§ 1-7. General penalty—Continuing violations—Violations as nuisances.
(a)
Whenever in this code or in any other ordinance of the county, or in any rule or regulation promulgated pursuant thereto, any act is prohibited or made or declared to be unlawful or an offense, or the failure to do any act is declared to be unlawful, where no specific penalty is provided, the violation of any such provision of this code, or any other ordinance, rule, or regulation of the county is hereby declared a misdemeanor and shall be punished, if prosecuted as a misdemeanor, by a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000.00) or imprisonment for a term not exceeding six (6) months, or by both such fine and imprisonment.
(b)
It shall be unlawful, prohibited, and a violation of this chapter to violate any term or condition of any license, permit, or approval granted or issued pursuant to this code. Any person, whether as principal, agent, employee or otherwise, violating any such term or condition shall be subject to the sanctions provided in subsection (a) of this section.
(c)
Every day any violation of this code, any other ordinance, rule, or regulation of the county, or any term or condition of any license, permit, or approval granted or issued pursuant to this code shall continue shall, unless otherwise provided, constitute a separate and distinct offense. A continuing violation of this code, or of any license, permit or approval or of any condition of a license, permit or approval issued under the authority of this code, is a public nuisance.
(d)
The board of supervisors may order the abatement of any public nuisance, as defined in this section or any state statute, following procedures required pursuant to Section 1-7.3. The board of supervisors may direct that the hearing be conducted before another board, commission or officer of the county. Costs incurred by the county in abating such nuisances shall be special assessments against the parcels of property where the nuisances are located. Costs shall include, but are not limited to any administrative overhead, salaries and expenses incurred by the following departments: health services, permit and resource management, county counsel, district attorney, transportation and public works, agriculture/weights & measures, and fire and emergency services. The foregoing provisions are alternative and supplemental to other procedures provided by law for the abatement of nuisances,
In any action, administrative proceeding, or special proceeding to abate a nuisance, the county may elect, at the initiation of that individual action or proceeding, to seek recovery of its own attorneys' fees. In an action or proceeding in which the county has so elected to seek recovery of its own attorneys' fees, an award of attorneys' fees may be made to the prevailing party, provided that the award of attorneys' fees to the prevailing party shall not exceed the amount of reasonable attorneys' fees incurred by the county in the same action or proceeding.
(e)
Any officer or employee of the Sonoma County department of health services or the permit and resource management department who is a duly registered environmental health specialist under state law may criminally cite a person without a warrant whenever the officer or employee has reasonable cause to believe that the person to be issued the criminal citation has committed a misdemeanor in his presence that is a violation of any statute or ordinance relating to public health which such registered environmental health specialist has a duty to enforce, except that, where the violation constitutes grounds for revoking a valid permit or approval issued by the county department of health services or the permit and resource management department, no citation may be issued while such permit remains in force.
(Ord. No. 6236 , § I(Exh. A), 7-24-2018; Ord. No. 5097, 1998: Ord. No. 3726, 1987; Ord. No. 3417, 1985.)