(a) Any owner, or agent of such owner, or occupant of property who shall fail to make the repairs in defective sidewalks as provided in sections 17-148 and 17-149 within the period of time stated in the notice provided for therein may be fined up to twenty-five dollars ($25.00) for each offense; and each day such work remains undone after such period shall be deemed a separate offense.
(b) In the alternative, any owner or agent of such owner, or occupant of property who shall fail to make the repairs in defective sidewalks as provided in sections 17-148 and 17-149 within the period of time stated in the notice provided for therein may be assessed a civil penalty of ten dollars ($10.00) per square foot of unrepaired sidewalk panel, up to a maximum civil penalty of five hundred dollars ($500.00), for each thirty-day period such work remains undone after the time stated in the notice elapses.
(c) The urban county government shall have a lien against property for any unpaid civil penalty (fine) if it has not been appealed within seven (7) days or is otherwise final as further provided in Chapter 2B of the Code of Ordinances. The lien shall operate and be served in the manner provided in Section 2B-9 of the Code.
(d) The commissioner of law is hereby authorized to make the determination that liens shall not be filed when intervening in existing litigation is not cost effective, or when the lien would not be enforceable as a matter of law.
(e) The mayor is hereby authorized and directed to execute a release of the lien provided for in subsection (c) upon payment in full of the civil penalty evidenced by the lien or upon conclusion of any court proceedings resulting in the sale of the property regardless of whether any portion of the civil penalty were paid from the proceeds of the sale. The lien release shall be filed in the county clerk's office.
(f) The department of law is hereby authorized to assert the urban county government's lien rights in any litigation filed by a third party involving a property against which the government possesses a lien.
(Ord. No. 63-89, § 1, 4-20-89; Ord. No. 221-96, § 2, 11-14-96; Ord. No. 185-99, § 3, 7-8-99; Ord. No. 164-2000, § 2, 6-15-00; Ord. No. 139-2011, § 2, 11-3-11; Ord. No. 56-2017 , § 8, 4-27-17)