(a) For the purposes of this section, "junk motor vehicle" means any motor vehicle meeting the requirements of Ohio R.C. 4513.63(B) to (E) that is left uncovered in the open on private property for more than seventy-two hours with the permission of the person having the right to the possession of the property, except if the person is operating a junk yard or scrap metal processing facility licensed under authority of Ohio R.C. 4737.05 to 4737.12; or regulated under 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.
Persons may store or keep by unrestricted method any collector's vehicle as defined in Ohio R.C. 4501.01(F) on private property with the permission of the person having the right to the possession of the property; except that such person having such permission shall conceal, by means of buildings, fences, vegetation, terrain or other suitable obstruction, any unlicensed collector's vehicle stored in the open.
Council, the Chief of Police or the Municipal Zoning Authority, may send notice by certified mail with return receipt requested, to the person having the right to the possession of the property on which a junk motor vehicle is left, that within ten 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.
No person shall willfully leave a junk motor vehicle uncovered in the open for more than ten 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. Each subsequent period of thirty days that a junk motor vehicle continues to be so left constitutes a separate offense.
(b) Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, whoever violates this section is guilty of a minor misdemeanor on a first offense. If the offender previously has been convicted of or pleaded guilty to one violation of this section, whoever violates this section is guilty of a misdemeanor of the fourth degree. If the offender previously has been convicted of or pleaded guilty to two or more violations of this section, whoever violates this section is guilty of a misdemeanor of the third degree. (ORC 4513.65; Ord. 34-10. Passed 7-19-10.)