2007 California Civil Code Title 1. General Principles

CA Codes (civ:3479-3485)

3479.  Anything which is injurious to health, including, but not
limited to, the illegal sale of controlled substances, or is indecent
or offensive to the senses, or an obstruction to the free use of
property, so as to interfere with the comfortable enjoyment of life
or property, or unlawfully obstructs the free passage or use, in the
customary manner, of any navigable lake, or river, bay, stream,
canal, or basin, or any public park, square, street, or highway, is a
nuisance.



(3480.) Section Thirty-four Hundred and Eighty.  A public nuisance
is one which affects at the same time an entire community or
neighborhood, or any considerable number of persons, although the
extent of the annoyance or damage inflicted upon individuals may be
unequal.



3481.  Every nuisance not included in the definition of the last
section is private.



3482.  Nothing which is done or maintained under the express
authority of a statute can be deemed a nuisance.



3482.1.  (a) As used in this section:
   (1) "Person" means an individual, proprietorship, partnership,
corporation, club, or other legal entity.
   (2) "Sport shooting range" or "range" means an area designed and
operated for the use of rifles, shotguns, pistols, silhouettes,
skeet, trap, black powder, or any other similar sport or law
enforcement training purpose.
   (3) "Indoor shooting range" means a totally enclosed facility
designed to offer a totally controlled shooting environment that
includes impenetrable walls, floor and ceiling, adequate ventilation
and lighting systems, and acoustical treatment for sound attenuation
suitable for the range's approved use.
   (4) "Nighttime" means between the hours of 10 p.m. and 7 a.m.
   (b) (1) Except as provided in subdivision (f), a person who
operates or uses a sport shooting range in this state shall not be
subject to civil liability or criminal prosecution in any matter
relating to noise or noise pollution resulting from the operation or
use of the range if the range is in compliance with any noise control
laws or ordinances that applied to the range and its operation at
the time construction or operation of the range was approved by a
local public entity having jurisdiction in the matter, or if there
were no such laws or ordinances that applied to the range and its
operation at that time.
   (2) Except as provided in subdivision (f), a person who operates
or uses a sport shooting range or law enforcement training range is
not subject to an action for nuisance, and a court shall not enjoin
the use or operation of a range, on the basis of noise or noise
pollution if the range is in compliance with any noise control laws
or ordinances that applied to the range and its operation at the time
construction or operation of the range was approved by a local
public entity having jurisdiction in the matter, or if there were no
such laws or ordinances that applied to the range and its operation
at that time.
   (3) Rules or regulations adopted by any state department or agency
for limiting levels of noise in terms of decibel level which may
occur in the outdoor atmosphere shall not apply to a sport shooting
range exempted from liability under this section.
   (c) A person who acquires title to or who owns real property
adversely affected by the use of property with a permanently located
and improved sport shooting range may not maintain a nuisance action
with respect to noise or noise pollution against the person who owns
the range to restrain, enjoin, or impede the use of the range where
there has been no substantial change in the nature  or use of the
range.  This section does not prohibit actions for negligence or
recklessness in the operation of the range or by a person using the
range.
   (d) A sport shooting range that is in operation and not in
violation of existing law at the time of the enactment of an
ordinance described in subdivision (b) shall be permitted to continue
in operation even if the operation of the sport shooting range at a
later date does not conform to a new ordinance or an amendment to an
existing ordinance if there has been no substantial change in the
nature or use of the range.  Nothing in this section shall be
construed to limit the authority of a local agency to enforce any
term of a conditional use permit.
   (e) Except as otherwise provided in this section, this section
does not prohibit a local public entity having jurisdiction in the
matter from regulating the location and construction of a sport
shooting range after the effective date of this section.
   (f) This section does not prohibit a local public entity having
jurisdiction in the matter from requiring that noise levels at the
nearest residential property line to a range not exceed the level of
normal city street noise which shall not be more than 60 decibels for
nighttime shooting.  The subdivision does not abrogate any existing
local standards for nighttime shooting.  The operator of a sport
shooting range shall not unreasonably refuse to use trees, shrubs, or
barriers, when appropriate, to mitigate the noise generated by
nighttime shooting.  For the purpose of this section, a reasonable
effort to mitigate is an action that can be accomplished in a manner
and at a cost that does not impose an unreasonable financial burden
upon the operator of the range.
   (g) This section does not apply to indoor shooting ranges.
   (h) This section does not apply to a range in existence prior to
January 1, 1998, that is operated for law enforcement training
purposes by a county of the sixth class if the range is located
without the boundaries of that county and within the boundaries of
another county.  This subdivision shall become operative on July 1,
1999.


3482.5.  (a) (1) No agricultural activity, operation, or facility,
or appurtenances thereof, conducted or maintained for commercial
purposes, and in a manner consistent with proper and accepted customs
and standards, as established and followed by similar agricultural
operations in the same locality, shall be or become a nuisance,
private or public, due to any changed condition in or about the
locality, after it has been in operation for more than three years if
it was not a nuisance at the time it began.
   (2) No activity of a district agricultural association that is
operated in compliance with Division 3 (commencing with Section 3001)
of the Food and Agricultural Code, shall be or become a private or
public nuisance due to any changed condition in or about the
locality, after it has been in operation for more than three years if
it was not a nuisance at the time it began.  This paragraph shall
not apply to any activities of the 52nd District Agricultural
Association that are conducted on the grounds of the California
Exposition and State Fair, nor to any public nuisance action brought
by a city, county, or city and county alleging that the activities,
operations, or conditions of a district agricultural association have
substantially changed after more than three years from the time that
the activities, operations, or conditions began.
   (b) Paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) shall not apply if the
agricultural activity, operation, or facility, or appurtenances
thereof obstruct the free passage or use, in the customary manner, of
any navigable lake, river, bay, stream, canal, or basin, or any
public park, square, street, or highway.
   (c) Paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) shall not invalidate any
provision contained in the Health and Safety Code, Fish and Game
Code, Food and Agricultural Code, or Division 7 (commencing with
Section 13000) of the Water Code, if the agricultural activity,
operation, or facility, or appurtenances thereof constitute a
nuisance, public or private, as specifically defined or described in
any of those provisions.
   (d) This section shall prevail over any contrary provision of any
ordinance or regulation of any city, county, city and county, or
other political subdivision of the state.  However, nothing in this
section shall preclude a city, county, city and county, or other
political subdivision of this state, acting within its constitutional
or statutory authority and not in conflict with other provisions of
state law, from adopting an ordinance that allows notification to a
prospective homeowner that the dwelling is in close proximity to an
agricultural activity, operation, facility, or appurtenances thereof
and is subject to the provisions of this section consistent with
Section 1102.6a.
   (e) For purposes of this section, the term "agricultural activity,
operation, or facility, or appurtenances thereof" shall include, but
not be limited to, the cultivation and tillage of the soil,
dairying, the production, cultivation, growing, and harvesting of any
agricultural commodity including timber, viticulture, apiculture, or
horticulture, the raising of livestock, fur bearing animals, fish,
or poultry, and any practices performed by a farmer or on a farm as
incident to or in conjunction with those farming operations,
including preparation for market, delivery to storage or to market,
or delivery to carriers for transportation to market.



3482.6.  (a) No agricultural processing activity, operation,
facility, or appurtenances thereof, conducted or maintained for
commercial purposes, and in a manner consistent with proper and
accepted customs and standards, shall be or become a nuisance,
private or public, due to any changed condition in or about the
locality, after it has been in continuous operation for more than
three years if it was not a nuisance at the time it  began.
   (b) If an agricultural processing activity, operation, facility,
or appurtenances thereof substantially increases its activities or
operations after January 1, 1993, then a public or private nuisance
action may be brought with respect to those increases in activities
or operations that have a significant effect on the environment.  For
increases in activities or operations that have been in effect more
than three years, there is a rebuttable presumption affecting the
burden of producing evidence that the increase was not substantial.
   (c) This section does not supersede any other provision of law,
except other provisions of this part, if the agricultural processing
activity, operation, facility, or appurtenances thereof, constitute a
nuisance, public or private, as specifically defined or described in
the provision.
   (d) This section prevails over any contrary provision of any
ordinance or regulation of any city, county, city and county, or
other political subdivision of the state, except regulations adopted
pursuant to Section 41700 of the Health and Safety Code as applied to
agricultural processing activities, operations, facilities, or
appurtenances thereof that are surrounded by housing or commercial
development on January 1, 1993.  However, nothing in this section
precludes a city, county, city and county, or other political
subdivision of this state, acting within its constitutional or
statutory authority and not in conflict with other provisions of
state law, from adopting an ordinance that allows notification to a
prospective homeowner that the dwelling is in close proximity to an
agricultural processing activity, operation, facility, or
appurtenances thereof and is subject to provisions of this section
consistent with Section 1102.6a.
   (e) For the purposes of this section, the following definitions
apply:
   (1) "Agricultural processing activity, operation, facility, or
appurtenances thereof" includes, but is not limited to rendering
plants licensed pursuant to Section 19300 of the Food and
Agricultural Code and collection centers licensed pursuant to Section
19300.5 of the Food and Agricultural Code, the canning or freezing
of agricultural products, the processing of dairy products, the
production and bottling of beer and wine, the processing of meat and
egg products, the drying of fruits and grains, the packing and
cooling of fruits and vegetables, and the storage or warehousing of
any agricultural products, and includes processing for wholesale or
retail markets of agricultural products.
   (2) "Continuous operation" means at least 30 days of agricultural
processing operations per year.
   (3) "Proper and accepted customs and standards" means the
compliance with all applicable state and federal statutes and
regulations governing the operation of the agricultural processing
activity, operation, facility, or appurtenances thereof with respect
to the condition or effect alleged to be a nuisance.
   (f) This section does not apply to any litigation pending or cause
of action accruing prior to January 1, 1993.



3483.  Every successive owner of property who neglects to abate a
continuing nuisance upon, or in the use of, such property, created by
a former owner, is liable therefor in the same manner as the one who
first created it.


3484.  The abatement of a nuisance does not prejudice the right of
any person to recover damages for its past existence.



3485.  (a) To abate the nuisance caused by illegal conduct involving
an unlawful weapons or ammunition purpose on real property, the city
prosecutor or city attorney may file, in the name of the people, an
action for unlawful detainer against any person who is in violation
of the nuisance or illegal purpose provisions of subdivision 4 of
Section 1161 of the Code of Civil Procedure, with respect to that
unlawful weapons or ammunition purpose. In filing this action, which
shall be based upon an arrest report or other report by a law
enforcement agency, reporting an offense committed on the property
and documented by the observations of a police officer, the city
prosecutor or city attorney shall use the procedures set forth in
Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 1159) of Title 3 of Part 3 of the
Code of Civil Procedure, except that in cases filed under this
section, the following also shall apply:
   (1) (A) Prior to filing an action pursuant to this section, the
city prosecutor or city attorney shall give 30 calendar days' written
notice to the owner, requiring the owner to file an action for the
removal of the person who is in violation of the nuisance or illegal
purpose provisions of subdivision 4 of Section 1161 of the Code of
Civil Procedure with respect to an unlawful weapons or ammunition
purpose.
   (B) This notice shall include sufficient documentation
establishing a violation of the nuisance or illegal purpose
provisions of subdivision 4 of Section 1161 of the Code of Civil
Procedure and shall be served upon the owner and the tenant in
accordance with subdivision (e).
   (C) The notice to the tenant shall also include on the bottom of
its front page, in at least 14-point bold type, the following:

   "Notice to Tenant:  This notice is not a notice of eviction.
However, you should know that an eviction action may soon be filed in
court against you for an unlawful weapons or ammunition activity, as
described above. You should call (insert name and telephone number
of the city attorney or prosecutor pursuing the action) or a legal
assistance provider to stop the eviction action if any of the
following is applicable:
    (i) You are not the person named in this notice.
    (ii) The person named in the notice does not live with you.
    (iii) The person named in the notice has permanently moved.
    (iv) You do not know the person named in the notice.
    (v) You have any other legal defense or legal reason to stop the
eviction action. A list of legal assistance providers is attached to
this notice. Some provide free legal help if you are eligible."

   (D) The owner shall, within 30 calendar days of the mailing of the
written notice, either provide the city prosecutor or city attorney
with all relevant information pertaining to the unlawful detainer
case, or provide a written explanation setting forth any
safety-related reasons for noncompliance, and an assignment to the
city prosecutor or city attorney of the right to bring an unlawful
detainer action against the tenant.
   (E) The assignment shall be on a form provided by the city
prosecutor or city attorney and may contain a provision for costs of
investigation, discovery, and reasonable attorney's fees, in an
amount not to exceed six hundred dollars (0).
   (F) If the city prosecutor or city attorney accepts the assignment
of the right of the owner to bring the unlawful detainer action, the
owner shall retain all other rights and duties, including the
handling of the tenant's personal property, following issuance of the
writ of possession and its delivery to and execution by the
appropriate agency.
   (2) Upon the failure of the owner to file an action pursuant to
this section, or to respond to the city prosecutor or city attorney
as provided in paragraph (1), or having filed an action, if the owner
fails to prosecute it diligently and in good faith, the city
prosecutor or city attorney may file and prosecute the action, and
join the owner as a defendant in the action. This action shall have
precedence over any similar proceeding thereafter brought by the
owner, or to one previously brought by the owner and not prosecuted
diligently and in good faith.  Service of the summons and complaint
upon the defendant owner shall be in accordance with Sections 415.10,
415.20, 415.30, 415.40, and 415.50 of the Code of Civil Procedure.
   (3) If a jury or court finds the defendant tenant guilty of
unlawful detainer in a case filed pursuant to paragraph (2), the city
prosecutor or city attorney may be awarded costs, including the
costs of investigation and discovery and reasonable attorney's fees.
These costs shall be assessed against the defendant owner, to whom
notice was directed pursuant to paragraph (1), and once an abstract
of judgment is recorded, it shall constitute a lien on the subject
real property.
   (4) This article shall not prevent a local governing body from
adopting and enforcing laws, consistent with this article, relating
to weapons or ammunition abatement. If local laws duplicate or
supplement this article, this article shall be construed as providing
alternative remedies and not preempting the field.
   (5) This article shall not prevent a tenant from receiving relief
against a forfeiture of a lease pursuant to Section 1179 of the Code
of Civil Procedure.
   (b) In any proceeding brought under this section, the court may,
upon a showing of good cause, issue a partial eviction ordering the
removal of any person, including, but not limited to, members of the
tenant's household if the court finds that the person has engaged in
the activities described in subdivision (a). Persons removed pursuant
to this section may be permanently barred from returning to or
reentering any portion of the entire premises. The court may further
order as an express condition of the tenancy that the remaining
tenants shall not give permission to or invite any person who has
been removed pursuant to this subdivision to return to or reenter any
portion of the entire premises.
   (c) For purposes of this section, "unlawful weapons or ammunition
purpose" means the illegal use, manufacture, causing to be
manufactured, importation, possession, possession for sale, sale,
furnishing, or giving away of any of the following:
   (1) A firearm, as defined in subdivision (b) of Section 12001 of
the Penal Code.
   (2) Any ammunition, as defined in paragraph (2) of subdivision (b)
of Section 12316 or subdivisions (a) and (b) of Section 12323 of the
Penal Code.
   (3) Any assault weapon, as defined in Section 12276, 12276.1, or
12276.5 of the Penal Code.
   (4) Any .50 BMG rifle, as defined in Section 12278 of the Penal
Code.
   (5) Any tear gas weapon, as defined in Section 12402 of the Penal
Code.
   (d) Notwithstanding subdivision (b) of Section 68097.2 of the
Government Code, a public entity may waive all or part of the costs
incurred in furnishing the testimony of a peace officer in an
unlawful detainer action brought pursuant to this section.
   (e) The notice and documentation described in paragraph (1) of
subdivision (a) shall be given in writing and may be given either by
personal delivery or by deposit in the United States mail in a sealed
envelope, postage prepaid, addressed to the owner at the address
known to the public entity giving the notice, or as shown on the last
equalized assessment roll, if not known. Separate notice of not less
than 30 calendar days and documentation shall be provided to the
tenant in accordance with this subdivision. Service by mail shall be
deemed to be completed at the time of deposit in the United States
mail. Proof of giving the notice may be made by a declaration signed
under penalty of perjury by any employee of the public entity which
shows service in conformity with this section.
   (f) This section shall apply only to the following courts:
   (1) In the County of Los Angeles, any court having jurisdiction
over unlawful detainer cases involving real property situated in the
City of Los Angeles or the City of Long Beach.
   (2) In the County of San Diego, any court having jurisdiction over
unlawful detainer cases involving real property situated in the City
of San Diego.
   (3) In the County of Alameda, any court with jurisdiction over
unlawful detainer cases involving real property situated in the City
of Oakland.
   (4) In the County of Sacramento, any court with jurisdiction over
unlawful detainer cases involving real property situated in the City
of Sacramento.
   (g) (1) The city attorney and city prosecutor of each
participating jurisdiction shall provide to the Judicial Council the
following information:
   (A) The number of notices provided pursuant to paragraph (1) of
subdivision (a).
   (B) The number of cases filed by an owner, upon notice.
   (C) The number of assignments executed by owners to the city
attorney or city prosecutor.
   (D) The number of three-day, 30-day, or 60-day notices issued by
the city attorney or city prosecutor.
   (E) The number of cases filed by the city attorney or city
prosecutor.
   (F) The number of times that an owner is joined as a defendant
pursuant to this section.
   (G) As to each case filed by an owner, the city attorney, or the
city prosecutor, the following information:
   (i) The number of judgments ordering an eviction or partial
eviction, and specifying whether each was a default judgment,
stipulated judgment, or judgment following trial.
   (ii) The number of cases, listed by separate categories, in which
the case was withdrawn or in which the tenant prevailed.
   (iii) The number of other dispositions, and specifying the
disposition.
   (iv) The number of defendants represented by counsel.
   (v) Whether the case was a trial by the court or a trial by a
jury.
   (vi) Whether an appeal was taken, and, if so, the result of the
appeal.
   (vii) The number of cases in which partial eviction was requested,
and the number of cases in which the court ordered a partial
eviction.
   (H) As to each case in which a notice was issued, but no case was
filed, the following information:
   (i) The number of instances in which a tenant voluntarily vacated.

   (ii) The number of instances in which a tenant vacated a unit
prior to the providing of the notice.
   (iii) The number of cases in which the notice provided pursuant to
subdivision (a) was erroneously sent to the tenant. This shall
include a list of the reasons, if known, for the erroneously sent
notice, such as reliance on information on the suspected violator's
name or address that was incorrect, a clerical error, or any other
reason.
   (iv) The number of other resolutions, and specifying the type of
resolution.
   (2) (A) Information compiled pursuant to this section shall be
reported annually to the Judicial Council on or before January 30 of
each year.
   (B) The Judicial Council shall thereafter submit a brief report to
the Senate and Assembly Committees on Judiciary on or before April
15, 2009, summarizing the information collected pursuant to this
section and evaluating the merits of the pilot programs established
by this section.  The report for this section may be combined with
the Judicial Council report submitted for the pilot program
established by Section 11571.1 of the Health and Safety Code.
   (h) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1,
2010, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted
statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2010, deletes or extends
that date.