(A) Enforcement procedures. The nuisance, health and/or sanitation violation is brought to the governing body by the City Nuisance Officer, or the Board of Health or upon the governing body’s own action. The governing body then may declare by resolution a nuisance, health and/or sanitation violation. The nuisance, health, and/or sanitation ordinances may be enforced by: (1) city administrative procedures; (2) penal prosecutions through the courts; and/or (3) by civil procedures in the courts. Any of these procedures, or any combination of these procedures, may be used to enforce the nuisance, health and/or sanitation ordinances of the city.
(B) Administrative procedure. The city may proceed with abatement of the nuisance, sanitation, and/or health violation with or without court involvement after the following procedure is followed:
(1) After a nuisance is declared the City Clerk notifies the Nuisance Officer to serve notice upon the violators.
(2) The Nuisance Officer shall prepare and serve notice which shall describe the found nuisance and state the required date of abatement and removal of the nuisance shall be accomplished. The notice shall also provide information as to how the interested parties may request a hearing before the governing body described in division (B)(4) below.
(3) The notice shall be given to each owner or owner’s duly authorized agent and to the occupant, if any, by personal service or certified mail. If notice by personal service or certified mail is unsuccessful, said notice shall be given by a single publication in a newspaper of general circulation in the city or county of the city, and by conspicuously posting the notice on the lot or ground upon which the nuisance is to be abated and removed. The date of service is determined by the later of certified mail receipt, personal service or publication date.
(4) The accused violator (owner/agent/occupant) may request in writing a hearing before the governing body of the city within five days after notice of violation is served or published. For tree nuisance violations the period for requesting a hearing is extended to 30 days after service.
(5) If no request for a hearing is received in the required time period, the governing body may cause a hearing to be held. This option is at the sole discretion of the governing body to be used in exceptional cases.
(6) If a hearing is requested, the City Clerk shall fix the date of said hearing to be no later than 15 days from receipt of the request for the hearing. Notice of said hearing and with the date and time shall be served upon the agent, owner, and of the nuisance property by certified and regular mail.
(7) The hearing shall be a “show cause” hearing in which the agent, owner, occupant of the nuisance property (objecting property) shall provide evidence why the alleged condition should not be found to be a public nuisance and remedied. This hearing shall be heard before a quorum of the governing body. The presiding official of the governing body may conduct the hearing or said presiding official may appoint another person as the hearing officer to conduct the hearing (said hearing officer may be the City Attorney or the Enforcement Officer). At the hearing the hearing officer shall mark and receive evidence which was presented when the finding of a nuisance was made, relevant evidence of the nuisance since that time, and evidence that the notices were properly given. The objecting party shall then provide its evidence. The rules of evidence is not required at said hearing, but all evidence must be relevant to the particular nuisance being heard. Testimony shall be under oath as administered by the Hearing Officer or any person so designated by the Hearing Officer, and the person providing the testimony is subject to the laws of perjury. Evidence may be submitted in writing by affidavit.
(8) No later than 14 days after the hearing and consideration of the evidence, the governing board may by majority vote rescind the resolution of violation. If the resolution of violation is not rescinded, it shall stand. Furthermore, if the objector or its designated agent fails to appear at the hearing or does not provide evidence, the nuisance shall stand. If the resolution is not rescinded, the governing board may, by resolution, extend the date that owner, occupant, lessee, or mortgagee shall abate and remedy the said public nuisance, but in no case shall this time exceed 60 days. The findings of the governing board shall be made no later than 14 days after the hearing and notice of its finding shall be served upon the objecting party by regular U.S. Mail within five days of the finding. The finding of this hearing is final, provided that an interested party or parties may appeal such decision to the appropriate court for adjudication
(9) If the Nuisance Officer determines the nuisance is not remedied and abated within the time period designated, the city shall cause the abatement of the nuisance.
(10) If an interested party properly appeals to an appropriate court the findings and orders of the city, the city actions shall be stayed until such time that the legal proceedings are completed or dismissed. In cases of appeal from an action of the city condemning real property as a nuisance or as dangerous under the police powers of the municipality, the owners of the adjoining property may intervene in the action at any time before trial.
(C) Penal court enforcement procedure. If the declared nuisance, health, and/or sanitation are not abated within 15 days that the notice is served upon the owner and/or occupant, and the City Clerk has not received a request for hearing, the Nuisance Officer may cause issue of a citation for the code violation.
(1) The citation shall be prosecuted to the appropriate court by the City Attorney or other designated prosecutor for the city.
(2) A person or persons found guilty of these violations shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and fined up to $500 per each offense.
(3) Each day that the nuisance as identified in the nuisance resolution and notice, is not abated shall be a separate offense and subject to a separate fine.
(D) Civil court procedure. The governing board may instruct by resolution the City Attorney to file a civil action for the abatement of a nuisance. Said civil suit may commence after 15 days notice has been served, and may be filed and prosecuted at the same time any other enforcement procedure has commenced, terminated or in progress.
(Ord. 1485, passed 3-18-2019)
Statutory reference:
Related provisions, see Neb. RS 19-710