[Amended 5-19-2008 by Ord. No. 260; 6-15-2015 by Ord. No. 274]
A. No person shall park, store, abandon, discard or permit to remain
on any premises in the Village, including a public or private right-of-way
or street or any public property, any inoperable, wrecked, or partially
dismantled motor vehicle or a part of a motor vehicle, except where
permitted by the zoning ordinance and except as otherwise provided
in this section. The absence of current license plates shall create
a rebuttable presumption that a vehicle is inoperable. This section
shall not apply to a motor vehicle or part thereof in an enclosed
building; a vehicle on the premises of a business enterprise operated
in a lawful place and manner, when necessary to the operation of such
business enterprise; or a vehicle in an appropriate storage place
or depository maintained in a lawful place and manner by the Village.
For purposes of this section, "inoperable vehicle" means a vehicle
that does not mechanically operate and/or a vehicle whose condition
is such that it cannot lawfully be operated upon the streets of this
Village. Reference below to the stickering and towing of vehicles
in all ways also applies to the removal of parts of a motor vehicle.
B. The presence of any inoperable, wrecked, or partially dismantled vehicle, or parts or tires of motor vehicles, on any premises contrary to this section is hereby declared to be a public nuisance. As such, the Village may take reasonable action to abate the nuisance, including having the vehicle towed away from the premises. Such towing shall not occur less than 10 days after a sticker has been affixed to the vehicle, which sticker shall state that the vehicle is in violation of this section and that it may be towed if the situation is not remedied. In the event a vehicle is towed, the owner of the vehicle shall be responsible for reasonable towing and storage charges. In addition, an administrative fee may also be assessed by the Village Council in amounts determined by resolution by the Village Council. Said fee, in a lesser amount when a vehicle is only stickered and in a greater amount when the vehicle is thereafter towed, may be assessed against those persons described in Subsection
E below. The fee shall not be assessed when a vehicle is stickered but thereafter determined by the Village to not have been in violation.
C. A vehicle which is stickered and thereafter brought into compliance,
but which is thereafter in violation of this section within 60 days
of the initial stickering shall be subject, without further stickering,
to abatement action, including towing.
D. The time limits specified in this section may be extended for further
periods upon issuance of a special permit by the Village Chief of
Police, or his or her designee, in cases where undue hardship would
be caused by strict enforcement.
E. Any person who violates this section and is the owner of or has charge,
custody or control of a vehicle about which abatement action has been
taken, and/or who resides at the site of such a vehicle and has control
of the premises, shall be deemed guilty of a civil infraction. The
administrative fee described above may be assessed against any such
person and/or against the nonresident owner of the premises if the
Village first mails a notice of violation and possible assessment
to said person at his/her last known address at least 10 days prior
to the abatement activities.
F. In addition to any other fine or cost, the court shall order a person
convicted of violating this section to pay the Village the amount
of the administrative fee if said fee has been assessed against that
person. If an administrative fee remains unpaid 30 days after it has
been assessed, it shall thereafter accrue interest at the rate of
6% per annum from the date of the assessment. Further, if the person
assessed both owns and resides at the site, or owns but does not reside
at the site but was provided written notice as described above, an
unpaid administrative fee shall constitute a lien upon the property
and may be billed as part of the tax applicable to the property.
G. If a vehicle is licensed by the State of Michigan as a historic vehicle,
the Chief of Police shall have the discretion to exempt the vehicle
from the provision of this section for a period of six months, provided
that the vehicle is licensed to operate and that reasonable progress
is made toward repair and/or restoration. The owner of the property
on which the vehicle is located shall bear the burden to establish
reasonable progress. The Chief of Police shall have the discretion
to extend the time period described in this section for good cause.
The owner, if possible, and the occupant of any property upon which any of the causes of blight or blighting factors set forth in §
120-2 is found to exist shall be notified in writing to remove or eliminate such causes of blight or blighting factors from such property within 10 days after service of notice upon him. Such notice may be served personally or by certified mail, return receipt requested, addressee only. Additional time may be granted by the enforcement officer where bona fide efforts to remove or eliminate such causes of blight or blighting factors are in progress. Failure by the owner and/or occupants to comply with such notice within the time allowed shall constitute a violation of this article.