(a) Upon a determination by the Director of Public Safety or his or her designee that a newspaper dispensing device has been installed, placed or maintained in violation of any of the provisions of this chapter, the Building Department shall issue an order to remedy the violation. The order shall be served in person or by certified mail on the individual or other person identified in the permit application. If no permit application for the newspaper dispensing device has been filed within the City, the order shall be served on the owner in person or by certified mail. The order shall state the nature of the violation and provide that the owner has seven business days from the date of the notice to remedy the violation or to file an appeal from the order with the Board of Zoning Appeals.
If a violation is neither remedied nor appealed within the time period set forth in the order issued, the newspaper dispensing device which has been determined to be in violation may be impounded.
(b) Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, the Director of Public Safety or his or her designee shall take immediate steps necessary to remove and impound any newspaper dispensing device upon the determination by the Director of Public Safety or his or her designee that such device has been installed, placed or maintained in a manner which presents a clear and present danger to the public health or safety. Within two days of the date of the impoundment, notice of the impoundment, including the reasons therefor, shall be served in person or by certified mail to the individual or other person identified in the permit application. If no permit application for the newspaper dispensing device has been filed with the City, the order shall be served on the owner in person or by certified mail. The owner of the impounded newspaper dispensing device may file an appeal to the Board of Zoning Appeals which shall commence to hear the merits of such an appeal at the next regularly scheduled meeting of the Board, provided that such meeting is no less than three days after the filing of an appeal. If the next regularly scheduled meeting is less than three days after the filing of an appeal, the appeal shall be heard at the following regularly scheduled meeting of the Board. The Board shall render a decision at or before the first regularly scheduled meeting of the Board following the hearing of the appeal. If the Board reverses the Director's order to impound, the Board shall order an immediate return of the newspaper dispensing device and its contents to the owner without assessment of an impoundment fee or other costs.
(c) Unless the newspaper dispensing device and its contents are being held as evidence in a criminal prosecution, the owner of an impounded newspaper dispensing device may, at any time after impoundment, recover the newspaper dispensing device upon payment of an impound fee of twenty-five dollars ($25.00) plus the reasonable additional costs, if any, of impounding the newspaper dispensing device, including a storage charge of one dollar ($1.00) per device per day for each day in excess of five working days after notification is given to the owner that said device is in the possession of the City. Unless the contents of the newspaper dispensing devices are being held as evidence in a criminal prosecution, the owner of the contents of an impounded newspaper dispensing device may recover those contents at any time after impoundment.
(Ord. 181-97. Passed 9-15-97.)
(d) The remedies provided for in this section shall be in addition to the penalty provided in Section 752.99.