A junked vehicle, including a part of a junked vehicle, that is visible at any time of the year from a public place or public right-of-way is detrimental to the safety and welfare of the general public, tends to reduce the value of private property, invites vandalism, creates a fire hazard, constitutes an attractive nuisance creating a hazard to the health and safety of minors and is detrimental to the economic welfare of the city by producing urban blight adverse to the maintenance and continuing development of the city, and is a public nuisance.
(Ordinance 2022-04-18 adopted 4/11/2022)
(a) 
A person commits an offense if the person allows or maintains a junked vehicle in any place, whether on private or public property, in ordinary public view.
(b) 
An offense under this section is punishable by a fine not to exceed two hundred dollars ($200.00). A separate offense occurs each and every day the violation described in subsection (a) continues.
(c) 
The court shall order abatement and removal of the public nuisance on conviction of this offense.
(Ordinance 2022-04-18 adopted 4/11/2022)
(a) 
Upon complaint or upon its own initiative, the city may initiate appropriate official action to remove and abate a junked vehicle from any place visible to the public, whether on private or public property.
(1) 
Notice.
(A) 
A regularly salaried, full-time employee of the city shall provide notice by:
(i) 
Personal delivery, sending by certified mail with a five (5) day return requested, or delivery by the United States Postal Service with signature confirmation service to:
a. 
The last known registered owner of the nuisance;
b. 
Each lienholder of record of the nuisance; and
c. 
The owner or occupant of:
1. 
The property on which the nuisance is located; or
2. 
If the nuisance is located on a public right-of-way, the property adjacent to the right-of-way.
(ii) 
Post written notice on the junked vehicle if the address of the last known registered owner of the junked vehicle is unknown.
(B) 
The notice must state the nature of the nuisance, and that:
(i) 
The junked vehicle must be abated and removed not later than the 10th day after the date on which the notice was personally delivered or mailed; and
(ii) 
Any request for a hearing must be made in writing and received by the department before that ten (10) day period expires.
(C) 
If any notice is returned undelivered, action to abate the nuisance shall continue to a date not earlier than the 11th day after the date of the return.
(D) 
No notice is required for issuance of a citation for an offense under this article.
(2) 
Hearing.
(A) 
The municipal court judge shall conduct hearings relative to the abatement of junked vehicles.
(B) 
A public hearing must be conducted prior to the removal of the public nuisance not earlier than the 11th day after the date of service of notice.
(C) 
If a hearing is requested by a person for whom notice is required, the hearing shall be held not earlier than the 11th day after the date of the service of notice.
(D) 
At the hearing, the junked motor vehicle is presumed, unless demonstrated otherwise by the owner, to be inoperable.
(E) 
If the owner is available at the location of the nuisance, a resolution or order requiring removal of the nuisance must include the vehicle’s:
(i) 
Description;
(ii) 
Vehicle identification number; and
(iii) 
License plate number.
(F) 
As part of the order authorizing removal or abatement of the public nuisance, the court shall:
(i) 
Prohibit a vehicle from being reconstructed or made operable after removal; and
(ii) 
Require that notice identifying the vehicle or part of the vehicle be given to the department of public safety not later than the fifth day after the date of removal. On receipt of notice of removal, the department shall immediately cancel the certificate of title issued for the vehicle.
(G) 
The municipal court shall have full authority to enforce the abatement procedures, including, but not limited to, issuing all necessary orders.
(b) 
The provisions of this article shall not apply to a vehicle or a part thereof which is completely enclosed within a building in a lawful manner where it is not visible from the street or other public or private property, a vehicle or vehicle part that is stored or parked in a lawful manner on private property in connection with the business of a licensed vehicle dealer or junkyard, or an unlicensed operable or inoperable antique or special interest vehicle stored by a collector on the collector’s property, if the vehicle and the outdoor storage area are maintained in an orderly manner so that they do not constitute a health hazard and are screened from ordinary public view by appropriate means, including a fence, rapidly growing trees, shrubbery or a car cover the completely covers the motor vehicle.
(c) 
The procedures of this article shall be carried out and enforced by regularly salaried, full-time employees of the city, except that the removal of vehicles or parts thereof from property may be done by any other duly authorized person, including persons with whom the city may at the time of the passage of this article or hereafter have a valid contract for the removal of such vehicles.
(Ordinance 2022-04-18 adopted 4/11/2022)
A junked vehicle or vehicle part may be disposed of by removal to a scrapyard, a motor vehicle demolisher or any other suitable site for processing scrap or salvage.
(Ordinance 2022-04-18 adopted 4/11/2022)