Sec. 12-3. - Abatement of nuisance.

(a)   Notice of violation and citation. It shall be the duty of the commissioner of housing advocacy and community development, citation officers as specifically authorized by ordinance, or others authorized by ordinance to act as code enforcement officers to serve or cause to be served a notice of violation or citation upon the owner of any premises on which there is kept or maintained any nuisance in violation of the provisions of this chapter. If issued, such notice of violation shall describe the nuisance so maintained and shall demand abatement of such nuisance within a prescribed time. The notice of violation shall carry no penalty and shall be non-appealable. Should the owner of the premises fail to abate the nuisance within the time set by the notice of violation, a citation may be issued for the violation in accordance with chapter 2B of the Code of Ordinances. In addition to prescribing any civil fine authorized by the ordinance violated, the citation may demand that the violation be abated within a prescribed time. If the violation is not abated within the prescribed time, the urban county government may proceed to abate the nuisance at the expense of the owner, keeping an account of the expense of the abatement; and such expense, including an administrative fee, if any, shall be charged to and paid by the owner.

(b)   Right to a hearing and appeal. Any person issued a citation under this section shall have the right to a hearing before an assigned hearing officer acting on behalf of the administrative hearing board established pursuant to section 12-6 herein. The notices and procedures related to the hearing shall be as provided in chapter 2B of the Code.

(c)   Lien. The urban county government shall possess a lien on the violator's property pursuant to and in accordance with section 2B-9 of the Code of Ordinances for all civil fines and the cost of any abatement, including a reasonable administrative fee, issued or incurred under this section.

(Ord. No. 268-95, ;s ;1, 11-30-95; Ord. No. 83-97, § 1, 5-29-97; Ord. No. 399-99, § 8, 12-7-99; Ord. No. 13-2010, § 4, 1-28-10; Ord. No. 220-2016 , § 9, 12-6-16; Ord. No. 101-2022 , § 3, 9-22-22)

Editor's note(s)—Ord. No. 220-2016 , § 9, adopted December 6, 2016 renumbered § 12-7 as § 12-3.

Sec. 12-4. - Authority of commissioner.

The commissioner of the department of planning, preservation and development is hereby to exercise such powers as may be necessary or convenient to carry out and effectuate the provisions of this chapter of the code of ordinances, including the following powers in addition to any others herein granted:

(a)   To enter upon all properties within the urban county for the purposes of inspection, observation, measurement, sampling, and testing in accordance with the provisions of this article.

(b)   To appoint and fix the duties of such officers, agents and employees as he deems necessary to carry out the purposes of this chapter.

(c)   To delegate any of his functions or powers under this article to such officers, agents and employees as he may designate.

(d)   To promulgate regulations which may be necessary to carry out and effectuate the provisions of this article.

(Ord. No. 268-95, § 1, 11-30-95; Ord. No. 339-99, § 10, 12-7-99; Ord. No. 220-2016 , § 10, 12-6-16)

Editor's note(s)—Ord. No. 220-2016 , § 10, adopted December 6, 2016 repealed § 12-4 and renumbered § 12-8.1 as § 12-4. Former § 12-4 pertained to nuisance abatement and litter regulations and derived from Ord. No. 268-95, adopted November 30, 1995; and Ord. No. 320-99, adopted November 18, 1999.

Sec. 12-5. - Penalties.

(a)   Every person failing to perform the duties required of him by or to comply with the provisions of section 12-2 shall, for every offense, be fined not less than one hundred dollars ($100.00) nor more than two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500.00), and each day's continuance of any such violation shall be a separate offense.

(b)   As an alternative remedy to subsection (a), any owner who violates any provision of section 12-2 and has been previously issued at least one (1) nuisance citation for a violation or violations on the same property within a Twenty-four (24)-month period, may also be assessed civil fines of not less than one hundred dollars ($100.00) no more than one thousand-five hundred dollars ($1,500.00), pursuant to the civil fine guidelines as set forth herein.

(c)   Civil fines assessed for violations of section 12-2 shall be based on the number of citations issued within a Twenty-four (24)-month period, as follows:

 

	1	2	3	4	5+
Number of Citations	$100.00	$250.00	$500.00	$1,000.00	$1,500.00

 

(Ord. No. 268-95, § 2, 11-30-95; Ord. No. 83-97, § 2, 5-29-97; Ord. No. 339-99, § 11, 12-7-99; Ord. No. 13-2010, § 5, 1-28-10; Ord. No. 220-2016 , § 11, 12-6-16; Ord. No. 165-2017 , § 3, 11-16-17)

Editor's note(s)—Ord. No. 220-2016 , § 11, adopted December 6, 2016 repealed § 12-5 and renumbered § 12-8.2 as § 12-5. Former § 12-5 pertained to declaring weeds a nuisance and derived from Ord. No. 268-95, adopted November 30, 1995; Ord. No. 339-99, December 7, 1999; and Ord. No. 74-2013, July 2, 2013.

Sec. 12-6. - Administrative hearing board; establishment.

A five (5) member administrative hearing board is hereby created pursuant to KRS 65.8801 to KRS 65.8839 and chapter 2B of the Code of Ordinances to enforce those provisions of this chapter that are enforceable by civil remedy, including fines. All administrative hearings shall be heard by an assigned hearing officer appointed by the board using the process and procedures provided in chapter 2B. The board or its assigned hearing officers shall meet at least annually and on a regular basis as required for hearings and all such meetings shall comply with the applicable notice requirements of the law.

(Ord. No. 93-97, § 4, 5-29-97; Ord. No. 339-99, § 14, 12-7-99; Ord. No. 220-2016 , § 12, 12-6-16)

Editor's note(s)—Ord. No. 220-2016 , § 12, adopted December 6, 2016 repealed § 12-6 and renumbered § 12-13 as § 12-6. Former § 12-6 pertained to nuisance conditions on private property and derived from Ord. No. 268-95, adopted November 30, 1995; and Ord. No. 339-99, December 7, 1999.

Sec. 12-6.1. - Reserved.

Editor's note(s)—Ord. No. 339-99, § 7, adopted December 7, 1999, repealed former section 12-6.1, which pertained to cellars and derived from Ord. No. 268-95, § 1, 11-30-95.