660.16 WEEDS.

   No owner, occupant or person having the charge or management of any lot or parcel of land situated within the City, whether the same is improved or unimproved, vacant or occupied, shall fail, within five days of service of written notice to do so served upon him in conformity with Ohio R.C. 731.52, to cut or destroy, or cause to be cut or destroyed, any noxious or poisonous weeds or vines or any wild or uncontrolled growth upon any such lot or parcel of land and to prevent the same from blooming or going to seed or exceeding a height of twelve inches. (1964 Code 153. 01)

660.17 CONDITIONS CONDUCIVE TO HARBORING RATS.

   (a)    The following conditions are found to be conducive to the harboring of rats, are hereby declared to be nuisances and are prohibited:

      (1)    Broken tile in areaways or in walls or foundations of garages.

      (2)    Building materials or rubbish dumped or stored on ground.

      (3)    Building foundations under which rats have burrowed.

      (4)    Underground garbage containers around and under which rats have burrowed.

      (5)    Portable play houses, dog houses, tool sheds and stored building materials resting less than eight inches above the surface of the ground.

      (6)    Rubbish or garbage containers resting less than eight inches above the surface of the ground or within six feet of any building.

      (7)    Garbage containers without watertight bottoms and tightly fitting tops.

      (8)    Concrete or wooden garage floors so broken that rats can burrow or have burrowed under them.

   (b)    No owner or occupant of any premises on which any such condition exists shall fail or refuse, within five days after being notified thereof by an officer or employee of the City, to abate the same. (1964 Code §53.04)

660.18 USE OF FIRE HYDRANTS.

   No person shall use water from any fire hydrant except for the purposes of fire protection, except that employees of the City may use water from hydrants for the purpose of flushing and cleaning streets and public sewers. (1964 Code §97.03)

660.19 WATER USE EMERGENCY.

   (a)   The Mayor is hereby authorized and directed to proclaim a water use emergency throughout all or any part of the City of Beachwood, Ohio when a water supply shortage notice has been issued by the City of Cleveland.

   (b)   Such water use emergency proclamation shall specify the geographic area affected, the length of time the emergency shall be in effect, which time shall not exceed seven days (7), and the degree of water use curtailment.

   (c)   During a water use emergency, the Mayor may order a water use curtailment by prohibiting unnecessary use or consumption of water during all or specified hours of the day and/or may order that specified premises curtail necessary use or consumption of water on specified days only as the Mayor shall determine to be necessary.

   (d)   Unnecessary use or consumption means the use or consumption of water for purposes other than personal health, safety, sanitation, and bodily consumption.  "Unnecessary use of consumption" of waters includes but is not limited to sprinkling or watering lawns, other land irrigation, the washing of automobiles, houses or other structures and the use of water for recreational purposes such as the maintenance of swimming pools.  The use of water for private construction such as the mixing and curing of concrete, the puddling of backfill in excavations, the moistening of masonry walls preparatory to pointing or sealing, and other similar uses is not an unnecessary use or consumption of water.  The use of water to scrub and rinse areas such as hard-surface drives, garage floors, patios, and similar uses where necessary for the purpose of sanitation and the protection of health is not an unnecessary use or consumption of water.

   (e)   A proclamation of water use emergency shall become effective at the time of issuance by the Mayor.  Notice thereof shall be given to a newspaper of general circulation in the City of Beachwood, Ohio and shall be reported to a local radio and television station for broadcast.

   (f)   Whoever violates this section is guilty of a minor misdemeanor and shall be fined not more than one hundred dollars ($100.00).  Whoever violates this section having been previously convicted of a violation of the section is guilty of a misdemeanor of the third degree and shall be fined not more than five hundred dollars ($500.00) or imprisoned not more than sixty days (60), or both.  A separate offense shall be deemed committed each day during or on which a violation of noncompliance occurs or continues.

(Ord. 2017-91.  Passed 8-14-17.)

660.20 ABATEMENT OF NUISANCES.

   (a)   Authority of Safety Director, Director of Public Works and Building Commissioner.  Whenever there shall be done or exist within the City any act, thing or condition of a kind which has been or may hereafter be defined by ordinance or by these Codified Ordinances as a nuisance, the Safety Director, Director of Public Works or Building Commissioner is authorized and directed promptly to cause its abatement, as hereinafter provided.

   (b)   Notice to Owner of Real Estate.  When the nuisance is located on or originates from real estate not owned by the City, the Safety Director, Director of Public Works or Building Commissioner upon finding that the nuisance exists, may cause written notice or order to be served on the owner of the real estate.  The notice or order shall set forth the nature of the nuisance, the Director’s estimate of the cost of abating the same if done by the City, a reasonable time determined by the Director within which the owner shall abate the nuisance or pay the estimated cost to the City, and the statement that unless the nuisance is abated within the stated time it may be abated by the City and the cost of abatement assessed on the real estate involved, or the City may prosecute the owner for failure to comply with the order of the Director.

   (c)   Service of Notice.  The notice may be served by delivering it personally to the owner or leaving it at the owner’s usual place of business or residence, or by posting it in a conspicuous place on the real estate involved, or by mailing it to the owner, or by publishing it once in a newspaper of general circulation within the City if it cannot be served in any of the other ways above mentioned.

   (d)   Abatement by Director.  If the nuisance is not abated within the required time, the Director may cause its abatement and report the cost thereof to Council, which may assess the same on the real estate on which the nuisance existed or the cause or source thereof was located.  If the nuisance consists of uncut and growing grass or weeds, only one notice to the property owner as provided in subsection (c) hereof shall be necessary in any one growing season and the Director may cause such nuisance to be abated or removed more than once in any growing season as conditions may require.  No property owner who is ordered to abate the nuisance or to pay to the City the estimated cost of the abatement shall fail to comply with such order.

   (e)   Obstruction of Sewers by Roots of Trees.  In case the nuisance consists of roots of trees which obstruct sewers, the Director may abate the nuisance immediately and without service of notice or estimate of the cost of the abatement.  The Director shall, however, furnish the owner of the real estate from which the nuisance originates with a statement of the cost of abating the same as soon as the cost can be ascertained, and shall notify the owner to pay the cost within such reasonable time as the Director shall fix, but not less than thirty days.  In case the cost is not paid within the time fixed by the Director, the Director shall report such fact to Council which may assess the same on the real estate from which the nuisance originated.

   (f)   Abatement of Exterior and Interior Violations.  In case of a nuisance consisting of exterior violations, including but not limited to any items listed in Chapter 1355 (Basic Standard of Residential Occupancy) and Chapter 1371 (Commercial Structural Maintenance Code), the Safety Director or the Building Commissioner has the authority to abate/complete any exterior violations that constitute a blighting/deteriorating influence on the housing stock or commercial properties in the City of Beachwood, including the abatement of the uncompleted exterior portions of residential and commercial projects.  The Safety Director or the Building Commissioner also has the authority to abate unsafe or unsanitary conditions in the interior of any structure.

(Ord. 2008-112.  Passed 8-12-08.)