Ordinance 3240CITY OF ALAMEDA ORDINANCE NO. 3240
New Series
AMENDING THE ALAMEDA MUNICIPAL CODE BY AMENDING: (1) SECTION 2-17 OF
CHAPTER II (ADMINISTRATION); (2) SECTION 1-7 (ADMINISTRATIVE CITATIONS)
OF CHAPTER I (GENERAL); (3) SECTION 2-44 (BUILDING INSPECTOR) OF
CHAPTER II (ADMINISTRATION); (4) SECTION 1-5 (PENALTY PROVISIONS;
ENFORCEMENT) OF CHAPTER I (GENERAL); (5) SECTION 30-23 (CERTIFICATE OF
OCCUPANCY) OF CHAPTER XXX (DEVELOPMENT REGULATIONS); AND (6)
OTHER RELATED AMENDMENTS CONCERNING CODE ENFORCEMENT
WHEREAS, this Ordinance is adopted pursuant to the City's police powers,
afforded by the state constitution and state law to protect the health, safety, and welfare
of the public.
NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF ALAMEDA DOES
HEREBY ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1: SECTION 2-17 (HOUSING AND BUILDING CODE HEARING AND
APPEALS COMMISSION) of Chapter II (ADMINISTRATION) of the Alameda Municipal
Code, is hereby amended as follows (in redline; otherwise, no change):
2-17 — HOUSING AND BUILDING CODE HEARING AND APPEALS COMMISSION.
2-17.1.1 [Deleted.]
2-17.1.2 [Deleted.]
2-17.1 — Commission Created.
[No Change.]
2-17.2 — Membership.
a. The Commission shall consist of three (3) members of the Historical Advisory
Board as outlined in AMC Section 2-11.5, subsections a through c..
b. [Deleted.]
c. [Deleted.]
d. [Deleted.]
2-17.3 — Meetings; Voting.
a. [No Change.]
b. The votes of a majority of the entire membership of the Commission shall be
necessary to take any action thereof, except where one or more members are
unavailable due to recusal (conflicts of interest), the remaining Commissioners
may hear the matter, but unanimity will be required where applicable.
c. [No Change.]
2-17.4 - Duties of Commission.
It shall be the duty of the Housing and Building Code Hearing and Appeals
Commission to:
a. Hear and decide appeals from orders, decisions or determinations made by the
Building Official regarding the application and interpretation of the Alameda
Administrative Code, the Alameda Building Code, the Alameda Residential Code,
the Alameda Historical Building Code the Alameda Electrical Code, the Alameda
Plumbing Code, the Alameda Mechanical Code, the Alameda Code for the
Abatement of Dangerous Buildings, the Alameda Housing Code, the Alameda
Energy Code, the Alameda Mechanical Code, the Alameda Green Building
Standards Code and all determinations made by the Fire Chief regarding the
application of the Alameda Fire Code.
b. [No Change.].
c. Render all decisions and findings in writing to any appellant with a duplicate copy
to the Building Official.
d. [No Change.].
2-17.5 — Composition of the Commission; Special Terms, Qualifications, and Conditions.
a. [No Change.].
b. The Building Official, or his/her designee, shall be an ex officio member of the
Commission, but shall have no vote on any matter before the Commission.
c. [No Change.].
Section 2: SECTION 1-7 (ADMINISTRATIVE CITATIONS) of Chapter I (GENERAL)
of the Alameda Municipal Code, Section 1-7.3 is hereby amended as follows (in redline;
otherwise, no change):
1-7.3.1 — Notice of Violation.
a. Prior to issuance of an administrative citation, except as provided for below, the
Enforcement Official shall issue a Notice of Violation to a person responsible for
any municipal code violation, including a continuing violation which pertains to
building, plumbing, electrical or other structural or zoning issues.
b. The Notice of Violation shall specify the action required to correct or otherwise
remedy the violation(s) within a reasonable period of time.
c. A reasonable time period within which to correct or remedy the violation(s) shall
be not less than 24 hours and not more than 30 calendar days, unless the
Enforcement Official determines that good cause exists for some other time period.
The Enforcement Official shall specify for each violation this reasonable time
period. In doing so, the Enforcement Official may consider the cost of abatement
or correction, the time required to obtain permits for correction, the time needed to
obtain estimates, drawings and contracts for correction, time required for physical
relocation of personal property, the time required to review submittals in
determining the reasonable warning period to be assigned for each violation,
and/or his/her experience. Subsections a. and b. above are inapplicable and the
Enforcement Official may take immediate enforcement action, including issuance
of an administrative citation, under the following circumstances:
a. The violation poses an immediate danger to the public's health, safety, or
welfare; and
b. The violation exists because of, facilitates in some manner, or is otherwise
related to the illegal cultivation of cannabis, subject to subsection (C) of
California Government Code section 53069.4 (as amended).
1-7.3.2 — Administrative Citation.
a. [No change.].
b. [No change.].
Section 3: SECTION 1-7 (ADMINISTRATIVE CITATIONS) of Chapter I (GENERAL)
of the Alameda Municipal Code, Section 1-7.9 is hereby amended as follows (in redline;
otherwise, no change):
1-7.9 — Hearing Procedure.
a. [No change.].
b. The hearing shall be set for a date that is not less than fifteen (15) days nor more
than sixty (60) days from the date that the request for hearing is filed in accordance
with the provisions of this section. Either party may request one continuance of the
hearing, but in no event may the hearing begin later than ninety (90) days after
receipt of their request for hearing, except as set forth below. The party contesting
the administrative citation may attend the hearing in person or, in lieu of attending,
may submit written argument and documentation under penalty of perjury at least
five (days) prior to the date scheduled for the hearing. Notwithstanding the
foregoing, the hearing officer may continue the hearing beyond the 90 day period
for a reasonable amount of time in the interests of justice.
c. At the hearing, the party contesting the administrative citation shall be given the
opportunity to present oral and documentary evidence concerning the
administrative citation. The hearing shall be informal, the rules of evidence shall
not apply, and all evidence shall be admissible which is of the kind that reasonably
prudent persons rely upon in making decisions. The hearing officer shall have the
ability to control the proceeding, including the ability to limit testimony and the
admissibility of evidence that is unduly repetitious or make other rulings or place
other limitations on the hearing that s/he deems to be in the interests of judicial
economy or justice.
d. [No change.].
e. [No change.].
Section 4: SECTION 2-44 (BUILDING OFFICIAL) of Chapter II (ADMINISTRATION)
of the Alameda Municipal Code, is hereby amended as follows (in redline; otherwise, no
change):
2-44 — BUILDING OFFICIAL
2-44.1 - Office of Building Official; Duties.
The Office of Building Official is hereby created. The Building Official shall be appointed
by the City Manager, and it shall be the Building Official's duty to make all building
inspections required by law or ordinance; to enforce all building laws and ordinances; to
attend to the official numbering of buildings, and to perform such other duties as may be
imposed by the City Council or City Manager.
Section 5: SECTION 1-5 (PENALTY PROVISIONS; ENFORCEMENT) of Chapter I
(GENERAL) of the Alameda Municipal Code, Section 1-5 is hereby amended as follows
(in redline; otherwise, no change):
1-5.1 - Misdemeanors; Infractions; General Penalty; Continuing Violations.
a. [No change.].
b. [No change.].
c. Whenever in this Code or in any other ordinance of the City or in any order, rule or
regulation issued or promulgated by any duly authorized officer or agent of the
City, any act is prohibited or is made or declared to be an infraction, where no
specific penalty is provided therefor, the violation thereof shall be punished by a
fine as set forth in California Government Code Section 36900, as amended.
d. [No change.).
e. [No change.].
f. [No change.].
g.
A fine not exceeding two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500) for each additional
violation of the same ordinance within two years of the first violation if the property
is a commercial property that has an existing building at the time of the violation
and the violation is due to failure by the owner to remove visible refuse or failure
to prohibit unauthorized use of the property.
h. All fines levied for infractions pursuant to California Government Code Section
36900 (as amended) shall be permitted to apply for a hardship waiver to reduce
the fine under the same process that governs administrative citations, as set forth
below in Section 1-7.7 of this Chapter (as amended).
1-5.2 - Authorization of Code Enforcement Officers; Limitations.
a. The following classification of City employees and agents shall have the authority
under Penal Code Section 836.5 to issue citations for violations of the Alameda
Municipal Code:
1. Fire/Building Code Compliance Officer;
2. Planning and Building Director;
3. Public Works Director;
4. Public Works Maintenance Superintendent;
5. City Engineer;
6. Building Official;
7. Combination Building Inspector;
8. Supervising Building Inspector;
9. Environmental Service Manager;
10. Environmental Services Program Specialist I and II;
11. Fire Inspector, Assistant Fire Marshal, Fire Marshal;
12. Any other position designated by the City Manager.
b. [No change.].
Section 6: SECTION 30-23 (Certificate of Occupancy) of Chapter XXX
(DEVELOPMENT REGULATIONS) of the Alameda Municipal Code, Section 30-23.2
(Application) is hereby amended as follows (in redline; otherwise, no change):
Application for a certificate of occupancy for a new use or occupant, a change of land
use, for a new building or for an existing building which has been altered or moved shall
be made to the City Building Official before any such land or building is occupied or used.
No permit for excavation on any building site shall be issued before an application for a
certificate of occupancy has been made.
Section 7: DECLARATORY OF EXISTING LAW
The provisions of paragraph 6 of Section 30-23.2 are deemed to be declaratory of
existing law.
Section 8: CEQA DETERMINATION
Adoption of the Ordinances amending the AMC is not a project under California
Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to CEQA Guidelines section 15378 and
Public Resources Code section 21065 because it does not: (1) approve a project or result
in a direct physical impact on the environment, or (2) contemplate known future projects,
and as such, no known environmental impacts are known at this time. Instead, the
proposed amendments would clarify procedural aspects related to the implementation of
locally adopted building and other related codes.
As a separate and independent basis, adoption of the Ordinances amending the AMC is
exempt from CEQA pursuant to CEQA Guidelines section 15061(b)(3) because it can be
seen with certainty that there is no possibility that the activity in question may have a
significant effect on the environment.
Section 9: SEVERABILITY
If any provision of this Ordinance is held by a court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid,
this invalidity shall not affect other provisions of this Ordinance that can be given effect
without the invalid provision and therefore the provisions of this Ordinance are
severable. The City Council declares that it would have enacted each section,
subsection, paragraph, subparagraph and sentence notwithstanding the invalidity of any
other section, subsection, paragraph, subparagraph or sentence.
Section 10: EFFECTIVE DATE
This Ordinance shall be in full force and effect from and after the expiration of thirty
(30) days from the date of its final passage.
Attest:
Lara Weisiger, City lerk
Presi
he City Council
I, the undersigned, hereby certify that the foregoing Ordinance was duly and
regularly adopted and passed by the Council of the City of Alameda in a regular
meeting assembled on this 7th day of May, 2019, by the following vote to wit:
AYES: Councilmembers Daysog, Knox White, Oddie, Vella and
Mayor Ezzy Ashcraft — 5.
NOES: None.
ABSENT: None.
ABSTENTIONS: None.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and affixed the official
seal of said City this 8th day of May, 2019.
Approved as to form:
tibi/ G� .
Michael H. Roush, Interim City Attorney
City of Alameda
2
Lara Weisiger, Cit erk
9 Y
City of Alameda