(a) The designated law enforcement agency may order into storage any vessel or outboard motor that has been left in a sunken, beached or drifting condition for any period of time, or in a docked condition on a property open to the public, or upon or within the right of way of any waterway for 24 hours or longer without notification to the designated law enforcement agency of the reasons for leaving the vessel or motor in any such place or condition. The designated law enforcement agency shall determine the place of storage of any vessel or motor so removed.
(b) The law enforcement agency shall immediately cause a search to be made of the records of the Division of Watercraft to ascertain the ownership and any lienholder of a vessel or outboard motor so ordered into storage and, if known, shall send notice to the owner and lienholder, if any, at his or her last known address, by certified mail, return receipt requested, that the vessel or motor will be declared a nuisance and disposed of if it is not claimed within ten days of the date of the mailing of the notice. Rules of civil procedure as to notice shall be followed.
(c) The owner of a vessel or outboard motor that is ordered into storage under division (a) of this section may reclaim it upon payment of any expenses or charges incurred in its removal and upon presentation of proof of ownership, which may be evidenced by a certificate of title to the vessel or outboard motor, a certificate of United States Coast Guard documentation or a certificate of registration if the vessel is not subject to titling under Ohio R.C. 1548.01. If a vessel or motor that is ordered into storage under division (a) of this section remains unclaimed by the owner for ten days, the procedures for disposition of the vessel or motor established by and outlined in Ohio R.C. 1547.301 and 1547.302 shall apply.
(d) In the event that the fair market value of the vessel or outboard motor is less than two hundred dollars ($200.00), then Section 480.287 shall apply.
(e) No owner or operator shall leave unattended for more than 24 hours any vessel moored to a public mooring buoy or anchored within the open anchorage area of the harbor.
(Ord. 655-96. Passed 6-13-96.)