(a) Any person issued a citation pursuant to Section 201.04 shall be punished by a fine as follows: within any 12-month period, one hundred dollars ($100.00) for a first offense citation, two hundred dollars ($200.00) for a second offense citation, and five hundred dollars ($500.00) for a third offense and subsequent citation thereafter. Each week that such a violation continues, and which shall pose an imminent threat to public health and safety, shall constitute a separate offense.
(b) All fines levied under this Article, together with all attorney fees reasonably incurred in the enforcement thereof, shall constitute a lien against all personal and real property owned by the person(s) subject to such fine.
(c) A person charged under this section shall have the right to contest the citation in Municipal Court, provided, however, that where a photograph of the violation accompanies the citation, a defense shall be limited to evidence that the enforcement official misinterpreted the subject provision and/or misapplied it to the facts unless the evidence, as a whole, negates the correctness of the facts contained in the citation. Furthermore, any person charged hereunder solely by reason of his/her ownership of the real estate, shall be entitled to the additional defense that he/she did not own the real estate at the time of the commission of the violation or that the violation was committed by a trespasser upon his/her real estate. Any person who is charged under this section and fails to appear at his/her hearing for a period of 15 minutes without a prior showing of just cause may be tried in absentia.
(Ord. 2021-003. Passed 5-19-21.)