1.

All violations of the Zoning Ordinance other than Section 32-1000.02(1) (failure to comply with a violation notice and correction order) and those that result in injury to any persons, shall be deemed civil infractions. A violation shall be punishable by a civil penalty of $200.00 for the first summons, and a fine of not more than $500.00 for each additional summons.

2.

Each day during which any violation is found to have existed shall constitute a separate offense. However, in no event shall any such violation arising from the same set of operative facts be charged more frequently than once in any ten-day period, nor shall a series of such violations arising from the same set of operative facts result in civil penalties which exceed a total of $5,000.00.

3.

All violations of the Zoning Ordinance designated as civil infractions in subsection 1 above shall be in lieu of criminal sanctions, such designation shall preclude the prosecution of a violation as a criminal misdemeanor, provided, however, that when such civil penalties total $5,000.00 or more, the violation may be prosecuted as a criminal misdemeanor.

4.

The Zoning Administrator may cause a summons or a ticket to be issued for any violation and served upon any person responsible for that violation in any manner of service authorized by law.

5.

Such summons or ticket shall contain the following information:

a.

The name and address of the person charged.

b.

The nature of the infraction, the subsection of this section and the ordinance provision(s) being violated.

c.

The location, date and time that the infraction occurred or was observed.

d.

The amount of the civil penalty assessed for the infraction.

e.

The manner, location and time in which the civil penalty may be paid to the County; and

f.

The right of the recipient of the summons to elect to stand trial for the infraction and the date for such trial, or the date for scheduling of such trial by the court.

6.

The summons or ticket shall provide that any person summoned for a violation may elect to pay the civil penalty by making an appearance in person or in writing by mail to the County Office of Finance prior to the date fixed for trial and, by such appearance, may enter a waiver of trial, admit liability, and pay the civil penalty established for the offense charged. Such summons or ticket shall provide that a signature to an admission of liability shall have the same force and effect as a judgment of court, however, an admission shall not be deemed a criminal conviction for any purpose.

7.

If a person charged with a violation does not elect to enter a waiver of trial and admit liability, the violation shall be tried in the general district court in the same manner and with the same right of appeal as provided by law. If the violation remains uncorrected at the time of the admission of liability or finding of liability, the court may order the violator to abate or remedy the violation in order to comply with the zoning ordinance. Except as otherwise provided by the court for good cause shown, any such violator shall abate or remedy the violation within a period of time as determined by the court, but not later than six months of the date of admission of liability or finding of liability. Each day during which the violation continues after the court-ordered abatement period has ended shall constitute a separate offense. A finding of liability shall not be deemed a criminal conviction for any purpose, except for the provisions of subsection 3., above.

8.

The remedies provided for in this section are cumulative and not exclusive and shall be in addition to any other remedies provided by law.

9.

Whenever the zoning administrator has reasonable cause to believe that any person has engaged in or is engaging in any violation of the zoning ordinance that limits occupancy in a residential dwelling unit, which is subject to a civil penalty and the zoning administrator, after a good faith effort to obtain the data or information necessary to determine whether a violation has occurred, has been unable to obtain such information, he may request that the County Attorney petition the judge of the general district court for a subpoena duces tecum against any such person refusing to produce such data or information. The judge of the court, upon good cause shown, may cause the subpoena to be issued. Any person failing to comply with such subpoena shall be subject to punishment for contempt by the court issuing the subpoena. Any person so subpoenaed may apply to the judge who issued the subpoena to quash it.

(Ord. No. 94-1, 1-11-94; Ord. No. 95-77, 9-5-95; Ord. No. 00-10, 1-18-00; Ord. No. 03-4, 1-7-03; Ord. No. 04-78, 12-21-04; Ord. No. 08-12, 2-5-08; Ord. No. 09-22, 4-21-09; Ord. No. 20-53, 12-15-20)

State Law reference— Civil penalties, Code of Virginia, 15.2-2209.