[Adopted 10-7-1991 by Ord. No. 87]
For the purposes of this article, the following words have the meaning ascribed to it:
OWNER
Any person, firm, conservator, receiver or officer who owns, holds or controls the whole, or any part of, the freehold title (control of the freehold title is not intended to mean a tenant under any type of written or oral tenancy), to any real property, including, but not limited to, vacant land, buildings, dwelling units, commercial real property, etc., with or without accompanying actual possession thereof, and shall include, in addition to the holder of legal title, any vendee in possession thereof, but shall not include a mortgagee or trustee under deed of trust, unless such mortgagee or trustee is in actual possession.
RUBBISH
The waste materials commonly referred to as "rubbish and garbage," including garbage from normal household living conditions, including waste, foodstuffs of vegetable or animal origin, paper products, fabrics, plastic and metal containers, bottles, crockery and other similar materials, and combustible and noncombustible waste materials, including the residue from the burning of wood, coal, coke and other combustible material, paper, rags, cartons, boxes, wood excelsior, rubber, leather, tree branches, yard trimmings, tin cans, metals, mineral matter, glass crockery, abandoned or inoperable machinery, bottles, wastepaper, cardboard, sawdust piles, rubbish from building construction or reconstruction, uprooted tree stumps, street refuse, used furniture and appliances stored out-of-doors (specially excluding patio, pool, lawn or porch furniture specifically designed for outdoor use) and all other waste materials; provided, however, that as used in this article, "rubbish" shall not be construed or interpreted so as to include any abandoned, unlicensed or inoperable motor vehicle, provision for which is made in other ordinances of the Town.
A. 
The provisions of this article shall apply to any real property within the Town of Delmar.
B. 
The decision of the Code Enforcement Officer as to whether particular articles are rubbish, as herein defined, shall be final, and if articles or rubbish have been mixed with other articles not constituting rubbish, as herein defined, the Code Enforcement Officer shall be entitled to treat all such mixed articles as rubbish.
C. 
The Town of Delmar, its officers, employees, agents or contractors, are hereby authorized to enter upon any real property within the Town of Delmar to remove such rubbish and to do any and all other matters upon such property as are reasonably necessary and proper to enforce this article. In the event such removal is done by the Town of Delmar Department of Public Works' employees, or its agents, then this article shall supersede and be an exception to the provisions of other ordinances requiring the regular pickup and removal of trash.
D. 
The correction of any condition by the Town of Delmar under authority of this article shall not relieve the owner of the property on which such condition existed or arose from criminal prosecution or punishment, whether misdemeanor or municipal infraction, for having caused or allowed such unlawful condition to arise or for having failed or refused to correct the same.
E. 
If any section or part of section of this article shall be held invalid by a court of competent jurisdiction, such holding shall not affect the remainder of this article or the context in which such section or part of section so held invalid appears, except to the extent that an entire section or part of section may be inseparably connected in meaning and effect with the section or part of section to which such holding shall apply.
No person shall allow rubbish to remain, to be deposited or to accumulate, either temporarily or permanently, on his property. This section shall not apply to those persons who store such rubbish in a lawfully permitted manner for the purpose of collection as performed pursuant to other ordinances on a regular basis by the Town.
The Town of Delmar Code Enforcement Officer is hereby authorized to notify the owner of the property as determined by the official tax rolls of the Town of Delmar to remove or properly dispose of the rubbish from the subject property.
Upon the failure, neglect or refusal of any owner so notified to remove or properly dispose of such rubbish within 10 days after service of notice, as provided for in this article, the Town of Delmar Code Enforcement Officer is hereby authorized and empowered to cause such condition to be corrected by removing and disposing of such rubbish and is hereby authorized and empowered to pay for the disposing of such rubbish or to order its disposal by the Town of Delmar Department of Public Works.
A. 
When the Town of Delmar has effected the removal of such rubbish by its own employees or has paid for the removal of such rubbish by its agents or contractors, the actual costs thereof and any related expenses along with an administrative fee of $100 shall be charged to the owner of such property and, if not sooner paid, such charge will be carried on the records of the Town of Delmar and shall be collectible in the same manner as real estate taxes are collected.
B. 
When the Town of Delmar has, for the second time and any additional times at such property, effected the removal of such rubbish by its own employees or has paid for the removal of such rubbish by its agents or contractors, the actual costs thereof and any related expenses along with an administrative fee as set from time to time by the Mayor and Council shall be charged to the owner of such property and, if not sooner paid, such charge will be carried on the records of the Town of Delmar and shall be collectible in the same manner as real estate taxes are collected.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 305, General Provisions, Art. I)]
A. 
There is hereby established in the Town, and accounted for within the general account, a separate restricted fund balance account. The purpose of this account is for paying the costs of correction and all expenses incident thereto that the Town may order or cause pursuant to this article. The Town Council, upon approval of four-fifths-vote, may fund increases or decrease the amount of this account during any time of the year. This account is established and is to be used for said purposes as long as the Town Council may deem appropriate.
B. 
There shall be deposited to the credit of the account such amounts as may be appropriated for the account or for the purposes of the account; the charges assessed and collected pursuant to this article; and all other receipts of whatever nature derived from the operation of the account.
C. 
Not later than six months after the end of each fiscal year, the head of the Finance Department shall submit to the Town Council a report of the financial condition of the account and the results of the operations and collections for such fiscal year. Said report shall include, but not be limited to, the itemized amounts of unrecovered taxes and administrative fees, along with the names of delinquent property owners.
D. 
Any tax authorized to be collected under this article may be paid without interest within 60 days from the date the Town effected removal of such rubbish. Interest of 1 1/2% per month shall be charged on all unpaid amounts from the expiration of 60 days from the date of such removal. If any such tax or part thereof shall remain after the expiration of one year from the date of such removal, the subject property may be sold for such tax or unpaid portion thereof with interest and administrative fees thereon at the next ensuing annual tax sale in the same manner and under the same conditions as property sold for delinquent general real estate taxes if said tax with interest and administrative fees thereon shall not have been paid in full prior to said sale.
Any notice required by this article to be served shall be deemed to have been served when served by any of the following methods:
A. 
When forwarded to the last-known address of the owner as recorded in the real estate assessment records of the Town of Delmar, by registered or certified mail, with return receipt, and such receipt shall constitute prima facie evidence of service upon such owner if such receipt is signed either by the owner or by a person of suitable age and discretion located at such address; or
B. 
When delivered to the person to be notified; or
C. 
When left at the usual residence or place of business of the person to be notified with a person or suitable age and discretion then resident or employed therein; or
D. 
If service cannot be effected as provided for above, then if published for three consecutive days in a daily newspaper circulated in the Town of Delmar and a copy of same posted on the subject property.
Where the full amount due the Town is not paid by such owner within 30 days after the disposal of such rubbish, then the Code Enforcement Officer shall cause to be recorded in the Finance Department for the Town a sworn statement showing the costs and expense incurred for the work, the administrative fees, the date the work was done and the location of the property on which such work was done.
Within 10 days from the service of notice as provided for in this article, the owner or his agent may file an appeal with the Town Council stating in detail the reasons as to why the action proposed by the Code Enforcement Officer should not be taken. Upon receipt of such appeal, the Mayor and Council shall put the cause on its agenda at its earliest convenience, notify the protestant thereof and hear the merits of the appeal. The Town Council may reverse the action of the Code Enforcement Officer for any error of fact or law or upon a finding that the enforcement constitutes an undue hardship upon the property owner which the property owner is physically or financially unable to comply with.