In cases where it reasonably appears that there is immediate danger to the life or safety of any person unless an uninhabitable and dangerous building is immediately secured, the Condemnation Officer or a designated representative shall cause the building to be immediately secured.
(A) The Condemnation Officer must determine:
(1) The building violates the minimum standards of this chapter; and
(2) The building is unoccupied or is occupied only by persons who do not have a right of possession of the building.
(B) Before the eleventh day after the date the building is secured, the city shall give notice to the owner by:
(1) Personally serving the owner with written notice;
(2) Depositing the notice in the United States mail addressed to the owner at the owner’s post office address;
(3) Publishing the notice at least twice within a ten-day period in a newspaper of general circulation in the county in which the building is located if personal service cannot be obtained and the owner’s post office address is unknown; or
(4) Posting the notice on or near the front door of the building if personal service cannot be obtained and the owner’s post office address is unknown.
(C) The notice must contain:
(1) An identification, which is not required to be a legal description, of the building and the property on which it is located;
(2) A description of the violation of the municipal standards that is present at the building;
(3) A statement that the city will secure or has secured, as the case may be, the building; and
(4) An explanation of the owner’s entitlement to request a hearing about any matter relating to the city’s securing the building.
(D) The city shall conduct a hearing at which the owner may testify or present witnesses or written information about any matter relating to the city’s securing the building if, within 30 days after the date the city secures the building, the owner files with the city a written request for the hearing. The city shall conduct the hearing within 20 days after the date the request is filed.
(E) Any expenses incurred by the city in securing the building may be assessed against the property and the lien created under this section is created in the same manner that a lien is created under § 151.07 of this chapter.
(2004 Code, § 4-606) (Ord. 2003-4, passed 2-17-2003)