(a) As used in this section:
(1) “Motor vehicle” is as defined in Ohio R. C . 4501. O1(B) .
(2) “Junked motor vehicle” means any motor vehicle which is apparently inoperable due to its being either:
A. Extensively damaged, such damage including, but not limited to, missing wheels, tires, motor or transmission;
B. Dismantled or partially dismantled; or
C. Abandoned or discarded.
(3) “Person” means any person, firm, partnership, association, corporation, company or organization of any kind.
(4) “Private property” means any real property within the City which is privately owned and which is not public property as defined in paragraph (a)(5) hereof.
(5) “Public property” means any street or highway which includes the entire width between boundary lines of every way publicly maintained for the purposes of vehicular travel, and also means any other publicly-owned property or facility.
(b) No person shall park, store, leave or permit the parking, storing or leaving of any junked motor vehicle upon any public or private property within the City for more than seventy-two hours. The presence of such a junked motor vehicle on private or public property is hereby declared to be a public nuisance which may be abated as such. This section shall not apply to: any vehicle enclosed within a building on private property; any vehicle held in connection with the repair or restoration of junked motor vehicles by a bona fide business enterprise, provided such business enterprise is being lawfully and properly operated in the appropriate business zone pursuant to the zoning laws of the City; any motor vehicle in operable condition specifically adapted or designed for operation on drag strips or raceways; or any collector's vehicle as defined in Ohio R. C. 4501.01(F).
(c) Whenever it comes to the attention of the Police Administrator that any public nuisance, as defined in subsection (b) hereof, exists in the City, a notice in writing shall be served upon the owner of the private property involved and upon the occupant, if any and if different from the owner, or upon their respective agents, notifying the same of the existence of the nuisance and requesting its removal within the time limits specified in this section.
(d) The Police Administrator shall give the notice to remove required by subsection (c) hereof to the owner or occupant of the private property where the nuisance is located at least fourteen days before the time required for compliance. It shall constitute sufficient notice when a copy of the same is sent by certified mail to the owner or occupant of the private property at has or her last known address.
(e) The notice required by subsection (c) hereof shall contain the request for removal within the time specified in this section, and the notice shall advise the owner or occupant that the failure to remove the vehicle within such time constitutes a violation of this section, the maximum penalty for which is a fine of two hundred fifty dollars ($250.00) and/or up to thirty days in jail. It shall further advise the owner or occupant that each day of nonremoval beyond such time limit is a separate violation of this section, each of which is separately punishable by a maximum fine of two hundred fifty dollars ($250.00) and/or up to thirty days in jail.
(f) Whoever violates this section is guilty of a misdemeanor of the fourth degree. A separate offense shall be deemed committed each day of nonremoval beyond the time limit prescribed in this section. Punishment shall be as provided in Section 698.02.
(Ord. 88-11. Passed 6-20-88.)