(a) The City Manager or the Manager's designee shall enforce this article and shall periodically inspect the City for blight or blighting factors within the City.
(b) The owner or occupant of the property upon which any of the causes of blight or blighting factors as set forth in this chapter may be notified in writing to remove or eliminate said causes of blight or blighting factors from such property within seven days after service of the notice. Such removal notice shall be serviced by first-class mail or in person. If efforts to serve the occupants or owner personally or by first-class mail are unsuccessful, service shall be deemed sufficient if the written notice is posted in a conspicuous location on the property in question. Additional time to remove the blight or blighting factors may be granted by the enforcement officers when bonafide efforts to remove or eliminate such blight or blighting factors are in progress. The owner or occupant of the property who has received the notice may, within the seven day period, request a hearing with the City Manager or the Manager's designee, provided said request for hearing is in writing and delivered timely. The hearing shall be conducted within ten days after receipt of the request for the hearing and the hearing shall be held before a tribunal consisting of the City Manager or the Manager's designee, the head Building Official, or Building Official's designee, and the City Engineer, or the Engineer's designee. If the tribunal noted herein determines that the blight or blighting factors do exist, it shall advise the owner or occupant of the building in question at the conclusion of said hearing and shall further advise the owner/occupant that they have seven days from the conclusion of the hearing to take the required actions to abate the blight or blighting factors.
(c) Failure to comply by the owner or the occupant with a notice provided or at the conclusion of the hearing for the removal or abatement of the blight or blighting factors within the time prescribed shall constitute a misdemeanor as noted herein.
(d) If the owner or occupant neglects or refuses to abate the blight or blighting factors upon which they have received notice and had the hearing, if requested, then and in that event, the City may abate the blight or blighting factors by whatever reasonable means are necessary to abate said blight or blighting factors and that all of the costs for the removal or abatement of said blight or blighting factors shall be billed to the owner of the subject property and the cost incurred to abate the blight. That any invoice which remains unpaid for a period of thirty days shall become a lien on the property and shall be assessed against that property.
(e) Before commencement of prosecution under this ordinance, for a first violation the City shall notify the violator(s) of the existence of the violation of this chapter. Such notice shall be in writing and served upon the violator(s) as provided herein. The violator(s) shall have seven days from the date of service in which to remedy the violation.
(f) Prosecution may be commenced against a violator(s) without prior notice in any instance where a violation notice has been previously sent within the twelve months immediately preceding the second or subsequent notification regarding or relating to the same address.
(g) Each day that a violation under this chapter continues to exist shall be considered a separate violation subject to the penalties set forth herein.
(Ord. 2001-16. Passed 6-5-01.)