[Added by Ord. 75-8]
[Amended by Ord. 80-7]
Except as provided in Chapter 3 of Article IX of the Lakewood Municipal Code, no person shall abandon, park, store, or leave, or permit the abandonment, parking, storing or leaving of any licensed or unlicensed vehicle or the part thereof which is in an abandoned, wrecked, dismantled or inoperative condition upon any private property or public property, not including highways, within the City for a period in excess of seventy-two hours unless such vehicle or part thereof is completely enclosed within a building in a lawful manner and is not plainly visible from the street or other public or private property, or unless such vehicle is stored or parked in a lawful manner on private property in connection with the business of a licensed dismantler, licensed vehicle dealer, or a junk yard. It shall be unlawful for any person, upon request, to fail or refuse to remove any such abandoned, wrecked, dismantled or inoperative vehicle, or part thereof, or refuse to abate the same when declared a public nuisance by the following section and ordered to do so in accordance with the abatement provisions of this Chapter or State law where State law is applicable. This Section is subject to the following definitions and limitations:
A. 
OWNER OF LAND
Means the property owner, or the owner of the property on which the vehicle or part thereof is located, as such owner is shown on the last Equalized Assessment Roll.
B. 
OWNER OF VEHICLE
Means the registered and legal owner of said vehicle of record.
C. 
HEARING OFFICER
Means the person designated by the City Manager to hear and act on requests for hearing on public nuisances as herein defined.
[Amended by Ord. 2006-3]
D. 
VEHICLE
Means a device by which any person or property may be propelled, moved, or drawn upon a highway, except a device moved by human power or used exclusively upon stationary rails or tracks.
E. 
HIGHWAY
Means a way or place of whatever nature, publicly maintained and open to the use of the public for purposes of vehicular travel. Highway includes street.
F. 
PUBLIC PROPERTY
Does not include "highway."
G. 
INOPERATIVE VEHICLE
Means a motor vehicle that does not have a current license for operation on the streets of the State of California or one that is not capable of self-propulsion and has not been operated on the streets for at least seventy-two hours prior to inspection thereof.
H. 
A vehicle or part thereof completely enclosed within a building in a lawful manner and which is not visible from the street or other public or private property or a vehicle or part thereof which is stored or parked in a lawful manner on private property in connection with the business of a licensed dismantler, licensed vehicle dealer, a junk dealer, or when such storage or parking is necessary to the operation of a lawfully conducted business or commercial enterprise is excluded from this Section and the following Section 4331.
I. 
Nothing in this Section shall authorize the maintenance of a public or private nuisance as defined under any provision of law other than Chapter 10, commencing with Section 22650, of Division 11 of the Vehicle Code and this Chapter.
Pursuant to the provisions of Section 38771 of the Government Code of the State of California, the City Council does hereby find, determine and declare that the violation of Section 4330 is a public nuisance which may be abated as provided in the Civil Code or the Code of Civil Procedure, or the Penal Code of the State of California. As a separate and additional remedy and in accordance with the determination made and the authority granted by the State of California under Section 22660 of the Vehicle Code of the State of California, the City Council does hereby make the following findings and declarations:
The accumulation and storage of abandoned, wrecked, dismantled or inoperative vehicles or the parts thereof, as defined in Section 4330, on private or public property, not including highways, is hereby found to create a condition tending to reduce the value of private property, to promote blight and deterioration, to invite plundering, to create fire hazards, to constitute an attractive nuisance creating a hazard to the health and safety of minors, to create a harborage for rodents and insects and to be injurious to the health, safety and general welfare. Therefore, the presence of an abandoned, wrecked, dismantled or inoperative vehicle or part thereof, as defined in Section 4330, in private or public property, not including highways, except as expressly permitted in Section 4330 is hereby declared to constitute a public nuisance which may be abated in accordance with the provisions of the following pertinent sections.
The provisions herein provided for the abatement of abandoned, wrecked, dismantled or inoperative vehicles are not exclusive and are supplemental and in addition to other regulatory provisions and ordinances enacted by the City or State law.
[Amended by Ord. 80-7]
Except as otherwise provided herein, the provisions of this Part for nuisance abatement enacted pursuant to Section 22660 of the Vehicle Code shall be administered by the City Administrator, or his authorized deputy, who are regularly salaried, full time employees of the City, except that the removal of vehicles or parts thereof from property may be by any other duly authorized person. In the enforcement of these provisions, such officer and his deputies may enter upon private or public property to examine a vehicle or part thereof, or to obtain information as to the identity of a vehicle and to remove or cause the removal of a vehicle or part thereof declared to be a nuisance pursuant to this Part.
When the City Council has contracted with or granted a franchise to any person or persons, such person or persons shall be authorized to enter upon private or public property to remove or cause the removal of a vehicle or parts thereof to be declared to be a nuisance pursuant to this Part.
The City Council shall, prior to the abatement of any such nuisance, by resolution determine and fix an amount to be assessed as administrative costs in the abatement of such a nuisance, excluding the actual cost of removal of any vehicle or part thereof, and may from time to time by resolution redetermine and fix the same amount.
[Amended by Ord. 80-7; Ord. 2005-8]
The City Administrator or his authorized deputy, upon discovering the existence of a public nuisance of abandoned or wrecked, or dismantled or inoperative vehicle, or the parts thereof, on private or public property within the City of Lakewood and as defined in this Part, shall give notice of intention to abate and remove the vehicle or parts thereof, as a public nuisance. Said notice shall contain, among other things, the following:
A. 
Identification of the vehicle or parts thereof;
B. 
The place or location of said vehicle or parts thereof;
C. 
A concise statement of fact wherein the City Administrator or his agent has determined that the existence of the foregoing is a public nuisance as an abandoned, wrecked, dismantled or inoperative vehicle, or part thereof, as defined in this Part;
D. 
The date of mailing of said notice;
E. 
The work to be done to abate said public nuisance;
F. 
A statement that if said nuisance is not abated or removed on or before a date certain, not less than ten (10) days from the date of mailing of said notice, that the same will be abated or removed by the City and the cost thereof assessed to the property owner and the owner of the vehicle;
G. 
Identification of the owner of the property on which the vehicle is located, if known or ascertainable to the City Administrator or his agent;
H. 
A statement to the property owner and to the owner of the vehicle that he may request a hearing on whether or not said nuisance exists and should be abated;
I. 
A statement to the owner of the property on which the vehicle is located that he may, in lieu of appearing at a hearing, present a sworn written statement denying responsibility for the presence of the vehicle on the land, with his reasons for such denial.
The notice of intention to abate such nuisance shall be mailed by registered or certified mail to the owner of the land as shown on the last equalized assessment roll and to the last registered legal owner of record of said vehicle, and any party shown to have an interest in the vehicle, unless the vehicle is in such condition that identification numbers are not available to determine ownership. No such notice is required if the owner of the land and the owner of the vehicle have filed with the City Administrator signed releases authorizing removal and waiving further interest in the vehicle or parts thereof, or any right either of them may have under this part to a hearing, or otherwise.
No notice of intention or hearing shall be required for removal of a vehicle or part thereof which is inoperable due to the absence of a motor, transmission, or wheels and incapable of being towed, and is valued at less than $200.00 by the City Administrator or his authorized Deputy defined in Section 4331.1, and provided further that the following conditions are met:
A. 
The owner of the Land on which the vehicle or part thereof is located has signed a release authorizing the removal of the vehicle or part and waiving further interest in the same;
B. 
The other applicable provisions of this part pertaining to the removal and abatement of inoperative vehicles are complied with;
C. 
Said inoperable vehicle or part is located on a parcel of land that is zoned for agricultural use or not improved with residential structures containing one or more dwelling units;
D. 
Prior to final disposition of such a low value vehicle or part for which evidence of registration has been recovered, the abatement officers shall provide notice to the registered and legal owners of intent to dispose of the vehicle or part and that if the vehicle or part is not claimed and removed within twelve (12) days after the notice is mailed, final disposition may proceed.
[Amended by Ord. 83-17]
A. 
Where the owner of land or the owner of a vehicle subject to a notice of intention to abate has requested, within ten days after the mailing of notice of intention to abate, a hearing, the Hearing Officer shall hold a public hearing on not less than five days written notice to the owner of the land and the registered and legal owner of the vehicle, if known and determinable as aforementioned. At the time and place of the hearing the Hearing Officer shall determine whether in fact a public nuisance as herein defined does exist and in that regard may consider the sworn statement of the property owner denying responsibility for the presence of the vehicle on his land without the presence of such owner and determine, based upon that written statement and any other evidence submitted at said hearing, whether or not said property owner is responsible.
B. 
If within said time neither the owner of the land or the vehicle request a hearing and the owner of the land submits in lieu of such request a sworn written statement denying responsibility for the presence of the vehicle on his land, the Hearing Officer shall hear the matter and determine whether or not a nuisance, as herein defined, does exist and should be abated and the responsibility of the owner of the land, based upon said written statement and other evidence submitted at said hearing.
C. 
If no such request is received within said time, the Director of Community Development, or in his absence, the Assistant Director of Community Development, shall have the authority to determine the existence of said nuisance based upon said notice of intention and to cause the same to be abated without holding a hearing thereon.
[Amended by Ord. 2006-3]
D. 
In lieu of determining the existence of a nuisance, the Hearing Officer in an appropriate case may continue the matter from time to time or impose such condition and take such other action as it deems appropriate under the circumstances in order to carry out the purposes of Section 4330, et seq., of the Municipal Code. In this regard, he may delay the time for removal of the vehicle or parts thereof if in his opinion the circumstances justify it.
[Amended by Ord. 80-7]
[Amended by Ord. 80-7]
The Hearing Officer shall by order find and determine that no nuisance exists or that such a nuisance exists that the same should be abated. If the Hearing Officer finds that a vehicle or part thereof has been abandoned or wrecked or dismantled or inoperative on private or public property as herein defined, he shall order the same removed from the property as a public nuisance and disposed of as hereinafter provided. In such an event the Hearing Officer shall determine the cost of removal to be charged against the owners of the parcel of land on which the vehicle or part thereof is located which shall be in addition to the administrative costs heretofore determined by the City Council. The Order requiring removal shall include a description of the vehicle or part thereof and any evidence of registration available, including, but not limited to registration certificate of title or license plates.
If it is determined at the hearing that the vehicle was placed on the land without the consent of the landowner and that he has not subsequently acquiesced in its presence, then the Hearing Officer shall not assess cost of administration or removal of the vehicle against the property upon which the vehicle is located or otherwise attempt to collect such costs from such owner.
Any such owner who has made a written presentation to the Hearing Officer but does not appear at the same hearing shall be notified in writing of the decision of the Hearing Officer.
[Amended by Ord. 80-7; Ord. 83-17]
Seven days after the adoption of the Order, or in the event of an appeal the Resolution of the Planning and Environment Commission, declaring the vehicle or parts thereof to be a public nuisance, and seven days from the date mailing notice of the decision to the owner of land required, as aforementioned, the vehicle or parts thereof may be disposed of by removal to a scrap yard or automobile dismantler's yard. After a vehicle has been removed, it shall not thereafter be reconstructed or made operable unless it is a vehicle which qualifies for either a horseless carriage license plate or historical vehicle license plates, pursuant to §5004 of the California Vehicle Code, in which case the vehicle may be reconstructed or made operable.
Where a vehicle or part thereof is removed by a City employee, other than a peace officer or employee of a Sheriff’s Department, the City employee designated to remove the vehicle may do so only after he or she has mailed or personally delivered a written report identifying the vehicle and its location to the office of the Department of the California Highway Patrol located nearest to the vehicle.
Within five days after the date of removal of the vehicle or part thereof, notice shall be given to the Department of Motor Vehicles identifying the vehicle or part thereof removed. At the same time there shall be transmitted to the Department of Motor Vehicles any evidence of registration available, including registration certificates of title and license plates.
[Amended by Ord. 80-7]
The Hearing Officer at the time of said public hearing shall find and determine the person or persons responsible for the existence of said public nuisance, subject to the aforementioned limitations, and the total cost of said abatement. Upon completion of said abatement the City Administrator shall notify said person or persons responsible for the existence of said nuisance of the cost of abatement and demand payment thereof. In the event said cost is not paid within thirty days thereafter, the City Administrator may authorize the City Attorney to bring legal action against the persons responsible therefore in the name of the City. The cost of said abatement shall also constitute a special assessment against said parcel which may be collected at the same time and in the same manner as ordinary municipal taxes are collected in accordance with and subject to the terms and provisions of Section 38773.5 of the Government Code of the State of California. The City Administrator in lieu of bringing civil action for the collection of the cost of said abatement, may deliver a copy of said resolution with his written statement that the cost of abatement has not been paid to the County Auditor on or before August 10. The amount of the assessment shall thereafter be collected in accordance with and subject to the terms and provisions of Section 38773.5 of the Government Code of the State of California.
[Added by Ord. 80-7]
The decision and Order of the Hearing Officer shall be in writing and shall be final as to any person affected thereby unless appealed by any such person to the Planning and Environment Commission within five (5) days of delivery of such decision and Order to such a person, or if by mail within seven (7) days of the deposit of such decision or Order in the mail, postage prepaid, addressed to such person at his or her last known address. Any hearing on appeal to the Planning and Environment Commission shall be a public hearing on notice to the appellant or other person entitled to notice herein, and shall be a hearing de novo.