HomeMy WebLinkAboutAGENDA REPORT 2009 0617 CC REG ITEM 09CTO:
FROM:
DATE:
ITEM 9.C.
CITY OF MOORPARK, CALIFORNIA
City Council Meeting
dt �-11'2,00�
MOORPARK CITY COUNCIL ACTION:
AGENDA REPORT
The Honorable City Council BY-
Jennifer Mellon, Senior Management Analys'D�
April 27, 2009 (CC meeting of June 17, 2009)
SUBJECT: Consider an Ordinance Amending Chapter 8.48, Property
Maintenance, of Title 8, Health and Safety, of the Moorpark
Municipal Code
BACKGROUND
Moorpark Municipal Code (MMC) Section 8.48 currently addresses property maintenance
and declares certain items to be public nuisances upon abandoned property, vacant
structures, occupied structures or unattended land. In 1993 various public nuisance items
were declared in MMC Section 8.48.020 due to potential health and safety risks and staff is
proposing to add standing water as a public nuisance to Section 8.48.020.
DISCUSSION
City of Moorpark Animal/Vector control officers, from time to time, receive complaints from
residents regarding standing water concerns including, but not limited to, untreated pools,
spas, ponds, or fountains, and drainage concerns. Each occurrence of standing water, or
neglected pool or spa, is capable of harboring and breeding thousands of mosquitoes and
other vectors that pose a potential health threat to the community. Vector related
diseases, including West Nile virus (WNV), are spread by mosquitoes and other vectors
that rely upon standing water to reproduce. In Moorpark during the summer months, the
gestation period from egg to larvae to hatched mosquito can be as little as 7 days so a
proactive approach is crucial in order to control the breeding of vectors.
Recently, due in part to increasing numbers of foreclosed properties and residents being
unable to maintain their pools, spas, and ponds, there has been an increase in untreated
standing water occurrences which leads to an increase in public health risk. Amending the
MMC, adding standing water as a public nuisance, will allow city staff the ability to legally
post abatement notices and issue citations for abatement of standing water public
nuisance concerns citing the MMC section as the violation. The attached ordinance to add
standing water as a nuisance has been reviewed by the City Attorney.
137
Honorable City Council
June 17, 2009
Page 2
FISCAL IMPACT
There is no fiscal impact.
STAFF RECOMMENDATION
Introduce Ordinance No. for the first reading, waive full reading, and schedule
second reading and adoption for July 1, 2009.
Attachment 1: Draft Ordinance
138
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF MOORPARK,
CALIFORNIA, AMENDING CHAPTER 8.48,
PROPERTY MAINTENANCE, OF TITLE 8, HEALTH
AND SAFETY, OF THE MOORPARK MUNICIPAL
CODE BY AMENDING SECTION 8.48.020, TO ADD
CERTAIN VECTOR RELATED CONDITIONS TO
THE DEFINITION OF "PUBLIC NUISANCE ".
WHEREAS, Chapter 8.48 of Title 8 of the Moorpark Municipal Code sets
forth requirements for the Health and Safety of residents of the City of Moorpark;
and
WHEREAS, within the City of Moorpark, vector related disease including
but not limited to West Nile virus (WNV), Saint Louis encephalitis virus (SLEV),
and /or western equine encephalomyelitis virus (WEEV) are creating an increased
risk to public health, in part due to increasing numbers of foreclosures and
abandoned or neglected pools, spas, or standing water on private properties; and
WHEREAS, rodents, flies, and other nuisance and potential vector species
have the ability to cause a state of discomfort and transmit various diseases to
humans and other animals; and
WHEREAS, mosquitoes have the ability to transmit WNV, SLEV, and
WEEV as well as other vector borne pathogens to humans and other animals; and
WHEREAS, appropriate and timely response to surveillance of public
nuisance conditions are key to preventing human and animal diseases associated
with arthropod -borne viruses meaning immediate and effective abatement of the
public nuisance condition is necessary to prevent spread of disease; and
WHEREAS, each occurrence of standing water, or neglected pool or spa, is
capable of breeding thousands of vector mosquitoes and other vectors that pose a
potential health threat to the community; and,
WHEREAS, the control measures to be utilized on said standing water or
neglected pool or spa shall include application of one or more of the registered
public health control products that belongs to biorational or microbial group of
products.
NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF MOORPARK
DOES ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Chapter 8.48, Property Maintenance, Title 8, Health and
Safety, shall be amended by adding Section 8.48.020, Subsection Q as follows:
SACommunity Services\ ADMINISTRATIVE \Ordinances \4 -20 -09 Standing Water Nuisance.doc 139
"Q. Any property or any water, including water that has been
artificially altered from its natural condition, which supports
the development, attraction, or harborage of vectors or is a
breeding place for vectors. "Vector' as used herein means
any animal capable of transmitting the causative agent of
human disease or capable of producing human discomfort or
injury, including, but not limited to, mosquitoes, flies, mites,
ticks, other arthropods, and other vertebrates."
SECTION 2. If any section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase, part of
portion of this Ordinance is for any reason held to be invalid or unconstitutional by
any court of competent jurisdiction such decision shall not affect the validity of the
remaining portions of this Ordinance. The City council declares that it would have
adopted this Ordinance and each section, subsection, sentence, clauses, phases,
part of portion thereof, irrespective of the fact that any one or more sections,
subsections, sentences, clauses, phrases, parts or portions be declared invalid or
unconstitutional.
SECTION 3. The Ordinance shall become effective thirty (30) days after
its passage and adoption.
SECTION 4. The City Clerk shall certify to the passage and adoption of
this ordinance, shall enter this ordinance in the book of original ordinances of the
City of Moorpark, shall make a minute of the passage and adoption thereof in the
records of the proceedings of the City Council at which the same is passed and
adopted, and shall, within fifteen (15) days after passage and adoption thereof,
cause the same to be published once in the Moorpark Star, a daily newspaper of
the general circulation, as defined in Section 6008 of the Government Code, for
the City of Moorpark, and which is hereby designed for the purpose.
PASSED AND ADOPTED the day of , 2009.
Janice S. Parvin, Mayor
ATTEST:
Deborah S. Traffenstedt, City Clerk
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