(A) Premises in disrepair. No person, persons, or firm shall permit any premises within the Village of Buckland, Ohio to exist in such a state of disrepair as to be considered to be a nuisance or a hazard to the health or safety of persons residing in the vicinity of the structure or of any passers by. Any of the following violations shall be considered to be a nuisance and the maintenance of the structure in deteriorated condition:
(1) Loose bricks displaced from exterior walls or chimneys.
(2) Cornices and gutters which are sagging or have fallen from the structure.
(3) Windows containing broken and jagged glass.
(4) Open holes upon the exterior of the structure whereby the interior can be viewed.
(5) Exterior stairs, porches, balconies or steps which are in such a condition as to be unsafe to persons using them or to passers by. The fact that the person using the stairs, porch, balcony or steps is a trespasser is no defense for purposes of this subchapter.
(6) Foundations and retaining walls caving in.
(7) Any detached structures collapsed and falling in.
(8) Any structure which is vacant and does not have windows, doors or other opening properly secured.
(B) Repair or removal of buildings and structures constituting public nuisances.
(1) Building or structures constituting public nuisances.BUILDINGS OR STRUCTURES CONSTITUTING PUBLIC NUISANCES, as used in this section, shall apply to buildings or other structures which are unsafe, unsecure, structurally defective, unstable or unsanitary. They include those buildings or structures which inadequately provide exit facilities, those buildings or structures unsuitable or improper for the use or occupancy to which they are put, those buildings or structures which constitute a hazard to health or safety because of inadequate maintenance, dilapidation or damage by fire or other cause, those buildings or structures which are obsolescent, abandoned or contain inadequate or unsafe equipment or are otherwise dangerous to life or property, those buildings or structures which for any of the foregoing reasons or by reason of continued vacancy thereby, resulting in lack of reasonable or adequate maintenance of structure or grounds, are causing deterioration and a blighting influence on nearby properties and thereby depreciating the enjoyment and use of property in the immediate vicinity to such an extent that it is harmful to the community in which such structure is situated.
(2) Inspection; written report. Upon receipt of information that a building or other structure constitutes a public nuisance as such is defined under any part of division (B)(1) of this section, the Police Chief, Fire Chief, Mayor, Zoning Inspector or Village Engineer shall cause to be made an inspection thereof and for that purpose each of the above named persons or their duly appointed deputies shall have the powers hereinafter conferred. If, after inspection, it is found that said building constitutes a public nuisance as in any part of division (B)(1) of this section, the inspector shall cause a written notice thereof to be as hereinafter provided. A copy of said written report shall be filed with the Clerk of the Village Council and it shall become a matter of public record and reported by the Clerk to the Village Council at the next general meeting thereof. If the inspector determines the building or structure needs to be removed, in addition to the filing of the report with the Clerk and causing written notice as hereinafter provided, the inspector shall send a written copy of his or her report and written recommendation for removal to the other officers designated as inspectors above, including the Police Chief, Fire Chief and Mayor. Each of the remaining inspectors shall make immediate inspection of the building or structure, and if each concur, the report provided to the Clerk of Council shall declare the building or structure a public nuisance which should be removed, then the Clerk shall give notice as provided for in division (B)(3) of this section.
(3) Notice ordering abatement; content of notice.
(a) The Village Clerk shall cause notice of the nuisance to be served upon the owner or owners of the property. As used in this section, OWNER or OWNERS shall be the record owner of the premises upon which the building or structures is located. They shall include either an owner in fee or a lessor estate. A mortgage or vendee in possession, assignee of rents, receiver, executor, administrator trustee, lessee or other person in control of the building or their duly authorized agent may also be deemed the OWNER or OWNERS as references herein. Any such person as identified above shall be bound to comply with the provisions of this section. The notice shall contain the addresses and descriptions of the buildings and structures, a description as to the character of the building that deems it to be a public nuisance, an order requiring the character upon which the public nuisance is based to be corrected pursuant to specifications provided within the notice, the date upon which the corrections are to be made, and the notification procedure the owner or owners are to follow upon completion of the corrections and the actions and/or penalties which may ensue, should the owner or owners not comply with the actions demanded in the notice. Each owner shall be informed of his or her right to appeal the order to the Village Board of Zoning and Building Appeals.
(b) The date upon which the notice requires the repair or removal of the building should be reasonable considering both the complexity of the activity required and the health and safety risk the nuisance condition presents.
(c) 1. After the issuance of the notice referenced in division (B)(3)(a), any two or more inspectors as described in division (B)(2) shall have the right to make entry upon the premises to inspect the interior of the building for the purpose of determining the extend of the unsafe conditions observed as a result of the external inspection described in division (B)(2) or to determine if there exits any other unsafe conditions.
2. Prior to the inspection of the interior of the structure the inspector(s) shall give notice to the owner or owners of both the date and time of the inspection.
(d) The village, as well as its employees or agents, including inspectors, shall be immune from any liability whatsoever should damage be caused to the structure in order to gain entry to the interior of the structure pursuant to this section.
(e) It shall be a violation of law for the owner or owners of any property upon whom notice is sent to fail to take those measures as instructed in the notice herein described within the time period provided for in the notice.
(4) Ordering building vacated; posting of notice; unlawful entry.
(a) When the Police Chief, Mayor and Fire Chief are of the opinion that a building or structure is in such an unsafe or unsanitary condition so that life is endangered thereby they may order and require that the occupants thereof vacate said building or structure immediately upon notice. They shall cause to be published at such entrances to said building or structure the following notice:
“This building is unfit for occupancy and its use has been prohibited forthwith.”
(b) Such notice shall remain posted until the required repairs are made or until the building or structure is razed. It shall be unlawful for any person other than an employee or designee of the village, properly authorized to do so to remove or cause to be removed said notice without written permission of the Mayor, Police Chief or Fire Chief. Violation of this portion of the section shall be punishable by a fine of up to $150. Each removal of such notice shall be considered a separate violation of this section. It shall be unlawful for any person other than those authorized by law or by the Mayor, Police Chief or Fire Chief to do so to enter a building or structure which has been posted with the above described notice. A violation of this division of the section is punishable by a fine of up to $150. Each lawful entry by a person as described above shall be considered a separate violation.
(5) Repair or removal of building at expense of owner; right of entry; recovery of abatement costs.
(a) In case of an order for repair or removal of a building or structure which is not complied with within the specified time frame as described in division (B)(3)(a), the Mayor and a two- thirds majority of the Village Council Members whose confirmation is affirmed by a Resolution of Council passed at a regularly scheduled meeting may cause said building or structure to be removed at the expense of said owner or owners. Prior to the village taking such action, the village shall give at least ten days' written notice by certified mail to the owner or owners of said property. The Police Chief, Fire Chief and/or Mayor, or their duly authorized agent shall be authorized at any time thereafter to enter upon said premise and the owner shall permit him or her entry to abate the nuisance by demolition and removal of the structure or by taking any such other action as may be required.
(b) In abating such nuisance, the village may go to whatever extent necessary to complete the abatement of the same and the cost of the abatement action shall be recovered from the owner in the following manner:
1. The owner or owners shall be billed directly by certified mail for the cost of the abatement. The bill for the costs of the abatement shall be paid within 60 days after receipt of the bill.
2. If costs are not so recovered then the village shall cause the cost of the abatement to be levied as an assessment and recovered in accordance with R.C. § 715.261.
(6) Section enlargement of authority. This section shall not be deemed to be a limitation or restriction on the authority of any department, division, official or employee of the village, but shall be deemed to be an enlargement of any authority existing by virtue of the statutes of the state, or any ordinance heretofore enacted by Council.
(7) (a) Failure to comply with orders. In addition to all other remedies, conditions or penalties that may be available to the village, any person failing to abide an order of the village to repair or remove an unsafe building found to be a public nuisance may be issued a citation by the village and fined up to $150. Each failure to abide by an order issued under this section shall be deemed a separate violation.
(Ord. 1581, passed 8-9-1999).
(b) Each day during which the owner or owners fail to comply with orders issued herein may be considered as a separate violation punishable as herein described.
(Ord. --, passed - - ; Am. Ord. 249.10, passed 5-11-10) Penalty, see § 174.99