(a) No owner or occupant of any lot or parcel of land located within the corporate limits of the village shall fail to periodically cut and destroy all noxious, harmful or other weeds, vines, grasses and wild growth growing upon such lot or parcel of land. This section shall not apply to growing crops or cultivated plants. Weeds, vines, grasses or other wild growth which exceed a height of six inches shall be deemed noxious or harmful.
(b) If any such owner or occupant fails to cut and destroy such weeds, vines, grasses or other wild growth as described in division (a) hereof, the Village Administrator shall cause a written notice to be served upon the owner and, if different, upon the lessee, agent, or tenant having charge of such land, notifying him/her/it that noxious weeds are growing on such lands and that they must be cut and destroyed within five days after the service of such notice.
(c) If any such owner or occupant fails to cut and destroy such weeds, vines, grasses or other wild growth as described in division (a) hereof within those five days, the Village Administrator shall cause such weeds, grasses, vines or other growth to be destroyed. The owner of the premises shall thereupon become indebted for the actual expense incurred in cutting and destroying the weeds, grasses, vines and other growth and shall pay the cost thereof within 30 days after being notified of the cost.
(Ord. 1805-B, passed 8-1-88)
(d) If such owner or occupant fails to pay the actual expense of cutting the weeds, vines, grasses or other wild growth as provided in this section within thirty days after being notified of such costs, the Village Administrator shall cause such costs to be certified to the County Auditor, along with a penalty of five percent, with a request to enter such amount upon the tax duplicate. The amount shall be a lien upon the premises from the date of entry, shall be collected as other taxes and shall be returned to the village to the General Fund. The remedy provided for in this division and in division (c) hereof shall be in addition to the penalty provided in division (e) hereof.
(e) Whoever violates any of the provisions of this section is guilty of a minor misdemeanor and shall be subject to the penalty provided in § 698.02.
(Ord. 1766, passed 8-3-87)
(`80 Code, § 660.15) (Ord. 2551, passed 7-19-04)