Loading...
(a) Conditions Prohibited Without Permit. No owner or occupant of any premises shall maintain or permit to be maintained at or on the exterior property areas of such premises any of the following unless specifically authorized by a valid zoning or conditional use permit:
(1) Broken or dilapidated fences, walls or other structures;
(2) Out-of-use or nonusable appliances and automobile parts;
(3) Broken, dilapidated or unusable furniture, mattresses or other household furniture, broken glass, plastic materials, paints, miscellaneous coverings and/or any other materials, including those described in this section, placed at or on the premises in such a manner as to be patently unsightly, grotesque or offensive to the senses;
(4) Any unlicensed or junk vehicle;
(5) More than one inoperable vehicle;
(6) Any item mentioned in divisions (a)(1) to (5) of this section that is covered with a tarp or similar cover;
(7) Abandoned refrigerators and airtight containers.
(b) Responsibility of Owners and Occupants. The owner shall be responsible for ensuring that premises are maintained in proper condition and appearance in compliance with this section. Occupants shall be responsible for maintaining in a clean and sanitary condition those premises or portions thereof which they occupy and/or control. In the case of commonly held properties associated with condominium, village greens or similar projects, it shall be the responsibility of the designated homeowner association or similar organization to maintain those items which are under its direct ownership or control.
(c) Rank Vegetation.
(1) Lawns and landscaping shall be kept from becoming overgrown and unsightly and shall be maintained so as not to constitute a blighting or deteriorating effect on the surrounding neighborhood.
(2) Rank vegetation shall not be permitted on any of the following premises:
A. Within any public right-of-way;
B. Developed or occupied lots within any duly recorded residential or industrial subdivision;
C. Lots within duly recorded residential or industrial subdivisions where such lots are immediately adjacent to a developed or occupied lot;
D. Any commercially zoned property;
E. Developed industrial property;
F. Multi-family developments;
G. Residentially zoned property not within a recorded subdivision where subject property is less than five acres in area.
(3) No owner or occupant of any premises shall permit vegetation to obscure or restrict vision along a public street or at an intersection so as to create a safety hazard.
(d) Noxious Weeds. No owner or occupant shall cause, suffer or allow noxious weeds to grow on any premises. It shall be the duty of the owner or occupant to cut, remove or destroy by lawful means all such noxious weeds as often as may be necessary to protect the public health and safety.
(e) Dead Trees and Branches. No owner or occupant of any premises shall permit a dead tree to stand so near to a public sidewalk or roadway as to endanger users thereof, should all or part of it fall. No such owner or occupant shall permit a dead branch to overhang a public sidewalk or roadway.
(f) Sidewalks and Driveways.
(1) All sidewalks and driveways within the public right of way shall be kept in a proper state of repair. If any sidewalk or driveway or portion thereof, by virtue of its state of repair, shall constitute a danger to public health and safety, said sidewalk or driveway or portion thereof shall be repaired or replaced.
(2) The owner, occupant or other person having charge, management or possession of any building or premises shall keep the sidewalk or sidewalks adjacent to such building or premises in a clean condition at all times.
(g) Grading, Drainage and Stagnant Water. All premises shall be graded and maintained so as to prevent the accumulation of stagnant water thereon. No owner or occupant of any premises shall cause or permit any natural watercourse, drainage ditch, creek, brook, culvert or drain located upon said premises to become obstructed so as to hinder the flow of water.
(h) Parking Lots.
(1) Parking lots shall be kept in safe condition, free from chuck holes, depressions, large cracks and disintegrated or deteriorated areas. Parking lots which are not hard surfaced shall also be kept free from dust. Driveway aprons shall be kept in good repair and in safe condition. Damaged curbing shall be repaired or replaced.
(2) Where necessary for traffic safety, painted striping shall be provided and shall be visible and maintained in good condition.
(i) Penalty. Whoever violates any of the provisions of this section is guilty of a minor misdemeanor. A separate offense shall be deemed committed each day during or on which a violation occurs or continues.
(Ord. 2307. Passed 8-26-91.)
(a) No person shall abandon or knowingly permit to remain on public or private property, any excavation, well, cesspool or structure which is in the process of construction, reconstruction, repair or alteration unless the same is adequately protected by suitable barricades and guarded by warning devices or lights at night so that the condition will not reasonably prove dangerous to life or limb.
(b) No person shall destroy, remove, damage or extinguish any barricade or warning light that is placed for the protection of the public so as to prevent injury to life or limb.
(c) Any owner or agent in control of a premises upon which a basement, cellar, well or cistern has been abandoned due to demolition, failure to build or any other reason shall cause the same to be filled to the ground surface with rock, gravel, earth or other suitable material.
(d) Whoever violates any of the provisions of this section is guilty of a minor misdemeanor. A separate offense shall be deemed committed each day during or on which a violation occurs or continues.
(Ord. 2307. Passed 8-26-91.)
(a) Piling Snow on Sidewalks. No person shall encumber or permit to be encumbered any public sidewalk in the City by piling snow thereon through the use of a manual or machine snow-clearing device.
(b) Depositing Snow on Private Property of Another. In clearing an accumulation of snow, no person shall clear such accumulation from his or her property and deposit it on the private property of another, or permit the same to be done, except by consent of the owner of such property.
(c) Moving Snow Across Public Right-of-Way Onto Other Property. In clearing an accumulation of snow, no person shall push, plow or carry such accumulation from private property across a public right-of-way and deposit it on any other property or permit the same to be done.
(d) Penalty. Whoever violates any of the provisions of this section is guilty of a minor misdemeanor. A separate offense shall be deemed committed each day during or on which a violation occurs or continues.
(Ord. 2307. Passed 8-26-91.)
(a) As used in this section, "place of public assembly" means:
(1) Enclosed theaters, except the lobby; opera houses; auditoriums; classrooms; elevators; rooms in which persons are confined as a matter of health care, including but not limited to a hospital room and a room in a residential care facility serving as the residence of a person living in such residential care facility.
(2) All buildings and other enclosed structures owned by the State, its agencies, or political subdivisions, including but not limited to hospitals and State institutions for the mentally ill and persons with intellectual disabilities; university and college buildings, except rooms within those buildings used primarily as the residences of students or other persons affiliated with the university or college; office buildings; libraries; museums; and vehicles used in public transportation. That portion of a building or other enclosed structure that is owned by the State, a State agency, or a political subdivision, and that is used primarily as a food service establishment, is not a place of public assembly.
(3) Each portion of a building or enclosed structure that is not included in division (a)(1) or (a)(2) of this section is a place of public assembly if it has a seating capacity of 50 or more persons and is available to the public. Restaurants, food service establishments, dining rooms, cafes, cafeterias, or other rooms used primarily for the service of food, as well as bowling alleys and places licensed by the Ohio Division of Liquor Control to sell intoxicating beverages for consumption on the premises, are not places of public assembly.
(b) For the purpose of separating persons who smoke from persons who do not smoke for the comfort and health of persons not smoking, in every place of public assembly there shall be an area where smoking is not permitted, which shall be designated a no smoking area, provided that not more than one-half of the rooms in any health care facility in which persons are confined as a matter of health care may be designated as smoking areas in their entirety. The designation shall be made before the place of public assembly is made available to the public. In places included in division (a)(1) of this section, the local fire authority having jurisdiction shall designate the no smoking area. In places included in division (a)(2) of this section that are owned by the State or its agencies, the Ohio Director of Administrative Services shall designate the area, and if the place is owned by a political subdivision, its legislative authority shall designate an officer who shall designate the area. In places included in division (a)(3) of this section, the person having control of the operations of the place of public assembly shall designate the no smoking area. In places included in division (a)(2) of this section which are also included in division (a)(1) of this section, the officer who has authority to designate the area in places in division (a)(2) of this section shall designate the no smoking area. A no smoking area may include the entire place of public assembly. Designations shall be made by the placement of signs that are clearly visible and that state "no smoking." No person shall remove signs from areas designated as no smoking areas.
(c) This section does not affect or modify the prohibition contained in Ohio R.C. 3313.751(B).
(d) No person shall smoke in any area designated as a no smoking area in accordance with division (b) of this section.
(e) Whoever violates this section is guilty of a minor misdemeanor.
(ORC 3791.031; Ord. 2307. Passed 8-26-91.)
(a) Right of Entry.
(1) The City Manager or his/her designee is authorized to make or cause to be made inspections of the exterior of all premises within the City. All exterior premises must be available and accessible for such inspections, and the owner or occupant is required to provide the necessary arrangements to facilitate such inspections.
(2) Where the City’s agent is refused access, or is otherwise impeded or prevented by the owner or occupant from conducting an inspection of the premises, such person shall be in violation of this chapter and subject to the penalties contained herein.
(b) Responsibilities of Owners and Occupants.
(1) Owners shall have the duties and responsibilities as prescribed in this chapter, and no owner shall be relieved from any such duty and responsibility, nor be entitled to defend against any charge of violation thereof by reason of the fact that the occupant is also responsible therefor and in violation thereof.
(2) Occupants shall have all the duties and responsibilities as prescribed in this chapter and no occupant shall be relieved from any such duty and responsibility nor be entitled to defend against any charge of violation thereof by reason of the fact that the owner is also responsible therefor and in violation thereof.
(c) Notice of Violation.
(1) Where a violation of this chapter is found to exist, a written notice shall be served upon the person or persons responsible for the correction thereof. Said notice shall specify the violation or violations committed, what must be done to correct the same and a reasonable period of time to correct or abate said violation.
(2) Service of said notice shall be by certified mail addressed to the owner and/or occupant at his or her residence or to the tax mailing address as indicated by the records of the Ashtabula County Treasurer, or by delivery to the residence of the owner and/or occupant or by delivery to said individuals at the premises involved.
(d) Noncompliance With Notice. Whenever the owner and/or occupant of a structure or premises fails, neglects or refuses to comply with any notice of violation within the time period specified in said notice, the City shall proceed as provided in division (e) or (f) of this section, whichever is applicable.
(Ord. 2307. Passed 8-26-91.)
(e) Civil Remedy for Noncompliance. Where the owner and/or occupant of any premises fails to comply with a notice of violation of any of the provisions of this chapter within the time period specified in said notice, the City shall cause such violation to be corrected, removed or abated. The City may contract with a private person or firm to accomplish said task. The actual cost of bringing the property into compliance plus 100 percent for inspections and administration shall be billed to the owner and/or occupant. If said bill is not paid within ninety days after submission, then the Clerk of Council shall certify said costs, together with a twenty- five percent penalty, to the Ashtabula County Auditor for placement on the tax duplicate to be collected as other taxes for return to the City.
(Ord. 2529. Passed 3-10-97.)
(f) Criminal Remedy for Noncompliance. Where the owner and/or occupant of any premises fails to comply with a notice of violation of any of the provisions of this chapter, said owner or occupant shall be considered to be in violation of this chapter and the Responsible Official may proceed at law to compel compliance and to prosecute said violation.
(g) Vacant Buildings. If any structure or part thereof is vacant, the Responsible Official may order said structure secured so it will not be an attractive nuisance. Said order shall be served as set forth in division (c) of this section and shall specify a reasonable time for compliance. Upon failure of the owner to comply within the specified time, the City shall cause the building to be secured using City forces or by contract with a private person or firm and the costs thereof shall be charged against the owner of the property as set forth in division (e) of this section.
(h) Penalty. Whoever violates or fails to comply with any provision of this chapter, for which no penalty is otherwise provided, is guilty of a minor misdemeanor. A separate offense shall be deemed committed each day during or on which a violation or noncompliance occurs or continues.
(Ord. 2307. Passed 8-26-91.)