561.01 Definitions.
561.02 Procedure for abatement of a public nuisance.
561.03 Service of notice.
561.04 Duty to vacate premises.
561.05 Appeal hearing of public nuisance structures.
561.06 Abatement of public nuisance by City.
561.07 Sections 561.01 through 561.06 not exclusive.
561.08 Illegal occupancy of a public nuisance.
561.09 Unauthorized entry upon nuisance premises.
561.10 Transfer of ownership.
561.11 Failure to abate a public nuisance.
561.12 Culpability.
561.13 Reputation.
561.14 Enforcement.
561.99 Violations and penalties.
For the purpose of this chapter, the following definitions shall apply unless the context clearly indicates or requires a different meaning:
(a) Abate: When a public nuisance has been determined to exist pursuant to subsection (e)(1) of the definition for public nuisance below, it shall not be deemed to have been abated until it has been made to comply with all applicable housing, building, zoning, and fire code requirements.
When a public nuisance has been determined to exist pursuant to subsection (e)(1) of the definition for public nuisance below, it shall not be deemed to have been abated until all such use constituting a nuisance is terminated.
(b) Public Nuisance Appeals Board: Whenever in Sections 561.01 through 561.99, a reference is made to a Public Nuisance Appeals Board, It is referring to the multiple member panel authorized by the City manager to hear the nuisance abatement appeals. The police department, fire department and code enforcement will each have a representative designated by the department head to act on his/her behalf. The City Manager will appoint the review board director and the City Solicitor will conduct a legal review of the appeals process.
(c) Owner or Occupied Owner: The owner of record of the fee of the premises or lesser estate therein, a mortgagee, vendee in possession, land contract purchaser, assignee of the rents, receiver, executor, administrator, trustee, or lessee, as determined by an examination of the public records of Greene County, Ohio, or any other person, firm or corporation in control of a building, or their duly authorized agents.
(d) Persons Responsible or Responsible Person: Any person or persons, who use, occupy, establish, or conduct a public nuisance, as defined in subsection (e)(1) of the definition for public nuisance below, or aid or abet therein.
(e) Public Nuisance: Any building, erection, place or any separate part or portion thereof, which have any or all of the conditions hereinafter described, shall be deemed to be a public nuisance.
(1) The following conditions or defects shall constitute a public nuisance when they endanger the life, health, property, safety, or welfare of the public, or of any current or prospective occupants, regardless of whether there has been a conviction for said violation:
C. Any violation of Permitting Drug Abuse as defined in Ohio R.C. 2925.13, and Fairborn Codified Ordinance 513.06.
D. Any violation of Operating a Gambling House as defined in Ohio R.C. 2915.03 and Fairborn Codified Ordinance 517.03.
E. Any alcohol related offense which is defined as a nuisance in Ohio R.C. 3767.01.
F. Any prostitution or sex related offense which is defined as a nuisance in Ohio R.C. 3767.01.
G. Any felony drug violation listed in Chapter 2925 or 3719 of the Ohio Revised Code.
H. Keeping or permitting to be kept a habitual resort for thieves, burglars, robbers or persons involved in felonious conduct as defined in Ohio R.C. 3767.12.
(Ord. 35-15. Passed 11-5-15.)
(a) Whenever the Review Board Director is notified of a suspected public nuisance and determines the existence of a public nuisance as defined in Section 561.01, he/she may cause a written notice to be served on the owner and/or other responsible person, stating the findings with respect to the existence of a public nuisance and ordering the owner and/or other responsible person, to abate the public nuisance within 15 days. Whenever the issues raised by the written notice and order have been finally determined, the review board director may request the assistance of the Legal Department in abating the public nuisance in the manner provided in Ohio R.C. Chapter 3767. If the owner and/or other responsible person fails or refuses to comply with the order to abate the public nuisance, the Review Board Director may, in addition to proceeding as provided hereinabove, proceed against the owner for any violations of this chapter.
(b) Whenever the Review Board Director suspects the existence of a building or housing code public nuisance as defined in Section 561.01 in the City, he/she shall promptly cause any necessary inspection of the premises on which the public nuisance is suspected to exist. The Review Board Director shall cause a written notice to be served on the owner stating the findings with respect to the existence of a public nuisance and stating that unless the owner or owners thereof shall cause the abatement of the public nuisance by rehabilitation or by removal of the building, structure or nuisance, the same will be abated by the City at the expense of the owner. The Review Board Director may also order the owner to take such measures as are reasonably necessary to lessen the severity of the public nuisance in a manner prescribed by the Review Board Director. If the owner fails or refuses to comply with such order, the City may cause either the abatement or the lessening of the severity of the public nuisance, at the expense of the owner, by rehabilitation or repair, or by removal of the building, structure, or nuisance. Abatement by the owner shall start within 15 days after service of the notice and shall be complete within the time prescribed in Section 561.05(c) and (d) or such additional time as the review board director may deem necessary to complete the abatement.
(c) The City may, at its option, elect to not utilize the procedure provided in Section 561.02(b), and proceed instead with the filing of an action in common pleas court in accordance with Ohio R.C. Chapter 3767.
(Ord. 35-15. Passed 11-5-15.)
Written notice pursuant to Section 561.02 shall be served on the owner and/or other responsible person by one of the following methods:
(a) By giving the notice to the person served;
(b) By leaving the notice with a person of suitable age and discretion residing with the person served;
(c) By sending the notice by certified mail to the last known address of the person serviced and receiving a return receipt showing delivery of the mailing; or
(d) In the event a notice sent by certified mail, return receipt requested, is returned undelivered, by sending the notice by ordinary mail to the last known address of the person served and by posting the notice on the property subject to the notice.
(Ord. 35-15. Passed 11-5-15.)
(a) Within 15 days after it has been determined that a nuisance exists, as defined in Section 561.01.
(1) All persons responsible therefore shall vacate the premises or file for an appeal hearing before the public nuisance appeals board;
(2) Upon notification of the existing nuisance, the owner shall initiate such legal action as is necessary to vacate all persons responsible therefore from the premises, and shall diligently process such legal action to a conclusion.
(b) After the last person responsible for the nuisance has vacated the premises, the owner shall provide documentation that those responsible for the nuisance abatement are no longer residing at that location.
Any owner or owner occupied location that has 2 or more identified public nuisance violations, at the same numerical address, within a 12 month period, will be ordered to appear before the Nuisance Appeals Board. The review board can issue an order to keep the premises vacated for up to 365 days based on the findings of the review board.
(Ord. 35-15. Passed 11-5-15.)
(a) The owner or other responsible person named on a nuisance notice may within 15 days after receipt of notice or within 15 days after any other determination has been made by the review board director pursuant to this chapter, make a demand in writing to the Review Board Director for a hearing before the Public Nuisance Appeals Board on any legal or factual issue relating to the nuisance notice, or any question set forth in Section 561.05(d)(4), or on any determination made by the Review Board Director pursuant to the authority granted by this chapter. The demand shall include the correct mailing address of the owner or person representing the owner. The hearing shall be scheduled within a reasonable time, not to exceed 30 days following receipt of the written demand.
(b) The hearing shall be conducted by the Public Nuisance Appeals Board.
(1) Sustain the finding that a public nuisance exists on the property and order that the structure be secured and the premises maintained so as to lessen the severity of the nuisance; or
(2) Continue the matter for a period not to exceed 45 days for further investigation and disposition; or
(3) Take such other action and render such other orders as it deems appropriate within the authority conferred by this chapter; or
(4) Reverse the finding that a public nuisance exists on the property and dismiss the case.
(1) Sustain the finding that a public nuisance exists on the property and order the abatement thereof.
(2) Take such other action and render such other orders as it deems appropriate within the authority conferred by this chapter.
(3) Reverse the finding that a public nuisance exists on the property and dismiss the case.
(4) Determine that the owner of the real property or personal property used in furtherance of the public nuisance was, in good faith, innocent of knowledge of the use of such property as a nuisance and that, with reasonable care and diligence, such owner could not have known thereof, and dismiss the case with respect to that owner.
(e) A copy of the decision of the Public Nuisance Appeals Board shall be mailed, with certificate of mailing, to the last known address of the owner, or person representing the owner, who demanded the hearing. It shall be the responsibility of the owner, or person representing the owner, or person representing the owner, to keep the secretary of the Public Nuisance Appeals Board appraised of his/her current mailing address. For the purpose of appeal pursuant to Ohio R.C. Chapter 2506, the final order shall be deemed to have been entered on the date on which the copy of the decision was mailed. (Ord. 35-15. Passed 11-5-15.)
(a) Should the nuisance, as defined in Section 561.01, not be abated at the expiration of the time stated in the notice or any extensions granted by the review board director or such additional time as the Nuisance Appeals Board may grant, the Review Board Director shall be authorized at any time thereafter to grant entry to the premises and the owner shall permit him/her entry to abate the nuisance by taking such other action as is deemed appropriate to abate the nuisance or lessen the severity of the public nuisance. In abating such nuisance, the Review Board Director may call on any department, division, or bureau of the City for whatever assistance may be necessary to abate such public nuisance as aforesaid. In the event that a fire occurs on the premises of a nuisance structure between the time it is declared a public nuisance and the time such nuisance is fully abated, the reasonable expenses incurred by the City as a result of the services provided by the Department of Fire shall be included in the cost of abating or lessening the severity of the nuisance. The cost of abating or lessening the severity of such nuisance shall be recovered in the manner provided in subsection (b) of this section.
(b) The cost of abating or lessening the severity of such public nuisance, or of such other action taken by the city pursuant to this chapter, shall be recovered in the following manner:
(1) The owner or owners shall be billed directly by certified mail for the cost of abating or lessening the severity of such public nuisance. The bill for the cost thereof shall be paid within 60 days after receipt of the bill.
(2) If the costs are not so recovered, the city may collect the costs by any of the following methods:
A. The City may cause the costs of abating or lessening the severity of such public nuisance to be levied as an assessment and recovered in accordance with Ohio R.C. 715.261.
B. The City may commence a civil action to recover the costs from the owner, as provided in Ohio R.C. 715.261.
(Ord. 35-15. Passed 11-5-15.)
Sections 561.01 through 561.06 shall not be deemed to be a limitation or restriction of any department, division, official, or employee of the City, but shall be deemed as an enlargement of any authority existing by virtues of the statutes of the State of Ohio or any ordinance heretofore enacted by Council. (Ord. 35-15. Passed 11-5-15.)
(a) No owner or other person shall occupy or permit to be occupied by another for occupancy any structure that has been declared by the review board director to be a public nuisance without first applying for and obtaining the written consent of the review board director. Consent shall be given when all violations of all applicable housing, building and other health and safety codes of the City of Fairborn and the State of Ohio have been corrected, when any injunctions obtained against use or occupancy have been dissolved, and when all parties have complied with all applicable requirements of Section 561.04.
(b) In the event of a violation of subsection (a) by the owner, the cost of the relocation of tenants by the City shall be included as a cost of abating or lessening the severity of the nuisance, and shall be recovered in the manner provided in Section 561.06.
(Ord. 35-15. Passed 11-5-15.)
(a) No owner or other person shall enter or be present in or on any building or premises that has been posted with a notice identifying the said building or premises to be a public nuisance, without first obtaining authorization in writing from the review board director and having such written authorization on his/her person at the time.
(b) It shall be an affirmative defense to a violation of this section that the person was the owner, or was authorized by the owner to be present on the said premises, and that one of the persons present had the required written authorization on his/her person at the time.
(c) The officers, agents and employees of the City, State or Federal government, or any political subdivision, or of any public utility, shall be exempt from the requirements of this section while in the course of their official duties.
(e) The issuance of an authorization provided herein shall not be construed to create a privilege, as that term is used in Ohio R.C. 2911.21 or 541.05, nor shall this section be deemed to have any affect whatsoever on the interpretations or application of those sections.
(Ord. 35-15. Passed 11-5-15.)
It shall be unlawful for the owner of any premises, who has received a written notice declaring such premises to be a public nuisance, to sell, transfer, lease, or otherwise dispose of such premises to another until any injunctions obtained against use or occupancy have been dissolved, or until the owner has first furnished the grantee, transferee, or lessee a true copy of the said notice, and has furnished to the Review Board Director a signed and notarized statement from the grantee, transferee, or lessee, acknowledging the receipt of such notice and accepting the responsibility for abating the nuisance in conformity with the terms of such notice, or extension thereof granted by the Review Board Director.
(Ord. 35-15. Passed 11-5-15.)
(a) No person shall fail or refuse to abate a public nuisance within the time prescribed in the notice served pursuant to Section 561.02 and any extension thereof granted in writing by the Review Board Director.
(b) No person shall fail or refuse to comply with an order to abate a public nuisance, as provided in Section 561.02.
(Ord. 35-15. Passed 11-5-15.)
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