[Ord. No. 1417 §§2 — 5, 9-2-1997; Ord. No. 17-015 § 1, 9-12-2017]
A.
Debris Defined. Any condition on any lot or land that has
the presence of debris of any kind is hereby declared to be a public
nuisance, subject to abatement. Debris includes weed cuttings, cut
and fallen trees and shrubs, overgrown vegetation and noxious weeds
which are seven (7) inches or more in height, rubbish and trash, lumber
not piled or stacked twelve (12) inches off the ground, rocks or bricks,
tin, steel, parts of derelict cars or trucks, broken furniture and/or
any flammable material. The word "debris" also includes any other
material which is found on any lot or land that is unhealthy or unsafe,
provided:
B.
Notice. Enforcement of this Section shall be the responsibility
of the Mayor or other City official as designated by the Mayor. Enforcement
shall commence by providing notice to the owner of the property of
the nuisance condition existing on the owner's property. The notice
may be delivered by personal service or posted on the premises, and
sent by certified mail or by ordinary mail to the last known address
of the property owner as listed with the Morgan County Collector.
(If sent by ordinary mail, there will be a rebuttable presumption
that the letter was delivered five (5) days after the date it was
sent.) The notice to the property owner shall include a copy of this
Section.
1.
The notice shall generally describe the nature of the nuisance, the
location of the property (using the mailing or popular address rather
than a legal description, when reasonably possible to do so) and ordering
the property owner to, within a period of fifteen (15) days from the
receipt of the notice, abate the nuisance.
2.
Any owner who wishes to challenge the order of abatement may do so,
provided that they do so within ten (10) days of the date of the notice
to request a hearing on the validity of the order of abatement. If
no such request is made within that time period, the order becomes
final and is not subject to challenge elsewhere. If such request is
made, the hearing shall be conducted by the Board of Aldermen. The
request for a hearing must be in writing, but otherwise no particular
formality is required. Once a request for a hearing is received, the
hearing shall be conducted in accordance with the "contested case"
provisions of the State Administrative Procedure Act. The City Attorney
shall represent the City at such a hearing.
C.
Abatement Of Nuisance. If the nuisance is present on the
property fifteen (15) days after receipt of the notice by the property
owner, the Enforcement Officer shall cause the same to be abated.
(The costs of abatement may include a fee for the City's costs in
administering this Section, which fee shall not exceed one hundred
dollars ($100.00) in excess of the actual cost of abatement.) The
Enforcement Official shall certify the cost of such abatement to the
City Clerk . The City Clerk shall issue a special tax bill against
the property and shall deliver the same to the County Collector to
be collected.
D.
Violation Is An Offense. An owner who fails to remove a nuisance within fifteen (15) days of being notified to do so by the notice/abatement order described in Subsection (A) above shall be guilty of an offense and may (at the option of the City) be charged in Municipal Court with the offense of violating this Section and shall be punished as provided by Section 100.220 of this Code.
