[Ord. of 5-23-2013]
The purpose of this article is to protect the health, safety
and welfare of the residents of the City of Old Town by reducing the
number of properties in Old Town harboring occupants who disturb the
peace and tranquility of their neighborhoods.
[Ord. of 5-23-2013]
The Old Town City Council hereby finds that:
(a)
The City has a substantial and compelling interest in protecting
the health, safety, property and welfare of its citizens and the neighborhoods
affected by chronic unlawful or nuisance activity.
(b)
Chronic unlawful or nuisance activity of various kinds on and near
disruptive properties adversely affects the health, safety and welfare
of citizens and diminishes the quality of life in neighborhoods where
this chronic activity occurs. Chronic unlawful or nuisance activity
constitutes a public nuisance and should be subject to abatement.
(c)
Properties that generate repeated calls for public safety service
due to chronic unlawful or nuisance activity place an undue and inappropriate
financial burden on the taxpayers of the City and an undue burden
on the City's public safety resources.
(d)
The existing nuisances and miscellaneous provisions, as found in Chapter 12 of the City of Old Town's Revised Code of Ordinances, do not adequately address or control chronic unlawful or nuisance activity or its detrimental effects on citizens and neighborhoods where such chronic activity occurs.
(e)
Enacting this ordinance will help alleviate conditions created by
chronic unlawful or nuisance activity through early intervention by
the Chief of Police.
[Ord. of 5-23-2013]
This article shall apply to the owners of all residential properties, as defined in § 12-54 below, located within the City of Old Town.
[Ord. of 5-23-2013]
As used in this article, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
Activities and situations conducted or created within or
upon a residential property, or upon adjacent properties, by the owner,
owner's employees, owner's representatives, occupants, tenants, guests,
or customers of the residential property, or by visitors to any such
owner, occupant, tenant, guest, or customer, which unreasonably disturb
the community, the neighborhood, or an individual of normal sensitivities
at or beyond the property line, including, but not limited to:
Civil or criminal trespass on adjacent or neighboring properties;
Depositing waste, trash or refuse items on adjacent or neighboring
properties;
Violations of Chapter 6 (Buildings) of the City of Old Town Revised Code of Ordinances, International Residential Code, relating to exterior maintenance of residential properties;
Disorderly conduct, as defined in 17-A M.R.S.A. § 501;[1]
Failure to disperse, as defined in 17-A M.R.S.A. § 502;
Riot, as defined in 17-A M.R.S.A. § 503;
Endangering the welfare of a child, as defined in 17-A M.R.S.A.
§ 554, Subsections 1A and B;
Arson, as defined in 17-A M.R.S.A. § 802, on the residential
or adjacent properties;
Vandalism of adjacent or neighboring properties;
Criminal mischief, as defined in 17-A M.R.S.A. §§ 805
and 806, on adjacent or neighboring properties;
Prostitution or public indecency, as defined in 17-A M.R.S.A.
Chapter 35;
Unlawfully furnishing or trafficking in scheduled drugs, as
defined in 17-A M.R.S.A. Chapter 45; or
Maintenance of an automobile graveyard or junkyard, as defined
in 30-A M.R.S.A. § 3752, on the residential property, without
the required permits, following expiration of the correction and appeals
periods stated in a written notice of violation from the City's Code
Enforcement Officer to the property owner(s).
A document summarizing the findings of the responding officer
investigating a complaint or the officer's observations concerning
a disruptive activity. The notice shall contain the property identification;
the identification of the officer; the time and date of the alleged
disruptive activity and the officer's response; the basis of the complaint
or the responding officer's observations; and the officer's findings.
Any twenty-four-hour period, commencing at 12:00 noon and ending at 12:00 noon the following day, during which a police officer observes or the Police Department receives one or more complaints of a disruptive activity to which the Police Department responds and substantiates that a disruptive activity has occurred as outlined in § 12-54 of this article. The Police Chief shall, after review of all relevant information, determine whether a disruptive event has occurred.
Any residential property for which the Police Chief has notified
the owner that the Police Department has documented and substantiated
three or more disruptive events within any 180-day period.
Any person, including any legal entity, having legal title
to or a beneficial interest in a residential property or any portion
thereof, as that interest is recorded in the tax records of the City
of Old Town or the Penobscot County Registry of Deeds.
The Chief of Police or acting Chief of Police of the City
of Old Town or other official of the Police Department as may be designated
by the Police Chief.
All property within the City of Old Town zoned or actually
used for residential purposes, including:
Any lot or parcel of land on which one or more residential buildings
or buildings of mixed occupancy are located;
Residential buildings, including single-family dwellings, two-family
dwellings, multifamily dwellings and rooming houses and boardinghouses;
and
Residential occupancies in buildings of mixed use or occupancy.
[1]
Editor's Note: See now 17-A M.R.S.A. § 501-A.
[Ord. of 5-23-2013]
(a)
A disruptive property is hereby declared to be a public nuisance.
(b)
The owner(s) of residential properties in Old Town shall provide
sufficient control, oversight, monitoring and management of the property
to prevent the same from becoming a disruptive property.
(c)
The owner(s) of a disruptive property shall be responsible for taking
all necessary measures to abate or eliminate the public nuisance.
[Ord. of 5-23-2013]
No owner of a residential property in Old Town shall maintain,
or allow to be maintained or to exist on the owner's property, a disruptive
property as defined in this article. Each and every day that a disruptive
event is permitted to occur on the property, by the owner of the disruptive
property, after it becomes classified by the Police Chief as a disruptive
property shall constitute a separate offense and will be penalized
as such.
[Ord. of 5-23-2013]
It shall be no defense to classification as a disruptive property
or to prosecution for violations of this article that:
(a)
Occupancy of the property for residential purposes was either permitted
by, or in violation of, applicable zoning restrictions on use of the
property concerned; or
(b)
The disruptive activities resulting in classification of the property
as a disruptive property were caused by persons occupying the property
without a formal lease, license or other permission from the property
owner(s), provided that:
(1)
Occupancy of the disruptive property by the persons concerned
was known by or brought to the attention of the owner(s); and
(2)
The owner(s) of the disruptive property acquiesced to continued
occupancy of the property by such persons after the owner(s) knew
or were made aware of their occupancy.
[Ord. of 5-23-2013]
(a)
The Police Department shall document all responses to complaints
or observations of disruptive activities. An officer may investigate
a disruptive activity based on a complaint or on the officer's own
independent observation. The responding officer(s) shall file a disruptive
activities report, which shall classify each incident as either a
disruptive activity or as an unsubstantiated complaint or observation.
The responding officer(s) may classify a complaint or observation
as a disruptive activity, notwithstanding that no arrest is made or
summons issued to any individual on the property concerned.
(b)
The Police Chief shall review all reports of disruptive activities.
Based on that review, the Police Chief shall designate the incident
as a substantiated or unsubstantiated disruptive event.
(c)
The Police Chief shall maintain a summary log of all substantiated
disruptive events for each residential property concerned.
[Ord. of 5-23-2013]
(a)
Whenever the Police Chief determines that two disruptive events have
occurred at the same residential property within any 180-day period,
the Police Chief shall send a written notice to the owner(s) of the
property concerned. The notice shall be sent by first-class mail,
postage prepaid, return receipt and address correction requested,
to the last known mailing address of the owner(s) concerned.
(b)
The written notice shall contain the following information:
(1)
The location of the residential property and the owner's(s')
names.
(2)
The dates and nature of the two most-recent substantiated disruptive
events for that property.
(3)
A summary of the provisions of this article.
(4)
A warning that, upon substantiation of a third or subsequent
disruptive event at the residential property within the same 180-day
period, the property shall be classified as a "disruptive property,"
with the adverse consequences of this article to apply.
(c)
Whenever the Police Chief determines that a third or subsequent disruptive
event has occurred at the same residential property within any 180-day
period, the Police Chief shall send an additional written notice to
the owner(s) of the property concerned. The notice shall be sent by
first-class mail, postage prepaid, return receipt and address correction
requested, to the last known mailing address of the owner(s) concerned.
(d)
The disruptive property notice shall contain the following information:
(1)
The location of the residential property and the owner's(s')
names.
(2)
That the property has been classified by the Police Chief as
a disruptive property in accordance with the provisions of this article.
(3)
The dates and nature of the three most recent substantiated
disruptive events for that property.
(4)
A statement that the owner(s) may appeal the Police Chief's determination to the Old Town Board of Appeals, in writing, within 30 days after the owner's(s') receipt of the disruptive property notice, in accordance with the Zoning Ordinance, Section 107.3, of the City of Old Town Revised Code of Ordinances.
(5)
A statement that if the owner(s) fail to appeal the Police Chief's
determination to the Board of Appeals within 30 days, the adverse
consequences of this article shall apply to the owner's(s') property.
[Ord. of 5-23-2013]
Upon expiration of the applicable appeals period with no appeal
filed, or upon final resolution of any appeal in a manner favorable
to the City, the owner(s) of each residential property that has been
classified as a disruptive property by the Police Chief shall be subject
to the following consequences:
(a)
City cost recovery.
(1)
The owner(s) of a disruptive property shall be billed for the
cost of each police response by the City of Old Town to any complaint
of disruptive activity at the property concerned, following the property's
classification as a disruptive property, if the complaint results
in substantiation of an additional disruptive event. The amount to
be billed shall consist of the City's current private-duty hourly
rate for the officer(s) concerned, plus the City's actual cost of
any medical treatment to injured officers and the cost of repairing
any damage to City-owned equipment or property. The minimum charge
for any police response shall be $250.
(2)
The amount billed shall constitute a debt to the City by the
owner(s) of the disruptive property. If not paid within 30 days after
the date of the City's invoice, the amount concerned shall be subject
to a collection action in court.
(b)
Civil penalties.
(1)
Upon prosecution for a violation of this article, any owner
who is found by the court to have maintained or allowed a disruptive
property to exist on that owner's property in violation of this article
shall be subject to a civil penalty of $500 for the first offense,
$1,000 for the second offense, $1,500 for the third offense, and $2,000
for the fourth and subsequent offenses. Each violation of a separate
provision of this article and each day that such violation shall continue
after written notice to the owner thereof shall constitute a separate
offense.
(2)
All civil penalties shall inure to the benefit of the City of
Old Town.
(c)
Additional fines.
(1)
In any prosecution for violations of other City of Old Town
ordinances relating to a disruptive property, said violations occurring
while the disruptive property designation remains in effect, all applicable
fines shall be doubled from the amount otherwise provided by ordinance.
(2)
The cost recovery and additional fine provisions of this section
shall apply to each disruptive property commencing 30 days after the
Police Chief's determination that the property concerned is a disruptive
property, if no appeal is filed; and from the date of final resolution
of any appeal filed, if the resolution upholds the Police Chief's
determination (the "commencement date").
(3)
The cost recovery and additional fines provisions shall remain
in effect for a minimum of one year following the commencement date
and shall continue for as long as the property concerned remains classified
as a disruptive property.
(d)
Injunctive relief. In any prosecution for violations of this article,
the City, in addition to applicable monetary penalties, shall be entitled
to seek an order of the court requiring abatement of all disruptive
activities on the property upon such terms as the court may determine.
(e)
Attorneys' fees and costs. If the City is the prevailing party in
a prosecution under this article, each owner of the disruptive property
found by the court to have maintained or allowed a disruptive property
to exist on that owner's property shall also be liable for all reasonable
expenses incurred by the City in the enforcement of this article,
including, but not limited to, City of Old Town staff time, attorneys'
fees, and court costs.
[Ord. of 5-23-2013]
(a)
Classification of a residential property as a disruptive property shall terminate one year after the commencement date for City cost recovery and additional fines under § 12-60 above, provided that no additional disruptive events have been substantiated at the property by the Police Chief since the date of the disruptive event that resulted in the property's classification as a disruptive property, and upon the Police Chief's determination of all the following conditions have been met:
(b)
Upon substantiation of any subsequent disruptive event at the property occurring within one year after the date of the disruptive event that resulted in the property's classification as a disruptive property, the status of the property as a disruptive property shall be extended until a date that is one year after the occurrence of such subsequent disruptive event, subject to notice and a right of appeal in accordance with § 12-59 above.
(c)
The disruptive property classification shall be removed from the
property by the Police Chief.
[Ord. of 5-23-2013]
Once a property has been classified as a disruptive property
by the Police Chief, the owner may elect to undertake a plan of remediation
to abate and eliminate the public nuisance in accordance with this
section.
(a)
Property inspection. If the property has not undergone a comprehensive
code and firesafety inspection within the prior 360 days, the owner
must agree to make available the entire property for a comprehensive
inspection by the Fire Department and the Code Enforcement Officer
and must schedule such inspections to be completed as soon as possible,
but within 14 days from the date of the notice of the disruptive property
classification. The owner shall notify, in writing, all tenants and
occupants of the property of the scheduled inspections and shall provide
copies of such notices to the Police Chief. The owner shall also cooperate
fully with the City officials to gain entry to all areas of the property.
(b)
Meeting with Police Chief.
(1)
The owner or the owner's duly authorized agent shall meet with
the Police Chief or designee within the later of 14 days of the notice
of the disruptive property classification or within 14 days from the
completion of the inspections outlined in this section.
(2)
At the time of this meeting, the owner, or the owner's authorized
agent, shall provide to the Police Chief the following documentation:
a.
A complete description of the property, including, but not limited
to:
1.
A list of all dwelling units and their postal or E-911 address
designation as they are located on the property;
2.
Floor plans or sketches for all structures located on the property,
showing the location of all dwelling unit entrances and egress points,
sleeping areas and common areas;
3.
A site description and sketch acceptable to the Code Enforcement
Officer and Fire Chief, showing the location and dimensions of all
structures, yards or open spaces or recreational spaces, walkways,
parking spaces, driveways and curb cuts; and
4.
Other descriptive items as might be requested by the Code Enforcement
Officer, Fire Chief or Police Chief.
b.
A narrative description of the use and occupancy of the property
over the previous five years, together with a statement of the intended
use of the property for the next five years, if known.
c.
A copy of the terms and conditions contained in any lease agreement(s)
agreed to by the tenants of the disruptive property.
d.
Documentation of any other written or verbal arrangements authorizing
occupancy of the disruptive property that may exist in addition to
any lease agreement.
(3)
At the time of this meeting, the Police Chief shall, to the
extent permitted by law, provide to the owner, or the owner's duly
authorized agent, documentation of municipal actions that involved
the property in question in the 360-day period preceding the disruptive
property classification, including, but not limited to, records of
all disruptive events, disturbance complaints, code enforcement complaints
and inspections and firesafety inspections.
(c)
Remediation agreement.
(1)
The owner or the owner's duly authorized agent must agree to
take effective measures to address the disruptive property, satisfactory
to the Police Chief, which shall be memorialized in a written agreement
at the conclusion of the meeting (the "remediation agreement") and
implemented within 14 days from the date of the meeting, unless circumstances
necessitate additional time as found by the Police Chief. Remedial
measures may include, but are not limited to, the owner, or owner's
duly authorized agent, taking appropriate steps through the judicial
system to terminate the occupancy of any tenants or other occupants
of the property who have engaged in the disruptive activities. The
Police Chief and the owner, or owner's duly authorized agent, shall
sign the remediation agreement, and copies shall be provided to the
City Council, the City Manager, Code Enforcement Officer and Fire
Chief.
(2)
Execution of a mutually satisfactory remediation agreement by the owner and the Police Chief shall be in lieu of civil cost recovery, court enforcement action and other consequences of the disruptive property classification under section 12-59 above. Provided however, that if the Owner(s) of the Disruptive Property fail to perform those actions required of the Owner(s) under the Remediation Agreement, or if additional Disruptive Activities continue to occur at the property concerned after execution of a Remediation Agreement, the City may exercise any or all of the remedies provided under § 12-60 above.
[Ord. of 5-23-2013]
In the event that any provision of this article is held to be
unconstitutional or otherwise invalid by any court of competent jurisdiction,
the remaining provisions of the article shall not be invalidated.
