Council hereby reaffirms that the existence of ground cover of any sort, including grass and/or weeds, that exists upon any property in the city which is allowed to grow six inches in height or more and/or the existence of unkempt property in such a condition as to cause a nuisance or devalue surrounding property values, such as broken, uneven or improperly maintained public sidewalks, private walks or driveways, debris scattered about, rubbish outside of containers, junk, unused building materials, overgrowth, or other similar condition, is hereby declared to be a public nuisance and/or a qualified public nuisance for the reasons stated herein, and in such case the city shall take the following steps to abate such nuisance:
(A) The Building Commissioner, or his or her designee, shall cause a written notice to be served, by regular mail or by posting in a conspicuous place on the structure or premises to which it relates, once upon the owner, occupant or person having the charge or management of any lot or parcel of land situated within the city, whether the same be improved or unimproved, vacant or occupied, to cut or cause to be cut, any such ground cover growing upon such lot or parcel of land in the city, and prevent the same from blooming or going to seed or exceeding the height of six inches throughout the growing season, and/or abate an exterior nuisance condition as stated herein.
(B) If the owner, occupant or person having the charge or management of any lot or parcel of land does not cut or destroy, or cause to be cut or destroyed, any such ground cover or abate a nuisance condition as provided herein, the Building Commissioner, is hereby authorized to cause to be cut such ground cover to a height less than six inches and/or abate the nuisance condition(s).
(C) When any such ground cover is cut by the city, or caused to be cut by the city, or a nuisance condition is abated by the city or caused to be abated by the city, as provided herein, then after such work is performed, the city shall give notice by regular mail or by leaving an invoice in a conspicuous place, to the owner, occupant, or person having the charge or management of such lot or parcel of land, at his or her last known address or by posting an invoice on the premises as stated herein, to pay the cost of such cutting of such ground cover and/or abatement of a nuisance condition, which notice shall be accompanied by a statement of the amount of costs incurred by the city to accomplish same. If the same is not paid within 30 days after the mailing of the notice, such amount may be certified to the County Auditor for collection as other taxes and assessments are collected or the city may seek recovery of such costs by civil action against the property owner involved.
(D) Should such cost not be paid as provided for in division (C) of this section, the Building Commissioner shall report to Council the cost thereof with respect to each lot or parcel of land, including any and all costs directly incidental thereto. Upon receipt of said report and approval thereof by Council, the Director of Finance shall make a return in writing to the County Auditor of such charges, which shall be entered upon the tax duplicate of the county, all in accordance with R.C. § 731.54.
(E) Work performed by the city or caused to be done by the city under the provisions herein shall not exceed $2,000 per incident, including administrative fees, without resolution of the City Council.
(Ord. 66-92, passed 6-15-1992; Ord. 22-2020, passed 7-6-2020)