(A) Responsibilities of owners and occupants. Every owner of a dwelling containing two or more dwelling units shall be responsible for maintaining in a clean and sanitary condition the dwelling units and the shared or public area of the dwelling premises thereof. Every occupant of a dwelling containing less than two dwelling units shall be responsible for maintaining in a clean and sanitary condition the shared or public area of the dwelling and premises thereof, unless otherwise provided for by the rental agreement.
(B) Responsibility of every occupant of a dwelling or dwelling unit. Every occupant of a dwelling or dwelling unit shall keep in a clean and sanitary condition that part of the dwelling, dwelling unit, facilities, yard and otherwise, all of the premises which he or she and his or her family occupies, uses and controls.
(C) Municipal department responsible for administration. Unless specifically stated elsewhere in this chapter, the Building Commissioner shall be responsible for the administration of actions taken under this chapter, including, but not limited to, the issuance of notices to the landowners and other persons, the issuance of certificates of cost to the County Auditor and the administration of the appeals procedure.
(D) Maintaining premises free of debris, trash, litter, garbage, refuse, junk and abandoned vehicles.
(1) The owner of any lot or parcel of real estate within the city shall maintain the premises, including the real estate, or any alley or sidewalk abutting the real estate, free of all debris, trash, rubbish, litter, garbage, refuse, junk and abandoned vehicles, when the material is within view of any public premises, public alley, street, highway or adjacent property, to such an extent that the premises is a hazard to public health, safety and welfare.
(2) The presence of debris, trash, rubbish, litter, garbage, refuse, tires, junk and abandoned vehicles is injurious to the public welfare and is a nuisance.
(3) ABANDONED VEHICLE. A vehicle that is at least three model years old, mechanically inoperable, and left on private property continuously for more than 20 days (I.C. 9-13-2-1). See division (7) to definition provided in § 90.05.
(E) Inspection and notice of violations.
(1) To determine compliance with this chapter, the Building Commissioner is entitled to enter upon the premises of any real property within the city.
(2) If the Building Commissioner determines there is a violation of this section, he or she shall have a notice which may be served by a law enforcement officer, the Building Commissioner himself or herself or designee in person, by certified mail to the owner, or by a “notice” placard conspicuously posted on the property which contains the address of the property, date of notice, the nuisance and the corrective action necessary to bring the property into compliance, address and telephone number of Board of Public Works and Safety, a warning that if the nuisance is not removed within ten calendar days from the date of notice the city may take action to abate such nuisance, and that the person has the right to appeal the violation to the Board of Public Works and Safety but must do so before the expiration of the time to abate, and that the time period for removing the material and/or vehicles is ten calendar days from notice. Notice shall also be sent via first class mail to any person holding a substantial interest in the real estate (hereinafter “landowner”), requiring removal of the material and/or vehicles within ten days.
(3) The notice must also inform the landowner that failure to comply will result in the city removing and disposing of the material and vehicles at the landowner’s expense.
(4) The notice must also inform the landowner of his or her right to appeal the Building Commissioner’s determination, according to the procedure set forth herein.
(5) The Building Commissioner will determine the landowner’s identity and address from the duplicate records of the County Auditor.
(F) Failure to remove and notice of abatement.
(1) If the landowner fails to remove the material and vehicles within the time prescribed, the Building Commissioner shall cause the city or its agent to remove and dispose the material and vehicles, as allowed under I.C.36-1-6-2, as amended.
(2) The Building Commissioner must then prepare a certified statement of the actual cost the city incurred in removing and disposing of the material and vehicles, plus any additional administration costs incurred in the city’s effort to enforce this section.
(3) The certified statement of costs shall be mailed to the landowner of the property.
(4) The landowner must pay the amount specified in the certified statement to the City Clerk within 30 days after receiving the statement.
(5) If the landowner fails to pay the amount within the required time, a certified statement of the landowner’s failure to pay the cost will be filed with the Office of the County Auditor.
(6) Pursuant to I.C. 36-7-10.1-4, as amended, the Auditor will then place the amount claimed on the tax duplicate against the property affected by the work. The amount will thereafter be collected and disbursed to the General Fund of the city as other property taxes.
(G) Lien upon property.
(1) In addition to the above procedures, if the landowner fails to remove the material and vehicles within the time specified in the notice provided herein, and the city or its agent must remove the material and vehicles, the Building Commissioner shall file with the County Recorder a lien against the property, which lien may be foreclosed as are other similar liens.
(2) Any additional costs created by the city’s need to remove and dispose of the material and vehicles, and to foreclose the liens, may be added to the cost of enforcing compliance with this section.
(H) Notice of appeal.
(1) Any landowner may appeal to the Board of Public Works and Safety with regard to any action under this chapter.
(2) An appeal of the removal and disposal of material and vehicles, or the costs associated with their removal, must be submitted in writing, and must be received within ten days of the initial notice of violation, or within ten days of receipt of a certified statement of costs.
(3) The Board of Public Works and Safety will review an appeal of any notice of violation or statement of costs under this chapter at its next regularly scheduled meeting.
(Ord. G-69-352, passed 3-7-1969; Ord. G-04-23, passed 5-20-2004; Ord. G-09-26, passed 6-1-2009)