[Ord. No. 2216 §§1 — 2, 8-14-2014[1]]
A.Â
CITY
DEBRIS
GROWING SEASON
NOXIOUS PLANT
OWNER
PERSON
SEASONAL NOTICE
WEEDS
The following words, terms and phrases, when used in this Chapter,
shall have the meanings ascribed to them in this Chapter, except where
the context clearly indicates a different meaning:
The person authorized or employed by the City to administer
this division as well as all properties within the established City
limits of the City of Plattsburg, Missouri.
Weed cuttings, cut and fallen trees and shrubs, rubbish and
trash, lumber, rocks or bricks, not piled or stacked six (6) inches
off the ground, tin, steel, parts of derelict cars or trucks or machines
or equipment, broken furniture, clothing 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.
From April 1 through November 30 of each year, when plant
material is likely to grow, spawn and seed.
Any plant capable of poisoning, including but not limited
to poison ivy, poison oak and poison sumac, at any height or state
of maturity.
Any person who, alone or jointly or severally with others,
shall have legal title to a fee interest in the parcel of property,
with or without accompanying actual possession thereof. The land records
filed in the office of the Recorder of Deeds of the county within
which the parcel of real property is located and any other official
record of each county or of the City may be used to determine the
identity of such owner as of the date of the notice of the violation.
Includes any individual, firm, corporation, association,
partnership, cooperative or governmental agency.
When an owner has been notified once within a growing season
of the existence of prohibited weeds or noxious plants upon his/her
property, abates the property, but then allows the prohibited weeds
or noxious plants upon his/her property to once again return to a
prohibited level, the owner shall upon the second notice within a
growing season be issued a "seasonal notice." A seasonal notice shall
service as prima facie evidence of notice for the purpose of this
Chapter for any and all additional violations throughout the growing
season, thus waiving the requirement for the City to provide any additional
notice of violation before it being subject to abatement, fine and
penalty.
All vegetation seven (7) inches or more in height which may
emit unpleasant or noxious odors or transmit pollen into the air at
any state of maturity and all vegetation, regardless of height, excluding
natural waterways, which may harbor rodents, refuse or vermin, which
may create a fire hazard or which may present an unhealthy effect
on the neighborhood.
[1]
Editor's Note: This ordinance also provided for the repeal
of former Ch. 220, Weeds and Noxious Plants, adopted 10-6-1997 by
Ord. No. 1362.
[Ord. No. 2216 §§1 — 2, 8-14-2014]
Any condition(s) on any lot or land within the established City
limits that have the presence of prohibited noxious plant, debris
and weeds, as defined above, of which an owner of said property has
been notified, either by notice or seasonal notice, of the prohibited
condition(s) upon his/her property are hereby declared to be a public
nuisance, subject to abatement, fine and penalty.
[Ord. No. 2216 §§1 — 2, 8-14-2014]
A.Â
Enforcement of this Chapter shall be the responsibility of the City
Building Inspector, the Chief of the Plattsburg Police Department,
or any other person authorized or employed by the City to administer
this Chapter.
B.Â
Enforcement shall commence by providing notice to the owner of the
property of the nuisance condition existing upon his/her property
and action required on his/her part to abate said nuisance. The notice
may be delivered by personal service, by certified mail, or by posting
upon the property a written notice of violation. [If property is posted
or the owner notified by certified mail, there will be a rebuttable
presumption that the posting was observed within five (5) days after
the posting or the certified mail was received within five (5) days
after having been mailed.]
C.Â
The notice shall generally describe the nature of the nuisance and
the location of the property (using the mailing or popular address
rather than a legal description), and order the property owner, within
a period of seven (7) days of notice, to abate said nuisance.
D.Â
After one (1) notice, as described above, is provided to the owner
of the property of the existence of a nuisance condition upon his/her
property within a growing season, and the property is caused to be
abated by the owner, or the City, but then is allowed to return to
a nuisance condition within that growing season, the owner shall be
served a "seasonal notice." A seasonal notice shall order the owner
of the property to abate the nuisance within a time frame established
by the City and then to maintain such abatement throughout the growing
season and shall serve as notice that any and all future existence
of nuisances upon his/her property shall be subject to immediate abatement,
fine or penalty without any additional notice requirement.
[Ord. No. 2216 §§1 — 2, 8-14-2014]
If the nuisance is present on the property seven (7) days after
receipt of the notice, or seasonal notice, by the property owner,
the City may cause the same to be abated. The costs of abatement will
include a fee for the City's costs in administering this Chapter,
which fee shall not exceed one hundred dollars ($100.00); and the
enforcement officer shall certify the cost of such abatement to the
City Clerk or other officer in charge of finance, who shall cause
the certified cost to be included in a special tax bill or added to
the annual real estate tax bill, at the collection official's
option, and shall be collected in the same manner and procedure as
for collecting real estate taxes.
[Ord. No. 2216 §§1 — 2, 8-14-2014]
A.Â
An owner who fails to abate a nuisance after notice has been provided by either notice, or seasonal notice, described in Section 220.030 shall be guilty of an offense and may (at the option of the City) be charged in Municipal Court with the offense of "failure to abate a nuisance."
1.Â
Any person convicted of the offense of "failure to abate a nuisance" shall be punished as provided in Section 100.070.
2.Â
Each day on which any owner "fails to abate a nuisance" under
this Section shall constitute a separate offense for which the owner
may be arrested, tried, convicted and punished without necessity of
further notices.
