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HomeMy WebLinkAbout08268ORDINANCE NO. 8268 AN ORDINANCE AMENDING CHAPTER 1 OF TITLE VII OF THE PUEBLO MUNICIPAL CODE RELATING TO NUISANCES AND PROVIDING CIVIL REMEDIES FOR VIOLATION THEREOF BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF PUEBLO, that: (brackets indicate matter being deleted, underscoring indicates new matter being added) SECTION 1. Section 7-1-3 of Chapter 1, Title VII, Pueblo Municipal Code, as amended, is hereby amended to read as follows: Sec. 7-1-3. Cost of abatement. (a) Whenever any nuisance shall be found, the City Manager or the Health Officer shall order the owner or occupant of the property upon which the nuisance shall exist, or such person who shall have caused or permitted such nuisance, at his or her own expense, to remove or correct the same within twenty-four (24) hours. If the owner, occupant or person who shall have caused or permitted such nuisance shall not comply with the order of the City Manager or the Health Officer, the City Manager or Health Officer may cause the nuisance to be removed or corrected and all expense incurred thereby shall be paid by said owner or occupant or by such other person who shall have caused or permitted the same, and may be recovered by the City in an action against the person or occupant. (b) In all cases where the City Manager, Fire Chief or Health Officer shall incur any expense for abating any nuisance found upon any lot or premises, the expense of such abatement plus twenty-five percent (25%) for incidental costs may be charged against the lot or premises upon or on account of which such expense was incurred, or from which such nuisance was abated, removed, or corrected. A bill for such expense shall be mailed to the owner or the person who shall have caused or permitted the condition to exist. The cost of such abatement, removal, or correction and such incidental costs, plus interest at the rate of ten percent (10%) per annum, shall be charged against the owner of such land, and upon recording in the County Clerk and Recorder's office of a statement under oath of the City Manager showing the cost thereof and describing the land, such charge shall be a perpetual lien on the land having priority over all other liens, except general tax liens, and such lien shall remain in full force and effect until such charges and interest have been paid in full. In addition to the lien created in this section, such charges shall be a charge, jointly and severally, against the owner and occupant of such land andagainst any person who caused or permitted such nuisance, and the city may pursue a civil judgment for the same along with attorneys fees, costs of suit, and costs of collection. (c) In the event that the City Manager or the Health Officer determines that the City may be unable to abate the nuisance due to the actual or anticipated expense to the City, the City may initiate a civil action against the owner and/or occupant of the lot or premises to seek injunctive relief, and/or seek and obtain a money judgment against the owner and/or occupant for the actual and/or estimated costs to abate the nuisance. (d) The members, officers, and/or directors of any entity which is the record owner of a premises subject to an order issued hereunder may be joined in the civil action and be held jointly and severally liable for any money judgment obtained in favor of the City, upon showing that such member, officer, and/or director knew or should have known of the order and the entity failed to comply. It shall be an affirmative defense for a member, officer, and/or director that the member, officer, and/or director lacked the ability to cause the entity to comply, or that compliance by the entity was impossible. [] (ce) All remedies classified herein are cumulative, and the exercise of one (1) shall not be deemed to prevent the exercise of another or to bar or abate any prosecution or petition for injunction hereunder. SECTION 2. This Ordinance shall become effective upon final passage and approval. INTRODUCED: September 27, 2010 BY: Vera Ortegon COUNCILPERSON PASSED AND APPROVED: October 12, 2010 Background Paper for Proposed ORDINANCE DATE: September 27, 2010AGENDA ITEM # S-2 DEPARTMENT: Law Department Thomas J. Florczak, City Attorney TITLE AN ORDINANCE AMENDING CHAPTER 1 OF TITLE VII OF THE PUEBLO MUNICIPAL CODE RELATING TO NUISANCES AND PROVIDING CIVIL REMEDIES FOR VIOLATION THEREOF ISSUE Should the City Council amend the City’s Health and Sanitation Code to enable the City to recover estimated abatement costs from the owner and/or occupant of a property, and if the owner and/or occupant is other than a natural person, from the officers, directors and members of the entity, who knowingly failed to comply with abatement orders? RECOMMENDATION Approve the Ordinance. BACKGROUND As written, the Code allows the City to abate nuisances and charge the property owner with the cost of the abatement. The City may currently lien the property for the abatement costs. The City may also seek and obtain a money judgment against the property owner for the abatement costs. The current remedies require the City to first complete the abatement and incur the cost before it can seek reimbursement from the property owner. On occasion, the City has obtained a judgment against the owner and/or occupant of the property. Often the owner and/or occupant of the property is an entity rather than a natural person. In such cases, the City may not be able to enforce its judgment. The amendments proposed in the Ordinance would allow the City to obtain a money judgment for the amount, or estimated amount of the abatement costs prior to undertaking abatement. Authorization of a civil action seeking money judgmentprovides an added incentive for the property owner to comply with the Code. While theeffectiveness of these modifications is not known, they add to the City’s tool box inresponding to nuisances. FINANCIAL IMPACT Unknown.