10.70.040 Hearing—Notice.
A. Whenever any such rubbish or hazardous vegetation are growing upon any private property or properties or in any street within the city, the city council may pass a resolution declaring the same to be a public nuisance and order the fire chief to give notice of the passage of such resolution as herein provided, and stating therein that, unless such nuisance is abated without delay by the destruction or removal of such rubbish or hazardous vegetation, the work of abating such nuisance will be done by the city authorities, and the expense thereof assessed upon the lots and lands from which, and/or in the front and rear of which, such hazardous vegetation or rubbish shall have been destroyed or removed.
B. Before the passage of a resolution as described in subsection A of this section, the fire chief shall cause a notice thereof to be published in the official newspaper of the city. The notice shall also set the times and place for a public hearing thereon, which shall be not less than five days following the last publication of the notice. Such notice shall be in substantially the following form:
NOTICE TO DESTROY HAZARDOUS VEGETATION AND REMOVE RUBBISH
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the Council of the City of Petaluma adopted Ordinance No. 2878 N.C.S., adding Chapter 10.70 to the Petaluma Municipal Code declaring that rubbish and noxious or dangerous hazardous vegetation growing upon or in front of any private property located within the City of Petaluma is a public nuisance.
NOTICE IS FURTHER GIVEN that property owners shall without delay remove such rubbish and noxious or dangerous hazardous vegetation, otherwise they will be removed and the nuisance will be abated by the city of Petaluma in accordance with the provisions of Chapter 10.70 of the Code of the City of Petaluma. All costs of abatement including those for inspection, administration and removal will be assessed upon the lot and lands from which or in front of which or adjacent to which such hazardous vegetation is abated and such costs will constitute a lien upon such lots or lands until paid.
NOTICE OF HEARING
All property owners having any objections or protests to the proposed removal or destruction of such hazardous vegetation or rubbish are hereby notified to attend a meeting of the City Council of the City of Petaluma on the ____ day of ____, 20____, when the City Council will hear any objections and give consideration to the same.
For those property owners liable to be assessed for the work of abating such nuisance where the city performs the removal or destruction of such hazardous vegetation or rubbish, are also hereby notified to attend a meeting of the City Council of the City of Petaluma, tentatively scheduled for ____ day of ____, 20______, where City Council will hear and consider objections which may be raised by in accordance with Petaluma Municipal Code Section 10.70.080.
C. The fire chief shall send a notice by regular United States mail of such public hearing to the owner of any parcel of real property upon which such a public nuisance exists. The notice may be sent to the owner at the address shown upon the records of the city assessor. The mailed notice shall be in substantially the same form as the notice provided in subsection B of this section. The mailed notice shall be mailed at least seven days prior to the public hearing described in subsection A of this section and Section 10.70.050. Failure of the fire chief to send such notice or of the owner to receive such notice shall not prevent the city from proceeding pursuant to this chapter.
D. At the time it adopts the resolution pursuant to this section, city council may also find and declare that hazardous vegetation on specified parcels of property are seasonal and recurrent nuisances. Such seasonal and recurrent nuisances shall be abated in accordance with the provisions of this chapter; provided, that upon the second and any subsequent occurrence of such nuisance on the same parcel or parcels within the same calendar year, no further hearings need be held and it shall be sufficient to mail a notice to the owners of the property.
1. The notice shall refer to and describe the property and shall state that overgrown vegetation of a seasonal and recurrent nature are growing on or in front of the property, and that the same constitute a public nuisance which must be abated by the removal of said overgrown vegetation, and that otherwise they will be removed and the nuisance will be abated by the city authorities, in which case the cost of such removal shall be assessed upon the parcel and lands from which or in front of which such overgrown vegetation are removed and that upon confirmation such cost will constitute a lien upon such parcel or lands until paid.
2. The notice may state that the efficient and economical control of such seasonal and recurrent nuisance requires preventive chemical control of such weeds, weed seeds and weed seedlings and that the city may require preventive chemical control of such nuisance. In the event the city is once required to abate such nuisance the city may, in addition, before and during the next following germinating season of such weeds, provide for the preventive abatement of such nuisance by using chemical control of such weeds, subject to an adopted integrated pest management plan.
(Ord. 2878 NCS §3, 2024.)