(a) Should the City Administrator or designee, or the Fire Chief, find that a public nuisance as defined in Section 1317.01 exists, and that abatement by demolition may be required, the City Administrator or a designee shall cause photographs of such nuisance to be made. As otherwise permitted in the City’s Charter and Ordinances, the City Administrator or designee shall have the express authority to engage any engineers or consultants to evaluate the need for demolition in a particular case.
(b) The City Administrator shall cause a thorough examination of the records of the Defiance County Auditor, Clerk of Courts, Recorder and Treasurer to be made and shall identify all persons and entities in possession of a legal interest of record in the real estate upon which the public nuisance is found to exist. The City Administrator shall serve a demolition notice of violation conforming to the requirements of subparagraph (c) of this Section on each person and entity possessing an interest of record in the real estate. Service shall be made in conformity with the requirements of subparagraph (d) of this Section.
(c) Contents of a Demolition Notice of Violation. The demolition notice of violation shall: (i) describe the premises on which the public nuisance has been found to exist with reasonable certainty; (ii) describe the conditions constituting the public nuisance; (iii) specify that an owner has thirty calendar days within which to either fully and completely abate the nuisance via demolition or work out a schedule, satisfactory to the City Administrator or designee, or the Fire Chief, for the demolition, with sufficient surety acceptable to the City to guarantee timely completion of the abatement according to schedule; and (iv) inform the interested parties of the date and time of the pre-scheduled adjudicatory hearing date before the Nuisance Abatement Board (“NAB”). The hearing date shall be set no less than thirty calendar days after the date of the demolition notice of violation. The NAB shall affirm, reverse, or modify the determinations made by the City Administrator or designee, or Fire Chief, in the demolition notice of violation, including the existence of the public nuisance and the demolition remedy deemed necessary by the City Administrator or designee, or Fire Chief. For purposes of this subsection, “sufficient surety acceptable to the City to guarantee completion on schedule” affords the City the sole discretion to select the necessary surety, which may include but not be limited to a cash bond or letter of credit.
(d) The demolition notice of violation shall be served by either hand delivery, or both the posting of a notice of violation on the subject premises and via certified and ordinary U.S. Mail, addressed to the usual place of residence or principal place of business of each person and entity entitled to receive the notices of violation, as indicated by current tax records of the Defiance County Treasurer or the real property records of the Defiance County Recorder. Judgment lien holders shall be served at the address last known to the Clerk of Courts. Tenants and other persons in possession of the premises shall be served at the premises that are subject to the abatement proceeding.
(e) The final decision of the Nuisance Abatement Board regarding demolition shall be delivered to all persons entitled to notice in accordance with subparagraph (b) of this Section via hand delivery, or via certified and ordinary U.S. mail, and a copy of the final decision shall be posted on the subject premises. Upon the decision of the Nuisance Abatement Board determining that demolition is required for abatement of a nuisance, the City Administrator is authorized to abate the nuisance through demolition through such legal or administrative channels as are deemed most appropriate or through use of either City or private labor to effect the necessary nuisance abatement. (Ord. 7935. Passed 8-8-17.)