§ 9.28.010 — Chapter purpose—Definitions

9.28.010 - Chapter purpose—Definitions.

In addition to and in accordance with the determination made and the authority granted by the State under Section 22660 of the Vehicle Code to remove abandoned, wrecked, dismantled or inoperative vehicles or parts thereof as public nuisances, the City Council makes the following findings and declarations: The accumulation and storage of abandoned, wrecked, dismantled or inoperative vehicles or parts thereof on private or public property is found to create a condition tending to reduce the value of private property, to promote blight and deterioration, to invite plundering, to create fire hazards, to constitute an attractive nuisance creating a hazard to the health and safety of minors, to create a harborage for rodents and insects and to be injurious to the health, safety and general welfare. Therefore the presence of an abandoned, wrecked, dismantled or inoperative vehicle or part thereof, on private or public property, except as expressly hereinafter permitted, is declared to constitute a nuisance which may be abated as such in accordance with the provisions of this chapter. As used in this chapter: Abandoned vehicle means a vehicle considered to be left on a highway, public property, or private property in such inoperable or neglected condition that the owner's intent to relinquish all further rights or interest in it may be reasonably concluded. In reaching a reasonable conclusion, one must consider the amount of time the vehicle has not been moved, its condition, statements from the owner and witnesses, etc.; Dismantled vehicle means any vehicle which is partially or wholly disassembled; Highway means a way or place of whatever nature, publicly maintained and open to the use of the public for purposes of vehicular travel. "Highway" includes street; Inoperable vehicle means mechanically incapable of being driven; Owner of the land means the owner of the land on which the vehicle, or parts thereof, is located, as shown on the last equalized assessment roll; Owner of the vehicle means the last registered owner and legal owner of record; Vehicle means a device by which any person or property may be propelled, moved, or drawn upon a highway, except a device moved by human power or used exclusively upon stationary rails or tracks; Wrecked vehicle means any vehicle that is damaged to such an extent that it cannot be operated upon the highway is termed a wrecked vehicle. A vehicle which has been wrecked in a traffic accident, and which has been removed from the roadway to a storage facility, but which has not been claimed by its owner, will not be considered an abandoned vehicle for the purposes of this program.

(Ord. 7472 § 2, 2019; Ord. 3828 § 1 (part), 1971)