98-9865 Enable Nuisance AssessmConmlHalNSli.
(Published in the Salina Journal Aprilo?q, 1998)
ORDINANCE NUMBER 98-9866
AN ORDINANCE PROVIDING FOR THE AMENDMENT OF CHAPTER 24 OF THE
SALINA CODE PERTAINING TO NUISANCES AND REPEALING THE EXISTING CHAPTER.
BE IT ORDAINED by the Governing Body of the City of Salina, Kansas:
Section 1. That Chapter 24 of the Salina Code is hereby amended to read as
follows:
"Section 24-1. Purpose and Findings.
(1) The purpose of this chapter is to provide reasonable controls restricting and
prohibiting the creation and allowing of nuisances to exist on property within the City
of Salina; to declare that certain conditions constitute public nuisances, which are
unsightly, are a menace and dangerous to health of the inhabitants of the City and are
offensive to the general public health, safety, and welfare of the community; to provide
a method of enforcement of this chapter; to provide procedures to notify property
owners or those in control of property that a violation exists and to allow for self -
abatement by such persons; to provide property owners or those in control of
property notification and an opportunity to be heard concerning violations of this
chapter; to provide administrative procedures to allow the City to direct the abatement
of violations; to provide a method of assessment or collection of costs for abatement
by the City; to declare that the existence of such violations is unlawful and to provide
penalties for enforcement through the Municipal Court system.
(2) The Governing Body of the City of Salina, hereby finds that nuisances and
unsafe or dangerous structures, as defined herein, on private property or adjacent
rights-of-way or easements are public nuisances which are unsightly, a menace,
dangerous to the health of the inhabitants of the City and are offensive to the general
public health, safety, and welfare of the community. Such nuisances promote
conditions which cause:
(A) disease;
(B) pollution;
(C) proliferation of rodents, vermin, insects, and reptiles;
(D) the spread of fire;
(E) a harmful environment for transients and to the community as a result
of transient use;
(F) harmful attractions for children;
(G) adverse impact on the use and enjoyment of property including the
reduction of property values and the integrity of the neighborhood;
(H) Obstructions or interference on any street, alleyway, sidewalk, stream
or drainage;
(1) interference with the orderly development of property in the City.
Section 24-2. Definitions.
For purposes of this chapter, the following definitions shall apply:
(1) "Agent" shall mean any person or entity listed in the Saline County, Kansas,
Appraiser's Office or Treasurer's Office for the purpose of paying taxes; a registered
agent with the Kansas Secretary of State's Office for corporate or partnership
ownership; an agent or manager directed by the property owner, estate, or court order
to represent the interests of the property or to otherwise control activities on the
property, or a corporate officer,
(2) "City" shall mean the City of Salina, Kansas;
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(3) "Graffiti" shall mean any drawing, painting, writing, figure or mark, regardless
of its content, of the type which is commonly known and referred to as "graffiti" which
is written, drawn, painted, sprayed, scratched or otherwise placed or affixed,
regardless of the nature of the material used, on any wall, window, rock, building or
portion thereof, fence, gate, sign, other structure, tree or other real or personal
property, either publicly or privately owned, and that is visible from any adjacent public
or private property or public or private right-of-way.
(4) "Nuisance" shall mean any condition which causes or creates an unreasonable
interference with the rights of the general public and shall include, but not be limited
to:
(A) graffiti;
(B) noxious weeds, rank vegetation and weeds and indigenous grasses
that are uncontrolled or exceed twelve (12) inches in height, including
any vegetation on the right-of-way abutting the owner's property;
(C) accumulation of garbage, rubbish, trash, refuse, junk and other
abandoned materials, metals, building materials or other litter which
creates an unsightly appearance;
(D) the exposed carcasses of animals or fowl not disposed of after death;
(E) rank ponds or standing water (including swimming pools, water
receptacles, and undrained areas);
(F) accumulation of animal waste;
(G) any building or other structure which is in such a dilapidated condition
that it is infested with rodents or insects, left unsecured to allow entry
of animals, humans or the natural elements such as rain, hail and
snow, or otherwise left unkempt, unsightly, or unsanitary creating a
menace to the health and safety of the people residing in the vicinity
thereof, or presents a more than ordinarily dangerous fire hazard in the
vicinity where it is located;
(H) brush, limbs, trees, shrubs, or plants which are dead, diseased or
infested which present a harmful or dangerous condition to the public;
(1) any condition which provides harborage for rodents, reptiles, insects
and other vermin;
(J) exposed refrigerators, freezers, or other appliances left unsecured;
(K) all disagreeable or obnoxious odors and stenches, as well as the
conditions, substances or other causes which give rise to the emission
or generation of such odors and stenches (including rank or infested
compost heaps);
(L) the pollution of any well or cistern, stream, river, lake, or body of water
by sewage, dead animals, industrial wastes or other substances;
(M) smoke, gas, soot or cinders, in abnormal quantities, or any amount of
noxious fumes;
(N) any rank sewage, rank septic system, rank vault or rank cesspool;
(0) any building, structure, or other place or location where any activity
which is in violation of local, state or federal law is conducted,
performed or maintained;
(P) any other condition which is determined. to present a dangerous or
harmful condition to the public.
(5) "Person" shall mean any individual, individuals, partnership, corporation,
limited liability company, unincorporated association, other business organization,
committee, board, trustee, receiver agent, or any representative who has charge, care
of or responsibility for maintenance of any property, lot or parcel of land regardless
of status as owner, tenant or lessee, and regardless of whether such person has
possession;
(6) "Property owners" shall mean the named property owner as indicated by the
records of the Register of Deeds or Appraiser's Office in Saline County, Kansas;
(7) "Tenant" shall mean any person who has a severable or non severable interest
in the property by either oral or written lease or covenant, or by other methods of
conveying a limited interest in such lands; or any person who occupies or has
possession of such property;
(8) "Unsafe structures" shall mean any structure or part of a structure which
remains or is damaged to present a dangerous or unsafe condition to the public
including, but not limited to, structures damaged by fire, damaged by natural events
or elements such as wind, tornadoes, earthquakes, flooding or settling of the ground;
damaged by insect infestation; damaged due to the failure to provide reasonable
maintenance; structures occupied or unoccupied which have broken windows, missing
boards or siding, unsecured doors, or unsecured openings which allow the harboring
of animals, insects, transients, or create an attraction to children; structures which, in
the opinion of the Building Official present an unsafe or dangerous condition to those
on or near the property; unfinished structures where no occupancy permit has been
issued, and any building permit has lapsed for more than thirty (30) days; after
eighteen (18) months from the date of the first building permit and where no
inspection for newly completed work has been requested from the City within the last
forty-five (45) days.
Section 24-3. Prohibited.
It shall be unlawful for any person to cause, permit, maintain or allow the creation or
maintenance of a nuisance. As an alternative to the remedy of abatement as provided
under this chapter, any such person may be prosecuted in municipal court and be
punished by:
(1) An order to abate the nuisance;
(2) An order authorizing the city to abate the nuisance and assessing the
costs thereof;
(3) A fine of not more than five hundred dollars ($500.00);
(4) Imprisonment for a period of not exceeding six (6) months; or
(5) Any combination of the above.
Each day any violation of this chapter continues shall constitutes a separate offense.
Section 24-4. Inspection.
The Building Official or his designee shall have the authority and it shall be his or her
duty to enter into and examine at any and all times all buildings, lots and places of all
descriptions within the city for the purpose of ascertaining the conditions thereof so
far as the public health and safety may be affected thereby. If the property owner or
occupant of any building or premises in the city prevents or attempts to prevent any
employee of the city from entering or examining such building or premises for the
purpose described above during reasonable hours the City may then request an
administrative search warrant from the District Court.
Section 24-5. Notice to abate.
Wherever a nuisance is found to exist within the city, the Building Official or his
designee shall, on behalf of the City Clerk, give written notice to the property owner,
tenant or agent of such property upon which such nuisance exists. The notice to
abate a nuisance issued under the provisions of this chapter shall contain:
(1) An order requiring that the property owner, tenant or agent of such
property remove and abate from the premises the thing or things therein
described as a nuisance within a time to be specified in the notice, not
exceeding ten (10) days. Weed and vegetation notices must provide a
minimum of five (5) days for the nuisance to be abated.
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(2) The location of the nuisance, if the same is stationary;
(3) A description of what constitutes the nuisance;
(4) A statement of acts necessary to abate the nuisance;
(5) That before the expiration of the time period to abate the nuisance, the
recipient thereof may request a hearing before the Building Official as the
designated representative of the governing body;
(6) A statement that if the nuisance is not abated as directed and no
request for hearing is made within the prescribed time, the city will abate the
nuisance and the cost of such abatement shall be assessed and charged
against the lot or parcel of ground on which the nuisance was located, or shall
be collected as a personal debt of the property owner in the manner provided
by K.S.A. 12-1, 115, and K.S.A. 12-1617f and amendments thereto, or both.
In addition to or in lieu of the city abating the nuisance the City Prosecutor may
file charges in Municipal Court.
(7) A statement that no further notice will be given in the same calendar
year to remove weeds or vegetation.
It shall be unlawful for the property owner of any property who has received a
compliance order or upon whom a notice of violation has been served to sell, transfer,
mortgage, lease or otherwise dispose of to another until the provisions of the violation
notice have been complied with, or until such property owner shall first furnish the
grantee, transferee, mortgagee or lessee a true copy of any violation notice issued by
the Building Official or his designee and shall furnish to the Building Official a signed
and notarized statement from the grantee, transferee, mortgagee or lessee,
acknowledging the receipt of such violation notice and fully accepting the
responsibility without condition for making the corrections or repairs required by
violation notice.
Section 24-6. Service of notice.
The notice to abate nuisance shall be served on the property owner, tenant or agent
of such property by restricted mail or by personal service, or if the premises is
unoccupied and the property owner is a nonresident, then by mailing the notice by
restricted mail to the last known address of the owner of the premises. In cases of
weeds or vegetation where the property owner is unknown or is a nonresident and
there is no resident agent, a notice shall be published in the official city paper. Ten
(10) days after said publication the city shall cut or destroy weeds or vegetation on the
property.
Section 24-7. Hearing.
(1) The Building Official is hereby designated as the representative of the
governing body for the purposes of conducting hearings requested by any recipient
of a notice to abate nuisance.
(2) The recipient of a notice to abate a nuisance may request a hearing before
expiration of the waiting period by filing a request for such hearing on a form available
in the office of the Building Official. The hearing shall be conducted pursuant to rules
adopted by the Building Official and made available to the public in the office of the
Building Official. The party requesting such hearing shall be given written notice no
less than three (3) days in advance of the scheduled hearing. No action to abate the
nuisance shall be taken by the city pending the outcome of the hearing. If the Building
Official determines that the notice to abate nuisance is without sufficient basis, the
notice shall be rescinded. If the notice to abate is determined to have sufficient basis
the recipient shall be allowed the original waiting period to voluntarily abate the
nuisance commencing with the date of the Building Official's determination, and in
default thereof the city may take any necessary action to abate the nuisance.
Section 24-8. Abatement by city.
(1) In addition to the remedy of prosecution and enforcement as provided in
section 1-10, if the property owner, tenant or agent, fails to comply with the
requirement of the notice for a period longer than that named in the notice, then the
city may proceed to have the things described in the notice removed and abated from
the lot or parcel of ground.
(2) The abatement of a nuisance by the city shall not be a defense or excuse to
the owner of a vehicle or property in violation of this chapter.
(3) The Building Official or his designee shall take all necessary measures, as
described in the corrective action section of the violation notice, to cause the removal
and abating of all nuisances under this chapter and he/she may do or cause to be
done whatsoever in his/her judgement shall be necessary to carrying out such
measures.
Section 24-9. Assessment of city's costs.
The city shall give notice to the property owner or agent by restricted mail of the total
cost of such abatement or removal incurred by the city. Such notice shall state that
payment of such costs is due and payable within thirty (30) days following receipt of
such notice. The city may also recover investigative cost as well as the cost of
providing notice, including any postage, required by this section. If the cost of such
removal or abatement and notice is not paid within the thirty -day period, the cost shall
be assessed and charged against the lot or parcel of ground on which the nuisance
was located, or shall be collected as a personal debt of the property owner in the
manner provided by Kansas law.
Section 24-10. Emergency abatement.
Whenever, in the judgement of the Building Official, or his designee, an emergency
exists which requires immediate abatement of a nuisance to protect the public health,
safety or welfare, an order may be issued directing the owner, occupant, operator or
agent to take appropriate action to immediately correct or abate the nuisance causing
the emergency. If the owner, occupant, operator or agent does not take immediate
action to correct or abate the emergency or is not immediately available, the Building
Official or his designee may act to correct or abate the emergency with any costs
incurred to be assessed pursuant to section 24-9."
Section 2. That this existing Chapter 24 of the Salina Code is hereby repealed.
Section 3. That this ordinance shall be in full force and effect from and after its
adoption and publication once in the official city newspaper.
(SEAL)
ATTEST:
Introduced: April 13, 1998
Passed: April 20, 1998
Jistfin M. Seaton ayor