A. Any violation of this chapter shall be treated as a strict liability offense; a violation shall be deemed to have occurred regardless of a violator's intent.
B. Any person, partnership, association, corporation, fiduciary or other legal entity, that owns, leases, occupies, controls or manages any abandoned property and causes, permits, or maintains a violation of this chapter as to that property, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof, shall be punished as provided in this code.
C. This section is intended to be cumulative to, and not in place of, other rights and remedies available to the town pursuant to this code. Above and beyond the violation and penalty specified in this section, the town attorney or a duly authorized enforcement official may pursue any other right or remedy permitted by this code, including, but not limited to, commencement of any civil action, or administrative action to abate the condition of a property as a public nuisance pursuant to chapter 6.04 of this title or this chapter.
D. In the event the town takes administrative action to abate the condition of an abandoned property above and beyond the rights and remedies specified in chapter 6.04 of this title, the following administrative penalties shall apply:
1. On the administrative penalty due date, each party subject to an abatement order shall pay an administrative penalty of one thousand dollars ($1,000.00).
2. In the event that a violation of this chapter addressed by an abatement order has not been abated, cured, remedied and/or eliminated to the reasonable satisfaction of a duly authorized enforcement official by the fifteenth day after the administrative penalty due date, each party subject to said abatement order shall pay a supplemental administrative penalty of five thousand dollars ($5,000.00).
3. In the event that a violation of this chapter addressed by an abatement order has not been abated, cured, remedied and/or eliminated to the reasonable satisfaction of a duly authorized enforcement official by the thirtieth day after the administrative penalty due date, each party subject to said abatement order shall pay a second supplemental administrative penalty of twenty five thousand dollars ($25,000.00).
E. In each instance when a party becomes subject to an administrative penalty specified in this section, an enforcement official shall issue an order providing written notice of that party's obligation to make payment of said administrative penalty. Each such order shall constitute a special assessment against the property in question having the same legal status as an order determining the cost of abatement of a public nuisance pursuant to the provisions of chapter 6.04 of this title.
F. In each instance when a party becomes subject to an administrative penalty specified in this section, and the order providing for said administrative penalty issues when that party is either seeking to perfect its interest in the abandoned property subsequent to the recordation of a notice of default, or is the property's owner of record, that party is not relieved of its obligation to pay any administrative penalty based upon the sale of the property in question to another. (Ord. 219, 1-18-2011)