§ 74-440. Access and inspection of properties and facilities.

The commissioner of watershed management or any duly authorized agent of the department may, upon the permission of the property owner, enter on and inspect any and all public and private property in the city to determine by inspection that those properties are or not free of any condition which may be in violation of this article. For the purpose of this duty, the agent of the department of watershed management is eligible to apply for status as a code enforcement agent under section 98-1. In order to enforce code provisions and issue citations, the agent of the department of watershed management must apply for and receive status as a code enforcement agent.

(1)

If a property or facility has security measures in force which require proper identification and clearance before entry into its premises, the owner, agent of the owner or operator of any property or facility within the city shall make the necessary arrangements to allow access to representatives of the department of watershed management.

(2)

The owner, agent of the owner or operator of any property or facility within the city shall allow the department of watershed management ready access to all parts of the premises for the purposes of inspection, sampling, photography, videotaping, examination and copying of any records that are required under the conditions of an NPDES permit to discharge stormwater.

(3)

The department of watershed management reserves the right, upon the approval of the property owner, to conduct monitoring and/or sampling of flow discharges.

(4)

Any judge of the municipal court may grant permission to the department of watershed management to require the owner, agent of the owner or operator of any private property or facility to install monitoring equipment and perform monitoring as necessary, and make the monitoring data available to the department of watershed management.

a.

It is prohibited for any person to interfere in any way with the proper sampling and monitoring operations of any equipment or devices.

b.

All devices used to measure flow and quality shall be calibrated to ensure their accuracy.

(5)

Any temporary or permanent obstruction to safe and easy access to the property or facility to be inspected and/or sampled shall be promptly removed by the owner, agent of the owner or operator at the written or oral request of the department of watershed management and any obstruction shall not be replaced. The costs of clearing such access shall be borne by the owner or operator.

(6)

Unreasonable delays in allowing the Department of Watershed Management access to a facility is a violation of this article.

(7)

If the department of watershed management has been refused access to any part of the premises from which stormwater is discharged, and the department of watershed management is able to demonstrate probable cause to believe that there may be a violation of this article, or that there is a need to inspect and/or sample as part of a routine inspection and sampling program designed to verify compliance with this article or any order issued hereunder, or to protect the overall public health, safety, environment and welfare of the community, then the department of watershed management may seek issuance of a search warrant from any court of competent jurisdiction.

(Ord. No. 2003-75, § 3, 6-24-03; Ord. No. 2006-74, § 1, 10-11-06)