(a) Administration.
(1) This article shall be administered by an employee of the Putnam County Planning Commission to be known as the Building Permit Officer. It shall also be the duty of the Building Permit Officer to function as enforcement officer as it becomes necessary to initiate administrative or judicial remedies against salvage yard ordinance violators. The Building Permit Officer shall be under the supervision of the Planning Director and, where a Building Permit Officer has not been appointed by the Planning Commission, the Planning Director shall perform those duties.
(2) The Building Permit Officer, or any other representative of the County Planning Commission shall have the right to inspect the premises of any salvage yard, either announced or unannounced, and at any reasonable time, for the purposes of enforcing this article.
(b) Appeal. Any person aggrieved by a decision of the Building Permit Officer and/or the Putnam County Planning Commission with respect to the provisions of this article may appeal that decision to the Putnam County Commission. Such appeal must be filed, in writing, within thirty days after the determination by the Planning Commission. The County Commission shall set a time and place not less than ten or more than thirty days for the purpose of hearing the appeal. Public notice of the time and place of the hearing of the appeal shall be given to all parties at which time they may appear and be heard.
(c) Enforcement. Enforcement of this article shall be the responsibility of the Building Permit Officer, who shall make an initial interpretation that a violation has occurred. The Building Permit Officer shall see that a written “Violation Notice and Directive to Cease and Desist” is prepared by the Prosecuting Attorney and transmitted to the person responsible for the violation. Failure to comply with a Directive to Cease and Desist shall be cause for the Planning Commission to declare the violation a common nuisance. Upon such declaration, the Planning Commission shall instruct the Building Permit Officer to request the assistance of the County Prosecuting Attorney and:
(1) Seek an injunction in the Circuit Court of Putnam County to restrain the responsible person from continuing the violation cited or seek an injunction requiring removal of structures or land uses from the property involved, or
(2) Proceed by criminal warrant or information against the person in violation, or both (1) and (2).
(d) Penalty. Any person, partnership, business or corporation violating any provision of the article, whether as principal, agent or employee, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction shall be punished by a fine of not less than one hundred dollars ($100.00) nor more than one thousand dollars ($1,000) in accordance with Chapter 17, Article 23, Section 9 of the Code of West Virginia. Each month, or portion of a month in which a violation of this article is committed, continued or permitted, shall constitute a separate offense. The Building Permit Officer shall be authorized to revoke a salvage yard permit if any person, partnership, business or corporation violates any provision of the article. Such revocation shall be in effect until such time that violations, as cited, have been arrested.