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For the purpose of this article, the following definitions shall apply unless the context clearly indicates or requires a different meaning.
INOPERABLE. A condition of being junked, wrecked, wholly or partially dismantled, discarded, abandoned or unable to perform the function or purpose for which it was originally constructed.
VEHICLE. Without limitation, any automobile, truck, tractor or motorcycle which as originally built contained an engine, regardless of whether it contains an engine at any other time.
It shall be unlawful for any person to maintain or permit any motor vehicle nuisance within the city.
(a) (1) A MOTOR VEHICLE NUISANCE is any motor vehicle that is not currently registered or tagged pursuant to K.S.A. 8-126 to 8-149 inclusive, as amended; or parked in violation of city ordinance; or incapable of moving under its own power; or in a junked, wrecked or inoperable condition.
(2) Any one of the following conditions shall raise the presumption that a vehicle is junked, wrecked or inoperable:
(A) Absence of a current registration plate upon the vehicle;
(B) Placement of the vehicle or parts thereof upon jacks, blocks or other supports; or
(C) Absence of one or more parts of the vehicle necessary for the lawful operation of the vehicle upon street or highway.
(b) The provisions of this article shall not apply to:
(1) Any motor vehicle that is enclosed in a garage or other building;
(2) To the parking or storage of a vehicle inoperable for a period of 30 consecutive days or less; or
(3) To any person conducting a business enterprise in compliance with existing zoning regulations or who places such vehicles behind screening of sufficient size, strength and density to screen such vehicles from the view of the public and to prohibit ready access to stored vehicles by children, however, nothing in this division (b)(3) shall be construed to authorize the maintenance of a public nuisance.
The public officer shall make inquiry and inspection of premises upon receiving a complaint or complaints in writing signed by two or more persons stating that a nuisance exists and describing the same and where located or is informed that a nuisance may exist by the Board of Health, Chief of Police or the Fire Chief. The public officer may make such inquiry and inspection when he or she observes conditions that appear to constitute a nuisance. Upon making any inquiry and inspection, the public officer shall make a written report of findings.
(a) The governing body shall serve upon the owner, any agent of the owner of the property, or any other person, corporation, partnership or association found by the public officer to be in violation of § 8-303 an order stating the violation. The order shall be served on the owner or agent of such property by certified mail, return receipt requested, or by personal service. If the property is unoccupied and the owner is a nonresident, then by mailing the order by certified mail, return receipt requested, to the last known address of the owner.
(b) If the owner or the agent of the owner of the property has failed to accept delivery or otherwise failed to effectuate receipt of a notice or order sent pursuant to this section during the preceding 24- month period, the governing body of the city may provide notice of the issuance of any further orders to abate or remove a nuisance from such property or provide notice of the order by such methods including, but not limited to, door hangers, conspicuously posting notice of such order on the property, personal notification, telephone communication or first-class mail. If the property is unoccupied and the owner is a nonresident, notice provided by this section shall be given by telephone communication or first-class mail.
(K.S.A. 12-1617e)
(a) The order shall state the condition(s) which is (are) in violation of § 8-303.
(b) The order shall also inform the person, corporation, partnership or association that:
(1) He, she or they shall have ten days from receipt of the order to abate the condition(s) in violation of § 8-303; or
(2) He, she or they have ten days from receipt of the order to request a hearing before the governing body or its designated representative of the matter as provided by § 8-312;
Should the person fail to comply with the notice to abate the nuisance or request a hearing, the public officer may file a complaint in the Municipal Court of the city against such person and upon conviction of any violation of provisions of § 8-303, be fined in an amount not to exceed $100 or be imprisoned not to exceed 30 days or be both fined and imprisoned. Each day during or on which a violation occurs or continues after notice has been served shall constitute an additional or separate offense.
(a) In addition to, or as an alternative to prosecution as provided in § 8-309, the public officer may seek to remedy violations of this article in the following manner. If a person to whom an order has been sent pursuant to § 8-307 has neither alleviated the conditions causing the alleged violation or requested a hearing before the governing body within the time period specified in § 8-308, the public officer may present a resolution to the governing body for adoption authorizing the public officer or other agents of the city to abate the conditions causing the violation at the end of ten days after passage of the resolution.
(b) (1) The resolution shall further provide that the costs incurred by the city shall be charged against the lot or parcel of ground on which the nuisance was located as provided in § 8-313.
(2) A copy of the resolution shall be served upon the person in violation in one of the following ways:
(A) Personal service upon the person in violation;
(B) Service by certified mail, return receipt requested; or
(C) In the event the whereabouts of such person are unknown and the same cannot be ascertained in the exercise of reasonable diligence, an affidavit to that effect shall be made by the public officer and filed with the City Clerk, and the serving of the resolution shall be made by publishing the same once each week for two consecutive weeks in the official city newspaper and by posting a copy of the resolution on the premises where such condition exists.
(3) If the owner or the agent of the owner of the property has failed to accept delivery or otherwise failed to effectuate receipt of a notice or order sent pursuant to this section during the preceding 24-month period, the governing body of the city may provide notice of the issuance of any further orders to abate or remove a nuisance from such property or provide notice of the order by such methods including, but not limited to, door hangers, conspicuously posting notice of such order on the property, personal notification, telephone communication or first-class mail. If the property is unoccupied and the owner is a nonresident, notice provided by this section shall be given by telephone communication or first-class mail.
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