818.01 POSTING CURRENT GASOLINE PRICES.

   No person engaged in the retail sale of gasoline to the general public shall fail to post on the premises from which such gasoline is sold the then current selling price per gallon of gasoline offered for sale. In the event that gasoline is dispensed or sold at varying prices, the price to be so displayed shall be the lowest price at which gasoline is offered for sale to the motoring public.
(Ord. 1974-144. Passed 9-3-74.)

818.02 CONTENTS, SIZE AND PLACING OF SIGNS.

   (a)   Posting of prices as used in Section 818.01 shall include the type and grade of the gasoline sold or offered for sale at retail on the premises. Posting, within the meaning of Section 818.01, shall be deemed accomplished when there is at least one sign and not more than two signs, twenty-two inches by twenty-eight inches, placed above each island of gasoline pumps. Such signs shall be of a permanent nature, constructed from a durable material, either wood, plastic or metal, and shall be clear, visible and legible to motorists traveling the streets and roadways immediately adjacent to the gasoline station. Such signs shall have numerals not less than six inches high.

       (b)   The requirement to post signs, as specified in Section 818.01, shall in no way be considered to be in violation of the Zoning Code where a gasoline service station has already used the maximum allowable sign area permitted by the Zoning Code.
(Ord. 1974-144. Passed 9-3-74.)

818.03 ABANDONED STATIONS.

   (a)   If any gasoline service station is abandoned, such station shall be presumed to be a nuisance affecting or endangering surrounding property values and to be detrimental to the public health, safety, convenience, comfort, property and general welfare and shall be abated. “Abandoned,” as used in this section, means a failure to operate such station for at least three consecutive months in any eighteen-month period.

   Whenever the Building Commissioner finds any such station to be abandoned within the meaning of this section, he shall give notice in the same manner as service of summons in civil cases, or by certified mail addressed to the owner of record of the premises at his last known address or to the address to which tax bills are sent, or by a combination of the foregoing methods, to abate such abandoned condition within sixty days, either by placing the station in operation in accordance with these Codified Ordinances, by adapting and using the building for another permitted business use or by razing the station structure, removing the pumps and signs, abandoning underground storage tanks in accordance with accepted safe practice as prescribed by the National Fire Protection Association in Appendix C to N.F.P.A. No. 30, under the supervision of the Chief of the Fire Department of the City, and filling depressions to the grade level of the lot. However, if the station is in operation at the time notice is given and remains in operation for ninety consecutive days thereafter, the provisions of this section shall not apply. Further, if a national emergency is declared which would curtail the operation of motor vehicles or if Council should determine that there exists a state of general economic depression, the provisions of this section shall not apply.

   Upon the failure, neglect or refusal of any owner to comply with the notice to abate such nuisance, the building Commissioner shall take such action as may be necessary to abate such nuisance.

   (b)   Inoperative gasoline service stations which do not come within the definition of abandoned stations shall be maintained in accordance with the provisions of these Codified Ordinances, and the owner shall cut all grass and remove all rubbish and weeds from the premises. The parking of motor vehicles upon such premises is prohibited and the owner shall place in the window of such station a sign of at least ten square feet in area notifying the public of this fact. Notwithstanding any other provision of these Codified Ordinances, if the Building Commissioner finds that such notice is not complied with by the public, he may order the owner of the premises on which any station is inoperative for more than six months to install fencing or barricades approved by the Building Commissioner which are sufficient to block motor vehicle access to such property.
(Ord. 1973-166. Passed 2-4-74.)