§ 18-509. Penalties.

(1)

Violations. Any person who shall commit any act declared unlawful under this ordinance, who violates any provision of this ordinance, who violates the provisions of any permit issued pursuant to this ordinance, or who fails or refuses to comply with any lawful communication or notice to abate or take corrective action by the city, shall be guilty of a civil offense.

(2)

Misdemeanor and penalties.

(a)

Misdemeanor-unlawful acts. It shall be unlawful for any person to violate any provision of this ordinance. Any person found to be in violation of the provisions of this ordinance shall be punished by a fine of not less than $25.00 nor more than $50.00 for each offense. Each day of failure or refusal to comply with any lawful notice to abate violation of this ordinance shall be deemed a separate offense and punishable accordingly.

(b)

Under the authority provided in Tennessee Code Annotated § 68-221-1106, the city declares that any person violating the provisions of this ordinance may be assessed a civil penalty by the program of not less than $50.00 and not more than $5,000.00 per day for each day of violation. Each day of violation shall constitute a separate violation.

(3)

Measuring civil penalties. In assessing a civil penalty, the City may consider:

(a)

The harm done to the public health or the environment;

(b)

Whether the civil penalty imposed will be a substantial economic deterrent to the illegal activity;

(c)

The economic benefit gained by the violator;

(d)

The amount of effort put forth by the violator to remedy this violation;

(e)

Any unusual or extraordinary enforcement costs incurred by the program;

(f)

The amount of penalty established by ordinance for specific categories of violations; and

(g)

Any equities of the situation which outweigh the benefit of imposing any penalty or damage assessment.

(4)

Recovery of damages and costs. In addition to the civil penalty in subsection (2) above, the city may recover:

(a)

All damages proximately caused by the violator to the city, which may include any reasonable expenses incurred in investigating violations of, and enforcing compliance with, this chapter, or any other actual damages caused by the violation.

(b)

Two times the costs of the city's maintenance of stormwater facilities when the user of such facilities fails to maintain them as required by this chapter.

(5)

Referral to TDEC. Where the city has used enforcement to achieve compliance with this chapter, the city may refer the violation to TDEC.

(6)

Other remedies. The city may bring legal action to enjoin the continuing violation of this ordinance, and the existence of any other remedy, at law or equity, shall be no defense to any such actions.

(7)

Remedies cumulative. The remedies set forth in this section shall be cumulative, not exclusive, and it shall not be a defense to any action, civil or criminal, that one or more of the remedies set forth herein has been sought or granted.

(Ord. No. 3581 , 7-18-2017)