660.22 LAWN MAINTENANCE, WEEDS AND HIGH GRASS.
(a) Every owner, occupant or person in control of any lot or land within the Municipality shall cause to be cut and destroyed all Russian, Canadian or common thistle, wild lettuce, wild mustard, wild parsley, ragweed, ironweed and all other noxious weeds growing or being upon such lot or land and shall cut any other weeds or grasses to a height not to exceed six inches within five (5) days of the receipt of notice as hereinafter provided. Whenever it comes to the attention of the City that noxious weeds or grass are growing on any lot or lands within the City in violation of the foregoing, the Service Director, or the City Zoning Inspector, or their respective designee, shall, upon confirmation of the violation by site inspection, issue notice to the owner, occupant or person in control of any lot or land within the Municipality, upon which any of the aforementioned noxious weeds, or grasses or other weeds in excess of six inches, are growing or standing, to cut and/or destroy the weeds and/or grasses within five (5) days. If the owner, occupant or person in control of the land is a resident of the City, such notice shall be delivered either personally or by registered mail. If the owner or other person having charge of the land is unknown, it is sufficient to publish the notice once in a newspaper of general circulation in the County. The five (5) day notice provision shall commence with the date of publication. A separate offense shall be deemed to have occurred each day on which such weeds or grasses are allowed to stand longer than five (5) days after the receipt of such notice. Such weeds or grasses are hereby declared to be nuisances.
(b) If the nuisance is not abated within the required time, the Service Director, or the City Zoning Inspector, or their respective designee, shall take such action as required to cause its abatement, and shall cause the owner to be charged the greater of the actual cost of the work plus an administrative fee, or Two Hundred Fifty dollars ($250.00), whichever is greater. Such remedy shall be in addition to the penalty provided in subsection (g) hereof.
(c) For accounts remaining unpaid after ninety (90) days, the Finance Director shall cause a written return to be made to the County Auditor setting forth its action under this chapter, together with a statement of the expenses incurred in carrying out the provisions of this chapter, in addition to a ten percent penalty, including the amount paid for performing necessary labor and including a proper description of the premises, for the purpose of making such expenses a lien upon such lands, the same to be collected as other taxes and returned to the City with the General Fund in accordance with Ohio R.C. 731.54.
(d) Noxious weeds or grass, as defined, on any undeveloped lot, herein defined as a lot containing no structures, must be mowed for a distance beginning at the road right-of-way and extending back into the property a distance equal to the minimum building set back line as defined in the zoning code, and on a line parallel to the road right-of-way for the entire length of the unimproved lot.
(e) Each owner, occupant or person in control of any lot or land shall be responsible for the removal, meaning to do away with or eliminate, of such noxious weeds or grass to avoid a visibly unsightly condition.
(f) This Section shall not apply to parcels in excess of five (5) acres except for such portion of the parcel adjacent to the residence or building located on such parcel and commonly used as “lawn” as determined in the sole discretion of the Service Director, or the City Zoning Inspector, or their respective designee.
(g) Whoever violates this section is guilty of a minor misdemeanor and shall be subject to the penalty provided in Section 698.02
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(Ord. 2004-177. Passed 10-11-04.)