15.24.130 - Abatement and administration.

The Building Official, Fire Marshal, Planning Director and Health Officer are authorized to enforce the provisions of this chapter. Such authority, subject to the express provisions of this chapter, shall include, but shall not be limited to, the authority to order the abatement, alteration, repair and demolition of any structure that is an immediate hazard and danger. All abatement, alteration, repairs, restoration and demolition of immediate hazard and danger structures under this chapter shall be conducted in accordance with the procedure set forth pursuant to subsection B of this section. It is unlawful for any person to abate, alter, repair, restore or to demolish any immediate hazard and danger structure without prior permission from the Building Official and without following the applicable procedure set forth in this chapter. It is unlawful for any owner to fail or neglect to comply with any valid order of abatement of the Director of Public Works or Building Official made pursuant to this chapter.

A.

Assessment of Immediacy. The Building Official shall determine whether the conditions associated with specific structures cause such structures to be immediate hazards and dangers.

B.

Immediate Hazard and Danger Abatement Procedure. Structures which the Building Official determines to be an immediate hazard and danger, as described herein, shall be subject to the following process:

1.

Notice and Order. If the circumstances and time permit, the Building Official shall post the structure and notify, by hand-delivery, telephone, telegraph, facsimile or other reasonable means, the property owner, and any other party of record with an equitable or legal interest in said property, that the structure is an immediate hazard and danger and, as such, constitutes a public nuisance and must be abated. The notice shall set forth those factors which, in the opinion of the Building Official, make the structure an immediate hazard and danger. The notice shall provide that within forty-eight (48) hours from the time of issuance of the notice, the owner or other party of record shall submit an acceptable abatement plan, as defined herein, to the Building Official.

No prior notice shall be required, where the Building Official, after a consideration of all the facts, determines in writing that the structure is an immediate hazard and danger and that it must be abated immediately and that time and circumstances do not permit the giving of prior notice to the owner. In those cases where time and circumstances do not permit the city to give the owner notice prior to abatement, the Building Official may cause the public nuisance to be abated by the city with city forces or city contractors and the cost of abatement shall constitute a special assessment against the subject real property. The assessment shall be made and collected in the manner set forth in this chapter. In all other cases, the city, at the time of giving notice, shall record a copy of the notice against the subject property in the records of the Alameda County Recorder.

2.

Appeal. The decision of the Building Official determining a structure to be an immediate hazard and danger may be appealed by the property owner or other interested party of record to the Director of Public Works of the city or his or her designee. Any such appeal shall indicate the basis of error by the Building Official and shall be hand-delivered to the Building Official within forty-eight (48) hours of the time of issuance of the notice given pursuant to this chapter. No appeal shall be considered filed, or effective, unless the appellant files a timely abatement plan with the Building Official. To be considered timely, the abatement plan must be filed within the time required by this chapter. Failure to appeal within the required forty-eight (48) hour appeal time period shall constitute a waiver of the right to appeal to the Director of Public Works and the Building Official's determination and order shall stand.

3.

Form of Appeal. All appeals of the Building Official's notice and order to abate shall:

a.

Indicate the basis of error by the Building Official; and

b.

Contain the telephone number (business and residence), home address and business address of the appellant.

4.

Hearing. At the time of receiving a valid appeal, the Building Official shall schedule an appeal hearing before the Director of Public Works. The appellant shall be notified of the date, time and place of the hearing at the time the appeal is filed. Whenever practicable, the hearing shall be held within twenty-four (24) hours of the time a valid appeal is filed.

At the hearing, the appellant shall have the right to call witnesses, submit evidence and to cross-examine the witnesses of the city. All witnesses shall be sworn. A record of the entire proceedings shall be made by tape recording. Any relevant evidence may be admitted regardless of the existence of any common law or statutory rule which might make improper the admission of such evidence over objection in civil actions in the courts of this state.

At the close of the hearing, the Director of Public Works, or his or her designee, shall act to either uphold, overrule or modify the determination and order of the Building Official. The determination and order of the Building Official shall be upheld, unless the Director, or his or her designee, finds, based upon the evidence in the record, that the Building Official erred in determining that the structure is an immediate hazard and danger. The decision of the Director, or his or her designee, with the reasons therefor, may be given orally on the record. If given orally, the decision shall be memorialized in writing and served upon the appellant within twenty-four (24) hours of the time an oral decision is rendered.

If the Director, or his or her designee, upholds the decision of the Building Official, the property owner or other interested party of record shall be ordered to abate the public nuisance within the time set forth in the order. If the structure is determined not to be an immediate hazard and danger, the Building Official's determination and order shall be vacated. The decision of the Director shall be final on the date it is rendered.

5.

Abatement Plan. In those cases that the city provides notice and receives a timely abatement plan, the Building Official shall review the plan immediately and shall determine whether the plan is acceptable. To be acceptable, the plan must be reasonably calculated to cause immediate abatement of the public nuisance. If the abatement plan is approved, the owner or other interested party of record, within twenty-four (24) hours of obtaining approval of the plan from the Building Official or Director or Public Works, or his or her designee, shall abate the public nuisance in accordance with the order of the Building Official or the Director of Public Works, or his or her designee, and terms of the plan. Within twenty-four (24) hours of completion of the abatement work, the owner or other interested party of record shall provide the Building Official with a written certification from the owner's architect, structural or civil engineer which certifies that "the public nuisance," as described in the Building Official's abatement notice, has been abated.

If the work performed pursuant to the abatement plan amounts to temporary abatement, the owner or other party of record, prior to proceeding with permanent repairs, shall obtain required permits and file a damage assessment report with the Building Official. The damage assessment report shall comply with the provisions of Section 15.24.080 of this chapter and shall be filed with the city within the time period set forth in this chapter. The damage assessment report shall be reviewed and approved according to the procedure set forth in this chapter.

In those instances where the property owner or other interested party of record either does not respond to the Building Official's notice of abatement, responds untimely, responds timely but fails to abate the public nuisance within the required time period, the immediate hazard and danger structure shall be subject to abatement by the Building Official. In all such cases that the city determines to exercise its abatement powers under this chapter, the costs of abatement incurred by the city shall constitute a special assessment against the real property abated.

At the time the Building Official or the Director of Public Works orders abatement work to be done by the city or the city's contractors, the Building Official shall record a notice of prospective lien against the subject property. Such notice shall include a description of the proposed abatement work and an estimate of its costs.

Immediately upon completion of any abatement work, including but not limited to preparatory work and inspections, by the city and the city's contractor, the Building Official shall prepare a report of assessment. Said report shall describe the work performed, the date(s) on which it was performed and the costs incurred by the city. The Building Official shall cause a copy of said report to be served on the subject property owner and all other interested parties of record. Said report shall be accompanied by a notice of the date, time and place of the confirmation hearing before the Oakland City Council. Said notice shall provide the owner or other interested party with at least five working days' prior notice of said confirmation hearing. In those cases in which the city abates the public nuisance without providing the owner or other party of record with prior notice, the notice shall state why the immediate hazard and danger structure was abated.

The notice and report shall be placed in a sealed envelope, postage prepaid, addressed to the owner or other interested party at his or her last known address as the same appears on the last equalized assessment rolls of the city, and deposited, registered or certified mail, return receipt requested in the United States mail. Service shall be deemed completed at the time of deposit in the United States mail.

A copy of the report of the assessment shall be posted in the Office of the City Clerk at least three days prior to the time when the report will be submitted to the City Council.

At the time set forth in the notice, the City Council shall hear the matter and either modify or confirm the assessment report. The Council shall confirm the report as presented by the Building Official, unless the Council, after a review of the evidence in the record, finds that either the work assessed was not performed or that there was an error made in calculating the amount owed. After the assessment is made and confirmed, it shall be a lien on the said property, until said sum, with interest at the maximum legal rate per annum, has been paid in full. Interest shall begin to run on the date the amount is confirmed.

Such lien attaches upon recordation in the Office of the County Recorder, Alameda County, by certified copy of the resolution of confirmation. After confirmation of the report, a certified copy shall be filed with the County Auditor, Alameda County, on or before August 10th. The description of the parcel reported shall be that used for the same parcel as the County Assessor's map books for the current year. The County Assessor shall enter each assessment on the county tax roll opposite the parcel of land. The amount of the assessment shall be collected at the same time and in the same manner as ordinary municipal taxes are collected, and shall be subject to the same penalties and the same procedure for foreclosure and sale in case of delinquencies as provided for ordinary municipal taxes.

C.

Public Nuisance. All structures or portions thereof which, after inspection by an authorized city official, are determined to be an immediate hazard and danger either to the public, occupants of the subject structure or any adjacent structure are declared to be public nuisances and shall be abated by the owner in accordance with the procedure specified in this chapter.

D.

Suspension of Abatement Work. Notwithstanding any provision herein to the contrary, the Building Official shall be authorized to suspend abatement work by the city, or the city's contractor, and allow the property owner or other interested party to complete the abatement work. All costs incurred by the city prior to the suspension, including inspection, abatement and monitoring costs shall be collected in the manner set forth in subsection B of this section.

E.

Change of Status. Once the conditions making a structure an immediate hazard and danger have been abated pursuant to this chapter, the structure shall no longer be considered an immediate hazard and danger. However, if the abatement work is temporary in nature, as determined by the Building Official, the structure shall remain subject to the provisions of this chapter.

(Prior code § 18-2.01)

15.24.140 - General standards.

The following standards shall be followed by the Planning Director, Fire Marshal, Health Officer and Building Official in approving or ordering the abatement, alteration, repair, restoration, rehabilitation, vacation or demolition of any immediate hazard and danger structure:

A.

If the structure reasonably can be immediately repaired or secured so that it will no longer exist as an immediate hazard and danger structure, it shall be ordered to be immediately repaired or secured; otherwise, it shall be ordered to be demolished.

B.

If a structure is determined to be an immediate hazard and danger to either the public, occupants of the subject structure or any adjacent structure, it may be ordered vacated. Nothing contained herein, however, shall require the city to abate any immediate hazard and danger.

(Prior code § 18-2.02)

15.24.150 - Right of entry.

Whenever necessary to make an inspection to enforce any provision of this chapter, or, whenever the Planning Director, Fire Marshal, City Health Officer or the Building Official has reasonable cause to believe that there exists in any structure any condition which makes such structure an immediate hazard and danger, so as to constitute a public nuisance, as defined herein, the Planning Director, the Fire Marshal, City Health Officer and the Building Official may enter such structure at all reasonable times to inspect the same or to perform any duty authorized or imposed upon them by this chapter.

(Prior code § 18-2.03)

15.24.160 - Violation—Penalty.

Any person violating any provision of Section 15.24.130 through 15.24.150 of this chapter shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.

(Prior code § 18-2.04)