(a) As used in this section junk vehicle means any motor vehicle which is in a wrecked, worn out or damaged condition, such damage including, but not limited to, any of the following: missing wheels, tires, motor or transmission, which vehicle is apparently inoperable and is left in the open on private property for more than 30 days with the permission of the person having the right to the possession of the property, except if the person is operating a scrap metal processing facility licensed under authority of R.C. § 4737.05 to 4737.12, or regulated under the authority of the municipality; or if the property on which the motor vehicle is left is not subject to licensure or regulation by any governmental authority, unless the person having the right to the possession of the property can establish that the motor vehicle is part of a bona fide commercial operation; or if the motor vehicle is a collector's vehicle, as defined in R.C. § 4501(F).
(b) No person shall be prevented from storing or keeping, or restricted in the method of storing or keeping, any collector's vehicle on private property with the permission of the person having the right to the possession of the property, except that a person having such permission may be required to conceal, by means of buildings, fences vegetation, terrain or other suitable obstruction, any unlicensed collector's vehicle stored in the open.
(c) The Chief of Police may send notice, by certified mail with return receipt requested, or by personal delivery at the direction of the Chief of Police, to the person having the right to the possession of the property on which a junk motor vehicle is left, that within three days of receipt of the notice, the junk motor vehicle either shall be covered by being housed in a garage or other suitable structure or shall be removed from the property.
(d) No person shall willfully leave a junk motor vehicle uncovered in the open for more than three days after receipt of a notice as provided in this section. The fact that a junk motor vehicle is so left is prima-facie evidence of willful failure to comply with the notice, and each subsequent period of 30 days that a junk motor vehicle continues to be so left constitutes a separate offense.
(e) Whoever violates this section is guilty of a minor misdemeanor on a first offense; on a second offense such person is guilty of a misdemeanor of the third degree; on each subsequent offense such person is guilty of a misdemeanor of the fourth degree. Punishment shall be as provided in § 698.02.
(`80 Code, § 660.07) (Ord. 1799, passed 5-16-88)