HomeMy WebLinkAboutOrd. 1484-2014ORDINANCE NO. 1484 -2014
CITY COUNCIL, CITY OF SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, STATE OF CALIFORNIA
AN ORDINANCE AMENDING CHAPTER 8.54 OF THE
SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO MUNICIPAL CODE REGARDING
THE TOTAL AMOUNT OF PENALTIES
ADMINISTRATIVELY IMPOSED FOR MUNICIPAL CODE
VIOLATIONS
WHEREAS, Article XI, Section 7 of the California Constitution provides that a city
or county may make and enforce within its limits all local, police, sanitary, and other
Ordinances and regulations not in conflict with general laws; and
WHEREAS, Chapter 8.54 of the South San Francisco Municipal Code ( "Municipal
Code ") constitutes the City of South San Francisco's ( "City ") Community Preservation
Ordinance; and
WHEREAS, Municipal Code Section 8.54.103 establishes the amount of fines that
the City may administratively impose; and
WHEREAS, the City is authorized to impose said fines pursuant to California
Government Code Sections 36900, 36901, and 53069.4; and
WHEREAS, the proposed Ordinance would impose a limit on the total amount of
fines the City can administratively impose pursuant to Municipal Code Section 8.54.103
during a single code enforcement case.
NOW THEREFORE, the City Council of the City of South San Francisco does
hereby ordain as follows:
SECTION 1. AMENDMENTS
The City Council hereby amends Title 8 of the South San Francisco Municipal
Code by amending Section 8.54.103, entitled "Amount of Fines — Penalties" of the South
San Francisco Municipal Code to read as follows. Sections and subsections that are not
amended by this Ordinance are not included below, and shall remain in full force and
effect.
SECTION 1A. Section 8.54.103 shall be amended to read as follows:
8.54.103 Amount of fines— Penalties.
(a) Penalty /Citation Amounts for an Infraction. The amount of any penalty that
may be imposed for a violation that would otherwise be an infraction shall not exceed the
amounts set forth in Government Code Section 36900(b). Every violation determined to be
an infraction is punishable by: (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
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Ordinance; and (3) a fine not exceeding five hundred dollars for each additional violation
of the same Ordinance within one year.
(b) Penalty /Citation Amounts for Violation of Local Building and Safety Codes.
The amount of any penalty that may be imposed for a violation of local building and safety
codes determined to be an infractions is: (1) a fine not exceeding one hundred dollars for a
first violation; (2) a fine not exceeding five hundred dollars for a second violation of the
same Ordinance within one year; and (3) a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars for each
additional violation of the same Ordinance within one year of the first violation.
(c) The amount of any penalty that may be imposed for all other violations (i.e.,
violations that would otherwise be misdemeanors) shall not exceed one thousand dollars
per day, unless otherwise authorized by law.
(d) In determining the amount of a penalty, the following factors should be
taken into consideration:
(1) Duration of the violation;
(2) Frequency, reoccurrence, or number of violations by the same person;
(3) Seriousness of the violation and /or its impact on the community and /or the
degree of culpability of the responsible party;
(4) Justification, if any, for the existence, or continuance, of the violation;
(5) Whether the violation is susceptible to restoration or other mitigation;
(6) Good faith efforts to mitigate the violation or to come into compliance,
pursuant to the terms of the notice to abate or abatement order;
(7) Sensitivity of any affected resource;
(8) Any profits or other economic benefit realized by the responsible party
resulting, directly or indirectly, from the violation;
(9) The city's schedule of administrative penalties currently existing or
subsequently enacted; and
(10) Such other factors as justice may require.
(e) The cumulative amount of any penalties imposed pursuant to this Section
shall not exceed ten thousand dollars ($10,000) for any single code enforcement case.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, penalties imposed pursuant to this Section for violations of
Article VII of this Chapter, the cumulative penalty shall not exceed twenty five thousand
dollars ($25,000). These penalty limitations shall not prevent the imposition of additional
fines on a single property in a separate or subsequent code enforcement action.
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SECTION 2. SEVERABILITY
If any provision of this Ordinance or the application thereof to any person or
circumstance is held invalid or unconstitutional, the remainder of this Ordinance,
including the application of such part or provision to other persons or circumstances shall
not be affected thereby and shall continue in full force and effect. To this end, provisions
of this Ordinance are severable. The City Council of the City of South San Francisco
hereby declares that it would have passed each section, subsection, subdivision, paragraph,
sentence, clause, or phrase hereof irrespective of the fact that any one or more sections,
subsections, subdivisions, paragraphs, sentences, clauses, or phrases be held
unconstitutional, invalid, or unenforceable.
SECTION 3. PUBLICATION AND EFFECTIVE DATE
This Ordinance shall be published once, with the names of those City
Councilmembers voting for or against it, in the South San Francisco Examiner, a
newspaper of general circulation in the City of South San Francisco, as required by law,
and shall become effective thirty (30) days from and after its adoption.
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Introduced and adopted at a regular meeting of the City Council of the City of South San
Francisco, held the 26th day of February, 2014.
Adopted as an Ordinance of the City of South San Francisco at a regular meeting of the
City Council held the 12th day of March, 2014 by the following vote:
AYES: Councilmembers Mark N. Addiego, Pradeep Gupta, and Liza Normandy
Vice Mayor Richard A. Garbarino and Mayor Karyl Matsumoto
NOES: None
ABSTAIN: None
ABSENT:
ATTEST:
Deputy City Clerk
As Mayor of the City of South San Francisco, I do hereby approve the foregoing
Ordinance this 12th day of March, 2014.
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atsumoto, Mayor