8.15.110 Enforcement.
(1) Warnings, Citations, Orders, and Fines.
(a) The City Administrator may issue warnings, citations, and/or orders to any owner and/or person in charge of property for nuisances, charging such persons with violating this chapter.
(b) Each violation shall be a civil offense and subject to a fine of not less than five hundred dollars ($500.00) for the first failure to comply and one thousand dollars ($1,000.00) for each subsequent failure to comply committed within one year of the first occurrence. In addition to any other rights or remedies provided under this chapter, the City may recover all fees, fines, and costs imposed by this chapter or otherwise incurred by City to enforce this chapter, including, without limitation, the City’s attorney fees and the costs of any hearings.
(c) The City and/or its designee may enter upon any property in connection with the City’s provision of any notice or order provided under this chapter, determining compliance with this chapter, and/or to enforce this chapter, including, without limitation, performing any abatement; the City and/or its designee shall not be liable for trespass or conversion in connection therewith.
(d) If any provision of this chapter is violated by a firm, corporation, limited liability company, or any other legal entity, the officers, members, managers, shareholders, partners, and/or directors (as the case may be) will be personally subject to the penalties imposed by this chapter.
(2) Continuing Violation – Cumulative Remedies. Each separate calendar day of uninterrupted nuisance may be a separate offense. The citation for continuing violation shall state the date the violation is alleged to have first occurred, the date or range of dates of continuing violation, and the amount of the fine for each day’s violation. The procedures and the City’s rights and remedies under this chapter are not exclusive. The City may pursue all other procedures, rights, and remedies provided under applicable federal, state, and local laws, regulations, and ordinances to address violations of this chapter. All available rights and remedies are cumulative and may be exercised singularly or concurrently.
(3) Notice of Abatement. The City Administrator shall have the authority to enforce this chapter and may cause a ten (10) day written notice of violation to be issued to the owner and/or person in charge of property. The notice will contain (a) a description of the nuisance, (b) identification of the property upon which the nuisance is located by address or otherwise, and (c) inform the owner and/or person in charge of property that if the nuisance is not abated within ten (10) days, or such longer period as may be provided in the notice, it will be abated by the City and the owner and person in charge of property will be assessed for the cost of abatement as provided under this chapter.
(4) Service. Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, any notice or order required under this chapter will be (a) personally delivered to the owner and person in charge of property, (b) sent to the owner and person in charge of property by first-class mail to their last known residence or business address, and/or (c) posted at the property and also sent via first-class mail to the owner and person in charge of property to their last known residence or business address. Any notice or order served by mail will be deemed received three days after the date mailed. Failure of any owner and/or person in charge of property to receive notice or the order, or an error in the name or address of any owner and/or person in charge of property, will not render the notice or order void; the notice and/or order will be deemed proper and sufficient. Refusal to accept the registered or certified mail will not be deemed to, and will not, render the notice or order invalid.
(5) Posting. The City may place a sign on any property in violation of this chapter warning of the nuisance or derelict building or structure. It is a violation of this chapter to remove any such posting.
(6) Recording of Violations. The City may record a notice of any violation of this chapter with the County Clerk and charge the costs to the owner. Failure to record a notice of violation will not affect the validity of any City enforcement efforts. When the property is brought into compliance, a notice of satisfaction will be recorded at the owner’s expense.
(7) Abatement of Vegetation Violations Following Publication. In addition to and not in lieu of any other remedy or abatement procedure available to the City, if the City has published a general notice of the obligations for vegetation maintenance under this chapter in a newspaper of general circulation in a given calendar year, the City may abate any vegetation maintenance violations occurring such calendar year if the owner fails to remedy such violation within ten (10) days after a separate written notice is issued to the owner and charge the costs of such abatement to the owner, which will be a lien on the subject property. [Ord. 979 § 2 (Exh. A), 2023; Ord. 875 Exh. A § 11, 2015.]