(A) Owners of real property within the town shall cut and remove weeds and other rank vegetation growing on their property.
(B) The phrase WEEDS AND OTHER RANK VEGETATION means all plant life, including grasses, grown to a height of eight inches or higher, except as allowed in division (J) herein.
(C) Owners of real property found by the Town Marshal to be in violation of this section shall be notified in writing of the violation, its location and the means by which the violation may be abated. The property owner shall abate the violation within five business days after issuance of the notice by cutting and removing, as required by the notice, the weeds and other rank vegetation or, within such five business days, appeal the existence of a violation to the Town Manager who shall, within 72 hours after receipt of the appeal, either confirm the violation and its requirements or dismiss the violation if the violation is found to be non-existent.
(D) (1) Notice of the violation, as well as notice of the action taken on its appeal by the Town Manager, shall be given by:
(a) Sending a copy of the notice of violation or decision by registered or certified mail to the residence or place of business or employment of the person to be notified, with return receipt requested;
(b) Delivering a copy of the notice or decision to the person to be notified; or
(c) Leaving a copy of the notice or decision at the dwelling place of abode of the person to be notified; or
(d) If, after a reasonable effort, service is not obtained by a means described above, service may be made by publishing notice of the violation in accordance with I.C. 5-3-1 in a newspaper of general circulation within the county.
(2) When service is made by any of the means described in this section, except by mailing or by publication, the person making service must make an affidavit stating that he or she has made the service, the manner in which service was made, to whom the notice or statement was issued, the nature of the order or statement and the date of service. The affidavit must be placed on file with the Town Marshal.
(3) For violations of this section occurring on unimproved or improved real property not occupied by the person or persons who are owners thereof, notice mailed to the entity and address shown on the records of the County Auditor and Treasurer, for the tax duplicate related to such real property, shall be sufficient notice.
(4) No more than one notice of violation need be given to the same property owner during one calendar year, and repeated violations occurring during the same calendar year in which a notice of violation has been given shall be abated and billed as provided for an initial violation; excepting only that, the Town Marshal shall document subsequent violations and report their abatement for purpose of billing the property owner.
(E) If the owners of real property on which a violation exists do not abate the weeds and other rank vegetation within the time allowed, the Town Marshal shall notify the Superintendent of Public Works to enter the property, abate the violation and report the actual costs of labor and equipment required to abate the violation to the Clerk-Treasurer.
(F) The Clerk-Treasurer shall issue a bill to the owner of real property for the costs incurred in abating the violation, including administrative costs equal to the cost of serving notice and removal.
(G) The bill shall be mailed to the owner of the real property or served upon the owner in the same manner specified in division (D) above.
(H) The bill shall be due and fully payable to the Clerk-Treasurer within ten days from the date of its issuance.
(I) If the owner of real property fails to pay a bill issued under this section within the time specified, the Clerk-Treasurer shall certify to the County Auditor the amount of the bill, plus any additional administrative costs incurred in the certification, and request that the Auditor place the total amount certified on the tax duplicate for the property effected, and collect the amount certified, plus interest, as delinquent taxes, and collected and disburse the amount so collected to the General Fund of the town.
(J) Naturalized landscape area.
(1) NATURALIZED LANDSCAPE AREA shall be defined as, the utilization of native water conserving, drought tolerant landscaping or other appropriate plant material that does not require special attention to grow properly.
(2) A naturalized landscape area is permitted under the following circumstances.
(a) A property owner may maintain a natural landscape on property when a land management plan has been approved by the Plan Commission. Application for a land management plan shall be made with the Town Plan Commission.
(b) A land management plan shall include the following information:
1. Statement of intent and purpose for the property;
2. Site plan of the property showing all buildings, paved areas, and location of all existing and proposed landscaping;
3. General description of the vegetation types proposed; and
4. Statement of the management and maintenance techniques to be used.
(c) Proposed land management plans will be reviewed and evaluated based upon the following criteria;
1. Compatibility with adjacent properties and street and alley right-of-way;
2. Preservation of existing plant communities;
3. Re-establishment of native plant communities;
4. Limitation of the area of lawn grass;
5. Landscaping and site development which retains storm water run off;
6. Utilization of plant materials which are well suited to the characteristics of the property; and
7. Elimination of weeds and rank vegetation.
(d) When an application for a naturalized landscape has been made, the Town Plan Commission shall schedule a public hearing. The applicant shall notify by mail all property owners who adjoin, or are within 400 feet of, the subject parcel. The Planning Commission may reasonably require mail notice to be given to additional persons. Notice of the public hearing shall be published at least ten days before the dale of the hearing. The applicant shall pay all publication and notification costs and provide proof of such publication and notices to the Plan Commission.
(e) A land management plan may be modified or revoked, after notice and hearing before the Plan Commission, for failure to adhere to the criteria listed in division (J)(2)(c) above, for failure to mow the area as described in division (J)(2)(h) below, or for failure to comply with any conditions placed upon (he properly by the Plan Commission during the approval process.
(f) A land management plan may be modified or revoked, after notice and hearing before the Plan Commission, upon petition executed by three or more property owners entitled to mail notice set forth in division (J)(2)(d), upon a showing by said property owner that there has been a failure to adhere to the criteria listed in division (J)(2)(c) above or any conditions placed upon the property by the Plan Commission during the approval process, or upon a showing that:
1. The land management plan will be injurious to the public health, safety, morals or general welfare of the community or neighborhood; or
2. The use and value of the area adjacent to the property or within a sight line to the land management plan area will be affected in a substantially adverse manner.
(g) If the naturalized landscape area consists of herbaceous, annual, biennial, or perennial plants that tend to have stems or grasses that die down to ground level after the growing season, the area shall be mowed no less than once per year. If only mowed once during the year, mowing shall take place between April 1 and May 15 of each year.
(Prior Code, Title III, Ch. IX, Art. I) (Ord. passed 10-1-1998; Ord. passed 7-11-2002; Ord. 6, 2012, passed 7-11-2012; Ord. 10, 2012, passed 11-7-2012) Penalty, see § 90.99