(A) Criminal or civil penalty. Pursuant to the city’s prosecutorial discretion, the city may enforce violations of the provisions of this chapter as criminal, civil or abatement actions.
(1) Misdemeanor. Any person who is violating any of the provisions of this chapter shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. Each and every day, during which any such offense is committed, continued or allowed shall be a separate offense.
(2) Each and every offense under this chapter is punishable by:
(a) A fine not exceeding $100 for the first offense;
(b) A fine not exceeding $500 for the second offense of the same or similar provision within one year period; or
(c) A fine no less than $1,000 for each additional offense, after the second, of the same or similar provision of this chapter within a one year period of the first offense.
(B) Enforcement procedures and notice.
(1) The city hereby establishes the standards and procedures for the enforcement of this chapter under KRS 381.770 as follows:
(a) Whenever such a situation is discovered, the city person or employee as may be designated by the City Council to enforce city ordinances shall give five days written notice to any one or more or all: the owner, operator, agent, occupant or person having control or management of the property to remedy such situation.
(b) The notice shall be served upon the responsible person as stated above, by mail, or by personal service. If by mail, it shall be addressed to the last known address of the owner of the property, as it appears on the current tax assessment roll. The failure of any or all of the addresses to receive the notice shall not invalidate any of the proceedings. Further, the posting of notice of a hearing or order pursuant to this chapter shall be conclusively deemed to be adequate notice to any and all occupants, users or possessors of the property or its contents, and the failure of any such occupant, user or possessor to see, read, understand or otherwise receive the notice shall not invalidate any of the proceedings. Upon the failure of the owner of the property to comply, the city is authorized to send employees or persons hired by the city upon the property to remedy the situation.
(2) The city shall have a lien against the property for the reasonable value of labor and materials used in remedying the situation. The affidavit of the person or employee as may be designated by the City Council to enforce city ordinances, shall constitute prima facie evidence of the amount of the lien and the regularity of the proceedings pursuant to this chapter and KRS 381.770, and shall be recorded in the Office of the Jefferson County Clerk. The lien shall be notice to all persons from the time of its recording and shall bear interest thereafter until paid at the rate of 1.5% per month, compounded monthly, and may be enforced by judicial proceedings.
(3) In addition to the remedy described in this section or any other remedy authorized by law, the owner of a property upon which a lien has been attached pursuant to this section shall be personally liable for the amount of the lien, including all interest, civil penalties, and other charges and the city may bring a civil action against the owner and shall have the same remedies as provided for the recovery of a debt owed.
(C) Appeals. Any action taken by the person or employee as may be designated by the City Council to enforce city ordinances may be appealed to the City Council by any person cited hereunder. The appeal must be in writing, stating with specificity the grounds of the appeal and it must be filed with the City Clerk within the same time allowed for abatement (without extension). The grounds for the appeal shall be stated in the appeal in detail. The appeal shall be heard by the City Council within 60 days of it being filed with the City Clerk. While such appeal is pending, the abatement notice shall be held in abeyance.
(Ord. 3, Series 2013-2014, passed 9-3-2013)