This chapter is adopted pursuant to the City’s police powers under the California Constitution and the California Government Code for the purpose of establishing procedures for recovering costs incurred by the City when enforcing the provisions of this Code related to code enforcement through inspections, nuisance abatement, or other similar administrative or judicial means.
(Ord. 07-12 § 1)
Unless the contrary is stated or clearly appears from the context, the following definitions will govern the construction of the words and phrases used in this chapter:
“City Manager”
means the City Manager of the City of Goleta or the City Manager’s designee.
“Code violation”
means any violation of this code or any federal, state, or local law that the City may enforce pursuant to the City Council’s legislative action or any other provision of law for which the City may recover its enforcement costs. This term will include both singular and plural.
“Enforcement action”
means any action taken to correct a code violation.
“Enforcement costs”
include all of the following:
1. 
Actual cost of preparing notices, correspondence, specifications, and contracts;
2. 
Costs incurred for property inspections;
3. 
Staff costs incurred for investigation of code violations;
4. 
Costs to repair or eliminate nuisance conditions;
5. 
Costs related to inspection and abatement warrants;
6. 
Costs related to office hearings or administrative adjudications;
7. 
Permit fees;
8. 
Interest at the legal rate;
9. 
Attorney’s fees and collection costs expended in enforcement actions including, without limitation, any action to recover enforcement costs pursuant to this chapter;
10. 
All costs or expenses for which the City may be liable under State law arising from or related to an enforcement action; and
11. 
All costs or expenses to which the City may be entitled pursuant to California law.
“Enforcement officer”
means any official or employee responsible for implementing or assisting with enforcement actions.
“Owner”
means the owner of record as shown on that last equalized assessment roll of the county. For purposes of providing notice to an owner of any action under this chapter, “owner” includes the actual owner of record, or such owner’s agent, employee or other legal representative.
“Property”
means real property, including any grounds, lot, parcel, tract or other piece of land, and any building, structure or other appurtenance located thereon, as well as personal property.
“Responsible party”
means any person that an enforcement officer determines is responsible for causing or maintaining a violation of this code. This includes, but is not limited to, a property owner, lessee, occupant, tenant, a person with a legal interest in any property, or a person in possession or control of any property.
(Ord. 07-12 § 1)
A. 
Any owner or responsible party in an enforcement action shall be liable to the City for enforcement costs incurred by the City in an enforcement action. The City may recover any enforcement costs incurred in the enforcement of any provision of the zoning code, the housing code, building code, electrical code, plumbing code, mechanical code or the uniform code for the abatement of dangerous buildings as provided in this Code. The amount of any enforcement cost shall not exceed the actual cost incurred.
B. 
The prevailing party in any civil action, administrative proceeding or special procedure 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, may recover reasonable attorney's fees in those individual actions or proceedings wherein the City elects, at the initiation of that individual action or proceeding, to seek recovery of its own attorney's fees. In no action, administrative proceeding, or special proceeding may an award of attorney's fees to any prevailing party exceed the amount of reasonable attorney's fees incurred by the City in the action or proceeding. Unpaid attorney's fees are a debt that is collectible in any manner allowed by law.
(Ord. 07-12 § 1; Ord. 25-08, 11/18/2025)
A. 
The enforcement officer, City personnel, and any private contractor authorized to abate a nuisance, must keep an account of enforcement costs incurred and must render an itemized report in writing to the City Manager or to the court of competent jurisdiction hearing an enforcement action.
B. 
Unless otherwise ordered or determined by the court in an enforcement action, the City Manager will give notice by certified mail of the costs of abatement to the owner and to any responsible person. This cost notice will include a statement that the owner and any responsible person have a right to a hearing before the City Manager regarding the enforcement costs, if such hearing is requested in writing within 10 days of the date of the notice.
C. 
If a hearing is requested, the City Manager will set a date for the hearing and cause notice of the hearing to be sent by certified mail to the owner and to any responsible person at least 10 days before the date of the scheduled hearing. The City Manager will either confirm or modify the enforcement costs at such hearing. The City Manager must give notice of the decision on the assessment of the costs of abatement by certified mail to the owner and to any responsible person. The decision of the City Manager will be final.
D. 
If the total enforcement costs, as confirmed by the City Manager or the court, remains unpaid within 30 days of notice to the owner or the responsible party, the City Manager may cause the abatement costs to be collected by any of the following or any other lawful means: (1) obtaining a court order stating that this reimbursement requirement is a personal obligation of any person held responsible for creating, causing, committing or maintaining a public nuisance, recoverable by the City in the same manner as any civil judgment; (2) recording a nuisance abatement lien pursuant to this Code against the parcel of land on which the nuisance is maintained; or (3) imposing a special assessment pursuant to this Code against the parcel of land on which the nuisance is maintained.
(Ord. 07-12 § 1)
A. 
Prior to recordation, a notice of lien must be served on the owner in the same manner as a summons in a civil action in accordance with Code of Civil Procedure Section 415.10. If the owner after diligent search cannot be found, the notice may be served by posting a copy thereof in a conspicuous place upon the property for a period of 10 days and publishing the notice in a newspaper of general circulation in Goleta.
B. 
The lien must specify (1) the amount of the lien, (2) that the lien is imposed on behalf of the City, (3) the date of the City’s abatement order or other order related to the enforcement action, (4) the street address, legal description and assessor parcel number of the parcel on which the lien is imposed, and (5) the name and address of the owner of the property.
C. 
The lien will be recorded in the County Recorder’s office and from the date of recording will have the force, effect and priority of a judgment lien and may be foreclosed by an action brought by the City for a money judgment.
D. 
The City may recover from the property owner any costs incurred regarding the processing and recording of the lien and providing notice to the property owner as part of its foreclosure action to enforce the lien.
E. 
In the event the lien is satisfied, the City will cause a notice of release of the lien to be recorded in the county recorder’s office.
(Ord. 07-12 § 1)
A. 
In addition to the matters set forth in this chapter, the notice of lien must specify that the lien will constitute a special assessment that will be collected at the same time and in the same manner as ordinary municipal taxes are collected and will be subject to the same penalties and the same procedure for foreclosure and sale in case of delinquency as provided for ordinary municipal taxes. If payments are permitted to be made in annual installments, the rate of interest on the unpaid balance must be specified.
B. 
After confirmation and recordation, a copy of the notice of lien will be turned over to the tax collector to add the amount of the assessment to the next regular tax bill levied against the respective parcels of land. Any costs incurred by the City in connection with recording the lien may be added to the assessment.
C. 
The City Manager may determine that in lieu of collecting the entire assessment at the time and in the manner of ordinary municipal taxes, the assessment may be paid in annual installments over a period not to exceed five years. If any installment is delinquent, the amount thereof will subject to the same penalties and procedure for foreclosure and sale provided for ordinary municipal taxes. Any assessments so deferred will bear interest on the unpaid balance at the rate of six percent per year.
D. 
In the event the lien is satisfied, the City will cause a notice of release of the lien to be recorded in the County Recorder’s office.
(Ord. 07-12 § 1)