the matter.
(§ 2, Ord. 374, eff. February 17, 1995)
(a) 
If, after notice of abatement and no request for hearing is timely made under Section 6-5.03, and corrective action to abate the nuisance has not occurred within the time for requesting a hearing or any extension granted in writing by the City Manager, then the City Manager or designee may order abatement to be done by Town personnel, or by a private licensed contractor. In appropriate circumstances, the City Manager shall request that the City Attorney obtain all necessary judicial approval for entry onto the subject premises for abatement purposes.
(b) 
The costs shall be billed to the owner, as specified in Section 6-5.02 of this Code.
(§ 1, Ord. 513, eff. January 11, 2009)
(a) 
The City Manager or his or her designee shall keep an account of the costs for inspecting and abating the public nuisance and shall render an itemized report in writing showing the cost of abatement to the City Council. A copy of this report shall be served by certified mail to the owner(s) of said property, based on the last equalized assessment roll or the supplemental roll, whichever is more current, at least seven calendar days prior to submitting the same to the City Council, along with notice that the owner(s) may appeal the report of costs on the date of the City Council's consideration. The request for a hearing shall be made within 10 days of receipt of the statement to the City Clerk or the right to hearing shall be deemed waived.
(b) 
The City Council pass upon the report of such costs of abatement, together with any objections or protests, and determine the correctness and reasonableness of such costs. After the hearing, the City Council shall issue and serve a written decision upon the owner and any possessor of the property. The decision of the City Council shall be final and conclusive in the matter. The cost of abatement shall be billed to the owner and shall become due and payable within 30 days.
(§ 1, Ord. 513, eff. January 11, 2009)
Nothing in this chapter shall affect, prevent or prejudice any other remedy or penalty, civil or criminal, for the creation or maintenance of a nuisance. Nothing in this chapter shall prohibit the summary and immediate abatement of a nuisance upon the order of the City Council or any Town officer as authorized by law if the Council or officer determines that the nuisance constitutes an immediate threat to the public health or safety.
(§ 2, Ord. 374, eff. February 17, 1995)
(a) 
The City Council hereby authorizes the City Manager or designee to file in the office of the county assessor a special assessment against the property on which the nuisance was abated, by mailing a certified copy of the City Council's resolution confirming abatement costs.
(b) 
A notice in substantially the following form should accompany the City Manager or designee's filing with the county assessor:
NOTICE OF SPECIAL ASSESSMENT
Under the authority of Government Code Sec. 38773.5 and Sections ______ to ______ of the Los Altos Hills Municipal Code, the Town of Los Altos Hills did on ______, abate a nuisance upon the real property hereafter described and then on _______, did assess the cost and incidental expenses of the abatement upon the real property and/or the costs of causing the owner or responsible person to abate the nuisance. The Town of Los Altos Hills claims a special assessment on the real property for the expense of doing the work in the amount of $______. This amount is a special assessment against the real property until it is paid, with interest at the rate of 10% a year from ______, (insert date of confirmation of statement), and discharged of record. 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 procedure and sale in case of delinquency as provided for ordinary municipal taxes. All acts applicable to levy, collection, and enforcement of municipal taxes apply to this special assessment. The real property referred to above, and upon which the special assessment is claimed is that certain parcel of land situated within the Town of Los Altos Hills, County of Santa Clara, State of California, more particularly described as follows:
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
TOWN OF LOS ALTOS HILLS
Dated:___________________________
By:______________________________
(§ 1, Ord. 513, eff. January 11, 2009)
(a) 
In the alternative of a special assessment, the City Council hereby authorizes the City Manager or designee to file and record a notice of abatement lien on behalf of the Town in the event the owner and/or possessor of the property fails to pay the costs of abatement upon a 30 day written demand for payment.
(b) 
The notice of abatement lien shall identify and set forth the last known address of both the record owner and the possessor of the parcel. The notice shall further set forth the date upon which the abatement of the nuisance was ordered and the date the abatement was completed. Finally, the notice shall describe the real property subject to the lien and the amount of the cost of abatement.
(c) 
Recordation of a notice of abatement lien under this provision shall have the same force and effect as recordation of an abstract of a money judgment governed by Section 697.340 of the Code of Civil Procedure and may be extended as provided in Sections 683.110 to 683.220, inclusive, of the Code of Civil Procedure. The lien created shall have the same priority as a judgment lien on real property and shall continue in effect until released. An abatement lien created under this section may be released or subordinated in the same manner as any judgment lien on real property.
(d) 
The City Council hereby authorizes the City Manager or designee to compromise, subordinate or settle any lien imposed under this section in the amount of $10,000 or less.
(e) 
Once payment in full is received by the Town for outstanding penalties and costs, the City Manager shall either record a notice of satisfaction or provide the property owner or financial institution with a notice of satisfaction so that this notice may be recorded with the office of the county recorder. Such notice of satisfaction shall cancel the Town's lien.
(§ 1, Ord. 513, eff. January 11, 2009)