(a) The following acts, things and conditions done or existing within the City are hereby declared to be nuisances:
(1) Any tree upon any street or public place or so near thereto as to permit the roots of the tree to penetrate through or under the surface thereof.
(2) Any tree, plant or shrub, wherever located within the City, infected with any parasite, insect, fungus or pest which may be communicated to any other tree, plant or shrub.
(3) Any tree which has fallen, or is in such condition that it is likely to fall, on any public or private property, including the property upon which it is situated.
(4) Any tree, plant or shrub whose branches or trunk obstruct or impede traffic on any street or public place. Branches overhanging any public sidewalk, pavement or roadway within nine feet of the surface thereof shall be deemed prima facie to obstruct or impede traffic thereon.
(b) No person shall maintain any of the nuisances described in subsection (a) hereof.
(c) Whenever, in the opinion of the Inspector of Buildings, any of the nuisances described in subsection (a) hereof exists, he or she shall cause its abatement and cause the cost of the abatement to be charged and collected in the manner provided herein.
(d) When a nuisance is located on or originates from real estate not owned by the City, the Inspector, on finding that the nuisance exists, may cause written notice to be served on the owner of the real estate. The notice shall set forth the nature of the nuisance, the Inspector's estimate of the cost of abating the same if done by the City, a reasonable time determined by the Inspector, not to exceed thirty days, within which the owner may abate the nuisance, and a statement that unless the nuisance is abated within the stated time, it may be abated by the City and the cost of abatement assessed on the real estate.
(e) The notice may be served by delivering it personally to the owner, by leaving it at the owner's usual place of business or residence, by posting it in a conspicuous place on the real estate above mentioned, by mailing it to the owner, or, if it cannot be served in any of such ways, by publishing it once in a newspaper of general circulation in the City.
(f) If the nuisance is not abated within the required time, the Inspector shall cause its abatement and shall report the cost thereof to Council which may assess the same on the real estate on which the nuisance existed or the cause or source thereof was located.
(g) When the cause or source of a nuisance exists on property owned by the City, the Inspector shall, and in any other case he or she may, abate the nuisance at the expense of the City and no notice shall be required preliminary to the abatement.
(Ord. 1970-6. Passed 1-21-70.)
(h) Whoever violates this section is guilty of a misdemeanor of the fourth degree for a first offense and a misdemeanor of the third degree for subsequent offenses. A separate offense shall be deemed committed each day during or on which a violation occurs or continues. The penalty shall be as provided in Section 698.02.
(Ord. 1972-59. Passed 9-20-72.)