(a) Public Nuisance Per Se Defined. For the purposes of this section, the following exterior conditions are deemed to be a public nuisance. per se:
(1) Grass in lawns, or other ground cover used in lieu of grass, which is permitted to grow in excess of eight inches in height;
(2) Dead or dying trees, limbs, or other natural growth, which, by reason of a rotting or deteriorating condition or storm damage, constitute a hazard to persons or property;
(3) Broken glass, stumps, roots, filth, garbage, trash, debris, and motor vehicles, boats or trailers, or parts thereof, in a condition of disrepair or deterioration;
(4) Holes, excavations, breaks, projections and obstructions which are a hazard to persons or property;
(5) Hedges, shrubs, bushes, and/or other decorative landscape features that are not kept adequately trimmed and have become overgrown and unsightly;
(6) Any condition which facilitates and/or permits an infestation of rodents, vermin, or insects.
(b) Public Nuisance Defined. For the purposes of this section, in addition to those public nuisances per se as set out in subsection (a) hereof, any hazard to the safety of occupants, pedestrians, or other persons utilizing the premises; any unsanitary condition; and any premises containing debris, objects, materials or conditions that may create a health, accident, or fire hazard or that constitute a blighting or deteriorating influence on the neighborhood is deemed to be a public nuisance.
(c) Authority to Abate a Public Nuisance. Whenever the Mayor, Building Commissioner or Director of Public Safety finds that there is within the City any act, thing, or condition of a kind which has been or may hereafter be defined in this section or any other section of the Codified Ordinances or by other ordinance as a public nuisance, the Mayor, Building Commissioner or Director of Public Safety is authorized and directed to promptly cause its abatement, as hereinafter provided.
(d) Notice to Owner of Real Estate. The Mayor, Building Commissioner or Director of Public Safety, upon finding that a public nuisance exists, may cause written notice to be served on the owner of the real estate upon which such nuisance exists or upon which the cause or source of such nuisance is located. The notice shall set forth the nature of the nuisance; designate whether the act, thing, or condition is determined to be a “public nuisance per se”, as that term is defined in subsection 606.28(a), or a “public nuisance” as that term is defined in subsection 606.28(b); the estimate of the Mayor, Building Commissioner or Director of Public Safety of the cost of abating the same; a direction that the real estate owner abate the nuisance by the date, determined by the Mayor, Building Commissioner or Director of Public Safety, specified in such notice; and the statement that unless the nuisance is abated within the specified time, it may be abated by the City and the cost of such abatement charged against the real estate owner and/or assessed to the real property involved, and that the City may, if the nuisance is not timely abated, in addition to such charge and/or assessment, prosecute the real estate owner for failure to comply with the direction of the Mayor, Building Commissioner or Director of Public Safety.
(e) Service of Notice. The notice shall be deemed to be properly served if served by the Mayor, Building Commissioner or Director of Public Safety or served by a City employee or agent designed by the Mayor, Building Commissioner or Director of Public Safety by:
(1) Delivering the notice personally to the real estate owner; or
(2) Leaving the notice at the real estate owner’s usual place of business or residence; or
(3) Mailing the notice by certified mail, return receipt requested, to the real estate owner; or
(4) Publishing the notice once in a newspaper of general circulation within the City; and
In the case of a notice pursuant to subsection 606.28(d) posting the notice in a conspicuous place on the real estate where the public nuisance exists or upon which the cause or source of such nuisance is located.
(f) Real Estate Owner Defined. For purposes of this section the real estate owner and the address of the real estate owner shall be deemed to be the individual(s) or entity and that address designated on the City’s latest sewer bill listing. If no individual(s) or entity is set out on the sewer bill listing, then the real estate owner and the address of the real estate owner shall be deemed to be the individual(s) or entity and that address listed on Cuyahoga County computer records as the individual(s) or entity who are the current owner of the real estate upon which such nuisance exists or upon which the cause or source of such nuisance is located. If the City is unable to determine the real estate owner or his/her address from either of these two sources, it may utilize any other reasonable means to determine the name and address.
(g) Appeal of Decision of Mayor, Building Commissioner, or Director of Public Safety and Procedure on Appeal.
(1) There shall be no immediate appeal from an order or notice of the Mayor, Building Commissioner or Director of Public Safety determining that an act, thing, or condition is a “public nuisance per se.” In such a case, the Mayor, Building Commissioner or Director of Public Safety may proceed to abate the nuisance immediately. After the nuisance is abated the real estate owner or the affected individual may appeal the order or notice of the Mayor, Building Commissioner or Director of Public Safety and may appeal the order or notice charging the cost of the abatement and/or assessing the cost against the real estate involved.
(2) An immediate appeal may be taken by the real estate owner or an affected individual before an order or notice of the Mayor determining that an act, thing, or condition is a “public nuisance” or any other order or notice of the Mayor, Building Commissioner or Director of Public Safety made pursuant to this Section 606.28, other than as specifically set out in subsection 606.28(g)(1) to the contrary.
(3) A. An appeal from an order or notice of the Mayor, Building Commissioner or Director of Public Safety, where such an appeal is permitted, may be made to the Shade Tree Commission by the real estate owner or an affected individual.
B. To be considered, the appellant shall within ten days after the date that the notice or order was mailed, delivered, published or posted as set out in subsection 606.28(e), whichever is the latest, file in the office of the Mayor, Building Commissioner or Director of Public Safety, a notice of appeal specifying the decision from which the appeal is sought, the alleged error and all necessary data in accordance with the form provided by the City, and shall pay a fifty dollar ($50.00) filing fee.
C. The Shade Tree Commission shall notify the appellant and the Building Commissioner and shall hold a hearing and decide the appeal at a place and time to be determined by the Commission within ten days of the receipt of a notice of appeal.
D. The Shade Tree Commission will utilize the standards set out in this Section 606.28 and may reverse or affirm, wholly or in part, or modify, any such order, requirement, or decision or determination as, in its opinion, ought to be made under the circumstances, and to that end shall have all the powers of the officer from whose decision the appeal is taken.
E. The decision of the Shade Tree Commission shall be final.
(h) Abatement by Mayor, Building Commissioner or Director of Public Safety. If the nuisance is not abated within the time specified in the notice, or if no appeal from the Mayor’s, Building Commissioner’s or Director of Public Safety’s decision is permitted or if no appeal is filed within the time period designated in subsection 606.28(g) or if an appeal is filed but denied by the Shade Tree Commission, the Mayor, Building Commissioner or Director of Public Safety may cause the public nuisance to be abated and the cost of abatement charged against the real estate owner and/or assessed against the real estate upon which the nuisance exists or upon which the cause or source of such nuisance was located.
(Ord. 2001-110. Passed 7-30-01.)
(i) Cost of Abatement. The cost of each abatement shall be computed by charging the actual cost incurred by the City if an outside contractor was used to abate the nuisance. If City employees are utilized to abate the nuisance, the actual cost shall be calculated by multiplying the number of City employee hours spent in abating the nuisance by the cost of the current billable hourly employee labor wage including fringes, and the reasonable value of the hourly equipment costs, all as determined by the City’s Director of Public Service. In no event will the charge for abating each nuisance be less than one hundred fifty dollars ($150.00).
(Ord. 2012-129. Passed 7-16-12.)
(j) Collection of Costs. The City may notify the real estate owner of the cost of abatement by mailing a bill to the real estate owner by ordinary mail delivery at the address designated in subsection 606.28(f) herein. If the bill is not paid in full within thirty days from the date of the mailing of the notice, the City may take the necessary legal step to collect the bill, with interest at a rate of ten percent (10%) per year from the date due, and reasonable attorney fees; and/or City Council may certify the amount due to the County Auditor to be assessed against the real estate, where the public nuisance existed or upon which the cause or source of the nuisance was located, to be collected as provided by law.
(k) Criminal Penalties. In addition to the civil remedies set out herein, any owner of real estate, upon which a nuisance exists or upon which the cause or source of such nuisance is located, who fails to comply with the direction of the Mayor, Building Commissioner or Director of Public Safety to abate such nuisance within the time specified in the notice from the Mayor, Building Commissioner or Director of Public Safety, shall, for a first offense, be guilty of a minor misdemeanor, and for a second or subsequent offense shall be guilty of a misdemeanor of the third degree. A separate offense shall be deemed committed each day during or on which a violation occurs or continues. Punishment shall be as provided in Section 698.02.
(Ord. 2001-110. Passed 7-30-01.)