St Charles County Unincorporated
City Zoning Code
City Zoning Code
PART 8
VIOLATION AND PENALTY
Section 405.640 Enforcement, Investigation and Records. [1]
[Ord. No. 99-99 §1, 7-12-1999; Ord. No. 03-142 §1(96), 10-1-2003]
It shall be the duty of the Director of the Division of Planning and Zoning or his/her duly authorized representative to enforce this Chapter and Chapter 410. The Director of the Division of Planning and Zoning shall enforce all provisions of this Chapter and Chapter 410 relating to the construction, alteration, repair, removal, demolition, equipment, use and occupancy, location, and maintenance of buildings, structures, and premises, except as may be otherwise provided for. The Director of the Division of Planning and Zoning shall, when requested by the Governing Body, or when the interests of the County so require, make investigations in connection with matters referred to in this Chapter or Chapter 410. The Director of the Division of Planning and Zoning or his/her duly authorized representative shall keep comprehensive records of complaints investigated, inspections made, and Board of Zoning Adjustment variance applications. The Division of Planning and Zoning shall retain on file copies of all papers in connection with building work so long as any part of the building or structure to which they relate may be in existence. All such records shall be open for public inspection at reasonable hours, but shall not be removed from the offices of the Division of Planning and Zoning. The Director of the Division of Planning and Zoning may request and shall receive, so far as may be necessary in the discharge of his/her duties, the assistance and cooperation of other County Officials, including, but not limited to, the following: Chief of Police, Building Commissioner, County Engineer, Director of the Division of Development Review and County Counselor.
Section 405.645 Violations - Misdemeanor. [1]
[Ord. No. 99-99 §1, 7-12-1999; Ord. No. 03-142 §1(97), 10-1-2003; Ord. No. 10-041 §55, 6-2-2010]
A.
The Director of the Division of Planning and Zoning or his/her duly authorized representative shall have the power to cause any land, building, structure, place, or premises to be inspected and examined and to order in writing the remedying of any condition found to exist therein in violation of this Chapter or Chapter 410, except as provided in Subsection (B) below. If the Director of the Division of Planning and Zoning or his/her duly authorized representative finds that the use of any building, structure, or land, or the work on any building or structure, violates any of the provisions of this Chapter or Chapter 410, the Director of the Division of Planning and Zoning or his/her duly authorized representative shall sign and issue a written order so stating. With respect to uses that violate this Chapter or Chapter 410, the written order shall direct that such use(s) be stopped within ten (10) days, or, in the case of any violation of Section 405.415(O) of this Chapter, an order that all fill and filling on the land that is the subject of the violation must be stopped immediately, that such fill or filling may not resume until after the violation is corrected by removal of any prohibited fill material from the subject property, and that such removal be completed within ten (10) days. With respect to work on buildings or structures that violates this Chapter or Chapter 410, the written order shall direct that such work be stopped immediately. The written order shall be served upon the owner and (where appropriate) the tenant or lessee or occupant of the building, structure or land that is the subject of the violation, as well as on any person doing work on buildings or structures in violation of this Chapter or Chapter 410.
B.
With respect to construction of public improvements or any improvements subject to review by the Division of Development Review pursuant to this Chapter or Chapter 410, the Director of the Division of Development Review shall have power to cause any such work to be inspected and examined and to order in writing the remedying of any condition found to exist therein in violation of this Chapter or Chapter 410. Such orders shall direct that work stop immediately and may not resume until after such violation is corrected.
C.
Any person who violates an order issued under this Section after having been served with it shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and liable for a fine not to exceed five hundred dollars ($500.00) a day or six (6) months' imprisonment in the County Jail, or both. Every day that such violation continues shall constitute a separate violation.
Section 405.650 Violations - Actions To Abate.
[Ord. No. 99-99 §1, 7-12-1999]
Any lessee, owner, or tenant of land located within any unincorporated area of St. Charles County who shall construct, reconstruct, alter, relocate, or maintain any building or other structure, or use land in violation of the provisions of this Chapter or Chapter 410, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. In the case of such a violation, the Governing Body, Planning and Zoning Commission, Prosecuting Attorney, County Counselor or any other officer or official appointed or designated by the Governing Body, or the owner of any private property or any public body — the property of whom or which is or may be affected by any such violation — may institute in the Circuit Court any appropriate action or proceedings to prevent such unlawful erection, construction, reconstruction, alteration, relocation, maintenance, or use, or to restrain, abate, or correct such violation, or to prevent the occupancy of such building or structure or unlawful use of such land, and to prevent any illegal act, conduct, business, or use in or about the premises.
Section 405.655 Violations-Persons Liable.
[Ord. No. 99-99 §1, 7-12-1999]
The owner or general agent of any such land, building, structure, or premise where a violation of this Chapter or Chapter 410 has been committed or shall exist, or the lessee or tenant of any entire building or entire premise where such violation has been committed or shall exist, or the owner, general agent, lessee, or tenant of any part of the building or premise in which the violation has been committed or shall exist, or the owner, general agent, architect, builder, or contractor, or any other person who knowingly commits, takes part, or assists in such violation or who maintains any building or premises in which any such violation shall exist, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be punished by a fine not to exceed five hundred dollars ($500.00) a day or six (6) months' imprisonment, or both. Each and every day that such violation continues shall constitute a separate offense.