(a) Definitions.
(1) “Abandoned motor vehicles” means a motor vehicle shall be deemed to have been abandoned for the purpose of this section in the following circumstances:
A. It has been left unattended upon a street or highway in violation of a statutory law or ordinance regulating or prohibiting parking for a period of 24 hours;
B. It is left unaccompanied on property owned or operated by the city or on any street or highway for a period of not less than 48 hours; or
C. It is left unaccompanied on private property for a period of not less than 30 days, in derelict condition.
(2) “Derelict vehicle” means a motor vehicle shall be deemed derelict for the purposes of this section if the vehicle is: inoperable, partially wholly dismantled, wrecked, junked or of similar condition, for a period exceeding 30 days.
(b) Declared a health hazard. For the purposes of this section, the Board of Commissioners authorizes the City Manager or his or her assigns, to declare any abandoned or derelict motor vehicle remaining on private property for in excess of 30 days a health hazard.
(c) Duty of owner to remove from private property. No person in charge or control of any property within the city, whether as owner, tenant, occupant, lessee or otherwise, shall allow any wrecked, junked, discarded, partially dismantled non-operable motor vehicle to remain on such property for more than 30 days. This section shall not apply to a vehicle in an enclosed building, garage or carport; a vehicle on the premises of a business enterprise operated in a lawful place and manner, when necessary to the operation of such business enterprise or a vehicle in an appropriate storage place or depository maintained in a lawful place and manner by the city.
(d) Duty of owner to remove from public property. If a motor vehicle is abandoned or derelict on a public street or highway, it shall be the duty and responsibility of the owner of such motor vehicle to cause the removal thereof immediately.
(e) Notification.
(1) Upon receipt of a complaint concerning abandoned/derelict vehicles, as defined in this section, the City Manager or his or her assign, will investigate such complaint. If, in his or her judgment a violation has occurred, the City Manager or his or her assign, shall cause to be delivered or mailed to the owner of the property upon which the conditions exist a notice stating the reasons why the conditions may constitute a violation and that a hearing will be held before the City Manager at a place therein fixed, not less than ten nor more than 30 days after the delivery or mailing of the notice.
A. The owner or any party in interest shall have the right to file an answer to the notice and to appear in person, or otherwise, and give evidence at the place and time fixed in the notice.
B. Any person desiring to do so may attend such hearing and give evidence relevant to the matter being heard.
C. The rules of evidence prevailing in courts of law or equity shall not be controlling in such hearings.
(2) If a determination is made that such conditions, constituting a public nuisance exist, the City Manager shall notify, in writing the owner of the premises in question of the conditions constituting such public nuisance and shall order the prompt abatement thereof within 30 days from the receipt of such written notice.
(3) Exceptions to this procedure are abandoned or unlicensed vehicles on public property where action shall be taken within 48 hours of notification of the nuisance and unidentified vehicles when corrective action shall be taken by the Police Department immediately.
(f) Removal of derelict vehicles on private property. The Chief of the Police Department or City Manager or their assigns, upon notice of violation, may cause a written notice of such violation to be served upon the owner, tenant, occupant, lessee and/or owner of the motor vehicle, that such motor vehicle shall be removed within 30 days after receipt of notice. Any motor vehicle not removed after such notice shall be removed from such land to an impounding area heretofore designated by the Board of Commissioners and therein impounded.
(g) Removal of vehicles from public property. Whenever any motor vehicle is abandoned on a public street or highway, or on property owned or operated by the city, any such vehicle may be removed and impounded under the direction of the Chief of Police or his or her assigns, after 48 hours to a storage garage or area as designated by the Board of Commissioners.
(h) Reclamation. Upon notification by the Police Department, the owner of an impounded motor vehicle may, upon furnishing satisfactory evidence of his or her identity and of his or her ownership of the vehicle, obtain a release from the Police Department, and upon payment of towing and storing charges, and any fines or penalties, remove such motor vehicle from the impounding area.
(i) Sale of impounded vehicle. Should the owner of an impounded motor vehicle fail or refuse to pay the costs above mentioned or should the identity or where-abouts of such owner be unknown and unascertainable after a diligent search, and after written notice to him or her at his or her last known address if his or her identity is known, and to the holder of any lien on record in the office of the state’s Department of Motor Vehicles against such vehicle, the Chief of Police or his or her designee may, after holding such vehicle for 30 days and after having the value thereof determined by three disinterested automobile dealers or garage and after giving 20 days’ notice to the state’s Department of Motor Vehicles, such notice to include all information which can be reasonably ascertained to identify such vehicle, dispose of the same by private or public sale and shall forward the proceeds of such sale to the City Treasurer.
(j) Disposition of unsold vehicles. Whenever any motor vehicle which has been removed pursuant to this article shall remain unsold for a period of 60 days from and including the day of its removal, such vehicle may be destroyed or otherwise disposed of by the city official charged with its safekeeping. Notice of any such destruction or disposition shall be given the state’s Department of Motor Vehicles, such notice to include all information on which can be reasonably ascertain to identify such vehicle.
(k) Disposition of proceeds of sale. The proceeds of the sale of a motor vehicle covered in this section, after all costs of removal, storage, investigation and sale, and satisfaction of any liens on record on the vehicle have been deducted therefrom and after any fines or penalties have been paid, shall be held by the City Treasurer for up to 30 days and paid to the registered owner, after providing satisfactory evidence of his or her identify upon demand. If the owner does not appear to claim the remainder of the proceeds within 30 days after disposal of the vehicle, the funds shall be deposited into the city’s General Fund and the owner’s rights therein shall be forever extinguished.
(l) Unlicensed motor vehicles. No person shall park, store or leave or permit the parking or storage of any unlicensed motor vehicle of any kind, for a period in excess of 48 hours, whether attended or not, upon any private property within the city, unless the vehicle is enclosed within a building, garage, carport, or further, is connected with and essential to the operation of a business enterprise conducted in a lawful place and manner and properly licensed. The Chief of Police, upon notice of a violation, may cause either personal or written notice of such violation to be served upon the owner, tenant, occupant, lessee and/or the owner of the motor vehicle.
(m) Trailers. The provisions of this section shall be applicable to trailers or wagons in a wrecked, junked, discarded, abandoned, partially dismantled, non-operable or otherwise derelict condition.
(n) Penalties. Any person violating any section of this article shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. For every day such violation shall thereafter exist, it shall be deemed to constitute a separate offense; and if found guilty of such misdemeanor, be punishable upon conviction by a fine not exceeding $50, for each violation.
(o) Immunity. Neither the city nor any person shall be held to answer in any civil or criminal action to any owner or other person legally entitled to the possession of any abandoned, lost, or stolen vehicle for disposing of such vehicle as contemplated by this section, so long as the city complies with the requirements set forth in this article.
(Ord. passed 8-23-1989; Ord. passed 8-8-2017)