(A) No person in charge or control of any property within the municipality or within the zoning jurisdiction of the municipality, other than municipal property, whether as owner, tenant, occupant, lessee, or otherwise, shall allow any partially dismantled, inoperable, wrecked, junk, or discarded vehicle to remain on such property longer than 30 days. No unlicensed vehicle may be permitted to remain on any private or public property for any length of time.
(B) This section shall not apply to a vehicle in an enclosed garage, a vehicle on the premises of a business enterprise operated in a lawful place and manner when such vehicle is necessary to the lawful operation of the business, or to a vehicle in an appropriate storage place or depository maintained in a lawful place and manner by the municipality. Any vehicle allowed to remain on property in violation of this section shall be a nuisance and shall constitute a misdemeanor.
(C) Any automobile so abandoned shall immediately become the property of the village if the automobile is unlicensed, and if, in the estimation of the village police, the said automobile is of a wholesale value of $100 or less. In the event the automobile is licensed or is of an estimated value of over $100, the village police shall make a reasonable effort to contact the owner of the said automobile by sending a notice to the registered owner, if known; by sending an inquiry to the county it is registered in, if the owner is unknown; or by contacting the Director of Motor Vehicles, if the car is without license plates and the owner is unknown. If the owner is known, and does not claim the automobile within five days after the date when the notice was mailed, or upon receiving word from the Village Clerk that the owner is unknown, title will immediately vest in the village, and the automobile may be sold. Any proceeds from the sale of the automobile less any expenses incurred by the village in such sale shall be held without interest for the benefit of the owner of such vehicle for a period of two years. If not claimed within this period of time, the proceeds shall then be paid into the General Fund. Any person who abandons an automobile as hereinbefore defined shall be deemed to be guilty of a misdemeanor.
(Ord. 242, passed 7-5-1978; Ord. 339, passed 6-3-2003) Penalty, see § 91.99