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HomeMy WebLinkAboutUpdated Ordinance - 9/26/2025 (2)1 SALT LAKE CITY ORDINANCE No. _____ of 2025 (Amending the text of Title 11 of the Salt Lake City Code pertaining to nuisance private property) An ordinance enacting Chapter 11.18 of the Salt Lake City Code pertaining to responsible business and private property ownership to abate nuisances. WHEREAS, the city has a significant interest in the timely and effective resolution of public nuisances; WHEREAS, the city acknowledges a significant public safety burden placed on the citizens of the city when business owners and property owners permit nuisance activity or fail to otherwise implement necessary steps to prevent the nuisance activity; WHEREAS, the Salt Lake City Council has determined that the following ordinance promotes the health, safety, and public welfare of the citizens of the city; and WHEREAS, the City Council has determined that adopting this ordinance is in the city’s best interests. NOW, THEREFORE, be it ordained by the City Council of Salt Lake City, Utah: SECTION 1. Enacting Chapter 11.18 of the Salt Lake City Code. That Chapter 11.18 in Title 11 of the Salt Lake City Code (Public Peace, Morals and Welfare), is hereby enacted as follows: CHAPTER 11.18 RESPONSIBLE PROPERTY OWNER 11.18.010: DEFINITIONS: In the construction of this chapter, the following words and phrases shall be as defined as set forth in this section: 2 ADMINISTRATIVE APPEALS OFFICER: As that term is defined in Section 2.75.050. ADMINISTRATIVE CITATION: As that term is defined in Section 2.75.050. ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS: As that term is defined in Section 2.75.050. ADMINISTRATIVE ENFORCEMENT HEARING: As that term is defined in Section 2.75.050. ADMINISTRATIVE ENFORCEMENT ORDER: As that term is defined in Section 2.75.050. BUSINESS OWNER: Any person engaged in business within Salt Lake City. CITY: Salt Lake City, Utah, including the mayor and all other employees of the administrative branch of the city. CRIMINAL CONDUCT: Any criminal offense at a place of business that can be reasonably linked to a patron, invitee, manager, owner, or employee of the business, an occupant of the place of business, or any person in the case of vacant property. EMERGENCY CONDITIONS: One or more conditions that exist in a building or on a property that create the likelihood of imminent danger to the life or safety of anyone who enters or occupies the property or building. ENGAGE IN BUSINESS: To conduct, manage, or carry on any business activity, as owner, officer, agent, manager, employer, or lessee. IMMINENT LIFE SAFETY HAZARD: Any condition that creates a serious and immediate danger to life, property, health, or public safety. ITEMIZED STATEMENT OF COSTS: As that term is defined in Section 2.75.050. NUISANCE CONDUCT: Behavior that interferes with the health, safety or welfare of the community, materially and repeatedly infringes on the quiet enjoyment of neighboring uses, or results in the harassment of patrons or other persons including, but not limited to: (a) criminal conduct; (b) disturbance of the peace; (c) illegal consumption or sale of alcoholic beverages; (d) illegal drug activity; (e) unlawful street or sidewalk obstruction; (f) gambling and illegal gaming activities; (g) harassment of passers-by; (h) prostitution; (i) public urination or defecation; (j) lewd conduct; 3 (k) litter; (l) unlawful discharge of hazardous materials; (m) parking violations; (n) open storage of unlicensed, inoperable, unused or abandoned vehicles or vehicle parts, unless the property is licensed for such use; (o) open storage of junk, scrap metal, lumber, wastepaper products, building materials, machinery and associated parts, interior household furniture, appliances, tree limbs and cuttings, landscape debris, garbage, industrial waste, other spent, useless, worthless or discarded materials, or materials stored or accumulated for the purpose of discarding materials that have served their original purpose; (p) fouling of the air with offensive odors or contaminants, excessive dust, or excessive loud noise; (q) owning, operating or conducting a vehicle chop shop in any building or structure, including a lot or curtilage, for the purpose of dealing in stolen vehicles or stolen vehicle parts or illegally obtaining and altering vehicles or vehicle identification numbers of vehicle parts; (r) vehicles parked on the sidewalk; (s) use of street parking spaces or sidewalk for open storage, sale, or rental of goods, or storage or repair of inoperable vehicles; (t) unlawful firearms possession by a patron; (u) illegal dumping; (v) unlawful junk dealer operations; (w) obstruction of an investigation of nuisance behavior; (x) repeated or continuing violations of any other City ordinance and/or regulations; or (y) any other activity that constitutes a public nuisance under state law. OBSTRUCTION OF AN INVESTIGATION: Any obstruction of, interference with or other impediment of the investigation of nuisance conduct or serious violent behavior by a business owner, property owner, or other responsible person. PERSON: As that term is defined in Section 2.75.050. PLACE OF BUSINESS: A location maintained or operated by a person within the city at which business activities take place. Place of business includes a parking lot owned or leased by the business, parking areas traditionally used by patrons or employees of the business, and the public rights-of-way adjacent to the business premises as it is used by persons attracted to the business. REMEDIAL MEASURES: Specific, verifiable actions taken by a responsible party that are substantially likely to reduce, eliminate or prevent recurrence of the nuisance conduct or serious violent behavior at issue. RESPONSIBLE PERSON: As that term is defined in Section 2.75.050. SERIOUS VIOLENT BEHAVIOR. Conduct that would constitute any of the following offenses as defined by state law: homicide, murder, aggravated assault, rape, or sexual assault. 4 11.18.020: PURPOSE AND INTENT: Business owners and property owners shall properly manage their property and place of businesses to prevent them from becoming a nuisance to public safety personnel, adjacent public property, neighboring residents or businesses, or deteriorating into havens for crime or the spread of disease. This chapter creates a system to initiate administrative actions to abate nuisance conduct and serious violent behavior and to impose civil fines or other penalties if a business owner or a property owner fails to take all remedial measures to address the identified nuisance conduct or serious violent behavior. 11.18.030: EXISTING LAW CONTINUED: The provisions of this chapter shall not invalidate any other title, chapter, or ordinance of this Code, but shall be read in conjunction with those titles, chapters, and ordinances and shall be used as an additional remedy for enforcement of violations thereof. 11.18.040: CRIMINAL OR CIVIL PROSECUTION; EMERGENCY POWERS: A. The city shall have sole discretion in deciding whether to pursue remedies to address nuisance conduct or serious violent behavior under this chapter, to file a civil nuisance action under this chapter or under state law, to bring criminal charges, to order suspension or revocation of business licenses, to order immediate action to terminate or abate nuisance conduct, to pursue administrative enforcement actions for the violation of any of its ordinances or applicable code requirements, or any combination thereof, or to pursue any other remedy available under the law. City officials are permitted to exercise executive discretion in determining which course of enforcement to pursue, taking into consideration the severity of an incident, the culpability of involved parties, the history of the involved property, and whether other circumstances exist that exacerbate the public impact of the nuisance conduct or serious violent behavior. B. The enforcement of the provisions of this chapter does not prevent the city from pursuing other remedies for specific violations, including fines, abatement, suspension, revocation, injunctions, or other penalties. Specific violations may be considered nuisance conduct or serious violent behavior under this chapter, even if the business owner or property owner has already incurred civil or criminal penalties related to that offense. C. Nothing in this chapter shall prevent the city from abating nuisance conduct or serious violent behavior that denigrates the public health and welfare in a declared emergency. D. Each day a violation exists shall be considered a separate offense and may give rise to a separate citation, charge or other remedy. 11.18.050: ACTS INCLUDE CAUSING, ATTEMPTING, AIDING, AND ABETTING: 5 Whenever an act, condition, or omission is referred to or made unlawful in this chapter, it shall include causing, attempting to cause, permitting, aiding, or abetting such act, condition, or omission. 11.18.060: DUTY TO PROPERLY MANAGE: Every property owner and business owner shall have a duty to properly manage their private property or place of business, as applicable, to prevent the creation of a nuisance to neighboring businesses, residents, passers-by, or the public, that results from nuisance conduct or serious violent behavior by patrons, guests, employees, occupants, or those who frequent the business premises or the property, regardless of whether the persons are owners, invitees, or trespassers. 11.18.070: NUISANCE DECLARED A. Pursuant to Utah Code Section 10-8-60, the city has determined the quiet enjoyment of property and the general health, safety, and welfare of the community are intolerably impaired—and a public nuisance exists—when nuisance conduct or serious violent behavior occurs at any private property or place of business. B. A business owner or property owner is presumed to have created a nuisance if (1) within 180 consecutive days, not less than 3 separate incidents of nuisance conduct or serious violent behavior occur at or within the property, (2) for ongoing violations of this Chapter the nuisance conduct has persisted for 30 days or more, or (3) in connection with a place of business there are 5 or more calls for service for nuisance conduct in a 30 day period. This presumption may be rebutted if the responsible party demonstrates that it took all reasonable steps, including implementing the remedial measures directed by the city, to prevent reoccurrence of the nuisance conduct or serious violent behavior occurring at or within the property. 11.18.080: DECLARATION OF NUISANCE & ADMINISTRATIVE CITATION: A. The city may declare the existence of nuisance, as described under Section 11.18.070 at any time. Notwithstanding any other provision of this code, a declaration of nuisance may be combined with any other notice from the city to the responsible party. B. Administrative Citation. Upon a determination that a business or private property has created a nuisance the city may issue an administrative citation. 1. The written citation shall state: a. The name and address, if known, of the responsible party; b. The date and location of each violation; c. The nature of the nuisance conduct or serious violent behavior; 6 d. That the nuisance must be corrected; e. Provide a specific date by which the corrective action ordered by the enforcement official be taken; f. The remedies, including any civil fines, that the enforcement official intends to pursue if corrective action is not taken; g. Recommendations regarding potential remedial measures and an opportunity for the responsible party to demonstrate use of remedial measures to the city; h. Identification of the procedure to appeal the citation; and i. The signature of the enforcement official. 2. The enforcement official shall serve the administrative citation on the responsible party by: a. Posting a copy of the administrative citation at the property, and b. By mailing the administrative citation through certified mail or reputable mail tracking service that is capable of confirming delivery. If the responsible party is the property owner of record, then mailing shall be to the last known address appearing on the records of the Salt Lake County Recorder. If the responsible party is any other person or entity other than the owner of record, then mailing shall be to the last known address of the responsible party on file with the city. c. Notwithstanding the foregoing, personal service upon the responsible party shall be sufficient to meet the service requirements of Subsection 11.18.080.B.2.b. 3. Corrective Action: Following the issuance of an administrative citation the responsible party shall either: a. Demonstrate that remedial measures have been implemented to address the nuisance conduct or serious violent behavior that led to the nuisance declaration, or b. Enter into a nuisance abatement plan pursuant to Section 11.18.090. 4. Failure to Correct: If corrective action has not been undertaken by the deadline identified in the administrative citation, the city may pursue any remedy, including civil fines identified in Section 11.18.110. 11.18.090: NUISANCE ABATEMENT PLANS: A. Any nuisance abatement plan executed by a responsible party and the city shall certify the responsible party’s agreement to take all necessary and appropriate measures to reduce, eliminate or prevent future recurrence of each nuisance conduct and each serious violent behavior giving rise to nuisance declaration. Such measures may include, but are not limited to, the following: 1. Removal of unlawful items; 7 2. Taking steps to prevent the specific nuisance conduct or serious violent behavior, personally or through an agent such as a private security company; 3. Hiring sufficient licensed and insured security personnel to patrol the property and the abutting sidewalks; 4. Documenting proactive efforts with the police department regarding nuisance behavior or serious violent behavior activities; 5. Participating in regular meetings with community-based organizations at which specific efforts to address nuisance behavior or serious violent behavior are discussed; 6. Installing and maintaining improved lighting at each point of entry to and exit from the property and in designated common areas, if any; 7. Installing and maintaining surveillance cameras that are at all times: (i) active and operational at each point of entry to and exit from the business or property, in designated common areas and in interior spaces where business operations are conducted, on the street abutting the business, and any other locations where prior nuisance conduct or serious violent behavior has been reported; (ii) disclosed to the public through posted notice on the premises; (iii) illuminated in such a manner so as to enable persons entering and exiting the business or property to be visible and identified on recorded footage; and (iv) maintaining recorded footage for not less than 6 months after the recording occurs; 8. Installing metal detectors to screen persons visiting the business; 9. Maintaining an internal log or incident reporting system documenting the owner's response to specific incidents of illegal activity inside the property or on the abutting sidewalk; 10. Displaying signage identifying prohibited behavior at the property; 11. Making specific efforts to address litter and other cleanliness issues, such as additional or larger refuse bins, more frequent or targeted cleaning, signage, enhanced refuse bins, and changing business operations or products to reduce the likelihood of litter creation; 12. Installing soundproofing insulation or taking other steps to control noise; 13. Changing the hours of operation in a manner designed to reduce the likelihood of nuisance conduct or serious violent behavior; 14. Changing business operations or products sold in a manner designed to reduce the likelihood of nuisance conduct or serious violent behavior; 15. Removing any drug paraphernalia offered for sale or display in violation of applicable zoning requirements from the premises; 16. Providing surveillance camera footage to law enforcement upon request; and 17. Any other measures likely to abate or prevent the recurrence of the nuisance behavior or serious violent behavior. B. Term: Executed plans shall be effective for a minimum of 12 months, and may be extended by mutual agreement, or if ordered by the administrative appeals officer, if another nuisance is declared at the property prior to expiration of the plan. C. Remedies: All nuisance abatement plans shall identify remedies to the city if the responsible party does not comply with the plan. These remedies may include, but are not limited 8 to: granting the city the ability to enter and abate the nuisance with recovery of costs associated therewith to be made by the responsible party to the city upon presentation of an itemized statement of costs; financial penalties; reduction in business operating hours; temporary closure of the property or business; making some portions of the property inaccessible; and prohibiting all alcohol sales or consumption on the property. 11.18.100: APPEALS: A responsible party may appeal an administrative citation within ten (10) days of its issuance pursuant to Chapter 2.75. 11.18.110: ADMINISTRATIVE REMEDIES: A. Civil Fines: A property or business subject to a nuisance declaration may be subject to a range of penalties that increase in severity. These penalties progress as follows: 1. If a responsible party fails to complete a corrective action by the deadline set forth in an administrative citation, then for a first violation a fine shall be assessed in the amount of $500. 2. If a responsible party receives an administrative citation within 12 months of a first violation and does not enter into a nuisance abatement plan then a fine shall be assessed in the amount of $750, which shall constitute a second violation. 3. If a responsible party receives an administrative citation within 12 months of a second violation and does not enter into a nuisance abatement plan, then a fine shall be assessed in the amount of $1,000, which shall constitute a third violation. 4. If a responsible party receives an administrative citation within 12 months of a third or any subsequent violation and does not enter into a nuisance abatement plan, then a fine shall be assessed in the amount of $1,000. B. Revocation of Business License: In the event more than two citations are issued in any 12 month period, and the business at issue is not then a party to and in compliance with a nuisance abatement plan, then the city may suspend or revoke the associated business license pursuant to Chapter 5.02. C. Orders by the Administrative Appeals officer: In the event of an appeal of an administrative citation, the administrative appeals officer may: 1. Order that the responsible party and the city enter into a nuisance abatement plan consistent with Section 11.18.090 with the measures as directed by the administrative appeals officer. 9 2. Grant the city an abatement order. a. The order of abatement can require the responsible party to correct the nuisance and can authorize the city to abate such nuisance if the responsible party does not timely perform the abatement. b. In the event the city proves that nuisance conduct or conditions pose a reasonably imminent danger to human health or human life, unabated, the administrative appeals officer shall order the abatement as requested by the city. In such circumstances the city may perform the abatement of the nuisance at the first possible opportunity. c. The abatement order must permit the city to charge the responsible party for the costs the city incurs in abating the nuisance. The costs may be appealed to the administrative appeals officer pursuant to Section 11.70.150. 3. Revoke a business license without the right to apply for another license at the property or another business premises for at least six months. Orders of an administrative appeals officer issued pursuant to this Chapter are each an administrative enforcement order that may be appealed in accordance with 2.75.210. 11.18.120: CONTINUING SUPERVISION: A. When an administrative citation is not timely appealed or an administrative appeals officer has affirmed the city’s nuisance declaration, the responsible party is subject to continued supervision by an administrative appeals officer for twelve (12) months or the term of any applicable nuisance abatement plan. During that time, the administrative appeals officer may schedule review hearings to track the responsible party’s compliance with any nuisance abatement plan or abatement order, impose previously suspended penalties, and hold a hearing to consider any claim by the city that a responsible party has not complied with a nuisance abatement plan ordered by the administrative appeals officer pursuant to Section 11.18.110. B. At a hearing on a failure to comply with a nuisance abatement plan entered pursuant to 11.18.110, the administrative appeals officer shall consider the steps taken by the responsible party and determine whether such party has fulfilled its obligations under the nuisance abatement plan. 1. During a hearing reviewing a failure to comply with a nuisance abatement plan, the underlying nuisance declaration cannot be disturbed. 2. In the event the administrative appeals officer finds that the responsible party failed to comply with any obligation under the nuisance abatement plan, the administrative appeals officer shall impose one or more remedies as set forth in the nuisance abatement plan. 10 C. Each new administrative citation may be appealed. Such appeals are limited to a review of the nuisance conduct or serious violent behavior identified in the administrative citation and may not address previous administrative citations that were not timely appealed or orders by an administrative appeals officer that were not timely appealed. 11.70.170: DECLARATION OR DETERMINATION TO FOLLOW BUSINESS OWNER AND PROPERTY LOCATION: A declaration or determination of nuisance conduct or serious violent behavior follows the business owner and/or runs with the property. A declaration or determination of nuisance conduct or serious violent behavior is not eliminated by transferring the property or the business to another person or entity, changing the name of the business, or moving the business to a new location. Transfer of business ownership shall not terminate any nuisance abatement plan in effect with respect to a nuisance business. The acquiring business owner shall be responsible for compliance with any enforcement action pending against the nuisance business and prior business owner. SECTION 2. Effective Date. This ordinance shall become effective on the date of its first publication. Passed by the City Council of Salt Lake City, Utah, this ______ day of ______________, 2025. ______________________________ CHAIRPERSON ATTEST AND COUNTERSIGN: ______________________________ CITY RECORDER Transmitted to Mayor on _______________________. Mayor’s Action: _______Approved. _______Vetoed. ______________________________ MAYOR 11 ______________________________ CITY RECORDER (SEAL) Bill No. ________ of 2025. Published: ______________. Responsible Property Owner Ordinance(final)v4 APPROVED AS TO FORM Salt Lake City Attorney’s Office Date:__________________________________ By: ___________________________________ Katherine D. Pasker, Senior City Attorney September 19, 2025