§ 7.92.080. Penalties and enforcement.

A.

Unless the applicable section of this chapter provides that violation is a misdemeanor, any person or business violating any provision of this chapter, upon conviction thereof, shall be guilty of an infraction and subject to a fine (not including court-imposed mandatory penalties) of one hundred dollars for the first violation, two hundred dollars for the second violation, and five hundred dollars for any subsequent violation. For purposes of this chapter, each day of noncompliance shall be considered a separate violation.

B.

The provisions of this chapter may be enforced through civil and/or criminal proceedings including, but not limited to, action for nuisance abatement pursuant to Mono County Code Chapter 7.20, administrative citation pursuant to Mono County Code Chapter 1.12, following the procedures set forth in subsection D, and/or injunctive relief. In any enforcement action, the county may seek reimbursement for the costs of investigation, inspection or monitoring leading to the establishment of the violation, and for the reasonable costs of preparing and bringing the enforcement action. The remedies provided by this Section 7.92.080 are nonexclusive, cumulative and in addition to any other remedy the County may have at law or in equity.

C.

The Mono County Public Health Director or his/her designee ("director") is authorized to enforce, on behalf of the county, the provisions of this chapter, and to refer such enforcement to the Mono County Code Compliance Division as provided in subsection D below. Any Person may request that the director investigate a violation of this chapter by filing a written complaint with the public health department.

D.

The following procedures may be followed by the director upon receipt of a written complaint and shall be followed prior to referring enforcement to Mono County Code Compliance:

1.

The director shall contact the owner, operator or manager of the establishment, (the "establishment") or person that is the subject of the complaint to investigate the nature and extent of the violation and may conduct such additional investigation as may be necessary, to determine whether the violation occurred.

2.

If the director concludes that a violation occurred, he or she shall provide to the owner, operator or manager of the establishment or person committing the violation a copy of the provisions of this chapter and such advisory assistance to avoid future violations as may be necessary to achieve compliance.

3.

Upon receipt of a second written complaint involving the same person or establishment, the director shall attempt to meet with the owner, operator or manager or person alleged to have violated this chapter to further investigate the matter and shall conduct such additional investigation as may be necessary. If it is determined that a subsequent violation has occurred, the director shall mail, certified mail, postage prepaid, return receipt requested, a written directive to the owner, operator, manager or other person, explaining in detail the steps required in order to achieve future compliance and advising that the county may initiate enforcement proceedings pursuant to Chapters 1.12 or 7.20, or pursue such other enforcement as is authorized by law, in the event of a subsequent violation.

4.

Upon receipt of a third written complaint regarding the same person or establishment, the director may refer the matter to Mono County Code Compliance for further investigation and enforcement pursuant to Chapters 1.12 and/or 7.20, provided that the code compliance division confirms that it has sufficient resources available to process the complaint.

5.

Any violation determined by the code compliance division to have occurred following issuance of a notice of violation in accordance with Chapter 1.12, shall constitute cause for issuance of an administrative citation under that chapter, except that the amount of the penalty imposed for each violation shall be as set forth in subsection 7.92.080(A) and the hearing officer for any administrative appeal shall be a member of the board of supervisors or its designee.

E.

The director, and code compliance specialist if applicable, shall maintain clear and thorough records and logs of all investigations and communications made in relation to every written complaint filed with the public health department pursuant to this section.

(Ord. No. 18-03, § 1(Att. A), 4-17-2018; Ord. No. 18-12, § 1(Att. A), 7-17-2018)