(A) Accumulation of rubbish or garbage. All exterior property and premises, and the interior of every structure, shall be free from any accumulation of rubbish or garbage.
(B) Disposal of rubbish.
(1) Every occupant of a structure shall dispose of all rubbish in a clean and sanitary manner by placing such rubbish in approved containers.
(2) Whenever rubbish, trash or other refuse shall be allowed to accumulate upon any premises within the city in such quantities as to be a fire hazard or detrimental to public health, the owner and person in charge of the premises upon which such accumulation is found shall be jointly and severally responsible for its removal and shall be required to remove or cause to be removed such accumulation within 72 hours after receipt of written notice from Code Enforcement Officer.
(3) If both the owner and the person in charge of such property fails within the time indicated in the order or notice to comply with such notice, the Code Enforcement Officer shall thereupon authorize and direct the Public Works Department to remove such accumulations of refuse; and after the removal of such refuse, the City Treasurer shall collect from the property owner the amount of the expense to the city of such removal.
(4) The provisions of § § 154.004(D) relating to collection of property maintenance fees shall be applicable to the charges provided for under this section.
(a) Rubbish storage facilities. The owner of every occupied premises shall supply approved covered containers for rubbish, and the owner of the premises shall be responsible for the removal of rubbish.
(b) Refrigerators. Refrigerators and similar equipment not in operation shall not be discarded, abandoned or stored on premises without first removing the doors; provided, that prior to being discarded or abandoned but while being retained at the premises, any refrigerator or similar equipment not in operation shall be stored with the doors removed and otherwise in accordance with the requirements established in division (D) below.
(C) Disposal of garbage. Every occupant of a structure shall dispose of garbage in a clean and sanitary manner by placing such garbage in an approved garbage disposal facility or approved garbage containers.
(1) Garbage facilities. The owner of every dwelling shall supply one of the following: an approved mechanical food waste grinder in each dwelling unit; an approved incinerator unit in the structure available to the occupants in each dwelling unit; or an approved leakproof, covered, outside garbage container and on at least a weekly basis deposit accumulated garbage into such containers for pick-up and disposal by the city.
(2) Containers. The operator of every establishment producing garbage shall provide, and at all times cause to be utilized, approved leakproof containers provided with close-fitting covers for the storage of such materials until removed from the premises for disposal.
(D) The occupant of every dwelling shall store all materials, machinery and equipment within a building or fully screened by way of a legal fence so as not to be visible from the front of the residence, or from adjoining or adjacent lands.
(1) The following are exceptions to the foregoing requirement:
(a) Laundry drying;
(b) Construction materials, machinery and equipment which is currently being used on the premises;
(c) Landscaping and agricultural equipment and machinery which is currently being used or intended for current use on the premises;
(d) House decorations or yard ornaments that are in current use; and
(e) Trash containers, provided they are maintained at the side or at the rear of the dwelling.
(2) Fencing for the purposes of screening items that are stored outside a structure shall be permitted and inspected for compliance with the zoning ordinance.
(E) Upon passage of this division (E), the following procedures shall be effective for the remainder of calendar year 2020, and calendar years commencing on and after January 1, 2021 for enforcing violations of the foregoing divisions (A), (B), (C) or (D) above.
(1) When the Property Maintenance Inspector upon finding the owner or agent, including a lessee, having charge of a property has failed to maintain the property as required by the foregoing divisions (A), (B), (C) or (D) above, the Property Maintenance Inspector shall serve upon that owner or agent, including a lessee, a citation for violation of this section; provided, that if the owner or agent, including a lessee, is not available or cannot be located, the citation shall be served upon the property.
(a) The first citation of the calendar year shall be a warning citation that requires the violation stated thereon to be corrected within five days of issuance of the warning citation. Each citation issued in a calendar year subsequent to the warning citation shall not require the issuance of an additional warning citation.
(b) If the violation stated on the warning citation is not corrected within the five days immediately succeeding issuance of that warning citation, the Property Maintenance Inspector shall issue a citation that requires the violation stated thereon to be corrected within the ten days immediately succeeding the issuance of the citation.
(2) Issuance of a warning citation or a citation shall be prima facie evidence of the violation indicated on the face of the respective citation. Any person alleging he or she was improperly issued a citation may, within ten days after service of the citation, file a petition for appeal of the citation or payment thereof, along with the required bond, with the Municipal Court Clerk in accordance with the following procedure:
(a) In order to properly and timely appeal a citation, the petition for appeal shall be filed within ten days after service of the citation and the alleged violator shall pay the required amount of the applicable fine in full to the Municipal Court Clerk. The amount so paid shall be held by the Municipal Court Clerk as bond pending an evidentiary hearing before and resolution of the case by the Municipal Court. The Municipal Court Clerk shall issue to the alleged violator a receipt showing the amount of bond paid.
(b) If any petition for appeal filed in accordance with this section is not timely filed or is not accompanied with the required bond, the alleged violator shall be deemed to have waived his or her right to appeal the citation, and such petition shall be summarily denied as untimely filed.
(c) Nothing set forth above shall prevent the Municipal Court Judge from finding, upon a proper showing, that an alleged violator suffers from financial hardship, and, as a result, waiving the requirement that the bond be posted as a prerequisite to filing the petition for appeal.
(d) Any petition filed with the Municipal Court Clerk shall be in writing, on the form provided by the Municipal Court Clerk, and signed by the alleged violator affirming that the contents of the petition are true and accurate to the best knowledge of the alleged violator at the time of signing. The petition for appeal shall state the facts and reasons in support of the petition. Upon filing the petition for appeal with the Municipal Court Clerk, the alleged violator shall serve a copy of the petition and receipt showing proof of bond or waiver thereof upon the Property Maintenance Inspector who shall receive the documents as a representative for the city attorney.
(e) Upon filing a petition for appeal with the Municipal Court Clerk, the Clerk, or his or her designee, shall place the case on the Municipal Court docket, set the case for evidentiary hearing within 30 days from the date of filing the petition, provide a notice of hearing to the alleged violator, and forward a copy to the property maintenance inspector. Upon receipt of the petition, the property maintenance inspector shall cause a copy of the citation at issue to be forwarded to the Municipal Court Clerk who shall file it as the original complaint alleging the violation indicated therein.
(f) The Municipal Court shall treat the citation itself as the original complaint before the court, and shall treat it as prima facie evidence of the violation alleged therein. At the close of all of the evidence, should the Municipal Judge find against the alleged violator, the bond posted by the alleged violator shall be applied as payment for the fine imposed for the violation. In the event the Municipal Court Judge finds that a violator suffers from financial hardship, the Municipal Judge may permit alternative sentencing. Should the court find in favor of the alleged violator, the bond shall be refunded to the alleged violator by the Municipal Court Clerk.
(Ord. 09-05, passed 5-19-2009; Ord. passed 6-1-2020)