This section shall replace previous sections of the Codified Ordinances as they pertain to junk property and junk motor vehicles and shall serve as the full force and effect on issues of junk property and junk motor vehicles.
(a) The following definitions shall apply:
(1) “Junk Motor Vehicle” means any motor vehicle meeting any three (3) of the following criteria:
A. Five years or older;
B. Partially dismantled;
C. Inoperable;
D. Fair Market value of less than fifteen hundred ($1,500) dollars;
E. Unlicensed or improperly licensed.
(2) “Partially Dismantled” means, but is not limited to any of the following:
A. Missing engine;
B. Missing battery;
C. Missing transmission;
D. Missing door, fender or hood;
E. Missing wheel;
F. Missing or deflated tire;
G. Missing or broken windshield or window.
(3) “Inoperable” means any motor vehicle incapable of being propelled under its own power. Any motor vehicle that has not been moved for thirty (30) or more consecutive days shall be presumed to be inoperable.
(4) “Collector’s Vehicle” means any motor vehicle or agricultural tractor or traction engine of special interest having a fair market value of five hundred ($500.00) dollars or more, whether operable or not, that is owned, operated, collected, preserved, restored, maintained, or used essentially as a collector’s item, leisure pursuit or investment, but not as the owner’s principal means of transportation.
(5) “Junk” means any worn out, cast off, or discarded material which, in its existing condition, is ready for destruction, is incapable of being used for its original purpose or has been collected or stored for salvage or conversion to some other use. Any article or material which unaltered and unchanged and without further reconditioning can be used for its original purpose as readily as when new shall not be considered junk.
(6) “Person” means any individual, firm, unincorporated association, corporation or other identifiable entity.
(b) No person shall deposit, store, maintain or collect or permit the deposit, storage, maintenance or collection of any junk or junk motor vehicles on his or her premises or any premises in which he or she has a possessory interest or any premises under his or her control. No person, whether the owner of the subject junk or junk motor vehicle or otherwise, shall allow any junk or junk motor vehicle to remain upon any premises longer that ten (10) days after receipt of written notice to remove the junk or junk motor vehicle from such premises.
(c) The written notice to remove the subject junk or junk motor vehicle shall be issued to the property owner or occupant by a proper law enforcement officer or by the Mayor of the Village of Forest. This notice shall contain the following:
(1) The name of the property owner or occupant;
(2) The property address upon which the junk or junk motor vehicle is located;
(3) The make and model of the junk motor vehicle or description of the junk property;
(4) The license plate number, if available;
(5) The Vehicle Identification Number (VIN), if available;
(6) A description of the junk motor vehicle that includes the reason(s) for its definition as junk;
(7) A statement of joint and several liability of owner or occupant of the subject property for costs incurred by the Village of Forest for removal, storage and disposal of subject property, plus an administrative fee of one hundred dollars ($100.00), per junk motor vehicle.
(8) A notice of any right to appeal.
(d) Such written notice shall be served as provided in Rules 4 and 4.1 of the Ohio Revised Code as to service of documents.
(e) If the owner, occupant, lessee, agent or person having control over the land who is served with such notice to remove junk or junk motor vehicles fails to remove said junk or junk motor vehicle(s), a proper law enforcement authority is granted authorization to remove and impound any junk motor vehicle until lawfully claimed or disposed of in accordance with Ohio R.C. 4513.63. Photographs shall be taken as identification of junk and junk motor vehicles.
(f) All expenses related to the removal and impoundment of such motor vehicles by the Village of Forest shall be paid from appropriated funds approved by the Mayor and may include the following:
(1) All direct costs for removal and impoundment of the vehicle, plus
(2) The costs for preparing and service of all notices, plus
(3) An administrative fee of one hundred dollars ($100.00) per vehicle.
(g) In the event that the owner or other person in charge or control of such property, or the titled owner of said vehicle fails to pay such expenses within thirty (30) days after being notified in writing, by regular U.S. Mail, of the amount thereof by the Mayor, the expenses set forth above may be collected using one or more of the methods provided that such expenses are only collected one time.
(1) Such expenses may be certified by the legislative authority to the County Auditor and placed upon the tax duplicate for collection as a special assessment and thereupon shall be collected as other taxes or assessments, or
(2) The Village Solicitor is authorized to bring suit and take other necessary legal action to collect all such expenses.
(h) The owner, lessee, agent, tenant, or other people having charge or control of such junk motor vehicle are joint and severally liable for all aforementioned expenses.
(i) The relocation of a vehicle in violation of this section to another location within the Village does not abate the violation and shall not constitute compliance with this section.
(j) Any otherwise junk motor vehicles in violation of this section that are being harbored, stored or collected by a licensed junk motor vehicle salvage yard or facility shall be stored in a manner that fully conceals said junk motor vehicles from public view, from any public vantage point. Such concealment shall be by usage of an enclosed building or a fully functional fence that completely conceals said items.
(k) Any person found to be in violation of this section shall, for a first offense in any calendar year, shall be guilty of a minor misdemeanor and a misdemeanor of the third degree for any subsequent offense in the same calendar year. A separate offense may be levied each day during which the violation continues. (Ord. 1832. Passed 11-8-12.)