(A) Court ordered abatement.
(1) Upon finding a person guilty of a violation of any provision of this chapter, the court shall order such person to perform whatever action is reasonably necessary to correct and abate the violations, including clean-up, board-up, extermination, repair, rehabilitation, vacation of the building or structure, permanently securing or filling the excavation, and/or demolition. An abatement order shall be effective for one year unless stayed on appeal. If stayed on appeal, the order shall be effective for one year from the end of the appeal if the judgment and sentence are upheld. If more than one person is guilty of a violation, such persons shall be jointly and severally responsible for completing the abatement.
(2) For violations of § 94.02 of this code of ordinances, upon a finding of responsibility, the court shall order the abatement of the offending vehicle within 30 days of judgment, unless additional time is requested by the defendant and granted by the court. Upon expiration of the time for abatement, and upon request by the town, the court shall order the town to abate a violation by towing and impounding the vehicle; and the town shall dispose of the vehicle pursuant to the procedures for such disposal as set forth in § 94.03 of this code of ordinances.
(3) When the court orders abatement pursuant to this section, the court shall advise a violator that additional fines will be imposed for failure to abate a violation, and that the town may bring criminal charges for failure to obey an order to abate a violation.
(B) Abatement by the town.
(1) In addition to ordering abatement of a violation as provided in division (A) above, upon finding a person guilty of a violation of any provision of this chapter, the court may issue an order authorizing the town to perform whatever action is reasonably necessary to correct and abate the violation, including clean-up, board-up, extermination, repair, rehabilitation, vacation of the building or structure, disconnection of utilities, permanently securing or filling the excavation and/or demolition.
(2) The reasonable costs of any such abatement shall be the responsibility of the person found guilty of the violation. If more than one person is guilty or responsible for a violation, such persons shall be jointly and severally responsible for the costs of the abatement. The town shall pay the cost and expense of such abatement from any appropriation made available for that purpose and shall certify a statement of account to the Finance Director, who shall collect the amount due, together with interest at the rate established by law.
(3) Costs incurred by town arising from the town taking action to abate a violation pursuant to a court order shall be a lien filed against the real property that is the subject of the violation, not to exceed the estimate set forth in the notice.
(4) Upon commencement of action on the property or after mailing the statement of account to the owner or responsible party, the town shall place a lien on the property in the amount of the cost of work performed, including actual costs of any additional inspection and other incidental connected costs, and for associated legal costs for abatement or injunction, but not exceeding the estimated cost set forth in the notice, and may pursue any or all means for recovery of cost if the lien is not paid. If the lien is paid, the town shall remove the lien. In the event it is necessary to enforce the lien by sale, the sale shall be made from a judgment of foreclosure and order of sale. The town shall have the right to enforce the lien in the Superior Court of the county at any time after recording, but failure to enforce the lien shall not affect its validity. The recorded lien shall be prima facie evidence of the truth of all matters recited therein, and of the regularity of all proceedings prior to the recording. Prior lien or liens for the purposes provided for in this chapter shall not be a bar to a subsequent lien or liens and any number of liens on the same parcel may be enforced in the same action.
(5) A lien made pursuant to this section is prior and superior to all other liens, obligations, mortgages or other encumbrances, except liens for general taxes.
(6) Any liens filed with the County Recorder pursuant to previous provisions of this chapter or any similar chapter shall remain in effect under the same terms and conditions that existed at the time of recording.
(7) The purpose of charging costs to a utility services account is to provide a means of billing and collecting costs, rather than to create a means of discontinuing utility services.
(C) Temporary abatement. If it is determined that a public nuisance as provided in § 150.20 of this code of ordinances is a hazard to the public safety and health, the code official may declare such structure a hazard. After notice is communicated to any owner of record to secure the structure and the owner does not secure the structure to town specifications, the hazard may be summarily abated by the town through boarding. The town may also post both the structure and the exterior premises with signs to provide reasonable notice prohibiting entry (i.e., “No Trespassing” signs). Any and all charges and costs arising from the town taking action to secure the structure shall be a lien filed against the real property containing such a structure.
(D) Emergency abatement.
(1) Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter if, in the opinion of the code official, the conditions at a property constitute an imminent hazard, the code official may order immediate abatement of the hazard without notice. Such abatement of an imminent hazard shall be limited to the minimum work necessary to remove the hazard and may include disconnection of utilities.
(2) The town shall pay the cost and expense of such abatement from any appropriation made available for that purpose.
(3) A lien shall be recorded with the County Recorder’s office and shall address the same costs and procedures identified in division (B) above.
(4) Whenever the code official finds that any structure contains an imminent hazard or health hazard, the code official may declare such structure unfit for human occupancy and order it to be vacated or to remain vacant. A structure declared unfit for occupancy and ordered vacated or to remain vacant under the provisions of this section shall not be leased, rented or occupied, and the utilities cannot be reconnected, until it has been inspected and deemed fit for occupancy by the town. The town shall reinspect, for the purpose of reoccupancy, within three business days of the receipt of a written request by the owner.
(5) Fire department suppression forces are responsible for emergency operations related to fire conditions. In any case involving fire conditions at a building or structure, fire suppression forces shall be responsible for fire suppression and structure control until such time as the fire is fully extinguished. After fire conditions are fully extinguished, and after any necessary fire cause investigation, fire suppression forces shall transfer control and responsibility for the building or structure to the Building Official or other appropriate code official. After this transfer, all subsequent enforcement actions, such as securing the structure, restoring utilities or ordering demolition, as well as all follow up actions such as cost recovery, shall be the responsibility of the Building Official or code official. After the transfer of responsibility, fire cause investigators shall retain authority over and responsibility for investigation of fire causation.
(E) Structures posted as hazardous.
(1) Whenever the code official has determined that a structure is unfit for occupancy and orders the structure to be vacated, the code official shall post a written notice at or upon each exit of the structure. The notice shall be in substantially the following form:
DO NOT ENTER UNSAFE TO OCCUPY It is unlawful to occupy this structure or to remove or deface this notice. |
(2) No person shall remain in or enter any structure that has been so posted, except to make repairs, demolish or remove such structure under permit. No person shall remove or deface such notice after it is posted until the required repairs, demolition or removal of the structure is completed and the property is reinspected and found to be in compliance.
(3) Whenever a notice is posted pursuant to division (E)(2) above, the code official shall provide notice of such posting to the property owner using the procedures and provisions set forth in § 92.05(F) of this chapter. This notice shall recite the emergency and describe the hazardous condition(s) that necessitate the posting.
(F) Abatement by demolition. Abatement by demolition shall be ordered only where repair of the structure is unreasonable or impracticable, and demolition and removal of a structure or building is necessary to correct and abate a violation. Any action involving the demolition of a building or structure shall be commenced by issuing a notice of violation to the owner and any responsible parties in accordance with the provisions of § 92.05(F) of this chapter.
(Ord. 20-05, passed 1-28-2020)