(a) As used in this section, "junk" means material commonly considered to be old waste or scrap metal, rope, rags, glass, paper, tires, wood, rubber, concrete, machinery, parts of machinery and other debris.
(b) No person shall allow, cause, permit or suffer to remain in any place any junk to the damage, prejudice or detriment of the public peace, health, safety or welfare.
(c) (1) In addition to the penalty provided in division (d) of this section, and not as a substitute therefor, whenever it appears to the Zoning Enforcement Officer or Director of Public Safety that any person is in violation of division (b) of this section, the Officer or Director may notify such person in writing to eliminate or correct the violation within five days of the date of the notice.
(2) The Chief of Police, a police officer, the Clerk of Council or a deputy may make service and return of the notice, and the fees for service and return shall be the same as are allowed for service and return of summonses in civil cases before a court of competent jurisdiction. If the person to be notified is not a resident of the City, the notice shall be sent to his or her address by registered mail. If the address of the person to be notified is unknown, it shall be sufficient to publish such notice once in a newspaper of general circulation in the County. If such person does not comply with such notice, the City may eliminate the material causing the violation or may otherwise correct the violation to the satisfaction of the Officer or Director, and may employ the necessary labor and equipment to perform such task. All expenses incurred by the City shall be paid out of moneys in the City Treasury not otherwise appropriated. Council shall then make a written statement to the County Auditor of the action taken, the charges for services of the City, the amount paid for labor and equipment, the fees of the officers who made service of notice and return and a proper description of the premises involved. The total amount of expenses shall be entered upon the tax duplicate, shall be a lien upon such premises from the date of the entry and shall be collected as other taxes and returned to the City with the General Fund. The powers of the Officer or Director under this section shall be discretionary and the exercise of these powers shall not be deemed to be a condition precedent to any other proceeding under this section.
(Ord. 185-64. Passed 8-2-64; Ord. 62-01. Passed 5-14-01.)
(d) Whoever violates this section is guilty of a misdemeanor of the first degree. A separate offense shall be deemed committed each day during or on which a violation occurs or continues. The penalty shall be as provided in Section 698.02.