(A) If any occupant fails to comply with an order to vacate a dwelling, the public officer may file a civil action in the name of the city to remove the occupant. The action to vacate the dwelling shall be in the nature of summary ejectment and shall be commenced by filing a compliant naming as parties-defendants any persons occupying the dwelling. The Clerk of Superior Court shall issue a summons requiring the defendant to appear before the magistrate at a certain time, date and place not to exceed ten days from the issuance of the summons to answer the compliant. The summons and compliant shall be served as provided in G.S. § 42-29. The summons shall be returned according to it tenor, and if on its return it appears to have been duly served, and if at the hearing the public officer produces a certified copy of an ordinance adopted by the governing body pursuant to G.S. § 160A-443(5) authorizing the officer to proceed to vacate the occupied dwelling, the magistrate shall enter judgment ordering that the promises be vacated and that all persons be removed. The judgment ordering that the dwelling be vacated shall be enforced in the same manner as the judgment for summary ejectment entered under G.S. § 42-30. An appeal from any judgment entered hereunder by the magistrate may be taken as provided in G.S. § 7A-228, and the execution of the judgment may be stayed as provided in G.S. § 7A-227. An action to remove an occupant of a dwelling who is a tenant of the owner may not be in the nature of a summary ejectment proceeding pursuant to this section unless the occupant was served with notice at least 30 days before the filing of the summary ejectment proceeding. That the governing body has ordered the public officer to proceed to exercise his duties under G.S. § 160A-443(4) and (5) to vacate and close or remove and demolish the dwelling.
(Prior Code, § 7-65)
(B) (1) Appeals from orders of Inspector.
(a) An appeal from any decision of the Inspector may be taken by any person aggrieved thereby. Any appeal from the Inspector shall be taken within ten days from the rendering the decision or service of the order and shall be taken filing with the Inspector and with the Zoning Board of Adjustment a notice of appeal, which shall specify the grounds upon which the appeal is based. Upon the filing of any notice of appeal, the Inspector shall forthwith transmit to the Board all the papers constituting the record upon which the decision appealed from was made. When an appeal is from a decision of the Inspector refusing to allow the person aggrieved thereby to do any act, his or her decision shall remain in force until modified or reversed. When an appeal is from a decision of the Inspector requiring the person aggrieved to do any act, the appeal shall have the effect of suspending the requirement until the hearing by the Board, unless the Inspector certifies to the Board, after the notice of appeals is filed with him or her, that by reason of the facts stated in the certificate (a copy of which shall be furnished to the appellant), a suspension of his or her requirement would cause imminent peril to life or property, in which case the requirement shall not be suspended except for due cause shown upon not less than one day’s written notice to the Inspector, by the Board, or by a court of record upon petition made pursuant to G.S. § 160A-446(f) and division (A) above.
(b) The Board shall fix a reasonable time for the hearing of all appeals, shall give due notice to all parties, and shall render its decision within a reasonable time. Any party may appear in person or by agent or attorney. The Board may reverse or affirm, wholly or partly, or may modify the decision or order appealed from, and may make the decision and order as in its opinion ought to be made in the matter, and to that end it shall have all the powers if the Inspector, but the concurring vote of four members of the Board shall be necessary to reverse or modify any decision or order of the Inspector. The Board shall have power also in passing upon appeals, in any case where there are practical difficulties or unnecessary hardships in the way of carrying out the strict letter of the ordinance, to adapt the application of the ordinance to the necessities of the case to the end that the spirit of the ordinance shall be observed, public safety and welfare secured and substantial justice done.
(c) Every decision of the Board shall be subject to review by proceedings in the nature of certiorari instituted within 15 days of the decision of the Board, but not otherwise.
(2) Petition to superior court by owner. Any person aggrieved by an order issued by the Inspector or a decision rendered by the Board shall have the right, within 30 days after issuance of the ordering or rendering of the decision, to petition the superior court for a temporary injunction restraining the Inspector pending a final disposition of the cause, as provided by G.S. § 160A-446(f). Hearings shall be had by the court on a petition within 20 days, and shall be given preferences over other matters on the court’s calendar. The court shall hear and determine the issues raised and shall enter the final order or decree as law and justice may require. It shall not be necessary to file bond in any amount before obtaining a temporary injunction under this division.
(3) Severability. If any dwelling is erected, constructed, altered, repaired, converted, maintained or used in violation of this part or any ordnance or code adopted under authority of this part or any valid order or decision of the Inspector or Board made pursuant to any ordinance or code adopted under authority of this part, the Inspector or Board may institute any appropriate action or proceedings to prevent the unlawful erection, construction, reconstruction, alteration or use to restrain, correct or abate the violation, to prevent the occupancy of the dwelling, or to prevent any illegal act, conduct or use in or about the premises of the dwelling.
(Prior Code, § 7-66)
(C) Neither this subchapter nor any of its provisions shall be construed to impair or limit in any way the power of the town to define and declare nuisances and to cause their abatement by summary action or otherwise, or to enforce this subchapter by criminal process as authorized by G.S. § 14-4 and division (B) above, and the enforcement of any remedy provided herein shall not prevent the enforcement of any other remedy or remedies provided herein or in other ordinances or laws.
(Prior Code, § 7-67)
(Ord. passed 7-10-2007)