A. 
It shall be unlawful for any person to violate any provision or to fail to comply with any of the requirements of this code. A violation of any of the provisions or failing to comply with any of the mandatory requirements of this code shall constitute a misdemeanor except that notwithstanding any other provisions of this code, any such violation constituting a misdemeanor under this code may, in the discretion of the attorney having prosecutorial functions, be charged and prosecuted as an infraction; and with the further exception that any violation of the provisions relating to parking, operation of bicycles, operation of dockless vehicles, operation of motor vehicles, and use of freeways, highways and streets by animals, bicycles, dockless vehicles, motor vehicles or pedestrians shall constitute an infraction.
B. 
Any person convicted of a misdemeanor under the provisions of this code, unless provision is otherwise made in this code, shall be punishable by a fine of not more than one thousand dollars, or by imprisonment in the county jail for a period of not more than six months, or by both fine and imprisonment.
C. 
Any person convicted of an infraction under the provisions of this code, unless provision is otherwise made in this code, shall be punishable by fine only as follows:
1. 
A fine not exceeding one hundred dollars for a first violation;
2. 
A fine not exceeding two hundred dollars for a second violation of the same ordinance within one year;
3. 
A fine not exceeding five hundred dollars for each additional violation of the same ordinance within one year.
D. 
Each such person shall be charged with a separate offense for each and every day during any portion of which a violation of any provision of this code is committed, continued or permitted by such person, and shall, upon conviction, be punishable accordingly.
E. 
In addition to the penalties hereinabove provided, any condition caused or permitted to exist in violation of any of the provisions of this code shall be deemed a public nuisance, and may be summarily abated as such by this city, and each day that such condition continues shall be regarded as a new and separate offense.
(Prior code § 1-7; Ord. 2893 § 2, 1975; Ord. 3636 § 1, 1982; Ord. 3804 § 1, 1984; Ord. 5076 § 3, 2019)
A. 
Except as otherwise provided in this code, any person or organization violating any land use ordinance as defined in Chapter 15.18, or rules and regulations adopted thereunder, or the conditions of any permit issued pursuant to such ordinance, rule or regulation, or by any act of commission or omission procures, aids or abets such violation, shall be subject to civil penalties as provided in this chapter.
B. 
Civil penalties may be directly assessed by means of a Notice and Order issued pursuant to Chapter 15.18, or may be recovered by legal action.
C. 
Civil penalties assessed by means of a Notice and Order shall be collected in accordance with the lien, personal obligation and other procedures specified in this code. Civil penalties assessed in a legal action shall be collected in the same manner as judgments in civil actions.
D. 
Where the conduct constituting a violation is of a continuing nature, each day of such conduct is a separate and distinct violation. Civil penalties for failure to obtain any required permit shall begin to accrue on the first day activity subject to the permit requirement is commenced, and shall cease to accrue on the day the permit is obtained. Civil penalties for violation of any Order to Cease Violation or Notice and Order to Correct shall begin to accrue on the first day the said Order or Notice is posted, and shall cease on the day the violation is actually stopped.
E. 
1. 
A civil penalty for a violation of any land use ordinance, rule or regulation by a person engaged in a noncommercial venture shall be assessed at the rate of fifty dollars per day per violation.
2. 
A civil penalty for a violation of any land use ordinance, rule or regulation by a person engaged in a commercial venture shall be assessed at the rate of one hundred dollars per day per violation.
3. 
Notwithstanding paragraphs (1) and (2), of this subsection (E), a civil penalty for a violation of Chapter 17.243 of this code by any person operating a business, or by any property owner allowing the operation of a business, in violation of that chapter, is punishable by a fine of two thousand five hundred dollars per day per violation.
F. 
Penalties for the second separate violation of a like nature by the same person shall be five times the rates identified in paragraphs (1) and (2) of subsection E of this section. Penalties for the third separate violation of a like nature by the same person shall be ten times the rates identified in paragraphs (1) and (2) of subsection E of this section. Penalties for the fourth separate violation of a like nature by the same person engaged in a noncommercial venture shall be assessed at five hundred dollars per day per violation; penalties for the fourth separate violation of a like nature by the same person engaged in a commercial venture shall be assessed at one thousand dollars per day per violation. Penalties for any separate violation of a like nature by the same person engaged in a noncommercial venture, beyond a fourth violation, shall be assessed at one thousand dollars per day per violation; penalties for any separate violation of a like nature by the same person engaged in a commercial venture, beyond a fourth violation shall be assessed at two thousand five hundred dollars per day per violation.
(Ord. 5065 § 4, 2017)
Every person who testifies, declares, deposes, or certifies under penalty of perjury, where such is required to comply with the provisions of this code or by direction of the officers of the city of El Cajon, who willfully states as true any material matter which such person knows to be false, is guilty of perjury. Any person guilty of perjury under this section shall be subject to the laws of the state of California for the crime of perjury.
(Ord. 3814 § 1, 1984; Ord. 4056 § 2, 1987)