[HISTORY: Adopted by the City Council of the City of Geneva 7-3-1968
as Ch. 44, Arts. V and VI, of the 1968 Code. Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Property maintenance — See Ch. 264.
A.
It shall be unlawful for any owner, or occupant or person
having control of any lot or land in the city to cultivate more than 10% of
said lot or land or 1/10 of an acre, whichever is less, for the purpose of
establishing a natural area of wildflowers and shrubs. The area must be clearly
defined by the utilization of fencing, mulching or other form of delineation
and shall be located not nearer than 25 feet to any public highway, street
or right-of-way. The remainder of said property, lot or land, to include the
area between the property line and the curb or for 10 feet outside the property
line if there is no curb, shall be maintained to ensure that no growth of
weeds or grass shall exceed six inches on average or to allow any accumulation
of dead weeds, grass or brush.
[Amended 7-7-1993 by Ord. No. 93-7]
B.
It shall also be unlawful for any such person to cause,
suffer or allow poison ivy, ragweed or other poisonous plants or plants detrimental
to health to grow on any such lot or land in such manner that any part of
such ivy, ragweed or other poisonous weed shall extend upon, overhang or border
any public place or allow seeds, pollen or other poisonous particles or emanations
therefrom to be carried through the air into any public place.
C.
It is prohibited to allow hedges, shrubs or trees to
encroach onto public sidewalks and lines of sight of public roadways.
[Added 9-7-1988 by Ord. No. 88-7]
A.
It shall be the duty of any owner or occupant or person having control of any lot or land to cut and remove or cause to be cut and removed all such weeds, grass or other rank, poisonous or harmful vegetation as often as may be necessary to comply with the provisions of § 100-1.
[Amended 7-8-1997 by Ord. No. 97-5]
B.
For the purpose of the City of Geneva leaf pickup, it
shall be the duty of any owner, occupant or person having control of any lot
to ensure that the collected leaves shall be placed between the sidewalk and
curb and shall not in any way hinder the free access by the public to the
sidewalk or street. If collected leaves are placed in containers, the containers
shall be made of paper or other biodegradable material. The use of plastic
bags is specifically prohibited, and leaves placed in plastic bags will not
be picked up.
[Added 7-16-1996 by Ord. No. 96-6]
A.
If the provisions of the foregoing sections are not complied
with, the Superintendent of Public Works shall serve written notice upon the
owner, occupant or any person having the control of any such lot or land to
comply with the provisions of this chapter.
B.
If the person upon whom the notice is served fails, neglects
or refuses to cut and remove or cause to be cut and removed such weeds, grass
or other vegetation within five days after receipt of such notice, or if no
person can be found in the city who either is or claims to be the owner of
such lot or land or who either represents or claims to represent such owner,
the Superintendent of Public Works shall cause such weeds, grass and other
vegetation on such lot or land to be cut and removed, and the actual cost
of such cutting and removal plus a service charge of 50% thereof to cover
cost of supervision and administration shall be certified by the Superintendent
of Public Works to the City Comptroller and such certified amount shall thereupon
become and be a lien upon the property on which such weeds, grass and other
vegetation were located and shall be added to and become and form part of
the taxes next to be assessed and levied upon such lot or land and shall bear
interest at the same rate as city real estate taxes and shall be collected
and enforced in the same manner as such taxes.
C.
The owner, occupant or any person having control over any lot, land or property found in violation of § 100-1 shall be notified in writing only once in any given year for a particular violation. Subsequent violations of a similar nature at the same location during the same year shall be corrected by the city or its agent without notice to the owner, occupant or person having control of said property. After initial notification, such owner, occupant or person having control of said property will be presumed to have been given sufficient notice of infraction for the entire season.
[Added 7-6-1988 by Ord. No. 88-5]
It shall be unlawful for any person to resist, obstruct or interfere with the Superintendent of Public Works or any agent or employee of the city in the cutting and removal of weeds, grass or rank, poisonous or harmful vegetation as set forth in § 100-3 herein.
