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HomeMy WebLinkAboutORD 1246 (2001) ORDINANCE NO. 1246 AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF TUSTIN, CALIFORNIA, AMENDING SUBSECTION g OF SECTION 9405 OF THE TUSTIN CITY CODE RELATING TO ABATEMENT OF ILLEGAL SIGNS IN THE PUBLIC RIGHT-OF-WAY. The City Council of the City of Tustin does hereby ordain as follows: Section I. The City Council finds and determines as follows: A. That the amendment, to Tustin City Code Section 9405g has been prepared to establish an administrative procedure for recovering the costs associated with the removal and disposal of illegally placed signs on public property or easements. B. That a public hearing was duly noticed, called, .and held on this Ordinance by the Planning Commission on October 8, 2001, and by the City Council on November 5, 2001. C. The proposed amendment would not have an adverse effect on the public health, safety, and welfare of residents or businesses of the City. D. A Negative Declaration has been adopted for this project in accordance with the provisions of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). E. The procedure for the recovery of costs associated, with the removal and disposal of illegally placed signs on public property or easements established by this Ordinance is necessary to protect the health, safety, and welfare of the City of Tustin in that the City will be able to abate these signs and reduce the negative impacts of sign clutter on the community more effectively by using the recovered costs to fund increased enforcement efforts. F. The proposed amendments are consistent with the Tustin General Plan in that they comply with Goal 4 to assure a safe, healthy, and aesthetically pleasing community for residents and businesses. Section II. Subsection g of Section 9405 of the Tustin City Code is amended to read as follows: Ordinance No. 1246 Page 2 g. Abatement of Illegal Signs in Public Right-of-Way 1.· Any sign installed or placed illegally on public property or easements, except in conformance with the requirements of this chapter, shall be forfeited to the public and subject to confiscation and destruction or disposal without notice or hearing. 2. The person who was responsible for the placement of the illegal sign shall be liable to the City for the cost of the removal of such sign. In the absence of persuasive evidence to the'contrary, the person who benefited from the sign shall be presumed to be the person who was responsible for' the placement of the sign. The Director of Community Development is authorized to determine the person who was responsible for the placement of the sign and costs of removal and disposal of the sign and to invoice such person for the amount of such costs, including any administrative costs and such other costs related to removal and disposal as the Council may establish by resolution. Any invoice shall be accompanied by a notice of the responsible person's right, to a hearing pursuant to this Subsection. 3.. Any person who has received an invoice pursuant to this Subsection may request a hearing on the responsibility of such person for the placement of the sign and/or the amount stated as the cost of removal and disposal of the sign. Any such request for a hearing must be in writing and must be filed with the Community Development Director within ten (10) business days of the date of mailing of the invoice. The request for hearing must set forth the basis of such person's objection to the invoice. 4, Upon the receipt of a request for a hearing, the Director of Community Development shall set a hearing date before a hearing officer appointed by the City Manager within thirty (30) days of receipt of the request.for a hearing. The Director shall provide the person requesting the hearing at' least five (5) days advance notice of the hearing date. The hearing date may be changed by mutual consent of the Director of Community Development, the person requesting the hearing, and the hearing officer. At the hearing l the person requesting the hearing shall present evidence that: 1) the person was not responsible for the placement of the illegal' sign; or 2) the amount invoiced for sign rem. oval and disposal was excessive. 5, Within a reasonable time following the conclusion of the hearing, the hearing officer shall render a written decision. In the event the hearing officer determines that the person requesting the hearing Ordinance No. 1246 Page 3 was not the. person responsible for the placement of the sign, the invoice shall be cancelled in full.. In the event the hearing officer determines that the amount invoiced should be reduced, the invoice shall be modified accordingly and the person requesting the hearing shall be liable for such reduced amount. In all other 'respects, the Director of Community Development's determination shall be upheld; the total amount of the invoice shall include the amount initially assessed and shall include an additional amount to cover the costs of the hearing, as the Council may establish by resolution. The decision of the hearing officer shall be final. Section III. If any section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase, or portion of this ordinance is for any reason determined 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 Tustin 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 moro sections, subsections, sontences, clauses, phrases, or portions be declared invalid or unconstitutional.' PASSED AND ADOPTED by the City Council of the City of Tustin, at a regular meeting on the 19th day of November, 2001. S WORL Mayor  _.-PAMELA STOKER City Clerk City of Tustin ORDINANCE CERTIFICATION STATE OF CALIFORNIA ) COUNTY OF ORANGE ) SS CITY OF TUSTIN ) ORDINANCE NO. 1246 I, PAMELA STOKER, City Clerk and ex-officio Clerk of the City Council of the City of Tustin, California, hereby certifies that the whole number of the members of the City Council of the City of Tustin is five; and that the above and foregoing Ordinance No. 1246 had first reading by title only and introduction at the November 5, 2001 City Council meeting and was adopted at the November 19, 2001 Council meeting by the following vote: COUNCILMEMBER AYES: Worley, Thomas, Bone, Doyle, Kawashima COUNCILMEMBER NOES: None COUNCILMEMBER ABSTAINED: None COUNCILMEMBER ABSENT: None Pamela Stoker, City Clerk