352-6. Amount of Administrative Civil Penalty.
(a) The amount of the administrative civil penalty to be imposed shall be set by the Code Enforcement Unit or the court according to the following schedule:
(1) Category 1 Violations shall be subject to an administrative civil penalty of one dollar ($1.00) to one thousand dollars ($1,000.00) per calendar day. (Ord. 2138a, §1, 12/3/1996; Ord. 2272, 4/23/2002; Ord. 2333, §1, 11/2/2004; Ord. 2576, § 5, 6/27/2017)
(2) Category 2 Violations shall be subject to an administrative civil penalty of one thousand dollars ($1,000.00) to three thousand dollars ($3,000.00) per calendar day. (Ord. 2138a, §1, 12/3/1996; Ord. 2272, 4/23/2002; Ord. 2333, §1, 11/2/2004; Ord. 2576, § 5, 6/27/2017)
(3) Category 3 Violations shall be subject to an administrative civil penalty of three thousand dollars ($3,000.00) to six thousand dollars ($6,000.00) per calendar day. (Ord. 2138a, §1, 12/3/1996; Ord. 2272, 4/23/2002; Ord. 2333, §1, 11/2/2004; Ord. 2576, § 5, 6/27/2017)
(4) Category 4 Violations shall be subject to an administrative civil penalty of six thousand dollars ($6,000.00) to ten thousand dollars ($10,000.00), or as allowed by applicable state law, whichever is higher, per calendar day. (Ord. 2138a, §1, 12/3/1996; Ord. 2272, 4/23/2002; Ord. 2333, §1, 11/2/2004; Ord. 2576, § 5, 6/27/2017)
(b) In determining which Violation category a Violation should be placed, and the amount of the administrative civil penalty to be imposed, the Code Enforcement Unit or the court shall consider, without limitation, all of the following factors: (Ord. 2138a, §1, 12/03/1996; Ord. No. 2272, 04/23/2002; Ord. 2576, § 5, 06/27/2017)
(1) The severity of the Violation’s impact on the health, safety and/or general welfare of the public, including, without limitation, the type and seriousness of the injuries or damages, if any, suffered by any member of the public. (Ord. 2138a, §1, 12/3/1996; Ord. 2576, § 5, 6/27/2017)
(2) The number of complaints received regarding the Violation at issue. (Ord. 2138a, §1, 12/3/1996; Ord. 2576, § 5, 6/27/2017)
(3) The willfulness and/or negligence of the Responsible Party. In assessing the degree of willfulness and/or negligence, all of the following factors shall be considered:
(A) How much control the Responsible Party had over the events which caused the Violation to occur. (Ord. 2138a, §1, 12/3/1996; Ord. 2576, § 5, 6/27/2017)
(B) Whether the Responsible Party took reasonable precautions against the events which caused the Violation to occur. (Ord. 2138a, § 1, 12/3/1996; Ord. 2576, § 5, 6/27/2017)
(C) Whether the Responsible Party knew, or should have known, the impacts associated with the conduct which caused the Violation to occur. (Ord. 2138a, §1, 12/3/1996; Ord. 2576, § 5, 6/27/2017)
(D) The level of sophistication of the Responsible Party in dealing with compliance issues. (Ord. 2138a, §1, 12/3/1996; Ord. 2576, § 5, 6/27/2017)
(4) The number of times in which the Responsible Party has committed the same or similar Violations in the previous three (3) years. (Ord. 2138a, §1, 12/3/1996; Ord. 2576, § 5, 6/27/2017)
(5) The amount of administrative staff time which was expended in investigating or addressing the Violation at issue. (Ord. 2138a, §1, 12/3/1996; Ord. 2576, § 5, 6/27/2017)
(6) The amount of administrative civil penalties which have been imposed in similar situations. (Ord. 2138a, § 1, 12/3/1996; Ord. 2576, § 5, 6/27/2017)
(7) The efforts made by the Responsible Party to correct theViolation and remediate the impacts thereof. (Ord. 2576, § 5, 6/27/2017)
(c) The factors of willfulness and severity of impact are considered together in determining which category a particular Violation should be placed. For example, a Violation involving little impact could be determined to be a Category 2 Violation or a Category 3 Violation, depending on the degree of willfulness associated therewith. Similarly, an unintentional Violation could be determined to be a Category 1 Violation or a Category 2 Violation, depending on the severity of the impact arising therefrom. (Ord. 2138a, §1, 12/3/1996; Ord. 2576, § 5, 6/27/2017)