The City Council finds that it is desirable and in the public interest to establish a Municipal Code in order to provide a scheme of organization for the classification and grouping of ordinances which the Council may adopt. The Council intends to adopt ordinances of a general and permanent nature to provide for their placement in accordance with the scheme of the Code. This will provide the user with a convenient and logical compilation of the ordinances of the City.
(Ord. 165 § 1, 2007)
This Code shall be known as the "Lake Forest Municipal Code." It shall be sufficient to refer to this Code as the Lake Forest Municipal Code in any prosecution for the violation of any provision of this Code. It shall also be sufficient to designate any ordinance adding to, amending or repealing provisions of this Code as an addition or amendment to, or a repeal of the Lake Forest Municipal Code, or any portion thereof.
(Ord. 165 § 1, 2007)
The Lake Forest Municipal Code shall consist of all ordinances adopted by the City Council which are of a general and permanent nature. An ordinance relating to any of the following subject matters is not considered an ordinance of general and permanent nature and need not be included within the Municipal Code:
A. 
The naming of streets or roads;
B. 
Granting, altering or withdrawing franchises;
C. 
Levying real property taxes;
D. 
Calling an election;
E. 
Annexation proceedings;
F. 
Interim zoning measures;
G. 
Zoning or rezoning a particular parcel of property;
H. 
Such other ordinances of a special or particular subject matter which the Council considers inappropriate to a compilation of laws of a general and permanent nature.
(Ord. 165 § 1, 2007)
A. 
The ordinances of the City which are of a general and permanent nature shall be organized and grouped according to subject matter.
B. 
Ordinances which are adopted from time to time shall be classified and organized under the following scheme of titles:
1. 
General provisions;
2. 
Administration and personnel;
3. 
Revenue and finance;
4. 
Miscellaneous regulations;
5. 
Business regulations;
6. 
Health and sanitation;
7. 
Subdivisions;
8. 
Buildings and construction;
9. 
Planning and zoning;
10. 
Animals;
11. 
Peace, morals and safety;
12. 
Vehicles and traffic;
13. 
Parks and recreational facilities;
14. 
Streets and sidewalks;
15. 
Water and sewers;
16. 
Integrated with street management.
(Ord. 165 § 1, 2007)
Not less than one copy of this Code, certified by the City Clerk, shall be kept on file in the office of the City Clerk for examination and use by the public. Amendments to this Code shall be noted by ordinance number, on appropriate pages of this Code, and complete files of amendatory ordinances, indexed for ready reference, shall be maintained in the office of the City Clerk for use and examination by the public.
Distribution for sale of additional copies of this Code shall be made as directed by the City Council.
(Ord. 165 § 1, 2007)
A. 
The provisions of this Code and all proceedings under it are to be construed to effect its purposes and to promote justice.
B. 
All the provisions of this Code and all other City ordinances shall be interpreted to refer to the appropriate or designated officer or office of the City, and whether an ordinance, uniform Code, statute or other matter which is adopted by reference refers to any department, officer, employee, inspection, police or other functions, unless the context requires otherwise, all references shall be to the appropriate or designated office, officer, department, agency, employee or function of the City or to the person or agency performing the function for the City.
(Ord. 165 § 1, 2007)
Neither the adoption of this Code or any portion thereof, nor the repeal by this Code of any ordinance previously in effect in the City or within the territory currently comprising the City, shall in any manner affect the prosecution for the violation of any ordinance, which violation was committed prior to the effective date of this Code, nor be construed as a waiver of any license fee or penalty due and unpaid under such ordinances on such effective date, nor be construed as affecting any of the provisions of such ordinances relating to the collection of any such license fee or penalty or the penal provisions applicable to any violation of such ordinances, nor to affect the validity of any bond or cash deposit required to be posted, filed or deposited pursuant to any ordinances, and all vested rights and obligations pertaining to such ordinances shall continue in full force and effect.
(Ord. 165 § 1, 2007)
If any section, subsection, subdivision, sentence, clause, phrase, or portion of this Code, is for any reason held to be invalid or unconstitutional by the decision of any court of competent jurisdiction, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of this Code. The City Council hereby declares that it would have adopted this Code, and each section, subsection, subdivision, sentence, clause, phrase, or portion thereof, irrespective of the fact that any one or more sections, subsections, subdivisions, sentences, clauses, phrases, or portions thereof be declared invalid or unconstitutional.
(Ord. 165 § 1, 2007)
Neither the adoption of this Code nor the repeal of any ordinance of the City shall, in any manner, effect the prosecution for violation of ordinances committed prior to the effective date of the adoption or repeal, nor be construed as a waiver of any of the penalty or penal provisions applicable to such violation. The provisions of this Code, to the extent they are substantially the same as ordinances previously adopted by the City and relating to the same subject matter, shall be construed as restatements and continuations and not as new enactments.
(Ord. 165 § 1, 2007)
This Code shall refer only to the omission or commission of acts within the territorial limits of the City of Lake Forest and that territory outside of the City over which the City has jurisdiction or control by virtue of the Constitution or any law, or by reason of ownership or control of property.
(Ord. 165 § 1, 2007)
All references in this Code to places, acts, persons or things and all else in relation to this Code shall be construed to mean that the same are applicable to this City, whether the City is mentioned in each particular section or not.
(Ord. 165 § 1, 2007)
As used in this Code, "day" shall mean calendar day, unless a provision of this Code expressly provides otherwise.
(Ord. 165 § 1, 2007)
Unless the provisions of this Code otherwise specifically provide or the context of this Code indicates to the contrary, the general provisions, rules of construction, and definitions set forth in the following sections of this chapter shall govern the construction of this Code.
(Ord. 165 § 1, 2007)
The title, chapter, article and section headings contained in this Code shall not be deemed to govern, limit, modify or in any manner affect the scope, meaning or intent of the provisions of any title, chapter, article or section of this Code.
(Ord. 165 § 1, 2007)
"Section" means a section of this Code, unless some other source is specifically set forth. "Subsection" means a subsection of the section in which the term occurs, unless some other section is expressly set forth.
(Ord. 165 § 1, 2007)
Whenever a power is granted to, or a duty is imposed upon, a public officer or employee, the power may be exercised or the duty may be performed by a deputy of such officer or employee or by a person otherwise duly authorized pursuant to law or ordinance, unless this Code expressly provides otherwise.
(Ord. 165 § 1, 2007)
Whenever any reference in this Code is made to an ordinance, the reference shall apply to such ordinance of the City, unless this Code expressly provides otherwise. Whenever any reference is made to any portion of this Code or to any ordinances of this City, the reference shall apply to all amendments and additions to this Code.
(Ord. 165 § 1, 2007)
When a limitation or period of time prescribed in any existing ordinance or statute for acquiring a right or barring a remedy, or for any other purpose, has begun to run before this Code goes into effect, the time which has already run shall be deemed a part of the time prescribed as such limitation.
(Ord. 165 § 1, 2007)
A. 
As used in this Code, unless a different meaning is apparent from the context or is specified elsewhere in the Code:
"Calendar year"
means from January 1st through December 31st of any given year.
"City"
means the City of Lake Forest.
"Council"
means the City Council of the City of Lake Forest.
"Council Member"
means a person duly elected to the City Council.
"County"
means the County of Orange.
"Fiscal year"
means from July 1st of any given year through June 30th of the following year.
"Gender."
The masculine gender shall include the feminine and neuter genders.
"Goods"
means and includes wares and merchandise.
"Law"
denotes applicable Federal law, the Constitution and statutes of the State of California, the ordinances of the City of Lake Forest, and when appropriate, any and all rules and regulations which may be promulgated thereunder.
"May"
shall be permissive.
"Month"
means a calendar month, unless otherwise specially expressed.
"Must"
is mandatory.
"Number."
The singular number shall include the plural, and the plural number shall include the singular.
"Oath"
means and includes an affirmation or declaration in all cases in which, by law, an affirmation may be substituted for an oath, and in such cases the words "swear" and "sworn" shall be equivalent to the words "affirm" and "affirmed."
"Official time standard."
Wherever certain hours are named in this Code, they shall mean Standard Time or Daylight Saving Time as may be in current use in the City.
"Operate"
means and includes carrying on, keeping, conducting or maintaining.
"Owner,"
applied to a building or land, means and includes any part owner, joint owner, tenant, tenant in common or joint tenant of the whole or a part of such building or land.
"Person"
means and includes any person, joint venture, joint stock company, firm, company, corporation, partnership, association, public corporation, City (except the City of Lake Forest), the County of Orange, any district in the County of Orange, the State of California, or the United States of America, or any department, agency or political subdivision of the above, club, business, trust, organization, or the manager, lessee, agent, servant, officer, or employee of any of them, unless this Code expressly provides otherwise.
"Personal property"
shall include money, goods, chattels, things in action and evidences of debts.
"Police"
means the agency which performs the appropriate law enforcement function for the City. "Police Chief" or "Chief of Police" or "Chief of Police Services" means the head of the agency or division which at the time involved has responsibility for performing the police function for, or within, the City.
"Preceding" and "following"
means next before and next after, respectively.
"Property"
means and includes real and personal property.
"Quarterly,"
where used to designate a period of time, means the first three calendar months of any given year or succeeding period of three calendar months.
"Real property"
means and includes land, tenements and hereditaments.
"Sale"
means and includes any sale, exchange, barter or offer for sale.
"Shall"
shall be mandatory.
"Sidewalk"
means that portion of a street between the curbline and the adjacent property line, or an easement or right-of-way held by the City across the front of private property, and intended for the use of pedestrians.
"State"
means the State of California.
"Street"
means and includes all streets, highways, avenues, boulevards, alleys, courts, places, squares or other public ways in the City which have been or may hereafter be dedicated and open to public use, or such other public property so designated in any law of the State.
"Tenant" or "occupant,"
applied to a building or land, means and includes any person who occupies the whole or a part of such building or land, whether alone or with others.
"Tense."
The present tense shall include the past and future tense, and the future tense shall include the present tense.
"Writing"
means and includes any form of recorded message capable of comprehension by ordinary visual means. Whenever any notice, report, statement or record is required or authorized by this Code, such notice, report, statement or record shall be made in writing in the English language, unless this Code expressly provides otherwise.
"Written"
means and includes printed, typewritten, mimeographed, multigraphed or otherwise reproduced in permanent visible form.
B. 
Words and phrases not defined in this Code shall be construed according to the approved usage of the language, or, when appropriate, by reference to definitions contained in State or Federal Law.
(Ord. 165 § 1, 2007)
A person shall be guilty of a misdemeanor if he or she knowingly falsifies, conceals, withholds or suppresses by any trick, scheme, verbal statement, writing or device, any fact, or knowingly makes any false, fictitious or fraudulent statement or representation, to a City department, agency, or employee (including but not limited to a Code Enforcement Officer).
(Ord. 165 § 1, 2007)
Unless a different penalty is prescribed for a violation of a specific provision of the Lake Forest Municipal Code or any code adopted by reference by the City, every violation of any provision of the Lake Forest Municipal Code or any code adopted by reference shall be as set forth in Sections 1.01.200 to 1.01.260 of this Code.
(Ord. 165 § 1, 2007)
It is unlawful for any person to violate any provision or to fail to comply with any of the requirements of this Code or the provisions of any code adopted by reference by this Code or any provision of any ordinance of the City not included within this Code. Any person violating any such provisions or failing to comply with any of the mandatory requirements of this Code or any code adopted by reference by this Code or any other City ordinance shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, unless such violation is specifically designated in this Code as constituting an infraction, provided that where the City Attorney or other prosecutor determines that such action would be in the interests of justice, the City Attorney or other prosecutor may prosecute any such offense as an infraction. In the event a notice to appear is prepared as a misdemeanor, the City Attorney or other prosecutor may nonetheless prosecute any such offense as an infraction. Violators shall be guilty of a separate offense for each and every day during any portion of which any violation of any provision of this Code, or any provision of any code adopted by reference by this Code, or of any other City ordinance, is committed, continued, or permitted by such person, and may be punished accordingly.
(Ord. 165 § 1, 2007; Ord. 182 § 2, 2008)
Whenever any act or omission is made unlawful by this Code, it shall include causing, permitting, aiding, abetting, suffering, or concealing the fact of such act or omission.
(Ord. 165 § 1, 2007)
A. 
Any conviction of a misdemeanor under the provisions of this Code shall be punishable by a fine of not more than $1,000, or by imprisonment in the County jail for a period not exceeding six months, or by both such fine and imprisonment.
B. 
Except as provided in subsection C of this section, any conviction of an infraction under the provisions of this Code shall be punishable for a first conviction by a fine of not more than $100, for a second conviction within a period of one year by a fine of not more than $200, and for a third or any subsequent conviction within a period of one year by a fine of not more than $500.
C. 
Any conviction of an infraction for violation of the building and safety codes listed in Article 8 of this Code is punishable for a first conviction by a fine not exceeding $100, for a second conviction within one year by a fine of not more than $500, and for a third or any subsequent conviction within a period of one year by a fine of not more than $1,000.
Any provision or requirement of this Code or of any code adopted by reference by this Code or of any ordinance of the City not included within this Code, the violation of which or the failure to comply with which is designated as an infraction, shall be prosecutable as a misdemeanor upon a fourth violation within a period of one year and each violation thereafter of the same provision by the same individual within a period of one year.
Any violation expressly declared to be punishable, in the discretion of the court by either a fine, or by a fine or imprisonment, or both, shall become an infraction for all purposes under any of the following circumstances:
1. 
Where a judgment imposes a punishment of a fine not exceeding $100 in the case of a first offense; or
2. 
When the court grants probation to a defendant without the imposition of a sentence and, at the time of granting probation, or on application of the defendant or probation officer thereafter, the court declares the offense to be an infraction; or
3. 
When the City Attorney or any deputy district attorney files in a court having jurisdiction over misdemeanor offenses a complaint specifying that the offense is an infraction.
(Ord. 165 § 1, 2007)
A. 
In addition to other penalties provided by law, any condition caused or permitted to exist in violation of any provision of this Code or any code adopted by reference by this Code or any ordinance of the City not included within this Code, or any such threatened violation, shall be deemed a public nuisance and may be summarily abated as such by the City.
B. 
Any such violation or threatened violation as referred to in subsection A of this section, or any condition caused or permitted to exist in violation of any of the provisions of any code adopted by reference by this Code, or of the provisions of any other City ordinance, shall be deemed a public nuisance which may be abated by the City Attorney in a civil judicial action.
(Ord. 165 § 1, 2007)
A. 
Whenever any person creating, causing, committing, or maintaining a public nuisance, as referred to in Section 1.01.240 of this chapter, or other public nuisance, as defined under State law or other ordinances or regulations, has been given notice, by or on behalf of the City Attorney or by any other City officer, employee, or policing agent authorized to give such notice, to abate such nuisance or cease and desist from continuing such nuisance or violation of law, and such person fails, refuses, or neglects to comply with the notice within the time specified therein, or if such a time is not specified, then within a time reasonably sufficient to enable such compliance, such noncomplying person shall be liable to the City for any and all costs and expenses to the City involved in thereafter abating the nuisance and in obtaining compliance with or enforcing the law as referred to or encompassed within said notice.
B. 
Costs and expenses, as referred to in subsection A of this section, may include, but are not limited to, any and all direct costs and expenses related to such things as personnel salaries and benefits, operational overhead, rent, interest, fees for experts or consultants, legal costs or expenses, including attorneys' fees, claims against the City arising as a consequence of the nuisance or violation, and procedures associated with collecting moneys due hereunder.
C. 
The provisions of subsection A of this section shall also apply to any person who received a notice, as specified therein, abated the nuisance or violation, but subsequently allowed or was responsible for a recurrence of the nuisance or violation.
D. 
The liability of any person for the payment of the costs and expenses provided for in subsection A of this section may be waived in whole or in part by the City Attorney in any case wherein he or she determines, in his or her sole discretion, that the failure or refusal of such persons to comply with the notice therein involved was based upon a good faith and bona fide issue of law or fact specially involved in the circumstances of the case. Any determination or decision of the City Attorney in this regard shall be final and conclusive and shall not be subject to appeal as prescribed in Chapter 2.04 of Title 2 of this Code.
E. 
Money due to the City pursuant to this section, including unpaid attorney fees, may be recovered in an appropriate civil action, or by making of the cost of abatement of a public nuisance which exists on a parcel of land a special assessment or lien against that parcel pursuant to Government Code Sections 38773 et seq. and 54988, and Article XI, Section 7 of the California Constitution.
F. 
A prevailing party in any judicial action, administrative proceeding, or special proceeding to abate, or cause the abatement of, a violation of this Code or any public nuisance, or in any appeal or other judicial action arising therefrom, is entitled to recover reasonable attorney fees. Attorney fees are not recoverable by any party as a prevailing party unless the City elects in writing to seek recovery of the City's attorney fees at the initiation of that individual action or proceeding. Failure to make such an election precludes any entitlement to, or award of, attorney fees in favor of any party.
(Ord. 165 § 1, 2007; Ord. 359 § 4, 2023)
The violation of, or the failure or omission to perform in accordance with, any administrative provision of this Code by any officer or employee of the City shall generally not be considered a criminal act, but may be deemed a failure to perform the duties or to observe the rules or regulations of the department, office, commission, or board within the meaning of the civil service ordinances and rules and regulations of the City, if applicable.
(Ord. 165 § 1, 2007)
A. 
All posted or mailed notices of public hearings to be conducted by the City Council, Planning Commission, or any other body of the City, shall contain the following:
"Any petition for judicial review of a decision of the Lake Forest City Council, (Planning Commission or other body as appropriate) is controlled by the statute of limitations provisions set forth in Sections 2.50.010 and 2.50.020 of the Lake Forest Municipal Code and Sections 1094.5 and 1094.6 of the California Code of Civil Procedure. Any action or proceeding to attack, review, set aside, or void any decision of the Lake Forest City Council (Planning Commission or other body as appropriate) is controlled by Section 2.50.010 and Section 2.50.020 of the Lake Forest Municipal Code. In any such action or proceeding seeking judicial review of, which attacks or seeks to set aside, or void any decision of the Lake Forest City Council (Planning Commission or other body as appropriate) shall be limited to those issues raised at the hearing as provided in Chapter 2.50 of the Lake Forest Municipal Code. Copies of the procedures for the conduct of City Council public hearings are available from the City Clerk."
B. 
All published notices of public hearings to be conducted by the City Council, Planning Commission or other appropriate body shall contain the following:
"If you wish to challenge the above in court, the challenge will be limited only to those issues you or someone else raised at the public hearing or in written correspondence delivered to the City Clerk at, or prior to, the public hearing described in this notice, and must be commenced within the time limits specified in Chapter 2.50 of the Lake Forest Municipal Code."
(Ord. 165 § 1, 2007)
Whenever a notice is required to be given, or may be given, under any provision of this Code or any provision of any Code adopted by reference by this Code or any provision of any ordinance or resolution of the City not included within this Code, such notice may be given as herein provided. Unless different or special provisions are otherwise specifically made in this Code or in some other applicable enactment, any such notice may be given either by personal delivery thereof to the persons to be notified, or by deposit in the United States mail in a sealed envelope, postage prepaid, addressed to such person to be notified, at the person's last known residence or business address as the same appears in the public records or other records pertaining to the matters to which such notice is directed. Service by mail shall be deemed to have been completed at the time of deposit in the post office or in the official receptacle thereof.
(Ord. 165 § 1, 2007)
Proof of giving any notice may be made by the certificate of any officer or employee of this City or by the affidavit or declaration under penalty of perjury of any person over the age of eighteen years, which shows service in conformity with this Code or other provision of law applicable to the subject matter concerned.
(Ord. 165 § 1, 2007)