(A) Complaint. Any department of the city which receives a complaint regarding any environmental public nuisances within the city shall forward that complaint to the Code Enforcement Department.
(B) Assignment of complaint. The Code Enforcement Department shall thereafter forward the complaint to the officer for processing, who in turn, shall visually inspect the property in question. If the officer determines that a violation exists, they shall issue a notice of violation as provided below.
(C) Notice to abate.
(1) When a complaint addresses private property, the officer through the Code Enforcement Department shall cause a written notice to abate to be served upon the owner of the property in question, granting that owner a minimum of five calendar days in which to remove the environmental nuisance. This notice shall be served by a law enforcement officer, by certified mail to the owner or by a "notice" placard conspicuously posted on the property which contains the following information: the address of the property, the date of the notice, the name of the agency enforcing this subchapter, the address of the agency, the phone number of the agency and a warning that if the environmental public nuisance is not removed within five calendar days after the posting, the city has the right to enter on the property to abate and/or correct the condition and bill the owner for costs incurred in so doing and/or file a court action against the owner for an ordinance violation.
(2) The officer, after posting a notice to abate shall serve to the owner of the subject property a copy of the notice by regular first class United States mail postage prepaid and provided further that any failure to give such written notice shall not constitute a defense to any action to enforce the provisions of § 95.43.
(D) Exception to notice to abate requirement. If the officer finds a violation which constitutes a "traffic hazard," the officer shall find it necessary to waive the five day grace period and abate the problem as soon as possible.
(E) Publication of notice. In lieu of the notice required by division (C) of this section, the city through the Code Enforcement Department, may publish notice in a newspaper of general circulation in the city, on two separate occasions during the month of April, that if any environmental public nuisance violations are not corrected by June 1st of that year they will be cut by the city and the owner of the property charged with the costs under the provision of § 95.45. The publication shall contain all the information required of the notice to abate in public nuisance violations as many times as is necessary to comply with this subchapter and charge the actual cost to the property owner.
(F) Inspection. Following the expiration of the "Notice to Abate" or a publication of notice to abate, an officer shall visually inspect the property to determine whether an environmental public nuisance still exists. If an environmental public nuisance exists, action shall be taken to abate that nuisance in accordance with this subchapter.
(G) Abatement by city on government property. Where the complaint addresses governmental property and it is determined by the officer that a violation exists and threatens the health and safety of the people of the city, the officer may direct the city to immediately enter upon the premises and remove the environmental public nuisance.
(Ord. 10-2005, passed 4-5-2005)