North SGV News

City of Glendora issued the following announcement on Dec. 11

PROPOSED ORDINANCE NO. 2057

AN ORDINANCE ADDING SECTIONS 9.36.300 AND 9.36.400 TO THE GLENDORA MUNICIPAL TO PROVIDE AUTHORITY FOR RECOVERY OF ATTORNEYS’ FEES AND IMPOSITION OF TREBLE DAMAGES IN PUBLIC NUISANCE ABATEMENT ACTIONS

WHEREAS, Government Code § 38773.5 authorizes a city to provide, by ordinance, for the recovery of attorneys’ fees in any action, administrative proceeding, or special proceeding to abate a nuisance; and

WHEREAS, Government Code § 38773.7 authorizes a city to provide, by ordinance, that upon entry of a second or subsequent civil or criminal judgment within a two-year period finding that an owner of property is responsible for a public nuisance condition that may be abated in accordance with an ordinance enacted pursuant to Government Code §§ 38773.5 and 38773.6, except for conditions abated pursuant to Health & Safety Code § 17980, the court may order that person to pay treble the costs of abatement; and

WHEREAS, the City Council now desires to amend the Glendora Municipal Code to provide authority for recovery of attorneys’ fees in nuisance abatement cases generally and imposition of treble damages against property owners upon entry of a second or subsequent civil or criminal judgment within a two-year period finding that the property owner is responsible for certain types of public nuisance conditions.

THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF GLENDORA, CALIFORNIA, DOES ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS:

SECTION 1. The City Council hereby finds that the above recitals are true and correct and incorporated herein by this reference.

SECTION 2. Section 9.36.300 is hereby added to the Glendora Municipal Code to read, in its entirety, as follows (deletions marked in strikethrough, additions in bold and italics):

“9.36.300. Treble damages.

 In addition to the penalties provided for in this chapter, upon entry of a second or subsequent civil or criminal judgment within a two-year period against an owner of a property responsible for a public nuisance and subject to this chapter, the city is authorized to request that the court order the owner to pay treble the costs of abatement, except if any such judgment relates to an abatement of conditions pursuant to California Health and Safety Code § 17980.”

SECTION 3. Section 9.36.400 is hereby added to the Glendora Municipal Code to read, in its entirety, as follows (deletions marked in strikethrough, additions in bold and italics):

“9.37.400.

1. The prevailing party in any action, administrative proceeding, or special proceeding to abate a public nuisance, or in any appeal or other judicial action arising therefrom, shall be entitled to recover its reasonable attorneys’ fees. Recovery of attorneys’ fees shall be limited to those actions or proceedings in which the city elects, at the initiation of that individual action or proceeding, to seek recovery of its own attorneys’ fees. In no action or proceeding shall an award of attorneys’ fees to a prevailing party exceed the amount of reasonable attorneys’ fees incurred by the city in the action or proceeding.

    

2. In addition to the award of attorneys’ fees pursuant to the provisions of subsection A of this section, the prevailing party in any action, administrative proceeding, or special proceeding to abate a public nuisance, or in any appeal or other judicial action arising therefrom, shall be entitled to recover its reasonable attorneys’ fees incurred in any post-judgment proceedings to collect or enforce the judgment.”

SECTION 4. Adoption of this ordinance is exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”) under Section 15061(b)(3) of the CEQA Guidelines, which provides that CEQA only applies to projects that have the potential for causing a significant effect on the environment. It can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility that adoption of this ordinance, amending existing sections to the City’s municipal Code to clarify the intent, will have a significant effect on the environment. Therefore, adoption of this ordinance is not subject to CEQA.

SECTION 5. If any section, subsection, sentence, clause, or phrase of this ordinance is for any reason held to be invalid or unconstitutional by a decision of any court of any competent jurisdiction, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of this ordinance. The City Council hereby declares that it would have passed this ordinance, and each and every section, subsection, sentence, clause and phrase thereof not declared invalid or unconstitutional without regard to whether any portion of the ordinance would be subsequently declared invalid or unconstitutional.

SECTION 6. The City Clerk shall certify to the passage and adoption of this ordinance, and shall make a minute of the passage and adoption thereof in the records of and the proceedings of the City Council at which the same is passed and adopted. This ordinance shall be in full force and effect thirty (30) days after its final passage and adoption, and within fifteen (15) days after its final passage, the City Clerk shall cause it to be posted and published in a newspaper of general circulation in the manner required by law.

CERTIFICATION

I, Kathleen R. Sessman, City Clerk of the City of Glendora, do hereby certify that the foregoing Ordinance was introduced for first reading on the 8th day of December, 2020 by the following roll call vote:

AYES:            COUNCIL MEMBERS:        Boyer, Davis, Thompson, Allawos, and Nelson.

NOES:            COUNCIL MEMBERS:        None.

ABSENT:       COUNCIL MEMBERS:        None.

ABSTAIN:     COUNCIL MEMBERS:        None. 

The City Council will consider adoption of said ordinance at their meeting to be held January 12, 2021, at 7:00 p.m., in the Council Chamber, 116 E. Foothill Boulevard, Glendora.

NOTICE IS FURTHER GIVEN that if Executive Orders issued by Governor Newsom and/or the emergency declarations related to COVID-19 are still in effect, the meeting will occur via Zoom Video Communications enter meeting ID# cityofglendora.org/zoom, and will start at 6:00 p.m.

Original source can be found here.