OF UNSAFE STRUCTURES AND EXTERIOR PROPERTY NUISANCES; VIOLATIONS AND REMEDIAL NOTICES; APPEALS PROCESS; COST RECOVERY.
(a) Declaration of Public Nuisance. All public nuisance structures are declared to be public nuisances. The public nuisance shall be abated by correction of the violations to the minimum standards of the Codified Ordinances of Lakewood, Ohio, the Revised Code and the Ohio Administrative Code, including the Ohio Fire Code, or by demolition.
(b) Examination and Condemnation.
(1) The Building Commissioner, Assistant Building Commissioner or his or her designee(for the purposes of this section, the "Commissioner") is authorized to examine or cause to be examined every building or other structure reported to be unsafe or damaged or injurious to or a menace to the public, and shall make a written record of the examination.
(2) The Commissioner may designate as a public nuisance structure any structures or conditions, or any portion thereof, found to be unsafe under the criteria established in Section 1306.521.
(3) The Commissioner may also declare that a public nuisance structure which, due to its advanced state of dilapidation, substantial fire damage or structural infirmity, is an immediate hazard to human life or health, may only be abated by immediate repair and rehabilitation to the minimum standards of the Codified Ordinances of Lakewood, Ohio, the Revised Code, and Ohio Administrative Code, including the Ohio Fire Code, or by demolition.
(4) Whenever the Commissioner finds a vacant structure open to entry at doors, windows or other points accessible to the general public, the Commissioner may cause the structure to be secured at those points of entry. The Commissioner shall be authorized at any time to enter the premises to secure the structure in order to lessen the severity of the public nuisance. In securing the structure, the Commissioner may call any department, division or bureau of the Village for whatever assistance may be necessary, or may, by private contract, secure such structure, and may notify any public utility to shut off service to the property.
(c) Notice of Violation.
(1) Whenever the Commissioner finds a building, structure or a portion thereof to be unsafe, and determines it or the property on which it is located to be a public nuisance structure, the Commissioner shall forward by certified mail to the owner, agent or person in control of the public nuisance structure and to any mortgagee of record a written notice of violation stating the defects in the building or structure. The notice of violation shall require the owner to abate the nuisance condition of the public nuisance structure by correction of the violations and defects to the minimum standards of the Codified Ordinances of Lakewood, Ohio, the Revised Code and the Ohio Administrative Code, including the Ohio Fire Code, or by demolition and removal of the public nuisance structure or a portion thereof within a stated time. The notice also shall state that if the nuisance is not abated within the required time, the Commissioner may take appropriate action to repair, remove or otherwise abate the public nuisance structure, and that the owner, agent or person in control shall be responsible for the costs. The handing of the violation notice to the owner, agent or person in control of the public nuisance structure or a portion thereof shall be deemed actual notice, and is legal and valid service, and no other form of service is necessary.
(2) If the person to whom the notice and order is addressed is not found after a reasonable and diligent search, then the notice and order shall be sent by certified mail to his tax mailing address, if available, as indicated on the County tax duplicate, and a copy of the notice shall be posted in a conspicuous place on the premises to which it relates. The mailing and posting shall be deemed legal service of the notice.
(3) An owner, agent or person in control of the public nuisance structure, a mortgagee of record, or a lien-holder of record who has received a notice of violation or a notice to make corrections to the minimum standards of the Codified Ordinances of Lakewood, Ohio, the Revised Code and the Ohio Administrative Code, including the Ohio Fire Code, or to demolish and remove, as provided for in this section, shall inform prospective purchasers, vendees, grantees, assignees, lessees, or land contractees of the notice of violation or the notice to make corrections, or to demolish and remove. No person shall transfer to a vendee, grantee, assignee, lessee, land contractee or any other transferee any interest in a public nuisance structure after receiving a notice of violation to make corrections, or to demolish and remove the same, without first providing the transferee with a copy of the notice.
(4) No person, agent, firm or corporation shall sell, by land contract or otherwise, any interest in any public nuisance structure without furnishing the buyer, prior to the sale, a copy of any outstanding notice or order from the Village, including any notice of violation or any outstanding notice to make corrections to the minimum standards of the Codified Ordinances of Lakewood, Ohio, the Revised Code and the Ohio Administrative Code, including the Ohio Fire Code, or any outstanding notice to demolish and remove. No buyer or grantee, by land contract or otherwise, shall obtain any interest in any public nuisance structure without obtaining from the seller, prior to sale, the documents described above.
(5) No person, agent, firm or corporation acting in the capacity of an escrow agent in any real estate transaction involving the sale of a public nuisance structure in the Village, shall disburse any funds unless the provisions of this section have been met.
(6) Any buyer or grantee, by land contract or otherwise, of a public nuisance structure, shall begin at the date of transfer to comply with any notice or order obtained or to be obtained under this paragraph and, within ten (10) days of the date of transfer, shall notify the Commissioner, in writing, of the actions that will be taken to comply. The Commissioner may then establish a reasonable time to comply.
(d) Vacating Buildings and Prohibiting Use. The Commissioner may also require in the notice issued under subsection (c)(1) of this section that the public nuisance structure or a portion thereof be vacated, not be reoccupied, or used until the specified repairs and improvements are completed, inspected, and approved by the Commissioner.
The Commissioner may cause to be posted at each entrance to the public nuisance structure a notice as follows:
"THIS STRUCTURE IS IN A DANGEROUS CONDITION AND HAS BEEN CONDEMNED AND ITS USE HAS BEEN PROHIBITED BY THE BUILDING COMMISSIONER"
The notice shall remain posted until the required corrections are made, or until demolition is completed. No person shall remove the notice without written permission of the Commissioner, nor shall any person use or enter the public nuisance structure, except for the purpose of making the required corrections, or effectively boarding, or demolishing the public nuisance structure.
(e) Right to Appeal.
(1) Board of Building Standards and Building Appeals.
A. The owner, agent or person in control of a public nuisance structure shall have a right to appeal to the Board of Building Standards and Building Appeals from the notice and decision of the Commissioner as provided in this section within ten (10) days of the service of the Commissioner's notice.
B. The Board of Building Standards and Building Appeals shall hold and conduct a public hearing within twenty (20) days of the receipt of the notice of appeal.
C. In any such appeal, the Village must show by preponderance of the evidence the existence of the condition or defects that are noted in the Commissioner's notice.
D. The Board of Building Standards and Building Appeals, upon hearing all the facts and evidence, shall make a determination as to whether the Village has met its burden to show the existence of the condition or defects in the Commissioner's notice.
E. If the Board of Building Standards and Building Appeals makes a determination that the Village has met its burden, then the decision of the Board shall become a final order.
F. The Board shall publish its decision and serve notice by certified mail to the owner, agent or person in control of the public nuisance structure or portion thereof and to any mortgagee of record.
G. Any notice served by the Commissioner shall automatically become a final order if a written notice of appeal before the Board is not filed in the office of the Board within the time set forth above.
(2) Appeal to court of competent jurisdiction. Notwithstanding any provisions contained herein, the owner or person in control of the structure shall have the right to appeal the decision and order of the Board to a court of competent jurisdiction. In the absence of an appeal, all actions taken shall constitute a valid exercise of the police powers of the Village of Lakewood.
(f) Noncompliance with Notice.
(1) Commissioner authorized to abate, demolish, remove. In case the owner, agent or person in control fails, neglects or refuses to comply with the notice to repair or rehabilitate, or to demolish and remove a public nuisance structure or a portion thereof, the Commissioner may take appropriate action to abate, demolish or remove the public nuisance structure or portion thereof or to abate or remove any condition constituting the nuisance.
(2) Action by Director of Law. The Commissioner may advise the Director of Law of the facts in the case, who may institute appropriate action in court to cause correction of the violations and defects, or demolition and removal, or effective boarding of the building or structure pending rehabilitation.
(3) Rehabilitation permits not a bar to Commissioner's action to abate. The securing of rehabilitation permits for the building or structure shall not in and of itself bar the Commissioner from taking action to abate the nuisance.
(4) Failure to comply with notice. In case the owner, agent or person in control fails, neglects or refuses to comply with the notice to repair or rehabilitate, or to demolish and remove a public nuisance structure or a portion thereof, or to remove or abate any other condition that is defined as a nuisance under this section, the Commissioner may take appropriate action to take repair or maintenance measures or cause utility services to be shut off or to otherwise abate the public nuisance. The Commissioner shall specifically state in writing the findings with respect to the public nuisance structure, and shall determine whether to perform repair or maintenance based on factors which may include the following: the distance of the structure from neighboring structures, the type of structure, the extent of deterioration, the likelihood of vandalism or arson, the economic likelihood of eventual complete rehabilitation of the structure, and the cost of repair or maintenance.
(5) Notice of intent to demolish. The Commissioner shall give written notice informing the owner, agent or person in control of the public nuisance structure or a portion thereof, as well as any mortgagee and lienholder of record, of the Village's intention to demolish and remove the unsafe building or structure at least thirty (30) days before the intended action by the Village. The notice may be effective concurrently with the violation notice.
(g) Costs.
(1) Any and all expenses or costs incurred under this section for the removal, repair, alteration, securing or boarding of a public nuisance structure or for abating any other nuisance identified under this section shall be paid by the owner of such building or structure, except when such expenses or costs are incurred with respect to a government or school building owned by a governmental entity or political subdivision and are funded by federal money.
(2) Whenever an inspection is made after the compliance date stated on a Commissioner's notice issued under this section, or after a compliance date established by a court of competent jurisdiction, which inspection is made to determine whether the violation has been remedied and the violation has not been remedied, or whenever an additional permit is obtained for work previously permitted and the original permit has expired or was appropriately voided, a fee of one hundred dollars ($100.00) shall be charged for each inspection, except that this fee shall not apply to owner- occupied one- and two-family dwelling structures.
(3) If within thirty (30) days from the date the Commissioner sends a statement of charges and costs incurred hereunder, the owner fails to pay for the costs of removal, repair, alteration, securing or boarding or of inspections of violations that have not been remedied, the Commissioner may certify the amount to the Village including collection agency fees. The Village may make written return to the County Auditor of the action under this section with a statement of the charges for services, the amount paid for the performing of labor and a proper description of premises. Certification to the County Auditor is for the purpose of making expenses and costs a lien upon the lands, to be collected as other taxes and returned to the Village of Lakewood.
(4) Notwithstanding the method of collection set forth in this subsection, the Director of Law may take any action necessary to collect the costs of demolition, boarding or other nuisance abatement from the owner or other responsible party.
(Ord. 2019-42. Passed 9-11-19.)