(a) Private Property Maintenance.
(1) Owners of both improved and unimproved properties, whether occupied or vacant, shall be responsible for the maintenance in good repair, safe and sanitary condition, and presentable appearance, so as not to create a blighting influence on nearby property, of those portions of their property that are visible from the street or from another public area. Such maintenance shall include the following items installed on the property by either the owners or the tenants:
A. All building facades, including trim, windows and window frames, and cornices of upper stories as well as of street-level areas.
B. All walks, stairways, landings, fire escapes, porches and patios.
C. All landscaping, including trees, grass, ground cover and shrubs.
D. Lighting, including the prompt replacement of burned-out bulbs.
E. Signs, awnings, canopies, walls and fences.
F. Off-street parking, loading, driveway and refuse disposal areas.
G. Exterior display or storage of materials, merchandise or equipment.
H. Open spaces and vacant areas or lots.
(2) Property visible from public areas shall be free of excessive peeling of paint, crumbling stone or brick, loose shingles or siding, cracked or broken glass, untrimmed or overgrown vegetation and debris, litter and rubble.
(b) Public Sidewalk and Streetscape Cleaning and Maintenance.
(1) Ground floor business occupants and building owners or management shall be jointly responsible for the cleaning of and removal of loose paper and refuse from:
A. Public sidewalks, from the property line to the curb; and
B. Sidewalk streetscape improvements abutting each property, at least once every twenty-four hours, except on Sundays or business holidays. Property owners shall be responsible for the repair or replacement of sidewalks abutting their property.
(2) The Village of Mt. Gilead shall be responsible for:
A. The cleaning and maintenance of Village streets and alleys.
B. The repair or replacement of Village streets, alleys and public streetscape improvements, including sidewalk landscaping. The cleaning, maintenance and repair of privately owned property permitted by the Village on sidewalks, such as private planters, merchandise display, private benches or outdoor restaurant seating, shall be the responsibility of the owner thereof.
(c) Display Window Maintenance. The occupant of a premises, or the owner in the case of unoccupied premises, shall maintain display windows in an unbroken and clean condition.
(d) Nonfunctional Utility Wiring. The owner of a property shall cause to be removed any utility wiring on such property that is no longer functional within ninety days of its becoming nonfunctional.
(e) Landscaping Maintenance.
(1) Property owners or ground floor tenants may, as appropriate, request the Tree Board to remove, trim, prune, weed or spray any tree, shrub or planting strip upon or in the public right-of-way abutting their property that:
A. Is diseased, dead, infested or dangerous; or
B. At maturity, interferes with the free passage on a sidewalk or street by leaving less than eight feet of clearance above a sidewalk or sixteen feet above a roadway.
(2) Maintenance of landscaping located on portions of a sidewalk that havebeen attended into the street beyond the original curbline shall be the responsibility of the Village.
(Ord. 1275. Passed 9-20-93.)