Ordinance No. 1183ORDINANCE NO. 1183
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF CYPRESS,
CALIFORNIA, AMENDING CYPRESS MUNICIPAL CODE, CHAPTER 13,
ARTICLE III, SECTION 13-20, "ASSESSMENT; LIEN" RELATING TO
COST RECOVERY FOR ABATEMENTS OF PUBLIC NUISANCES
WHEREAS, pursuant to Government Code section 38773, et seq., the City of
Cypress has adopted an ordinance to govern public nuisances and abatements of the
same; and
WHEREAS, said ordinance is codified at Article III of Chapter 13 of the Cypress
Municipal Code (CMC); and
WHEREAS, section 13-20 of Chapter 13 provides that the City, between the first
and fifteenth of July each year, shall provide notice in an official newspaper that "any
person affected or aggrieved by any act or determination of the director of public works,
or the director of planning, or of the city council in connection with the provisions of this
chapter may appeal to the city council"; and
WHEREAS, the City has conducted abatements of public nuisances in the City
and would like the opportunity to promptly seek cost recovery when such abatements are
conducted in accordance with Chapter 13; and
WHEREAS, the City must provide the record title owners of impacted properties
the opportunity to appeal the City's cost assessment prior to taking any steps towards
cost recovery including the recording of a lien or filing of a special assessment; and
WHEREAS, the City believes it would be more effective and efficient if the appeal
period, and recoding of the lien or filing of a special assessment, occurred close in time
to when the abatement occurs, while evidence and memories remain fresh; and
WHEREAS, the City seeks to modify section 13-20 such that any person affected
or aggrieved by a City lien or assessment may appeal the City's decision within 15 days
of notice of the same.
NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF CYPRESS,
CALIFORNIA, DOES HEREBY ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. The recitals set forth above are true and correct and are incorporated
herein by this reference.
Section 2. Section 13-20, "Assessment; lien" of Article III of Chapter 13 of the
Cypress Municipal Code is hereby amended as follows:
Sec. 13-20. Assessment; lien.
(1) City Nuisance Abatement Cost Record Book.
The director of public works and the director of planning
shall keep or cause to be kept in his/her office a permanent
record showing the legal description, as shown on the last
equalized assessment roll of the County of Orange, of each
piece of property or lot or the street, alley, sidewalk, or right-
of-way abutting said property, from which a nuisance(s) has
been removed at city expense under the provisions of this
chapter. The record book shall show any and all expenses,
including administrative and legal costs, incurred by the city in
the removal of the nuisance as said expense relates to each
separate property ownership. Each entry in the record book
shall be made upon the completion of work done on each
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piece of property or lot or upon the street, alley, parkway, or
sidewalk abutting thereon.
(2) Notice and Appeal.
Once all costs and expenses incurred by the city have been
calculated and prior to the entry of the assessment or the
recordation of an abatement lien, the city shall notify the
record owner of the amount owed to the city. The notice shall
be sent to the owner of record of the parcel of land of which
the nuisance is maintained, based on the last equalized
assessment roll or the supplemental roll, whichever is more
current. If the owner of record, 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 publication thereof in a newspaper of general circulation
published in the county in which the property is located. The
notice shall include a statement notifying the owner of record
that should they wish to challenge the amount owed to the
city, they may appeal to the city manager or his/her designee.
In the case of an assessment, notice shall specify that the
property may be sold after three years by the tax collector for
unpaid delinquent assessments.
An appeal shall be in writing and shall be filed with the city
clerk within 15 calendar days of the date of the notice. Within
30 calendar days of receipt of the appeal, the city manager or
his/her designee shall hear and pass upon each appeal, and
the determination by the city manager or his/her designee
thereupon shall be final and conclusive. In the event any
determination of the director of public works or the director of
planning is modified by determination of the city manager or
his/her designee or any assessment or lien changed or
corrected, the director of public works, or the director of
planning shall cause the correction to be made upon the
record showing the assessment or lien.
Upon the expiration of the 15 calendar day period to appeal
or if no appeal is successful, the city may proceed under
subsections (3) or (4) below.
(3) Recordation of Nuisance Abatement Lien.
Upon the expiration of the time for an appeal, the City may,
at its sole discretion, impose a nuisance abatement lien
against the parcel of property in order to collect the cost of
abatement. The City may record a nuisance abatement lien in
the County of Orange recorder's office on the parcel of
property for the cost determined in subsection (1) of this
section. The lien shall specify the amount of the lien, that the
lien is imposed by the city, the date of the abatement order,
the street address, legal description and assessor's parcel
number of the parcel on which the lien is imposed, and the
name and address of the recorded owner of the parcel. The
lien may be foreclosed by an action brought by the city for a
money judgment.
(4) Entry of Assessment.
Upon the expiration of the time for an appeal, the city may
enter a special assessment against the parcel of property in
order to collect the cost of abatement. Upon receipt of the
assessment, the public works director and/or the planning
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director shall transmit it to the county assessor and tax
collector for inclusion on tax rolls, and the amount shall be
collected at the same time and in the same manner as
ordinary municipal taxes. If delinquent, the amount of the
assessment is subject to the same penalties and procedure
of foreclosure and sale as provided for default or ordinary
municipal taxes. The funds collected under the
proceedings provided for in this part, either upon voluntary
payment or as in the result of sales, shall be paid to the
finance manager, who shall place the same in the general
fund.
(5) Proof of Notice.
Proof of the posting and serving in person or mailing of any
notice, order, or determination provided for in this chapter
shall be by affidavit of the person performing the duty and the
affidavit shall specify the time when the duty was performed.
It shall be the duty of the director of public works and the
director of planning to keep such affidavits among the official
records in his/her office.
(6) Refund.
Any assessment or any portion of any assessment levied
pursuant to the provisions of this chapter which heretofore or
hereafter has been paid more than once, erroneously or
illegally collected, paid in excess of the amount chargeable,
or was not chargeable to the person or the property paying
the same under the provisions of this chapter, by reasons of
a clerical error or the employees or officials of the city, may be
refunded by order of the city manager or his or her designee
in the same manner, to the same extent, and under the same
conditions as now or hereafter are provided by the city for
refund of payments of general taxes at any time after the
abstract of charges taken from the record book of the director
of public works or the director of planning has been delivered
to the county assessor and entered upon the assessment
books. The owner of any property assessed who may claim
that the assessment is void in whole or in part may pay the
same under protest. The protest shall be in writing, shall be
received by the city clerk on or before March 1 st after the tax
becomes due and payable, shall specify whether the whole or
any part of the assessment is void and the grounds upon
which such claim is founded. An owner, after making payment
under protest, may recover the same in the manner and under
the same conditions provided in Section 39585 of the
Government Code of the State of California.
(7) Two or More Abatements in a Two -Year Period.
If the city abates the same property two or more times in a
two-year period, the city shall recover three times the total
value of the assessments, liens, penalties, costs, and
attorneys' fees incurred in connection with the second and
subsequent abatements.
(8) Right of City to Sue for Assessment and Costs.
The city may sue in any court of competent jurisdiction for
the amount of the assessment, penalties, costs, and
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attorneys' fees, and the satisfaction of any judgment thereby
obtained shall cancel any lien for the assessment. In any
action, attorneys' fees may be recovered by the prevailing
party.
Section 3. If any section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase, or portion of this
Ordinance is, for any reason, held to be invalid or unconstitutional by the decision of any
court of competent jurisdiction, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining
portions of this Ordinance. The City Council of the City of Cypress hereby declares that
it would have adopted this Ordinance and each section, subsection, sentence, clause,
phrase, or portion thereof, irrespective of the fact that any one or more sections,
subsections, sentences, clauses, phrases, or portions thereof may be declared invalid or
unconstitutional.
Section 4. The City, as the Lead Agency, determined that the proposed text
amendment is exempt from further review under the California Environmental Quality Act
(California Public Resources Code §§ 21000, et seq., "CEQA") and the regulations
promulgated thereunder (14 California Code of Regulations §§ 15000, et seq., the "CEQA
Guidelines"), because it consists of only minor text revisions and clarifications to existing
zoning regulations and procedures related thereto, and will not have the effect of
substantially changing regulatory standards or findings required therefor in accordance
with CEQA, the proposed text amendment is exempt from CEQA pursuant to Section
15061(b)(3) because the activity is governed by the general rule that CEQA applies only
to projects that have the potential for causing a significant effect on the environment. In
this case the proposed zone text amendment will not have a significant effect on the
environment.
Section 5. This Ordinance shall be in full force and effect thirty (30) days after its
adoption following second reading.
Section 6. The City Clerk is hereby authorized and directed to certify as the
passage of this Ordinance and to give notice thereof by causing copies of this Ordinance
to be posted in three public places throughout the City.
[SIGNATURES ON FOLLOWING PAGE]
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FIRST READ at a regular meeting of the City Council of said City held on the 25th
day of November, 2019 and finally adopted and order posted at a regular meeting held
on the 13th day of January, 2020.
ADOPTED, SIGNED and APPROVED this 13th day of January 2020.
MAYOR OF Tj CITY OF CYPRESS
ATTEST:
CITY CLERK OF THE CITY OF CYPRESS
STATE OF CALIFORNIA )
COUNTY OF ORANGE ) SS
I, Alisha Farnell, City Clerk of the City of Cypress, DO HEREBY CERTIFY THAT
THE FOREGOING Ordinance was duly adopted by said City Council at a regular meeting
held on the 13th day of January 2020, by the following roll call vote:
AYES:
5
COUNCIL MEMBERS:
NOES:
0
COUNCIL MEMBERS:
ABSENT:
0
COUNCIL MEMBERS:
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CITY C K OF THE CItY CIOF CYPRESS
01004.0005/615059.4
Berry, Morales, Peat, Yarc, Johnson
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