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For the purpose of administration and enforcement of this chapter, the following definitions shall apply:
(a) Abandoned Motor Vehicle. A motor vehicle, or part thereof, which has been voluntarily relinquished by its owner, with the intention of terminating ownership, possession and control, without vesting ownership in any other person.
(b) Garage. Any structure with four walls and a roof constructed for, or capable of, the storage or parking of a motor vehicle.
(c) Junked Motor Vehicle. Any motor vehicle, or part thereof, outside a fully enclosed building, which presents a hazard or danger to the public by virtue of its state or condition of disrepair, or its wrecked, damaged or dismantled condition, and which is unable to move under its own power or be operated on a public street or highway.
(d) Motor Vehicle. Any self-propelled land vehicle which can be used for towing or transporting people or materials, including, but not limited to, automobiles, trucks, buses, motorhomes, motorized campers, motorcycles, motorscooters, tractors, snowmobiles and dune buggies, and including trailers, semi-trailers or other wheeled devices drawn thereby.
(e) Motor Vehicle Accessories. Any part or parts of any motor vehicle.
(f) Nuisance. Any condition or use of real property and/or any structures thereon, and any condition or use of any mechanical device, including motor vehicles, which shall constitute a threat, or a potential threat, to the health, safety or welfare of the residents of the City.
(g) Owner. Any person having title, legal or equitable, whole or partial, whether by deed, mortgage, lease or other contract, to real estate within the City where motor vehicles are maintained, and any person having title, legal or equitable, whole or partial, whether by lease, contract or other title document, to any motor vehicle maintained within the City.
(h) Person. Every natural person, firm, partnership, association, corporation, or other legal entity.
(Ord. 4773. Passed 6-11-97; Ord. 5328. Passed 2-9-22.)
(a) No abandoned motor vehicle, as defined in this chapter, shall be parked, stored or left to remain on any lot, tract or parcel of land or portion thereof, whether occupied or unoccupied, improved or unimproved, within the City of Johnstown, as further described in this section, unless permitted by Section 468.06(a).
(b) A motor vehicle shall be presumed to be abandoned if it exhibits any of the following circumstances and a code officer has investigated such conditions below and has found the abandoned/junked vehicle to be in a nuisance condition as defined in Section 468.05:
(1) An invalid registration plate;
(2) An invalid certificate of inspection;
(3) An identification number which cannot be ascertained;
(4) Is incapable of being moved under its own power;
(5) Has not been moved for a continuous period of more than 30 days; or
(6) Has remained on private property without the consent of the property owner or person in control of the property for a period of more than 48 hours.
(c) To the extent that an abandoned motor vehicle may also be deemed or classified as a junked motor vehicle, as defined in Section 468.03(c), that subsection shall control over this section.
(Ord. 4773. Passed 6-11-97; Ord. 5222. Passed 2-8-17.)
(a) Motor Vehicle Nuisance Prohibited. No person, whether the owner of the real estate upon which a motor vehicle nuisance is maintained or the owner of such vehicle declared to be a nuisance, shall maintain a motor vehicle nuisance upon open private or public grounds within the City of Johnstown. A motor vehicle nuisance shall include any motor vehicle or trailer which is unable to move under its own power and has any of the following physical defects:
(1) Broken windshields, mirrors, head-lamps, tail-lamps or other glass, with sharp edges.
(2) One or more flat or open tires or tubes which could permit vermin harborage.
(3) Storage or placement of the vehicle in an unbalanced condition, such as on concrete blocks or other supports.
(4) Any body parts with sharp edges, including holes resulting from rust.
(5) Missing tires resulting in unsafe suspension of the motor vehicle.
(6) Upholstery which is torn or open which could permit animal and/or vermin harborage.
(7) Disassembled chassis parts apart from the motor vehicle, stored in a disorderly fashion or loose in or on the vehicle.
(8) Broken vehicle frame suspended from the ground in an unstable manner.
(9) Leaking of any fluids from the vehicle.
(10) Inoperable locking mechanism for doors or trunk.
(11) Damaged bumpers pulled away from the perimeter of the vehicle.
(12) Broken grill with protruding edges.
(13) Loose or damaged metal trim and clips.
(14) Such other defects which could threaten the health, safety and welfare of the citizens of the City of Johnstown.
(b) Abandoned Motor Vehicles Prohibited. No person, whether the owner of the real estate upon which an abandoned motor vehicle is maintained or the owner of such vehicle abandoned, shall maintain an abandoned motor vehicle upon open private or public grounds within the City of Johnstown.
(c) Storage Prohibited. No person owning or having custody of any junked motor vehicle, abandoned motor vehicle or motor vehicle accessories, shall store or permit any such vehicle or accessories to remain on any private property within the City, where its presence constitutes a hazard, for a period of more than ten days after receipt of a notice requiring such removal. Further, no person owning any private property in the City shall store or permit to remain any such vehicles or accessories on his or her property for more than a like period. Such storage is declared to be a motor vehicle nuisance and may be abated or removed and penalties imposed as provided in this chapter. No person, after notification has been given, shall remove any junked or abandoned motor vehicle or motor vehicle accessories from any private property and move the same to any other private property upon which said storage is not permitted or onto any public highway or other public property for the purposes of storage.
(Ord. 4773. Passed 6-11-97.)
(a) Permitted Storage. This chapter shall not apply to any motor vehicle or motor vehicle accessories stored within an enclosed building, or on the premises of a business enterprise operated in a lawful place and manner when necessary to the operation of such business enterprise, or in a storage place or depository maintained in a lawful place and manner, or to seasonal-use vehicles, such as, snowmobiles, motorcycles, motor scooters and non-motorized campers. As to junked motor vehicles or abandoned motor vehicles, such business enterprises shall include automobile junkyards, but not auto repair shops. As to motor vehicle accessories, junked motor vehicles and abandoned motor vehicles, such business enterprises shall include automobile junkyards, and auto repair and auto body shops, but shall not include automobile service stations or tire, battery and accessory sales stores.
(b) Bona Fide Repair. Where storage or parking of one junked motor vehicle on private property in other than a garage is for the purpose of bona fide repair of such vehicle, and the owner or occupant of such property, or the owner, operator or custodian of such motor vehicle, is not engaged in the business of automobile repair, but intends to make such repair, such owner or occupant of the property, or such owner, operator or custodian of such vehicle, as the case may be, shall apply to the City for a permit for storage or parking of one such vehicle in other than a garage during the course of its repair, for a period of 30 days. At the discretion of the Department, a repair permit may be renewed one time for an additional 30-day period, upon furnishing proof that the repairs to the vehicle were actually begun during the initial permit period, and that the delay in repairing the vehicle in the initial permit period was not caused by the inaction of the owner, operator or custodian of such vehicle.
(Ord. 4773. Passed 6-11-97.)
(a) Investigation of Premises. The Department, on routine inspection or upon receipt of a complaint, may investigate a suspected junked motor vehicle, an abandoned motor vehicle, or motor vehicle accessories, and record the make, model, style and identification numbers in each situation.
(b) Inspection and Notice to Comply. The Department is hereby empowered, upon inspection, if a non-compliance with the terms of this chapter shall exist, to issue a written notice, served by registered or certified mail, upon the owner of the premises and/or the owner of the motor vehicle nuisance being maintained upon said premises, which notice shall specify the non-compliance complained of, and shall require the owner, whether of the property where the motor vehicle or accessories are stored or of the motor vehicle nuisance, to remove or otherwise rectify the non-conformity, as set forth therein, within ten days of the mailing of such notice. The City's Code Enforcement Officer shall have the option and authority to extend this period where determined necessary by extenuating circumstance, as determined in the Officer's discretion, and in no event to exceed any period longer than 60 days unless special approval has been granted by the City Manager, who will likewise be required to notify City Council of any grant of special approval for an extended period. If the owner of the property or of the motor vehicle nuisance being maintained cannot be determined, the notice may be given by posting the same conspicuously upon the offending premises and/or on the motor vehicle nuisance.
(c) Authority to Remedy Non-Compliance. If the owner of the grounds upon which the motor vehicle nuisance is maintained, and/or the owner of the motor vehicle nuisance, fails to comply with the notice to abate the non-conformity, of which notice is given, within the time limit prescribed, the City shall have the authority to take measures to correct the non-compliance including, but not limited to:
(1) Filing a complaint with the court for a violation of Section 302.8 of the International Property Maintenance Code; and/or
(2) Entering the property to impound the abandoned or junked vehicle at the owners expense and/or expense of the property owner; and/or
(3) Collecting costs from the salvage contractor, plus 15% payable to the City of Johnstown, at which time the salvage company will obtain ownership of the abandoned or junked vehicle.
(Ord. 4773. Passed 6-11-97; Ord. 5222. Passed 2-8-17; Ord. 5328. Passed 2-9-22.)
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