HomeMy WebLinkAboutOrd. No. 2021-1457 Amending LEMC Chapter 8.18 Weed AbatementORDINANCE NO. 2021-1457
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF LAKE ELSINORE,
CALIFORNIA, AMENDING CHAPTER 8.18 OF THE LAKE ELSINORE
MUNICIPAL CODE RELATED TO WEED ABATEMENT
Whereas, the City desires to amend the Lake Elsinore Municipal Code (“LEMC”) to
regulate weed abatement in accordance with State law in order to promote the health, safety, and
general welfare of the residents and businesses within the City; and
Whereas, amendment of the LEMC to regulate weed abatement requires several
amendments to Title 8 related to definitions, noticing, and other relevant provisions; and
Whereas, on April 21, 2021, at a duly noticed public meeting the Public Safety Advisory
Commission considered evidence presented by the Community Development Department and
other interested parties with respect to this item and took unanimous action to recommend
approval to the City Council; and
Whereas, on May 25, 2021, at a duly noticed public hearing, the City Council has
considered the recommendation of the Community Development Department, as well as evidence
presented by the Community Development Department and other interested parties with respect
to this item.
NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF LAKE ELSINORE DOES
HEREBY RESOLVE, DETERMINE AND ORDER AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1: The City Council has reviewed and analyzed the proposed amendments to the
Lake Elsinore Municipal Code and finds and determines that the ordinance is in compliance with
the goals and policies of the City of Lake Elsinore General Plan, that the ordinance will not be
detrimental to the public interest, health, safety, convenience, or general welfare of the city; and
that it is internally consistent with other applicable provisions of the Lake Elsinore Municipal Code.
Section 2: The City Council hereby finds and determines that the proposed amendments
to the Lake Elsinore Municipal Code are exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act
(Cal. Publ. Res. Code §§21000 et seq. “CEQA”) and the State CEQA Guidelines (14. Cal. Code
Regs §§15000 et seq.), specifically pursuant to pursuant to Sections 15060(c)(2), 15060(c)(3),
and 15061(b)(3) of the State CEQA Guidelines because it will not result in a direct or reasonably
foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment, because there is no possibility that it
may have a significant effect on the environment, and because it is not a “project” as that term is
defined in Section 15378 of the State CEQA Guidelines.
Section 3: Based upon the evidence presented, both written and testimonial, and the
above findings, the City Council approves the amendment of Chapter 8.18 of the Lake Elsinore
Municipal Code attached hereto as Exhibit “A”.
Section 4: If any provision of this Ordinance or its application is held invalid by a
court of competent jurisdiction, such invalidity shall not affect other provisions, sections, or
applications of the Ordinance which can be given effect without the invalid provision or
application, and to this end each phrase, section, sentence, or word is declared to be severable.
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Section 5: This Ordinance shall become effective at 12:01 a.m. on the thirty-first
(31st) day after the date of adoption.
Section 6: Certification. The City Clerk shall certify to the passage of this Ordinance and
shall cause a synopsis of the same to be published according to law.
PASSED, APPROVED, AND ADOPTED at a regular meeting of the City Council of the
City of Lake Elsinore, California, on this 8th day of June 2021.
Robert E. Magee
Mayor
Attest:
Candice Alvarez, MMC
City Clerk
STATE OF CALIFORNIA )
COUNTY OF RIVERSIDE ) ss.
CITY OF LAKE ELSINORE )
I, Candice Alvarez, MMC, City Clerk of the City of Lake Elsinore, California, do hereby certify that
Ordinance No. 2021-1457 was introduced by the City Council of the City of Lake Elsinore,
California, at the Regular meeting of May 25, 2021 and adopted at the Regular meeting of
June 8, 2021 and that the same was adopted by the following vote:
AYES: Council Members Tisdale, Johnson, and Manos; Mayor Pro Tem Sheridan; and
Mayor Magee
NOES: None
ABSENT: None
ABSTAIN: None
Candice Alvarez, MMC
City Clerk
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“Exhibit A”
8.18.152 Hazardous vegetation and rubbish abatement program.
A. Pursuant to Government Code Sections 39501 and 39502, the City of Lake Elsinore adopts
the following procedures making it the responsibility and duty of the property owners, lessees,
and occupants of real property within the City to prevent and abate public nuisances caused by
weeds, hazardous vegetation or rubbish on or about their property any parcel.
B. The following definitions apply to the City’s hazardous vegetation and rubbish abatement
program:
1. “Weeds” include (a) any vegetation or plants which when mature bear seeds of a downy
or wingy nature; (b) sagebrush, chaparral and any other brush or weeds which attain
such large growth as to become, when dry, a fire menace; (c) poison oak and poison ivy
when the conditions of growth are such as to constitute a menace to the public health,
and weeds that are otherwise noxious or dangerous; (d) overgrown vegetation which is
likely to harbor rats or vermin, or which constitutes a fire hazard; (e) dry grass, stubble,
brush, or other flammable material which endangers the public safety by creating a fire
hazard; (f) large amounts of dead, dying or diseased vegetation; and (g) any other brush,
vines, trees, grass, plants, or vegetation that is injurious to public health, safety, welfare
or is otherwise hazardous or unsightly to the community.
2. “Rubbish” includes, but is not limited to, trash or refuse consisting of uncontained paper,
cardboard, wood, dry grass or brush, dirt, plastic, rubber, metal or ceramic wreckage,
glass, junk, disassembled automobiles, machinery, or parts thereof, or any other
discarded material which may be combustible or deleterious to the public health, safety,
or welfare, or any material which by reason of its location and/or character may hamper
or interfere with the prevention or suppression of fire upon the premises or adjacent
premises.
3. “Fire Chief” means the Fire Chief of the City of Lake Elsinore or designee.
4. “Hazardous vegetation’’ means vegetation that is flammable and endangers the public
safety by creating a fire hazard, including, but not limited to, seasonal and recurrent
weeds, stubble, brush, dry leaves and tumbleweeds.
5. “Improved parcel” means a portion of land of any size, the area of which is determined
by the County Assessor’s maps and records and may be identified by an assessor’s
parcel number upon which a structure is located.
6. “Parcel” means a portion of land of any size, the area of which is determined by the
County Assessor’s maps and records and may be identified by an assessor’s parcel
number.
7. “Structure” means any dwelling, house, building or other type of flammable construction,
including, but not limited to, a wood fence attached to or near any other structure.
C. It shall be unlawful, and is hereby declared a public nuisance, for the owner(s), lessee(s), or
occupant(s) of real property within the City to maintain, permit, or allow such premises to be
maintained in such a condition where weeds, hazardous vegetation or rubbish negatively affect
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the public health, safety, or welfare. It is also hereby declared the duty and responsibility of the
owner(s), lessee(s), and occupant(s) of real property within the City to prevent and abate any and
all conditions of weeds, hazardous vegetation or rubbish that negatively affect the public health,
safety, or welfare.
D. The City Manager or designee shall adopt standards consistent with this section for the
maintenance, prevention, and abatement of weeds and rubbish on all lots and parcels of real
property within the City and make the same reasonably available to the public.
D. It shall be the duty of every owner, lessee and occupant of real property within the City parcel
of land or interest therein which is in the City to clear therefrom, including sidewalks and parkways
adjacent to such property, all weeds, hazardous vegetation and rubbish.
E. The City Manager or designee shall have authority to declare violations of this section and the
standards adopted pursuant hereto, and to enforce the same against the owner(s), lessee(s) and
occupant(s) of the property upon which such conditions exist.
F. The City Manager Fire Chief or designee shall enforce the duty set forth in this subsection
hereof, to issue a notice to abate by personal service or by mailing the notice by certified mail to
the property owner as his or her name appears on the most recent equalized assessment roll and
to the address as shown in the records of the County Assessor. cause a 45-day notice to be
issued to the owner(s) of the lot or parcel of real property and any other lessee(s) or occupant(s)
against whom enforcement of this section is sought and/or from whom cost recovery will be made.
The notice shall contain:
1. A reasonable description of the lot or parcel of real property upon which the violation
exists;
2. A reasonable description of the violating conditions constituting the nuisance;
3. The relevant standards for maintenance, prevention, and abatement of weeds,
hazardous vegetation and rubbish adopted pursuant to this section;
4. Reference to this section;
5. An order to remove the violating conditions and bring the property into compliance
within 45 30 calendar days;
6. A description of the consequences of failure to comply as prescribed in this section,
and
7. A statement that a written appeal may be filed with the City Manager or designee
thereof.
E. The requirements of subsection-section D shall be satisfied if the owner, lessee or occupant
clears the property by disking, mowing or any other method described in said notice as follows:
1. A 100-foot wide strip of land at the boundary of an unimproved parcel adjacent to a
roadway; and/or
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2. A 100-foot wide strip of land around structure(s) located on an adjacent improved parcel
(some or all of this clearance may be required on the unimproved parcel depending upon
the location of the structure on the improved parcel).
3. The Fire Chief may require more than a 100-foot width or less than a 100-foot width for the
protection of public health, safety or welfare or the environment. The determination for
appropriate clearance distances will be made based upon a visual inspection of the parcel
and shall consider all factors that place the property or adjoining structure(s) at risk from a
fire. These factors shall include local weather conditions, fuel type(s), topography and the
environment where the property or adjoining structure(s) is located.
4. Where the parcel’s terrain is such that it cannot be disked or mowed, the Fire Chief may
require, or authorize, that other means of removal be used.
G. The notice required shall be served upon the owner(s) and any lessee(s) or occupant(s), or
the authorized agents thereof, by any of the following methods:
1. By personal service; or
2. By mail sent to the address as reflected on the last equalized assessment roll of the County or
agent thereof, or as otherwise known to the City; or
3. By posting the notice conspicuously on or in front of the property upon which the violation
exists.
H G. After the initial 45 30-day notice, if the property has not been brought into compliance and
no written appeal has been filed in accordance with LEMC 8.18.040, a 15-day notice shall be
issued. This notice shall be made in accordance with subsection (F) of this section except that it
shall order the property be brought into compliance in no less than 15 days and shall state that
any written appeal must be filed in no less than 15 calendar days with the City Manager or
designee thereof. The 15-day notice shall be served by certified mail addressed to the owner(s)
and any lessee(s) or occupant(s) as reflected on the last equalized assessment roll of the County
or agent thereof, or as otherwise known to the City. An administrative fee shall also be assessed
upon issuance of the 15-day notice.
I. All appeal and hearing procedures shall be governed by LEMC 8.18.040. Failure to file a timely
and proper written appeal shall constitute a waiver of the right to appeal and a failure to exhaust
administrative remedies.
J. If after 15 30 days from the date the second notice was issued the nuisance upon the property
has not been abated and no written appeal has been filed in accordance with LEMC 8.18.040,
City personnel and/or contractors may enter the property, subject to requirements of law, and take
such action as is reasonably necessary to abate the nuisance.
K. The City shall keep an itemized accounting of the associated costs incurred by the City to abate
the nuisance. All abatement and administrative costs incurred by the City, including all fees and
costs as defined in LEMC 8.18.090(A-H), may be recovered by any manner authorized by law,
including by lien or assessment pursuant to the procedures set forth in LEMC 8.18.110.
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L. Abatement of any nuisance under this section may, in the discretion of the City Manager or
designee, be contracted to an outside contractor. Should the City contract the abatement process,
the City may assign its interest in collecting payment for the work to the contractor which
performed the work, as payment to the contractor.
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