[Ord. of 5-23-2013]
The purpose of this article is to protect the health, safety and welfare of the residents of the City of Old Town by reducing the number of properties in Old Town harboring occupants who disturb the peace and tranquility of their neighborhoods.
[Ord. of 5-23-2013]
The Old Town City Council hereby finds that:
(a) 
The City has a substantial and compelling interest in protecting the health, safety, property and welfare of its citizens and the neighborhoods affected by chronic unlawful or nuisance activity.
(b) 
Chronic unlawful or nuisance activity of various kinds on and near disruptive properties adversely affects the health, safety and welfare of citizens and diminishes the quality of life in neighborhoods where this chronic activity occurs. Chronic unlawful or nuisance activity constitutes a public nuisance and should be subject to abatement.
(c) 
Properties that generate repeated calls for public safety service due to chronic unlawful or nuisance activity place an undue and inappropriate financial burden on the taxpayers of the City and an undue burden on the City's public safety resources.
(d) 
The existing nuisances and miscellaneous provisions, as found in Chapter 12 of the City of Old Town's Revised Code of Ordinances, do not adequately address or control chronic unlawful or nuisance activity or its detrimental effects on citizens and neighborhoods where such chronic activity occurs.
(e) 
Enacting this ordinance will help alleviate conditions created by chronic unlawful or nuisance activity through early intervention by the Chief of Police.
[Ord. of 5-23-2013]
This article shall apply to the owners of all residential properties, as defined in § 12-54 below, located within the City of Old Town.
[Ord. of 5-23-2013]
As used in this article, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
DISRUPTIVE ACTIVITIES
Activities and situations conducted or created within or upon a residential property, or upon adjacent properties, by the owner, owner's employees, owner's representatives, occupants, tenants, guests, or customers of the residential property, or by visitors to any such owner, occupant, tenant, guest, or customer, which unreasonably disturb the community, the neighborhood, or an individual of normal sensitivities at or beyond the property line, including, but not limited to:
(a) 
Civil or criminal trespass on adjacent or neighboring properties;
(b) 
Depositing waste, trash or refuse items on adjacent or neighboring properties;
(c) 
Violations of Chapter 22 (Solid Waste), Article III, of the City of Old Town Revised Code of Ordinances relating to placement and storage of curbside waste and acceptable waste for curbside collection;
(d) 
Discharging a firearm in violation of Chapter 12 (Nuisances and Miscellaneous Provisions), § 12-32(a), of the City of Old Town Revised Code of Ordinances;
(e) 
Violations of Chapter 6 (Buildings) of the City of Old Town Revised Code of Ordinances, International Residential Code, relating to exterior maintenance of residential properties;
(f) 
Disorderly conduct, as defined in 17-A M.R.S.A. § 501;[1]
(g) 
Failure to disperse, as defined in 17-A M.R.S.A. § 502;
(h) 
Riot, as defined in 17-A M.R.S.A. § 503;
(i) 
Endangering the welfare of a child, as defined in 17-A M.R.S.A. § 554, Subsections 1A and B;
(j) 
Arson, as defined in 17-A M.R.S.A. § 802, on the residential or adjacent properties;
(k) 
Vandalism of adjacent or neighboring properties;
(l) 
Criminal mischief, as defined in 17-A M.R.S.A. §§ 805 and 806, on adjacent or neighboring properties;
(m) 
Prostitution or public indecency, as defined in 17-A M.R.S.A. Chapter 35;
(n) 
Unlawfully furnishing or trafficking in scheduled drugs, as defined in 17-A M.R.S.A. Chapter 45; or
(o) 
Maintenance of an automobile graveyard or junkyard, as defined in 30-A M.R.S.A. § 3752, on the residential property, without the required permits, following expiration of the correction and appeals periods stated in a written notice of violation from the City's Code Enforcement Officer to the property owner(s).
DISRUPTIVE ACTIVITY REPORT
A document summarizing the findings of the responding officer investigating a complaint or the officer's observations concerning a disruptive activity. The notice shall contain the property identification; the identification of the officer; the time and date of the alleged disruptive activity and the officer's response; the basis of the complaint or the responding officer's observations; and the officer's findings.
DISRUPTIVE EVENT
Any twenty-four-hour period, commencing at 12:00 noon and ending at 12:00 noon the following day, during which a police officer observes or the Police Department receives one or more complaints of a disruptive activity to which the Police Department responds and substantiates that a disruptive activity has occurred as outlined in § 12-54 of this article. The Police Chief shall, after review of all relevant information, determine whether a disruptive event has occurred.
DISRUPTIVE PROPERTY
Any residential property for which the Police Chief has notified the owner that the Police Department has documented and substantiated three or more disruptive events within any 180-day period.
OWNER
Any person, including any legal entity, having legal title to or a beneficial interest in a residential property or any portion thereof, as that interest is recorded in the tax records of the City of Old Town or the Penobscot County Registry of Deeds.
POLICE CHIEF
The Chief of Police or acting Chief of Police of the City of Old Town or other official of the Police Department as may be designated by the Police Chief.
RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY
All property within the City of Old Town zoned or actually used for residential purposes, including:
(a) 
Any lot or parcel of land on which one or more residential buildings or buildings of mixed occupancy are located;
(b) 
Residential buildings, including single-family dwellings, two-family dwellings, multifamily dwellings and rooming houses and boardinghouses; and
(c) 
Residential occupancies in buildings of mixed use or occupancy.
[1]
Editor's Note: See now 17-A M.R.S.A. § 501-A.
[Ord. of 5-23-2013]
(a) 
A disruptive property is hereby declared to be a public nuisance.
(b) 
The owner(s) of residential properties in Old Town shall provide sufficient control, oversight, monitoring and management of the property to prevent the same from becoming a disruptive property.
(c) 
The owner(s) of a disruptive property shall be responsible for taking all necessary measures to abate or eliminate the public nuisance.
[Ord. of 5-23-2013]
No owner of a residential property in Old Town shall maintain, or allow to be maintained or to exist on the owner's property, a disruptive property as defined in this article. Each and every day that a disruptive event is permitted to occur on the property, by the owner of the disruptive property, after it becomes classified by the Police Chief as a disruptive property shall constitute a separate offense and will be penalized as such.
[Ord. of 5-23-2013]
It shall be no defense to classification as a disruptive property or to prosecution for violations of this article that:
(a) 
Occupancy of the property for residential purposes was either permitted by, or in violation of, applicable zoning restrictions on use of the property concerned; or
(b) 
The disruptive activities resulting in classification of the property as a disruptive property were caused by persons occupying the property without a formal lease, license or other permission from the property owner(s), provided that:
(1) 
Occupancy of the disruptive property by the persons concerned was known by or brought to the attention of the owner(s); and
(2) 
The owner(s) of the disruptive property acquiesced to continued occupancy of the property by such persons after the owner(s) knew or were made aware of their occupancy.
[Ord. of 5-23-2013]
(a) 
The Police Department shall document all responses to complaints or observations of disruptive activities. An officer may investigate a disruptive activity based on a complaint or on the officer's own independent observation. The responding officer(s) shall file a disruptive activities report, which shall classify each incident as either a disruptive activity or as an unsubstantiated complaint or observation. The responding officer(s) may classify a complaint or observation as a disruptive activity, notwithstanding that no arrest is made or summons issued to any individual on the property concerned.
(b) 
The Police Chief shall review all reports of disruptive activities. Based on that review, the Police Chief shall designate the incident as a substantiated or unsubstantiated disruptive event.
(c) 
The Police Chief shall maintain a summary log of all substantiated disruptive events for each residential property concerned.
[Ord. of 5-23-2013]
(a) 
Whenever the Police Chief determines that two disruptive events have occurred at the same residential property within any 180-day period, the Police Chief shall send a written notice to the owner(s) of the property concerned. The notice shall be sent by first-class mail, postage prepaid, return receipt and address correction requested, to the last known mailing address of the owner(s) concerned.
(b) 
The written notice shall contain the following information:
(1) 
The location of the residential property and the owner's(s') names.
(2) 
The dates and nature of the two most-recent substantiated disruptive events for that property.
(3) 
A summary of the provisions of this article.
(4) 
A warning that, upon substantiation of a third or subsequent disruptive event at the residential property within the same 180-day period, the property shall be classified as a "disruptive property," with the adverse consequences of this article to apply.
(c) 
Whenever the Police Chief determines that a third or subsequent disruptive event has occurred at the same residential property within any 180-day period, the Police Chief shall send an additional written notice to the owner(s) of the property concerned. The notice shall be sent by first-class mail, postage prepaid, return receipt and address correction requested, to the last known mailing address of the owner(s) concerned.
(d) 
The disruptive property notice shall contain the following information:
(1) 
The location of the residential property and the owner's(s') names.
(2) 
That the property has been classified by the Police Chief as a disruptive property in accordance with the provisions of this article.
(3) 
The dates and nature of the three most recent substantiated disruptive events for that property.
(4) 
A statement that the owner(s) may appeal the Police Chief's determination to the Old Town Board of Appeals, in writing, within 30 days after the owner's(s') receipt of the disruptive property notice, in accordance with the Zoning Ordinance, Section 107.3, of the City of Old Town Revised Code of Ordinances.
(5) 
A statement that if the owner(s) fail to appeal the Police Chief's determination to the Board of Appeals within 30 days, the adverse consequences of this article shall apply to the owner's(s') property.
(6) 
An invitation to meet with the Police Chief to develop a remediation plan under § 12-62 below, in lieu of other enforcement action under this article.
[Ord. of 5-23-2013]
Upon expiration of the applicable appeals period with no appeal filed, or upon final resolution of any appeal in a manner favorable to the City, the owner(s) of each residential property that has been classified as a disruptive property by the Police Chief shall be subject to the following consequences:
(a) 
City cost recovery.
(1) 
The owner(s) of a disruptive property shall be billed for the cost of each police response by the City of Old Town to any complaint of disruptive activity at the property concerned, following the property's classification as a disruptive property, if the complaint results in substantiation of an additional disruptive event. The amount to be billed shall consist of the City's current private-duty hourly rate for the officer(s) concerned, plus the City's actual cost of any medical treatment to injured officers and the cost of repairing any damage to City-owned equipment or property. The minimum charge for any police response shall be $250.
(2) 
The amount billed shall constitute a debt to the City by the owner(s) of the disruptive property. If not paid within 30 days after the date of the City's invoice, the amount concerned shall be subject to a collection action in court.
(b) 
Civil penalties.
(1) 
Upon prosecution for a violation of this article, any owner who is found by the court to have maintained or allowed a disruptive property to exist on that owner's property in violation of this article shall be subject to a civil penalty of $500 for the first offense, $1,000 for the second offense, $1,500 for the third offense, and $2,000 for the fourth and subsequent offenses. Each violation of a separate provision of this article and each day that such violation shall continue after written notice to the owner thereof shall constitute a separate offense.
(2) 
All civil penalties shall inure to the benefit of the City of Old Town.
(c) 
Additional fines.
(1) 
In any prosecution for violations of other City of Old Town ordinances relating to a disruptive property, said violations occurring while the disruptive property designation remains in effect, all applicable fines shall be doubled from the amount otherwise provided by ordinance.
(2) 
The cost recovery and additional fine provisions of this section shall apply to each disruptive property commencing 30 days after the Police Chief's determination that the property concerned is a disruptive property, if no appeal is filed; and from the date of final resolution of any appeal filed, if the resolution upholds the Police Chief's determination (the "commencement date").
(3) 
The cost recovery and additional fines provisions shall remain in effect for a minimum of one year following the commencement date and shall continue for as long as the property concerned remains classified as a disruptive property.
(d) 
Injunctive relief. In any prosecution for violations of this article, the City, in addition to applicable monetary penalties, shall be entitled to seek an order of the court requiring abatement of all disruptive activities on the property upon such terms as the court may determine.
(e) 
Attorneys' fees and costs. If the City is the prevailing party in a prosecution under this article, each owner of the disruptive property found by the court to have maintained or allowed a disruptive property to exist on that owner's property shall also be liable for all reasonable expenses incurred by the City in the enforcement of this article, including, but not limited to, City of Old Town staff time, attorneys' fees, and court costs.
[Ord. of 5-23-2013]
(a) 
Classification of a residential property as a disruptive property shall terminate one year after the commencement date for City cost recovery and additional fines under § 12-60 above, provided that no additional disruptive events have been substantiated at the property by the Police Chief since the date of the disruptive event that resulted in the property's classification as a disruptive property, and upon the Police Chief's determination of all the following conditions have been met:
(1) 
Payment of all civil penalties and costs arising from any enforcement action; or
(2) 
Verification by City officials that all deficiencies/violations, if any, discovered during any inspection under § 12-60 have been corrected; and
(3) 
Satisfactory implementation of any remediation agreement agreed to by the owner(s) under § 12-62 below.
(b) 
Upon substantiation of any subsequent disruptive event at the property occurring within one year after the date of the disruptive event that resulted in the property's classification as a disruptive property, the status of the property as a disruptive property shall be extended until a date that is one year after the occurrence of such subsequent disruptive event, subject to notice and a right of appeal in accordance with § 12-59 above.
(c) 
The disruptive property classification shall be removed from the property by the Police Chief.
[Ord. of 5-23-2013]
Once a property has been classified as a disruptive property by the Police Chief, the owner may elect to undertake a plan of remediation to abate and eliminate the public nuisance in accordance with this section.
(a) 
Property inspection. If the property has not undergone a comprehensive code and firesafety inspection within the prior 360 days, the owner must agree to make available the entire property for a comprehensive inspection by the Fire Department and the Code Enforcement Officer and must schedule such inspections to be completed as soon as possible, but within 14 days from the date of the notice of the disruptive property classification. The owner shall notify, in writing, all tenants and occupants of the property of the scheduled inspections and shall provide copies of such notices to the Police Chief. The owner shall also cooperate fully with the City officials to gain entry to all areas of the property.
(b) 
Meeting with Police Chief.
(1) 
The owner or the owner's duly authorized agent shall meet with the Police Chief or designee within the later of 14 days of the notice of the disruptive property classification or within 14 days from the completion of the inspections outlined in this section.
(2) 
At the time of this meeting, the owner, or the owner's authorized agent, shall provide to the Police Chief the following documentation:
a. 
A complete description of the property, including, but not limited to:
1. 
A list of all dwelling units and their postal or E-911 address designation as they are located on the property;
2. 
Floor plans or sketches for all structures located on the property, showing the location of all dwelling unit entrances and egress points, sleeping areas and common areas;
3. 
A site description and sketch acceptable to the Code Enforcement Officer and Fire Chief, showing the location and dimensions of all structures, yards or open spaces or recreational spaces, walkways, parking spaces, driveways and curb cuts; and
4. 
Other descriptive items as might be requested by the Code Enforcement Officer, Fire Chief or Police Chief.
b. 
A narrative description of the use and occupancy of the property over the previous five years, together with a statement of the intended use of the property for the next five years, if known.
c. 
A copy of the terms and conditions contained in any lease agreement(s) agreed to by the tenants of the disruptive property.
d. 
Documentation of any other written or verbal arrangements authorizing occupancy of the disruptive property that may exist in addition to any lease agreement.
(3) 
At the time of this meeting, the Police Chief shall, to the extent permitted by law, provide to the owner, or the owner's duly authorized agent, documentation of municipal actions that involved the property in question in the 360-day period preceding the disruptive property classification, including, but not limited to, records of all disruptive events, disturbance complaints, code enforcement complaints and inspections and firesafety inspections.
(c) 
Remediation agreement.
(1) 
The owner or the owner's duly authorized agent must agree to take effective measures to address the disruptive property, satisfactory to the Police Chief, which shall be memorialized in a written agreement at the conclusion of the meeting (the "remediation agreement") and implemented within 14 days from the date of the meeting, unless circumstances necessitate additional time as found by the Police Chief. Remedial measures may include, but are not limited to, the owner, or owner's duly authorized agent, taking appropriate steps through the judicial system to terminate the occupancy of any tenants or other occupants of the property who have engaged in the disruptive activities. The Police Chief and the owner, or owner's duly authorized agent, shall sign the remediation agreement, and copies shall be provided to the City Council, the City Manager, Code Enforcement Officer and Fire Chief.
(2) 
Execution of a mutually satisfactory remediation agreement by the owner and the Police Chief shall be in lieu of civil cost recovery, court enforcement action and other consequences of the disruptive property classification under section 12-59 above. Provided however, that if the Owner(s) of the Disruptive Property fail to perform those actions required of the Owner(s) under the Remediation Agreement, or if additional Disruptive Activities continue to occur at the property concerned after execution of a Remediation Agreement, the City may exercise any or all of the remedies provided under § 12-60 above.
[Ord. of 5-23-2013]
In the event that any provision of this article is held to be unconstitutional or otherwise invalid by any court of competent jurisdiction, the remaining provisions of the article shall not be invalidated.