[Ord. No. 12-06-01 § 2, 6-14-2012]
A. 
Definitions. The following terms as used in this Article, unless the context specifically indicates otherwise, are defined as follows:
ABATEMENT
The removal, stoppage, prostration, or destruction of that which causes or constitutes a violation or nuisance, whether by breaking or pulling it down or otherwise destroying, effacing it, or having it hauled away. If abatement is most effective by changing the type of plants in a given location, such as on steep slopes or on highly erodible soil, abatement can be achieved in steps, approved by the enforcement officer as to method and time, to achieve acceptable ground cover that would comply with this Article.
DEBRIS
Includes weed or grass cuttings, cut, fallen, or hazardous trees, limbs, and shrubs, rubbish and trash, lumber not piled or stacked twelve (12) inches off the ground, rocks or bricks, tin, steel, parts of derelict cars or trucks or other vehicles or machinery, or broken furniture, or any other material which is found on any lot or land that is unhealthy or unsafe which may endanger public health or safety.
NOXIOUS PLANTS
Illegal vegetation as defined by Missouri Law or any agency of the State of Missouri, poison ivy, poison oak and poison sumac at any height or state of maturity.
OWNER
As used in this Article, shall include the real and actual owner of the fee title, the life tenant, occupant, tenant, lessee, tenant at will, tenant at sufferance, person in lawful possession, adverse possessor, and any other person, firm, partnership, corporation or association asserting control over or having any right, title or interest in any lot, tract or parcel of land in the City. The land records filed in the office of the recorder of deeds of the County within which any such lot, tract or parcel of land shall be located and any other official record of such County or of the City may be used to determine the identity of such owners, as hereinabove defined, as of any given date.
THICKETS or BRUSH
Dense growth of wild shrubbery having stems or trunks greater than one-half (1/2) inch in diameter, and briar patches regardless of diameter.
WEEDS
All vegetation eight (8) inches or more in height, including grasses; all vegetation eight (8) inches or more in height which may emit unpleasant or noxious odors, or transmit pollen into the air at any state of maturity; all vegetation, regardless of height, including thickets, which may conceal or invite filthy deposits, harbor rodents, refuse or vermin, create a fire hazard, or present a blighting effect on the neighborhood.
B. 
Weeds, High Grass, Certain Plants, And Debris Are Nuisances — Prohibition.
1. 
The presence on land within the City of debris of any kind, or weeds, or noxious plants, or thickets, or brush as defined in this Article, unless specifically excepted, is hereby declared to be a public nuisance and is prohibited, unlawful, a violation of this Article, and subject to abatement.
2. 
Prohibited vegetation is meant to exclude shade trees, growths of timber, ornamental shrubs, fruit trees, domesticated berry bushes and vines, cultivated flowers and gardens, cover crops and domestic grains on lots and land within the City, except where the plant's location or condition constitutes a menace to the safety, health, or welfare of the public or adjoining land owners by reasons that such conditions may:
a. 
Cause a fire hazard or other safety hazard.
b. 
Furnish cover for prowlers and illegal activities.
c. 
Create shelters and breeding places for rodents, disease-carrying insects, poisonous snakes, and other vermin.
d. 
Result in the aggravation of allergies of persons living within fifty (50) feet.
e. 
Obstruct visibility at street intersections.
3. 
Notwithstanding the definitions set forth and the exceptions to enforcement given, the enforcement officer shall have additional discretion to find vegetation to be either in violation or in conformity with this Article using the following guidelines:
a. 
The proximity of the vegetation to public sidewalks, streets, traveled alleys, and dwellings on adjoining property.
b. 
The slope of the land upon which the plant exists and the possibility of encouraging soil erosion if the vegetation is removed.
c. 
The accessibility to the plant by machines necessary to effectively control the plant.
d. 
The type of plant. (The reason being that some plants may be less offensive than others and that if accessibility to a piece of land for effective control is an issue, then different ground cover should be planted or nurtured or kept on that ground.)
e. 
The location of the land on which the plants are growing, taking into consideration the general use of the land thereby, giving liberal deference to owners of agricultural land within the City, City parks, and industrial land.
f. 
The frequency and amount of rainfall which could reasonably delay timely control of the plant.
C. 
Owner's Obligation To Maintain Land Free Of Nuisance — Obligation To Abate. It shall be the owner's obligation to keep the owner's land within the City free of any nuisance prohibited by this Article without notice from the City. If any such nuisance as defined by this Article is permitted or maintained on the owner's property and the owner fails to abate such nuisance, failure to abate the nuisance shall be unlawful. If more than one person owns the property on which the nuisance is alleged to exist, each owner may be declared to be in violation of this Article and each shall be liable for failure to abate the nuisance.
D. 
Notice. Enforcement of this Article shall be the responsibility of the City Building Inspector or such other employee or agent of the City designated by the Mayor to do the task. Enforcement shall commence by providing notice to the owner of the property or the owner's agent of the nuisance condition existing on his/her/its property. The notice may be delivered by personal service within the City, or by posting such notice on the premises, or by United States mail.
1. 
The notice shall generally describe the nature of the violation, the location of the property (using the mailing or popular address rather than a legal description, when reasonably possible to do so); and
2. 
The notice shall set a hearing on the alleged violation on a date and at a time more than ten (10) day after date of notice. The place of hearing shall be set forth in the notice.
E. 
Hearing And Order. The hearing on the nuisance alleged in the notice shall be conducted as follows:
1. 
The Mayor or the Mayor's delegate shall conduct the hearing, take evidence, and examine witnesses as the hearing officer, and shall declare whether a nuisance exists.
2. 
If after hearing the hearing officer confirms that a nuisance exists, the hearing officer shall have authority to order that owner abate the nuisance within five (5) days.
3. 
If the condition declared a nuisance is not abated within the five (5) days, the Mayor or other City employee or agent so delegated by the Mayor shall abate the nuisance and certify the costs of same to the City Clerk, who shall cause a special tax bill thereof against the property to be prepared and to be collected by the Collector with other taxes assessed against the property. The tax bill shall, from the date of its issuance, 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 Clerk and delivered to the Collector 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.
F. 
Fees For Abatement By City. The fees for the abatement of the violation by the City shall be seventy-five dollars ($75.00) per employee hour for either City employees or for independent contractors hired by the City to abate the violation. That is, if a two-person crew works a total of three (3) hours, the fee shall be for six (6) person-hours at seventy-five dollars ($75.00) per hour, or a total of four hundred fifty dollars ($450.00). If the City does the abatement, in addition to the employee fee, there shall be imposed charges for all reasonable expenses incurred by said crew in abating the violation.
G. 
Repeated Violations Of Same Nuisance Condition A Separate Violation — Procedures And Penalty. Each violation of this Article brought to hearing shall be a separate offense and separate abatement costs shall be assessed for each violation even on the same property with the same owners. In addition to abatement costs, any owner violating this Section shall be punished by a fine of not less than one hundred dollars ($100.00) and not more than five hundred dollars ($500.00) for each violation.
H. 
May Enter Private Property. City inspectors, City workers, City Officials and their delegates and contractors shall have the right to enter upon private property for the purpose of determining whether a violation of this Article is occurring and to abate any nuisance found on the property.