(A) The term “noxious vegetation” does not include vegetation that constitutes an agricultural crop nor vegetation on a parcel of property or any portion of a parcel of property that is greater than 100 feet from a public right-of-way, alley, property line, or dwelling unit, unless that vegetation is a health hazard, a fire hazard, or a traffic hazard that violates the vision clearance area requirements found in Sublimity Development Code § 2.209.8, which may be found on the city’s website at www.cityofsublimity.org.
(B) The term “noxious vegetation” does include:
(1) Weeds more than ten inches high;
(2) Grass more than ten inches high and not within the exception stated in division (A) above;
(3) Poison oak;
(4) Poison ivy;
(5) Blackberry bushes that extend into a public thoroughfare or across a property line; and
(6) Vegetation that is:
(a) A safety hazard because of the possibility of falling branches;
(b) A fire hazard because it is near other combustibles;
(c) A traffic hazard because it impairs the view of a public thoroughfare, otherwise makes use of the thoroughfare hazardous, or does not meet the sight distance triangle requirements contained in Sublimity Development Code § 2.209.8.
(C) No owner or person in charge of property shall allow noxious vegetation to be on the property or in the right-of-way of a public thoroughfare abutting on the property. An owner or person in charge of property shall cut down or destroy grass, shrubbery, brush, bushes, weeds, or other noxious vegetation as often as needed to prevent them from becoming unsightly, from becoming a fire hazard, or, in the case of weeds or other noxious vegetation, from maturing or going to seed.
(D) Between March 1 and April 15 of each year, the City Recorder may publish three times, in a newspaper of general circulation, in the city a copy of division (C) above as a notice to all owners and persons in charge of property of the duty to keep their property free from noxious vegetation. The notice shall state that the city is willing to abate the nuisance on a particular parcel or property at the request of the owner or person in charge of the property for a fee sufficient to cover the city’s abatement costs. The notice shall also state that, in the absence of request, the city intends to abate all nuisances ten or more days after the final publication of the notice and to charge the cost of doing so to the owner or the person responsible for the property, or on the property itself.
(E) In lieu of providing notice as provided in division (D) above, between March 1 and April 15 of each year, the City Recorder may obtain a list of property owners within the city and may then mail a notice to each listed property owner. The notice shall include a copy of division (C) above advising property owners of their duty to keep their property free from noxious vegetation. The notice shall also state that the city is willing to abate the nuisance on a particular parcel of property for a fee sufficient to cover the city’s abatement costs. The notice shall also state that, in the absence of such request, the city intends to abate all such nuisances at any time and the city will charge the cost of abating the nuisance on a particular parcel of property to the owner or the person responsible for the property, or on the property itself.
(F) During any time of each year, the City Recorder may provide notice for abatement of noxious vegetation as provided in § 91.37.
(G) If the notices provided for in divisions (D) or (E) above are used, they shall be in lieu of the notice required by § 91.37.
(Ord. 709, passed 3-9-2009) Penalty, see § 91.99