(A) Any person who violates any provision of this ordinance shall, upon conviction, be subject to a fine not exceeding $500 or by imprisonment not exceeding 90 days or both. Each separate violation shall constitute a separate offense and every day on which any violation exists shall constitute a separate violation and offense.
(B) Upon conviction of violation of this ordinance, the city shall register the violating property with the city agencies and/or the County Clerk.
(C) Conditions of suspended sentences. In the event that the court chooses to suspend any portion of the fine or sentence for a violation of this ordinance, the city shall request that the court make the suspended sentence expressly conditional on the following terms:
(1) The defendant must evict, remove, and permanently bar from entering the property any persons who committed the criminal activity forming the basis of the public nuisance, including the defendant himself, his or her family members and relatives, and owners, tenants, occupants, guests, and other persons. This may be accomplished through forcible entry and detainer actions, sale of the property, new leases of the property, or other legal action as needed; and
(2) The defendant must take steps to abate the public nuisance, eliminate its past and continuing adverse effects on the neighborhood, and prevent public nuisances from recurring on the property. Such steps may include landlord training, tenant background checks and screening, making improvements to the property, including general repairs which will bring the property into compliance with the Uniform Housing Code, §§ 14-3-1 et seq., ROA 1994, Integrated Development Ordinance, §§ 14-16-1-1, et seq., ROA 1994, including fencing, lighting, and destruction of buildings, modifications to leases, security guards, removal of trash, junk, and graffiti, and compliance with all other applicable City Codes; and
(3) Any other conditions the court deems appropriate.
(D) Posting and publication of public nuisance convictions. Upon the conviction of any person for violating this ordinance, in addition to any fine and/or jail sentence, the city may file in the office of the County Clerk a certificate describing the real property and that it has been found to be a public nuisance. The city may also post such notices in prominent places on the real property on which the public nuisance occurred. These notices may be attached to any structure on the real property. The city shall have the right to enter the real property for the purpose of erecting, affixing, maintaining and removing these notices. The city may also publish or release notices describing the property and stating that it has been found to be a public nuisance in or to newspapers, periodicals, magazines, fliers and other print media, and may release such notices to television, radio and cable media. The city may post the property and release or publish the notices provided above for a period not exceeding one year from the conviction, or, in the event that the conviction is appealed, one year from the date the conviction is affirmed. It shall be unlawful for any person to interfere with, remove, obliterate, obscure, cover, or destroy any notice posted pursuant to the provisions of this section.
(E) Additional and alternative remedies. In addition or in the alternative to the criminal fines, sentences, conditions of suspended sentences, publication, posting, press and media releases, and other sanctions provided above, the city may also seek administrative remedies against any license and the civil remedies provided in this ordinance. These remedies shall be cumulative, and the city may pursue one or more of them, simultaneously or in succession.
(Ord. 19-2001; Am. Ord. 2017-025; Am. Ord. 2023-016)