[Ord. No. 2632, 5-22-2018[1]]
A.
A nuisance
is:
1.
Any act done or committed or suffered to be done or committed by
any person, or any substance or thing kept, maintained, placed, or
found, on any public or private property that is injurious to the
public health, safety or welfare; or
2.
Any pursuit followed or act done by any person to the hurt, injury,
annoyance, inconvenience, or danger of the public.
B.
The
above definition, includes, but is not limited to, the following:
1.
Any building or premises kept or maintained in a condition unhealthy
or unsanitary to the public, including: (i) any premises abandoned,
neglected, or disregarded so as to permit the premises to become unclean
with an accumulation of litter or waste thereon or to permit the premises
to become unsightly, unsanitary or obnoxious or a blight to the vicinity
or offensive to the senses of users of the public way abutting the
premises, (ii) any property, lot, use, building, or structure that
is allowed by reason of lack of sufficient or adequate maintenance
to fall below the same standards and level of maintenance as the surrounding
properties and that depreciates the enjoyment and the use of the property
in the immediate vicinity to such an extent that it is harmful to
the community in which the property is situated or such conditions
exist;
2.
Any cellar or basement that is wet or damp from defective hydrants,
water pipes, sewer pipes, cisterns, wells, gutters, drains or rainspouts;
3.
Any stagnant, foul, or dirty water or liquid discharged or allowed
to accumulate on public or private property or discharged through
any sewer, drain pipe, or spout to the injury and annoyance of the
public;
4.
All privies or private vaults kept in such condition as to emit any
offensive, noxious or disagreeable odor and all substances discharged
therein emitting an offensive, noxious, unhealthy or disagreeable
effluvia or resulting in the obstruction, contamination, or damage
of a public sewer;
5.
The keeping of animals of any kind, domestic or wild, upon any public
or private place or premises in such a manner or condition that same
constitute a hurt, injury, annoyance, inconvenience, or danger to
the public or the residents of the vicinity;
6.
Causing, keeping, maintaining, or permitting the accumulation of
debris of any kind, weed cuttings, cut, fallen, dead, or hazardous
trees and shrubs, overgrown vegetation and noxious weeds which are
seven (7) inches or more in height, rubbish, garbage, and trash;
7.
Causing, keeping, maintaining, or permitting the accumulation of
lumber not piled or stacked at least 12 inches off the ground, rocks
or bricks, tin, steel, partly dismantled, wrecked, dilapidated, abandoned
or non- operative automobiles, tractors, trailers or other motor vehicles
or parts thereof, broken furniture, any flammable material that may
endanger public safety, or any material or condition which is unhealthy
or unsafe;
8.
All trees, bushes, or vegetation located on private property which
overhang a street or sidewalk and which obstructs the sight or passage
of traffic or pedestrians, including any hedge, shrub, plant or other
growth to a height greater than three (3) feet or a tree having any
portion of a limb less than seven (7) feet above the ground within
a triangle formed by the curb lines of intersecting streets and a
line drawn between two (2) points located twenty-five (25) feet along
each curb line measured from the point of intersection of the curb
lines; and
9.
Any condition resulting from the failure to construct or maintain
privately-owned streets in a safe operating condition.
C.
ABATE
ENFORCEMENT OFFICER
OWNER
In
addition, the following terms shall have the following meanings:
To remove, repair, replace, destroy, or otherwise act to
eradicate the condition(s) causing or constituting a nuisance.
The Building Commissioner and those delegated to enforce
this Article.
The owner or occupant of a property on which a nuisance exists.
[Ord. No. 2632, 5-22-2018]
[Ord. No. 2632, 5-22-2018]
A.
Whenever
the Enforcement Officer determines that a nuisance exists, the officer
shall so declare and shall deliver written notice as provided herein.
1.
The notice shall be sent via First Class United States Mail to the
last known address of the owner of the property causing the nuisance
or on which the nuisance is located.
2.
Personal service shall also be attempted on any owner residing or
present at the property causing the nuisance or on which the nuisance
is located.
3.
A copy of the notice shall also be posted in a prominent place on
the premises.
4.
The effective date of the notice shall be the date of personal delivery,
or lacking same, three (3) days following the date of mailing.
B.
Such
notice shall:
1.
Identify, by address or legal description, the property harboring
the nuisance;
2.
Specifically describe the nuisance condition(s), with reference to that portion of Section 220.010 being violated;
3.
Order the abatement of such condition within a time specified, which
shall not be less than ten (10) days nor more than thirty (30) days
of the effective delivery of the notice by mail, except that if the
nuisance consists of overgrown vegetation and noxious weeds seven
(7) inches or more in height, or dead or damaged tress or plant materials,
the notice may order abatement of the nuisance within five (5) business
days of the effective delivery of the notice by mail.
4.
Inform the owner that the failure to timely abate the nuisance may lead to: (i) prosecution of the owner in Municipal Court, including the potential penalty for conviction under Section 100.180 of this Code, (ii) abatement of the nuisance by the City, at the owner's cost, and (iii) pursuit of an injunction or other alternative remedy against the owner, at the owner's cost, as permitted by Section 220.040 hereof.
C.
The
Enforcement Officer may extend the time for any nuisance abatement,
either in the notice or after its delivery, to a date certain if circumstances
justify an extension.
[Ord. No. 2632, 5-22-2018]
A.
If
an owner fails to abate the nuisance within the time allowed, the
Enforcement Office may:
1.
File a complaint with the City's prosecuting attorney for prosecution
in the Municipal Court, provided that if the violation is corrected
prior to the court date, the inspector may request the prosecuting
attorney to dismiss the matter;
2.
Abate, or effect the abatement of, the nuisance at the cost of the owner, having first secured, if necessary, an administrative warrant as provided in Section 135.110 hereof for entry onto private property; or
3.
File suit in the St. Louis County Circuit Court to enjoin the owner
to abate the nuisance, or to pursue any other equitable or legal remedy
for such abatement, at the cost of the owner.
B.
All
costs and expenses incurred by the City in abating a nuisance shall
be assessed against the property on which the nuisance is located
and the owner as provided herein.
1.
If the Enforcement Officer acts to abate the nuisance, or to effect
its abatement:
a.
The officer shall certify the costs of abatement, and the proof of notice to the owner required by Section 220.030 hereof, to the City Clerk or Finance Director;
b.
The City shall assess the certified cost against the property and
the owner by either including it in a special tax bill, delivered
to the owner, or by adding it to the property's annual real estate
tax bill for collection by St. Louis County;
c.
The assessment shall be collected by the City or the County Collector
in the manner and procedure allowed by law for collecting real estate
taxes, including delinquent and back taxes if not timely paid;
d.
The assessment shall be deemed a personal debt against the owner
from the date of its issuance and a first lien on the property and
shall incur interest at the rate of eight percent (8%) or such higher
rate as may be allowed by law, until paid; and
e.
Each assessment made under this Article shall also include such reasonable
administrative charges as may be determined by the City Administrator
for inspecting, giving notice, issuing and recording the special tax
bill.
2.
If an owner is convicted of violating Section 220.020 hereof, the Municipal Judge may order restitution of any costs incurred by the City in the abatement of the nuisance.
3.
If the City files suit to enjoin the owner to abate the nuisance
or to force or ensure its abatement, the City shall be entitled to
its costs of filing and pursuing the action, including attorney fees,
on the successful prosecution of same.
[Ord. No. 2632, 5-22-2018]
Nothing in this Section shall prohibit the City from pursuing
any alternative remedy as may be necessary or convenient and allowed
by law, in equity or law, for the abatement of a nuisance or the collection
of abatement costs expended by the City, including but not limited
to injunctive relief, a personal judgment and execution on special
tax bills, equitable foreclosure or constructive trusts, or any other
remedy.
[Ord. No. 2632, 5-22-2018]
A.
In
any nuisance prosecution, the Municipal Judge may provide in any judgment
of conviction that if the same nuisance recurs within twelve (12)
months after the date of the judgment, no further notice shall be
required to sustain a subsequent prosecution, and the same defendant
may be summoned on complaint and information into Municipal Court
regarding the recurring nuisance.
B.
If the nuisance consists of overgrown vegetation and noxious weeds seven (7) inches or more in height, and if same are allowed to grow on the same property in violation of Section 220.010(B)(6) more than once during the same growing season, the Enforcement Officer may, without further notification to the owner, cause the same to be abated, and the cost of abatement shall be assessed as provided in Section 220.040 hereof.
[Ord. No. 2632, 5-22-2018]
Notwithstanding anything herein to the contrary, the City may abate any nuisance in a summary manner when the nuisance immediately threatens the general health, safety, or welfare and reasonably requires immediate abatement. The cost of such summary abatement shall be assessed to the owner as provided in Section 220.040 hereof.
