This chapter is enacted pursuant to the authority of Sections 14930 and 14931 of the Health and Safety Code of the state of California wherein it is provided that the board of supervisors may enact ordinances to compel the owners, lessees or occupants of buildings, grounds or lots in the unincorporated areas of the county to cut and remove hazardous weeds, rubbish and refuse from such property and adjacent sidewalks.
(Ord. 619 § 1, 1985)
The board of supervisors finds and declares that the uncontrolled growth and/or accumulation of grass, weeds or other obstructions on sidewalks, parkings or streets and that the growth and/or accumulation on lands or lots of grass, weeds, rubbish or other materials dangerous or injurious to neighboring property or the health or welfare of residents of the vicinity is a public nuisance in that it creates a condition tending to reduce the value of private property, promotes blight and deterioration, invites plundering, creates fire hazards, constitutes an attractive nuisance creating a hazard to health and safety of minors, creates a harborage for rodents and insects and is injurious to the health, safety and general welfare and, therefore, may be abated as such in accordance with the provisions of this chapter.
(Ord. 619 § 2, 1985)
As used in this chapter:
"Refuse"
includes rubbish and garbage as the latter is defined in Section 7.08.010;
"Rubbish"
as defined in Section 7.08.010;
"Weeds"
as used in this chapter includes any of the following:
1. 
Weeds which bear seeds of a downy or wingy nature;
2. 
Sagebrush, chaparral and any other brush or weeds which attain such large growth as to become, when dry, a fire menace to adjacent improved property;
3. 
Weeds and grasses which are otherwise noxious;
4. 
Poison oak and poison ivy when the conditions of growth are such as to constitute a menace to the public health;
5. 
Dry grass, stubble, brush, litter or other flammable material which endangers the public safety by creating a fire hazard.
(Ord. 619 § 3, 1985)
This chapter is not the exclusive regulation for weed and refuse abatement within the unincorporated area of the county. It shall supplement and be in addition to the other regulatory codes, statutes and ordinances heretofore and hereafter enacted by the county, the state or any other legal entity or agency having jurisdiction.
(Ord. 619 § 4, 1985)
The provisions of this chapter shall be administered and enforced by the director of public works pursuant to the provisions of this chapter and/or Title 22.
(Ord. 619 § 5, 1985; Ord. 1192 § 6, 2015)
A. 
The director of public works and deputies may enter upon private or public property whenever they have reasonable cause to believe there exists a condition which is in violation of this chapter; provided, however, that this right to inspection and entry upon the land may not be construed as granting the right to enter into any dwelling or appurtenances thereto which may be located on the land.
B. 
The director of public works may enter into agreements with local fire protection districts having jurisdiction to assist in carrying out the purposes of this chapter. In the event such agreement is made, the officials of the fire protection district shall have the same authority as the director and deputies for the purposes of making inspections of property.
C. 
This code provision shall be subject to enforcement under Title 22 provided that Title 22 does not supersede nor limit the application of any code provision granting a department head, in his or her discretion, the power to apply a more stringent enforcement mechanism.
(Ord. 619 § 6, 1985; Ord. 1192 § 7, 2015)
Whenever a violation of this chapter occurs, the director of public works or his deputies may mail notice to the owner as appears on the current assessment role of the county assessor to the lessee of the property or to any occupant of the property to abate the public nuisance by removal of grass, weeds, rubbish, refuse or other materials dangerous and injurious to the health or welfare of residents in the vicinity of the property. In the alternative, the aforesaid notice to abate the public nuisance may be posted upon the property. The notice shall require removal of the offensive vegetation or materials by the date stated in the notice; that upon failure to comply with this notice, the director of public works may enter upon the property to remove the offensive weeds and materials, and the cost of the removal shall be a lien upon the property as hereinafter provided in this chapter. Further, the notice shall advise the procedures which may be followed if the owner, lessee or occupant of the land wishes to request a hearing or appear at a hearing as hereinafter provided.
(Ord. 619 § 7, 1985)
The notice to abate the public nuisance shall be substantially in the following form:
NOTICE TO REMOVE WEEDS, GRASS, NOXIOUS VEGETATION, REFUSE AND OTHER OBSTRUCTIONS
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN to all owners, lessees or occupants of the land situated at, and commonly known as _________________, that presently there exists on the aforementioned land, weeds or refuse or both and that the presence of said weeds and refuse constitutes a public nuisance, and you are required to remove said weeds and refuse by __________. More particularly, the weeds and refuse required to be removed are as follows:
Failure to remove the aforedescribed weeds or refuse as herein required will cause said weeds and refuse to be removed under authority of the County of Inyo, and the costs of such removal shall be made a legal charge against the owner of the land upon which the public nuisance exists and will constitute a lien on said property in favor of the County of Inyo, which lien will be enforced by appropriate proceedings.
FURTHER BE NOTIFIED that you may request a hearing before the Board of Supervisors, at which time you may present any evidence or testimony you may have of why the weeds and refuse should not be removed from the subject land. Request for such a hearing must be made within 10 days of this Notice in writing and filed with the Clerk of the Board of Supervisors.
Dated this ________day of _______, 20___.
DIRECTOR OF BUILDING AND SAFETY
COUNTY OF INYO
(Ord. 619 § 8, 1985)
A. 
Upon the timely request of the owner, lessee or occupant of the land which is the subject of the notice, a public hearing shall be held on the question of the removal of the weeds and refuse and the assessment of the administrative costs and the levy of costs fixed pursuant to the provisions of this chapter. Said request must be made within ten days of date referred to in Section 7.60.080.
B. 
Notice of the date and time of the hearing shall be mailed to the party requesting the hearing, the owner, lessee and occupant of the land.
(Ord. 619 § 10, 1985)
A. 
All hearings under this chapter shall be held before the board of supervisors which shall hear all facts and testimony it deems pertinent. The board of supervisors shall not be limited by the technical rules of evidence or procedure.
B. 
The board of supervisors may impose such conditions and take such other action as it deems appropriate under the circumstances to carry out the purpose of this chapter, including the right to order the removal or partial removal of the weeds and refuse or to dismiss the notice of removal and the orders therein contained, and shall determine who shall bear the costs, if any, of abatement.
C. 
The board of supervisors may consider the matter on submission of sworn statement by either the director of building and safety, the party or parties who have been noticed to remove the weeds and refuse or the sworn statement of both parties.
(Ord. 619 § 11, 1985)
The director of public works, in the performance of his or her duties herein prescribed to remove the weeds and refuse, may enter upon the land which is the subject of the notice to remove or, in the alternative, the director may, pursuant to Section 7.60.130, contract with private parties to cause the removal of the weeds and refuse; those private parties shall have the right of entry upon the land to the same extent as the director and deputies as authorized by this chapter.
(Ord. 619 § 9, 1985)
A. 
The board of supervisors shall, from time to time, determine and fix by resolution an amount to be assessed as administrative costs for proceedings undertaken pursuant to this chapter. The board shall also, from time to time by resolution, determine a formula for determining cost for removal of the weeds or refuse if the county uses its own personnel and equipment to remove the weeds and refuse.
B. 
As an alternative, the director of public works may contract with private parties on behalf of the county to perform the work of removal of weeds and refuse if the cost for the work does not exceed one thousand dollars: otherwise, the director of public works may contract with private parties pursuant to the county's purchasing ordinance. In such event, for purposes of this chapter, the private parties shall have the rights of the director of public works insofar as they pertain to the actual work required for the physical removal of the weeds and refuse which are the subject of the notice of removal.
(Ord. 619 § 12, 1985; Ord. 731 § 1, 1986; Ord. 1124 § 3, 2006)
A. 
If the costs pursuant to Sections 7.60.090, 7.60.100 and 7.60.120 are not paid within thirty days of the completion of the removal of the weeds and refuse or mailing of the order of the board of supervisors, whichever is appropriate, such costs may be assessed against the parcel of land pursuant to Section 25845 of the Government Code and shall be transmitted to the tax collector for collection and shall be subject to the same penalties and the same procedures and sale in case of delinquency as provided for ad valorem taxes.
B. 
If subsequent to the mailing of the notice of violation as set forth in Section 7.60.070 and prior to transmittal of the notice of unpaid costs to the tax collector for collection as set forth in subsection A of this section, the property subject to the notice of violation is sold or title otherwise transferred to a bona fide purchaser, said costs shall be the responsibility of the owner of record as of the date said notice of violation was placed in the United States postal system or posted on the property.
C. 
In addition to assessing the unpaid costs as provided in subsection A of this section, the tax collector or designated representative may pursue any remedy provided by law for collection of the unpaid costs.
(Ord. 619 § 13, 1985)