(a) Upon probable cause determination and nuisance declaration pursuant to Section 949.01 and/or 949.03, the Director of Public Safety shall proceed with an Abatement Order and notification thereof. Following notification and, upon failure to timely comply with the Abatement Order, the Director of Public Safety may enter upon the premises and may abate the nuisance as provided herein.
(b) Notice of Nuisance Declaration and Abatement Order. The Director of Public Safety, upon probable cause finding and declaring that nuisance conditions presently exits, as defined in Section 949.01, shall cause a written notice and abatement order to be served on the owner of the property declaring said nuisance and ordering immediate abatement. This notice and order shall identify the nuisance conditions, and the estimated costs to abate by professional contractor; shall, except in case of emergency, state that the owner may avoid being charged the costs of abatement by taking immediate steps to do so voluntarily; and shall state the appeal process. Notice shall further state that absent timely compliance with abatement order, the abatement will proceed and costs assessed to owners; that the City may abate the nuisance by responding to the activities using administrative and law enforcement actions, and the costs of the abatement shall be charged to the owner of the nuisance property and may be certified as a lien on the nuisance property. Notice shall be deemed properly delivered by delivering it personally to the owner or leaving it at the owner's usual place of business or residence, or by mailing it to the owner, or, if it cannot be served in any of the other ways mentioned above, by publishing it once in a newspaper of general circulation within the City, or by posting it in a conspicuous place on the real estate involved.
(c) Abatement. If the Director of Public Safety determines that nuisance conditions as defined in Section 949.01 persist more than ten (10) days after the date of the initial written nuisance declaration notice and abatement order, the City may abate the nuisance conditions by using administrative and law enforcement actions, and the costs of the abatement shall be invoiced to the owner of the property and, if not paid, may be certified by the Director of Finance to the County Auditor to be placed on the nuisance property as a lien to be collected as other taxes and returned to the City. The costs of abatement in an emergency situation shall be invoiced to the owner of the property and, if not paid, may be certified by the Director of Finance to the County Auditor to be placed on the nuisance property as a lien to be collected as other taxes and returned to the City.
The cost to abate the nuisance conditions shall be calculated as set forth in division (d). The invoice shall contain a street address or legal description of the property, a description of the nuisance activities and the cost to abate; the invoice shall be served as set forth in division (b) of this section. The Director of Law may take any other action necessary to collect the costs of abatement.
(d) Costs of Abatement. Costs of abatement shall be determined based on the time required to respond to the nuisance conditions multiplied by an hourly rate based upon the wages and benefits of a police officer, fire fighter, building department inspector, health inspector, or other enforcement officer, service department employee, dispatch costs, vehicle and equipment costs, and supervisory and administrative costs. The hourly rate may be adjusted based on the number of police officers and/or other City employees required to abate the nuisance. The Director of Public Safety shall solicit written estimates from professional pest control companies capable of addressing the nuisance conditions in a timely fashion, when necessary.
(e) Appeal. The owner of a property served with notice of nuisance declaration and abatement order under division (b), a notice charging the cost of abating nuisance conditions, or a notice that the cost of abatement shall be certified to the County Auditor / Fiscal Officer, may appeal the notice by submitting a written request to reconsider to the Director of Public Safety within ten (10) days of the date of the notice. If, after a decision on that request, the owner disagrees with the decision, the owner may appeal the decision of the Director of Public Safety to the Board of Zoning Appeals/Building and Zoning Board of Appeals ("Board"). An appeal to the Board shall be made within fifteen (15) days of the postmark date of the decision from the Director of Public Safety denying the request for reconsideration. The Board shall conduct a hearing and render a decision in accordance with City ordinances and rules governing its conduct and procedure. An appeal to the Board shall not stay any actions by the City to abate any nuisance conditions. In an appeal to the Board of a nuisance declaration notice, the City must show by a preponderance of the evidence that there was probable cause to believe that each nuisance condition stated in the notice being appealed has occurred, and that the declaration is justified. In an appeal to the Board of a notice charging the cost of abating nuisance activity, or a notice that the cost of abatement shall be certified to the County Auditor/Fiscal Officer, the City must show by a preponderance of the evidence that the charging of abatement costs or the certification of abatement costs is justified. (Ord. 2015-67. Passed 9-15-15.)