Any person who owns and maintains any private property in violation of this subchapter shall be guilty of an ordinance violation and may be subject to the enforcement action under this subchapter as authorized by I.C. 36-1-6-2 and subject to fines as described herein. The enforcement procedures of this subchapter are as follows:
(A) Pursuant to I.C. 36-1-6-2, the Owen County Director of the Planning/Building Department, the Director's designee, or the Inspector for the Owen County Planning/Building Department may enter upon the real estate where the materials described in this subchapter are located to take photographs of the real estate showing the violation(s) of the ordinance. If the entrance upon the real estate is not possible, photographs may be taken outside the real estate, including the use of the Owen County's GIS tax mapping information.
(B) The Owen County Director of the Planning/Building Department shall review the photographs showing the violation(s) of this subchapter. The Director shall prepare a written report documenting the violation. The Director's designee shall post a Notice of Violation on the entry door of the residence located upon the private property where the violation(s) exists. The Notice shall also be mailed to the last owner of record as shown on the property card maintained by Owen County.
(C) The Notice of Violation shall provide the following:
(1) Be in writing;
(2) Include a description of the real property including the parcel identification;
(3) Include a statement of the violation or violations; and
(4) The date of the Notice and the number of days real property owners are given to remedy the violation, which shall be no less than ten days, no more than 60 days pursuant to I.C. 36-l-6-2(a):
(a) Pursuant to I.C. 1-2-7-1(b)(1)(2) notice must be given by: leaving a copy of the notice or other matter at the dwelling house or usual place of abode of the person to whom the notice or other matter must be given and sending by first class mail a copy of the notice or other matter to the last known address of the person to whom the notice or other matter must be given.
(D) In the event the private property is not brought into compliance with this subchapter, Owen County may:
(1) By the Owen County Sheriff's Department file an ordinance violation upon a uniform traffic ticket or other form, in the appropriate court in Owen County seeking court costs and a fine of $200 for the first offense and a fine of $500 for any subsequent offense. The citation shall refer to the number of this subchapter and the section of the ordinance describing the violation.
(2) Seek a mandatory order to bring the private property into compliance within timelines established by the court.
(3) In the event the private property is not brought into compliance, Owen County may initiate an action to enforce any and all terms of this subchapter pursuant to I.C. 34-28-5, including requesting a court order for a representative of the county, or its designated contractors, to come onto the private property, remove any and all materials located on the private property in violation of this subchapter; charge the owner of the private property the costs of removal and storage of the material; record a lien against the private property to recover the county's costs; and foreclose the lien upon private property in the annual Owen County Tax Sale, all as permitted by I.C. 36-1-6-2. The Owen County Board of Commissioners must approve in a public meeting this remedy prior to filing an action under I.C. 36-1-6-2.
(4) None of the penalties or remedies of this subchapter are exclusive of the other penalties and remedies listed above, and the county may seek any or all of such remedies.
(5) The issuance of each second or subsequent Notice of Violation to a real property owner shall be deemed a separate offense.
(E) All fees collected under this subchapter shall be deposited in the following manner: 75% of the fine shall be payable to the Owen County Building/Planning Department and 25% shall be payable to the Owen County Sheriff's Department. The fine payable to the Owen County Building/Planning Department shall be deposited into Fund 4908-Line 00370. The fine payable to the Owen County Sheriff’s Department shall be deposited into Fund 4007.
(Ord. 2020-0023, passed 10-5-2020)