Local ordinances: administrative fines or penalties.

Plain English Breakdown

The bill summary text indicates that the bill makes conforming changes, which are minor adjustments to existing laws. However, these do not significantly alter the main provisions of the bill.

Local Ordinances: Administrative Fines or Penalties

The bill prohibits local agencies from imposing administrative fines for minor building, plumbing, electrical, and zoning issues on owner-occupied residential properties unless there is an immediate danger to health or safety.

What This Bill Does

• Prohibits local agencies from imposing administrative fines or penalties for non-dangerous structural or zoning problems in owner-occupied homes.
• Requires a reasonable time for property owners to fix minor violations before any fines are given.

Who It Names or Affects

• Local agencies that make and enforce building codes.
• Property owners of residential homes who face minor code violations.

Terms To Know

Administrative fine

A penalty given by a local government for breaking rules, like not following building codes.

Charter city

A type of city that has special powers to make its own laws and run itself in certain ways.

Limits and Unknowns

• The bill does not cover immediate health or safety issues.
• It only applies to residential properties where the owner lives there.

Official Summary Text

SB 1272, as amended, Menjivar.
Community revitalization authority.
Local ordinances: administrative fines or penalties.
Existing law authorizes the legislative body of a local agency, as defined, to, by ordinance, make any violation of an ordinance subject to an administrative fine or penalty. Existing law requires a local agency to set forth, by ordinance, the administrative procedures that govern the imposition, enforcement, collection, and administrative review of those administrative fines or penalties.
Existing law requires the administrative procedures to provide for a reasonable period of time, as specified in the ordinance, for a person responsible for a continuing violation to correct or otherwise remedy the violation prior to the imposition of administrative fines or penalties, when the violation pertains to building, plumbing, electrical, or other similar structural or
zoning issues, that do not create an immediate danger to health or safety.
This bill would prohibit the imposition of an administrative fine or penalty as described above for any violation pertaining to building, plumbing, electrical, or other similar structural or zoning issues, that do not create an immediate danger to health or safety, of any ordinance enacted by the local agency if certain conditions are met, including that the property involved in the violation is a residential property that is owner occupied. The bill would make conforming changes to the remedy provision.
The bill would include findings that changes proposed by this bill address a matter of statewide concern rather than a municipal affair and, therefore, apply to all cities, including charter cities.
Existing law authorizes the creation of community revitalization and investment authorities, as specified, to carry out a community revitalization plan within a community revitalization and investment area. Existing law, for purposes of those provisions, defines “plan area” to mean territory included within a community revitalization and investment area.
This bill would make a nonsubstantive change to that provision.

Current Bill Text

Download Bill PDF