[HISTORY: Adopted by the City Council of
the City of Fitchburg 3-2-1971 by Ord. No. 85-71; amended in its entirety
4-1-1980 by Ord. No. 693-79. Subsequent amendments noted where applicable.]
For the purposes of this chapter, the following
words and phrases shall have the meanings respectively ascribed to
them by this section:
A sudden unforeseen happening or state of repairs requiring
prompt action.
Any person, firm, partnership, association, corporation,
company or organization of any kind.
Any real property within the City which is not a street or
highway.
To restore to good condition by replacing parts or putting
together something torn or broken; to restore to a healthy state.
The entire width between the boundary lines of every way
publicly maintained when any part thereof is open to the use of the
public for the purposes of vehicular travel.
Happening quickly and without warning, unexpectedly, immediate,
without delay, instant, directly.
A machine propelled by power other than human power, designed
to travel along the ground by the use of wheels, treads, runners or
slides and transport persons or property or pull machinery, and shall
include, without limitation, automobile, truck, trailer, motorcycle,
tractor, buggy and wagon.
Except as to vehicles for which other provisions
are made under the laws of the commonwealth, no person shall abandon
any vehicle within the City and no person shall leave any vehicle
at any place within the City for such time and under such circumstances
as to cause such vehicle reasonably to appear to have been abandoned.
A.
Except as to vehicles for which other provisions are
made under the laws of the commonwealth, no person shall leave any
particularly dismantled, nonoperating, wrecked or junked vehicle on
any street or highway within the City, nor shall any person upon a
public way or where the public has access as invitees, or on any City
property, within the City, repair any motor vehicle, except for an
emergency repair to allow a traveler to continue on his or her interrupted
journey.
B.
As to any motor vehicle upon any public way or upon
any property owned or maintained by the City of Fitchburg that is
in need of repair, other than "emergency" as herein defined, the Chief
of Police or his or her designee shall order the removal of such vehicle
from said public way or City-owned property.
[Amended 6-3-2014 by Ord.
No. 100-2014]
C.
The present owner of said vehicle shall be responsible
for all monetary charges incurred in the removal and storing of said
vehicle.
[Amended 1-19-1988 by Ord. No. 15-88]
A.
Storing, parking or leaving dismantled or other such
motor vehicle on private property prohibited and declared a nuisance.
No person shall park, store, leave or permit the parking, storing
or leaving of any motor vehicle of any kind which is in an abandoned,
wrecked, dismantled, inoperative, rusted, junked or partially dismantled
condition, whether attended or not, upon any private property within
the City. The presence of an abandoned, wrecked, dismantled, inoperative,
rusted, junked or partially dismantled vehicle, or parts thereof,
on private property is hereby declared a public nuisance which may
be abated as such in accordance with the provisions of this section.
This section shall not apply to any vehicle enclosed within a building
on private property or to any vehicle held in connection with a business
enterprise lawfully licensed by the City and properly operated in
the appropriate business zone, pursuant to the zoning laws of the
City.
[Amended 3-5-2002 by Ord. No. 31-02]
B.
Notice of existence of violation and notice to remove. Whenever it comes to the attention of the Building Commissioner or his or her designee that any nuisance, as defined in Subsection A of this section, exists in the City of Fitchburg, a notice in writing shall be sent by certified mail to the owner of the land where the nuisance exists notifying them of the existence of the nuisance and ordering its removal in the time specified in this section.
[Amended 6-3-2014 by Ord.
No. 100-2014]
C.
Contents of notice. The written notice to the owner
of the property where the vehicle is located shall contain the demand
for removal specified in this section and shall contain a description
of the make, if attainable, as well as the color of the abandoned,
wrecked, dismantled, inoperative, rusted or junked vehicle.
D.
Period for removal of vehicle from property. Upon
receipt of written notice, the owner of the property where the vehicle
is located shall be required to remove or provide for the removal
of the abandoned, wrecked, dismantled, inoperative, rusted or junked
vehicle during a period not to exceed 10 calendar days. Such removal
shall be in accordance with the law, and said vehicles shall not be
placed in a public way as prohibited by MGL c. 90, § 22B.
[Amended 3-5-2002 by Ord. No. 31-02]
E.
Failure to remove. If the violation described in this
notice has not been remedied by the owner of the property within the
10 calendar days, the Building Commissioner, or his or her designee,
shall notify the Chief of Police, or his or her designee, and shall
request police assistance in removing the vehicle from the property.
The City is authorized to pay to any private entity who performs said
towing services at the direction of the Chief of Police, or his or
her designee. This removal shall be conducted in a manner similar
to that used in removing vehicles from a public way, MGL c. 90, § 22C.
It shall be unlawful for any person to interfere with, hinder or refuse
to allow such person or persons to enter upon the private property
for the purpose of removal.
[Amended 3-5-2002 by Ord. No. 31-02; 6-3-2014 by Ord. No.
100-2014]
F.
Costs for removal. If, after the ten-day period, the
vehicle has not been removed by the owner of the property where the
vehicle is located and the removal is carried out by the Chief of
Police, or his or her designee, the fee for such removal shall be
the total of the costs incurred in the removal but no less than $300
for each vehicle removed, plus any additional costs that are incurred
in the gathering and removal of any dismantled parts of such vehicles.
The costs of such removal shall be the responsibility of the owner
of the land where the vehicle is located. The Building Commissioner,
or his or her designee, shall submit the bill incurred for such removal
to the owner of the land, in writing and sent to the owner of the
land at his or her last and usual known address.
[Amended 3-5-2002 by Ord. No. 31-02; 12-20-2011 by Ord. No. 243-2011; 6-3-2014 by Ord. No. 100-2014]
G.
Attachment of lien. When it comes to the attention
of the Building Commissioner, or his or her designee, that the owner
of the land where the vehicle was located has refused to pay the costs
of the removal for such vehicle within a period of 10 days, the Building
Commissioner, or his or her designee, may take legal means to secure
a lien against the property where said violations occurred.
[Amended 3-5-2002 by Ord. No. 31-02; 6-3-2014 by Ord. No.
100-2014]
H.
Disposal of abandoned vehicles. Whenever a private
entity authorized to remove such abandoned vehicles does remove the
same at the direction of the Chief of Police, or his or her designee,
the entity shall dispose of such vehicle in accordance with MGL c.
135, §§ 7 through 11, MGL c. 90, § 22C.
[Amended 6-3-2014 by Ord.
No. 100-2014]
I.
Notwithstanding
the procedures described in the previous sections of this chapter,
if an abandoned or junked vehicle constitutes an immediate danger
or imminent public safety hazard such that any delay caused by prior
notice would jeopardize the public health and safety, the Police Chief,
or his or her designee, may tow the vehicle or take such other steps
as he or she may determine to be necessary in order to eliminate the
immediate threat, without prior notice to the owner. The Chief of
Police, or his or her designee, shall, before taking such emergency
measures, give whatever notice to the owner that is feasible and consistent
with the public safety. If the public safety requires the elimination
of any prior notice, the Chief, or his or her designee, shall provide
notice after he or she has eliminated the threat advising the owner
of the steps taken and the reasons therefor. The costs of such removal
shall be the responsibility of the owner of the land where the vehicle
is located. The Chief of Police, or his or her designee, shall submit
the bill incurred for such removal to the owner of the land, in writing,
sent to the owner of the land at his or her last and usual known address.
When it comes to the attention of the Chief of Police, or his or her
designee, that the owner of the land where the vehicle was located
has refused to pay the costs of the removal for such vehicle within
a period of 10 days, the Chief of Police, or his or her designee,
may take legal means to secure a lien against the property where said
violations occurred.
[Added 2-3-2009 by Ord. No. 007-09; amended 6-3-2014 by Ord. No. 100-2014]
The Chief of Police, Superintendent of Public
Works or any members of their departments designated by them are hereby
authorized to remove or have removed any vehicle left at any place
within the City which reasonably appears to be in violation of this
chapter or lost, stolen or unclaimed. Such vehicle shall be impounded
until lawfully claimed or disposed of in accordance with Massachusetts
General Laws, Chapter 135, relative to unclaimed and abandoned property.
Neither the removal nor the storage of a vehicle under the provisions
of this chapter shall be deemed a service rendered or work performed
by the City. The City shall not be liable for any damage caused to
a vehicle, as defined herein, arising in the course of removal or
impounding, except as may be due to the negligence of the City, its
servants or employees.
Any person violating any of the provisions of
this chapter shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction
thereof, shall be fined in an amount not exceeding $20. Each day such
violation is committed or permitted to continue shall constitute a
separate offense and shall be punishable as such hereunder.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: Former Subsection B, which
dealt with penalties and which immediately followed this subsection,
was repealed 4-3-1990 by Ord. No. 123-90.
