(A) It shall be the duty of the Public Works Director or other responsible officer designated by the legislative body to serve or cause to be served a notice upon the owner or occupant of any premises on which there is kept or maintained any nuisance in violation of the provisions of this chapter and to demand the abatement of the nuisance within five days unless the nuisance constitutes an immediate danger to the health and well being of the community. If such danger is present, the nuisance shall be abated within 24 hours of notice. Notice shall be served upon persons by certified mail, but if the whereabouts of the person is unknown and cannot be ascertained by the Director in the exercise of reasonable diligence, the Director shall make an affidavit to that effect, and the serving of notice may be made by publication in a newspaper of general circulation for two consecutive days. A copy of the notice shall be posted in a conspicuous place on the premises affected by the notice and it shall be recorded in the office of the County Clerk.
(B) If the person so served does not abate the nuisance within five days, the city may proceed to abate the nuisance, keeping an account of the expense of the abatement, and the expense shall be charged and paid by the owner or occupant.
(C) Charges for nuisance abatement shall be a lien upon the premises whenever a bill for charges remains unpaid for 60 days after it has been claimed. This statement shall contain a legal description of the premises, the expenses and costs incurred, the date the nuisance was abated, and a notice that the city claims a lien for this amount. Notice of lien claim shall be mailed to the owner of the premises if his address is known. However, failure to record the lien claim or to mail the notice, or the failure of the owner to receive the notice, shall not affect the right to foreclose the lien for charges as provided in division (D) below.
(D) Property subject to a lien for unpaid nuisance abatement charges may be sold for nonpayment and the proceeds of the sale shall be applied to pay the charges after deducting costs as is the case in the foreclosure of statutory liens. This foreclosure shall be in equity in the name of the city.
(E) The City Attorney is authorized to institute such proceedings in the name of the city, in any court having jurisdiction over the matter, against any property for which the bill has remained unpaid 60 days after it has been rendered.
(F) The lien created shall take precedence over all other subsequent liens, except state, county, school board, and city taxes, and may be enforced by judicial proceeding. In addition to this remedy or any other remedy authorized by law, the owner of a property upon which a lien has been attached pursuant to this section shall be personally liable for the amount of the lien, including all interest, civil penalties, and other charges and the city may bring a civil action against the owner and shall have the same remedies as provided for the recovery of a debt owed.
(G) If an owner, occupant or person having control or management of land relative to which the city has issued a notice of violation for maintaining a nuisance wishes to deny the city's determination that a nuisance violation exists, the person aggrieved may file an answer stating the grounds for such denial within five days of receipt of the notice of violation from the city. Such answer shall be filed with the City Clerk at City Hall during regular business hours.
(1) The failure to timely file such an answer constitutes an admission of the existence of the nuisance described in the notice of violation.
(2) Upon receipt by the city of an answer denying the existence of a nuisance, the city shall notify the answering party that a hearing will be held at City Hall. The notice shall state the time and date of the scheduled hearing, said date to be not less than ten nor more than 30 days from the date the city receives the answer from the answering party.
(3) The hearing shall be held before the Hearing Officer who is the Mayor or his designee. The answering party may give testimony and present evidence at the hearing and the rules of evidence prevailing in courts of law shall not be controlling in hearing before the Hearing Office. At any such hearing, the answering party shall have the right to be represented by counsel, present relevant evidence, cross-examine witnesses and have the proceedings recorded by a court reporter. Provided, however, that the aggrieved party and/or any party in interest shall bear the expense of his or her attorney and/or the court reporter.
(4) If after notice and hearing the Hearing Officer determines that no nuisance violation exists, the notice of violation shall be dismissed.
(5) If after notice and hearing the Hearing Officer determines that a nuisance violation exists, the notice of violation shall be sustained and the abatement procedure herinabove described shall be implemented.
(Ord. passed 10-1-84; Am. Ord. 2011-08, passed 8-15-11; Am. Ord. 2019-06, passed 4-1-19)
Statutory reference:
Abatement procedures, see KRS 381.770