Every owner or occupant, having the charge or management of any lot or parcel of real property situated within the City, whether said real property is improved, unimproved, vacant or occupied, which is adjacent to or contiguous to a drainage ditch shall conform to the regulations set forth in this section; otherwise, the municipality shall cause such ditch to be maintained in accordance with such regulations and assess the costs, as set forth below, against the owner of such lot or parcel of land.
(a) All persons engaged in landscaping shall remove parts of bushes, trees and other landscaping debris which have been cut or picked up from each location within twenty-four hours. No person shall place leaves on a sidewalk or in a street, watercourse, drainage ditch or swale.
(b) Any ditch in the City shall be maintained free of landscaping debris, leaves and other debris so that water can flow freely through the ditch.
(c) All ditches located within the contiguous tree lawn area or the contiguous road right-of-way area shall be maintained by every owner or occupant so that the ditch is free of landscaping debris, leaves and other debris so that water can flow freely through the ditch.
(d) Maintenance as required in divisions (b) and (c) of this section shall be done at the expense of said parcel owner and within ten days after the City Service Director serves notice requirement of same, by regular U.S. mail to the last known tax mailing address of the parcel owner. If said owner fails to comply with such provisions, the City shall have the authority to have the necessary work completed and to charge the cost of such work to the property owner by way of an assessment to the real estate taxes of the owner as is set forth in R.C. Chapter 715.
(e) The City shall have the right to clean the ditch so that it is free from landscaping debris, leaves and other debris that are located in any location described in division (b) and (c) above.
(f) No person shall fail to comply with a notice issued pursuant to this Section. Whoever violates this section is guilty of a minor misdemeanor. A separate offense shall be deemed committed each day during or on which a violation occurs or continues.
(Ord. 2018-O-15. Passed 6-12-18.)