[Ord. No. 03-1450 §1, 9-15-2003; Ord.
No. 20-2291, 3-16-2020]
A.
Any
lot having weeds or plant growth in excess of eight (8) inches, except
as provided for herein, is declared a nuisance. "Weeds" shall be defined
as all grasses and annual plants and vegetation, other than trees,
shrubs or ornamental grasses; however, this term shall not include
cultivated flowers or plants, gardens or agricultural acreage. Nothing
in this Section shall be construed to limit the use of ground cover
or other vegetation for the purpose of stabilizing soil, remedying
drainage problems, or eliminating the need to mow steep inclines with
a slope of more than three (3) to one (1). This Section shall not
apply to land within creek channels, wetlands, ravines or established
wooded areas, as may be established by the Director of Planning and
Zoning. Nothing herein shall permit weeds, as herein defined, in excess
of the height limitation established above, within ten (10) feet of
any public or private roadway or sidewalk.
1.
All invasive non-native, exotic plant species are declared a public
nuisance. The planting, cultivation and propagation of all invasive
non-native, exotic plant species shall be prohibited on all property,
public or private. Invasive non-native, exotic plant species are as
defined by the Missouri Department of Conservation, which include,
but are not limited to, the following plants:
a.
Autumn olive, Elaeagnus umbellate; (2) Bamboo, Phyllostachys
varieties; (3) Bush honeysuckle, Lonicera maackii; (4) Callery pear,
Pyrus calleryana; (5) Canada thistle, Cirsium arvense; (6) Chinese
yam, Dioscorea oppositifolia; (7) Common buckthorn, Rhamnus cathartica;
(8) Common reed, Phragmites australis; (9) Crown vetch, Secutigera
varia; (10) Common and cut-leaved teasel, Dipsacus fullonum; (11)
Garlic mustard, Alliaria petiolate; (12) Hydrilla, Hydrilla verticillata;
(13) Japanese honeysuckle, Lonicera japonica; (14) Japanese hop, Humulus
japonicas; (15) Japanese knotweed, Fallopia japonica; (16) Japanese
stiltgrass, microstegium vimineum; (17) Johnson grass, Sorghum halepense;
(18) Kudzu, pueraria lobate; (19) Leafy spurge, Euphorbia esula; (20)
Multiflora rose, Rosa multiflora; (21) Musk thistle, Carduus nutans;
(22) Old world bluestems, Bothriochloa bladhii and B. ischaemum; (23)
Purple loosestrife, Lythrum salicaria; (24) Reed canary grass, Phalaris
arundinacea; (25) Sericea lespedeza, Lespedeza cuneate; (26) Spotted
knapweed, Centaurea maculosa; (27) Tall fescue, Festuca arundinacea;
(28) White and yellow sweet clover, Melilotus officinalis and M. albus
cc. Wintercreeper, Euonymous fortune.
B.
Whenever
private property abuts a public right-of-way or easement belonging
to the City of Manchester, or any public entity, and there exists
in such right-of-way or easement a tree lawn or grassy area between
the private property line and the edge of the street pavement, then
such tree lawn or grassy area shall be considered, for purposes of
this Section requiring cutting of grass and weeds, to be a part of
the private lot which abuts the right-of-way or easement, and it shall
be the duty of those responsible under this Section for the maintenance
of the private lot to equally maintain the tree lawn or grassy area
within the abutting right-of-way or easement, and all of the provisions
of this Section shall apply with equal force and effect to said tree
lawn or grassy area.
C.
The
Director of Planning or his/her designee shall give a hearing after
four (4) days' notice thereof either personally or by United States
mail to the owner or owners, or his/her or their agents, or by posting
such notice on the premises; thereupon, the Director of Planning or
his/her designee may declare the weeds to be a nuisance and order
the same to be abated within five (5) days. If the weeds are not cut
down and removed within that five-day period, the Director of Planning
or his/her designee shall have the weeds cut down and removed and
shall certify the costs of same to the City Clerk. Upon receiving
the City's certified cost of abatement, the City Clerk shall cause
a special tax bill against the property to be prepared and to be collected
with other taxes assessed against the property. The special tax bill
from the date of its issuance shall be a first lien on the property
until paid and shall be prima facie evidence of the recitals therein
and of its validity, and no mere clerical error or informality in
the same, or in the proceedings leading up to the issuance, shall
be a defense thereto. Each special tax bill shall be issued by the
City Administrator/Clerk and delivered to the Collector for St. Louis
County on or before the first day of June of each year. Such tax bills
if not paid when due shall bear interest at the rate of eight percent
(8%) per annum. Costs for collecting the tax bill, including attorney
fees, may be charged in the event a lawsuit is required to enforce
a tax bill.
D.
If weeds are allowed to grow, or if trash is allowed to accumulate, on the same property in violation of an ordinance more than once during the same growing season in the case of weeds, or more than once during a calendar year in the case of trash, the City may, without further notification, have the weeds or trash removed and the cost of the same billed in the manner described in Section 215.100(C) above. The provisions of this Subsection (D) do not apply to lands owned by a public utility and lands, rights-of-way, and easements appurtenant or incidental to lands controlled by any railroad.
