(a) Nuisance Conditions. Unsheltered storage of licensed and/or unlicensed, unused, stripped, junk and/or other motor vehicles not in good and/or safe operating condition, and of any other vehicles, machinery, implements and/or equipment and personal property manufactured, which hereinafter are collectively described as personalty, for a period of seventy-two hours or more, except in licensed junk yards, within the corporate limits of the City, is hereby declared to be a nuisance and dangerous to the public safety and is prohibited.
(b) Abatement of Nuisance by Owners. The owner, tenant, lessee and/or occupant of any real property within the corporate limits of the City upon which such storage of personalty constituting a nuisance exists, and also the owner and/or lessee of such personalty involved in such storage, all of whom are hereinafter referred to collectively as owners, shall jointly and severally abate the nuisance by the prompt removal of such personalty into completely enclosed buildings authorized to be used for such storage purposes, if such buildings are within the corporate limits of the City, or otherwise by removing it to a location outside the corporate limits.
(c) Notice to Property Owners. Whenever the existence of any nuisance defined in this section on any lots or parcels of real estate situated within the City shall come to the attention of the Director of Public Service, it shall be his or her duty to cause a written notice identifying such property to be issued to the person owning the same, along with the owner of record and any lienholder of record of objectionable personalty located on the real property. Such notice shall be addressed to such person at his or her last known address and shall be sent by certified mail, return receipt requested. The notice shall order that, within seven days of receipt of such notice, the objectionable personalty shall either be covered by being housed in a garage or other suitable structure or shall be removed from the property and stored outside the corporate limits of the City. Such notice shall further state that in default of the performance of the above requirements, the City may, at once, cause a petition for injunction to be filed in a court of competent jurisdiction requesting that the court order the same to be done and charge the costs and expenses incurred in doing such work to the owner of such real property and the owners of such personalty on a joint and several basis.
(d) Abatement by City.
(1) Whenever the owners fail to abate such nuisance, the City may petition a court of competent jurisdiction for an order permitting the Municipality to remove the personalty to a location of its selection, the expenses therefor to be billed to the owners jointly and severally.
(2) When such personalty has been removed and placed into storage by the City, as provided for herein, the personalty shall be sold by the City in the manner and after the lapse of such period of time as is provided by law. If the proceeds of such sale are insufficient to pay the costs of abatement, the owners shall be liable to the City for the balance of the costs, jointly and severally, to be recoverable in a suit at law. If the proceeds are in excess of the costs, the balance shall be distributed in accordance with Ohio R.C. 4513.62.
(3) The remedy provided in this subsection shall be in addition to the penalty provided in subsection (f) hereof.
(e) Violations. No owner shall allow such nuisance to exist or shall fail to abate such nuisance within the time period set forth in this section.
(Ord. 1994-93. Passed 7-5-94.)
(f) Penalty. Whoever violates this section is guilty of a minor misdemeanor and shall be subject to the penalty provided in Section 698.02. A separate offense shall be deemed committed each day during or on which a nuisance is permitted to exist.
(1972 Code § 303.99)