(A) Definitions. For the purpose of this section, the following definitions shall apply unless the context clearly indicates or requires a different meaning.
JUNKED MOTOR VEHICLE. Any motor vehicle, as defined in this section, the condition of which is wrecked, dismantled, partially dismantled, inoperative, abandoned, or discarded. The absence of a current license on any motor vehicle shall be deemed to be strong evidence in support of a finding that the same is a junked motor vehicle within the meaning of this section.
MOTOR VEHICLE. Any vehicle which is self-propelled (or designed to be towed by a self-propelled vehicle) and designed to travel along the ground and shall include, but not be limited to automobiles, buses, motorbikes, motorcycles, motorscooters, trucks, tractors, farm machinery, construction equipment, go-carts, golf carts, campers, and trailers.
(B) Regulated. The governing body hereby finds that the presence of junked motor vehicles or parts thereof on private property have the consequences of harboring rodents, creating potentially dangerous attractions for children, creating the condition of unsightliness and depreciating surrounding property values to the detriment of the public interest and welfare. Except as hereafter provided, no person shall park, store, leave, or permit the parking, storing, or leaving of any junked automobile, whether attended or not, upon any private property within the city for a period of time in excess of 2 weeks; and the presence of any junked automobile on private property in violation of this section is declared to be a public nuisance and may be abated in accordance with the provisions of this section. This section shall not apply to any vehicle enclosed within a building on private property or any vehicle held in connection with a business enterprise, lawfully licensed by the city and properly operated in the appropriate business zone, pursuant to the zoning laws of the city, or to any motor vehicle in operable condition specifically adapted or designed for operation on drag strips or raceways, or any vehicle retained by the owner for antique collection purposes which has affixed thereto a special license plate for historical cars as provided in SDCL § 32-5-77.
(C) Notice to remove. Whenever it comes to the attention of the Vermillion Code Enforcement Department that junked motor vehicle exists in the City of Vermillion, a notice in writing shall be served upon the occupant of and/or the owner of record of the land where the junked motor vehicle exists and on the registered owner of the offending junked motor vehicle if the owner can be located in the exercise of reasonable diligence notifying each of them of the existence of the junked motor vehicle and requiring its removal within 21 days of the date specified in the notice. The Code Enforcement Officer may give the additional notice as he or she deems useful in the premises.
(D) Responsibility for removal. Upon proper notice and opportunity to be heard, the owner of the junked motor vehicle or the owner of record of the land or occupant of the private property on which the same is located, either or all of them, shall be responsible for its removal. In the event of removal and disposition of a junked motor vehicle by the city, those persons receiving a notice to remove the junked motor vehicle shall be jointly and severally liable for any unrecovered expenses incurred by the city for the removal, storage, and disposition of the junked motor vehicle.
(E) Notice procedure. The notice required by division (C) above may be served by the Code Enforcement Officer or by a police officer upon any person entitled to notice as herein provided by personal service as required South Dakota statute for the service of a summons or by mailing a copy of the notice by registered or certified mail with a return receipt request and addressed to the person at his or her last known post office address, with postage prepaid.
(F) Contents of notice. The notice shall require the removal of the junked motor vehicle within the time specified in this section. The notice shall also advise the person receiving the notice of the right to a hearing as provided under division (G) below. The notice shall state the location of where the junked motor vehicle will be stored if it is subsequently impounded and the costs to be paid by the owner thereof to recover the junked motor vehicle.
(G) Request for hearing. The person or persons to whom the notices are directed, or their duly authorized agents, may file a written request for hearing before the governing body of the City of Vermillion within the 21-day period of compliance prescribed in division (E) above for the purpose of defending the charges by the city. Written requests shall be filed with the Finance Officer, who shall then arrange a hearing before the governing body for the purpose of determining whether the motor vehicle described in the notice of removal, issued pursuant to division (C) above, is a junked motor vehicle.
(H) Procedure for hearing. Unless otherwise agreed by and between the interested parties, the hearing shall be held as soon as practicable after the filing of the receipt, and the person or persons to whom the notices are directed shall be advised of the time and place of the hearing at least 10 days in advance thereof. At any such hearing, the city and the person or persons to whom the notices have been directed may introduce the witnesses and evidence as either party deems necessary. Based on the evidence presented at the hearing, the governing body will either affirm the decision of the Code Enforcement officer and order that the junked motor vehicle be removed by 1 or all of the parties in interest within a period not to exceed 15 days after the date of the order of the Council or reverse the decision of the Code Enforcement Officer and dismiss the proceeding.
(I) Removal on default. If the violation described in the notice given pursuant to division (C) above has not been remedied within the 21-day period allowed for compliance and no hearing pursuant to division (G) above has been requested by any person entitled thereto, then the further proceedings hereinafter prescribed in divisions (K) through (O) below shall be followed.
(J) Removal after civil action. If the notice of hearing requesting a hearing as hereinabove provided in division (G) above has been timely filed, hearing has been held, and the existence of the violation has been affirmed by the City Council of Vermillion, and the junked motor vehicle is not removed within a 15-day period or other time period ordered by the governing body, then the City Attorney shall commence a civil action pursuant to SDCL § 21-10-5 to remove the junked motor vehicle, and further if it shall be a part of the judgment and order entered in the action that the junked motor vehicle shall be removed, impounded and disposed of pursuant to this action, then the further proceedings hereinafter prescribed in divisions (K) through (O) below shall be followed.
(K) Disposition of impounded junked motor vehicle. If the junked motor vehicle has not been removed prior to the expiration of the time periods specified hereinabove, the city may remove and impound the junked motor vehicle. Upon removing the junked motor vehicle under the provisions of division (J) above, the title to the junked motor vehicle shall be vested in the city, if, after 60 days from the date of the removal the junked motor vehicle remains unclaimed. The proceeds of any such disposal shall first be applied to the costs incurred in the removal of the junked motor vehicle with the balance to be deposited to the credit of the General Fund of the city.
(L) Contents of public sale notice. The notice of sale shall state:
(1) The sale is of abandoned property in the possession of the city;
(2) A description of the junked motor vehicle, including make, model, license number, and any other information which will accurately identify the vehicle;
(3) The terms of the sale; and
(4) The date, time, and place of the sale.
(M) Public sale. The junked motor vehicle shall be sold to the highest and best bidder. At the time of payment of the purchase price, the Code Enforcement Officer shall execute a certificate of sale in duplicate, the original of which shall be given to the purchaser, and a copy thereof filed with the Finance Officer of the city.
(N) Redemption of impounded junked motor vehicles. The owner of any vehicle seized under the provisions of this section may redeem the junked motor vehicle at any time after its removal but prior to the sale or destruction thereof upon proof of ownership and payment to the Code Enforcement Officer or police department of the actual and reasonable expense of removal and any preliminary sale advertising expenses, plus a fee in an amount to be set by resolution for storage for each junked motor vehicle redeemed.
(O) Lien against record owner of land. Upon the removal and disposition of a junked motor vehicle by the city, a lien may be placed upon the land where the junked motor vehicle was located for the removal, storage, and disposition of the junked motor vehicle, but only if the record of the land received notice of the junked motor vehicle pursuant to division (C) above. Any notice required to be given pursuant to this section may be given and served in the manner provided by division (E) above.
(1975 Code, § 15-56) (Ord. 599, passed 5-7-1973; Am. Ord. 650, passed 5-19-1975; Am. Ord. 654, passed 6-2-1975; Am. Ord. 728, passed 11-7-1977; Am. Ord. 862, passed 2-19-1985; Am. Ord. 954, passed 8-6-1990; Am. Ord. 1072, passed 1-4-1999) Penalty, see § 90.99