This article shall be known and cited as the city weed ordinance.
(Ordinance adopted 4/15/91, sec. 1; 1998 Code, sec. 6.401)
This article is intended to promote the general health, safety and welfare of the people of the city by prohibiting the maintenance or accumulation of those plants determined to provide harborage for insects and rodents, or which constitute a fire hazard, whether wind collected or not, or which otherwise present a hazard or nuisance to inhabitants of the city. Further, this article is intended to promote the growth of native and other grasses and plants whose root structures tend to aid in stabilizing the soil, and to reduce dust.
(Ordinance adopted 4/15/91, sec. 2; 1998 Code, sec. 6.402)
For the purposes of this article, the following words and their derivatives shall have the meanings herein. When not inconsistent with the context, words used in the present tense include the future, words used in the plural number include the singular, and words used in the singular include the plural number.
means the city manager of the City of Denver City or his authorized representative.
includes one or more persons of either sex, corporations, partnerships, associations, joint stock companies, societies and all other entities of any kind capable of being sued.
is always mandatory and not merely directory.
Weeds means all rank, noxious, poisonous, harmful, unhealthful vegetation, deleterious to health, and shall include, but is not limited to, the following named plants:
Pigweed (Amaranthus retroflexus).
Russian thistle (Salsola pestifer).
Ragweed (Ambrosia spp.).
Lambsquarter (Kenopodium spp.).
Kochia.
Prickly lettuce (Latuca sativa).
London rocket mustard (Sisymbrium irio).
Canadian thistle (Cirsuim arvense).
Johnson grass (Sorghum halepense).
Weeds shall not be construed to mean such vegetation occurring on undisturbed tracts of land or vacant lots, which shall be considered “climax vegetation” for the ecological zone in which the city is located. Such “climax vegetation” shall consist primarily of natural grasses, mesquite and/or shinery oak.
The city manager hereby is authorized and delegated the authority and duty to determine if any other plants, due to their unhealthy or dangerous attributes or consequences, should be placed on the list of weeds as defined herein, and shall put such plants on such list if, after a hearing based on the evidence before him, it appears that such plants do come within the meaning of the term “weeds” as hereinbefore set out.
(Ordinance adopted 4/15/91, sec. 3; 1998 Code, sec. 6.403)
It shall be unlawful for any owner, lessee or occupant having charge or control of any occupied or unoccupied lot or tract of land within the city to permit or maintain any growth of weeds to a greater height than twelve inches, or any accumulation of weeds, on any such lot or tract of land, including any curb, gutter and sidewalks and the area located between the property line and the middle of the alley adjacent to any such lot or tract of land.
(Ordinance adopted 4/15/91, sec. 4; 1998 Code, sec. 6.404)
It shall be unlawful for any owner or lessee having charge or control of those vacant parcels of land, platted yet unimproved, consisting of two or more contiguous lots or parcels exceeding one-half acre in size, to permit or maintain any growth of weeds to a greater height than twelve inches.
(Ordinance adopted 4/15/91, sec. 5; 1998 Code, sec. 6.405)
It shall be the duty of any owner, lessee, occupant or person in charge of or in control of any occupied or unoccupied lot or tract of land to cut the weeds and remove the cuttings or any accumulation of weeds as often as is necessary in order to comply with the provisions set out in section 6.06.004 or 6.06.005.
(Ordinance adopted 4/15/91, sec. 6; 1998 Code, sec. 6.406)
(a)
In the event that the owner of any lot, tract, parcel of land, or a portion thereof, situated within the corporate limits of the city, shall fail to comply with of this article, then the city shall give notice to such person setting forth the noncompliance with this article. Such notice shall be in writing and may be served upon such person in any one or more of the following ways:
(1)
Personally given to the owner;
(2)
Addressed to the owner by letter to the owner’s post office address; or
(3)
If personal service cannot be obtained or if the owner’s post office address, [is unknown, notice] may be given by publication at least twice within ten (10) consecutive days in the city’s official newspaper, or by posting the notice on or near the front door of each building on the property to which the violation relates, or by posting the notice on a placard attached to a stake driven into the ground on the property to which the violation relates, if the property contains no buildings.
(b)
In the notice herein provided for, the city shall have the right to inform the property owner that, if he or she commits another violation of the same kind or nature on or before the first anniversary of the date of the notice, the city may, without further notice, correct the violation at the owner’s expense and assess the expense against the property.
(Ordinance adopting 1998 Code; 1998 Code, sec. 6.407)
Should the violation consist of weeds in excess of forty-eight (48) inches in height which are deemed by the city to be an immediate danger to the health, life or safety of any person, the city may immediately abate said nuisance with no notice to the property owner.
(Ordinance adopting 1998 Code; 1998 Code, sec. 6.408)
In those cases where the owner, lessee or occupant, or person having charge or control of any occupied or unoccupied lot or tract of land is a nonresident of the city or cannot be determined, and compliance with the provisions set forth in the notice has not occurred within ten days, the city manager may cause such weeds to be cut. Lots or tracts of land having been either tractor or manually push mowed shall have all weeds exceeding the applicable ordinance height shredded in the mowing process. Any weeds that are not sufficiently shredded during the mowing process will be removed, preventing any harborage for insects and rodents and preventing any of the weeds from becoming windblown or creating a fire or traffic hazard. If the owner, lessee or occupant, or a person having charge or control of any such lot or tract of land is notified in writing as provided and fails to comply with the provisions of this article within ten days, the city manager may cause such weeds to be cut and/or the cuttings or any accumulation of weeds removed. In any event, should it appear to be a matter of public necessity for health or safety reasons, the city manager may give notice that the weeds must be cut or removed immediately; in such event, should there be noncompliance, the city manager is authorized to cause such weeds to be cut and/or the cuttings or any accumulation of weeds removed immediately. The actual cost of the cutting or removal of weeds, plus any other penalties or costs allowed by law in connection therewith, under any of the circumstances herein set out, shall be billed to the owner of record, who shall have five days to submit payment in full. Failure to remit shall cause a lien to be placed upon the property from which such weeds were removed in the manner prescribed by law. Said lien shall state the name of the property owner, if known, and a legal description of the property.
(Ordinance adopted 4/15/91, sec. 8; Ordinance adopting 1998 Code; 1998 Code, sec. 6.409)
The approved methods of controlling weeds shall be mowing, cutting, digging, chemical treatment or other methods designed to remove the weeds but not disturb other vegetation or unnecessarily disturb the soil. The scraping and tillage of lots and tracts of land is prohibited, unless permission of the city manager is first obtained, except that scraping and tillage as part of normal construction activities or as ground preparation for agriculture or landscaping activities shall be allowed. The city manager may allow scraping the tillage of lots or tracts of land when this will not detract from or violate the clear intent and purpose of this article.
(Ordinance adopted 4/15/91, sec. 9; 1998 Code, sec. 6.410)
The city manager or his designated representative shall be the administrative authority for this article. The administrative authority shall establish rules and regulations for the fair and equitable administration and enforcement of this article and for the receiving and hearing of protests concerning the application of this article and the levying of the charges provided for herein.
(Ordinance adopted 4/15/91, sec. 10; 1998 Code, sec. 6.411)
Any person who shall fail and neglect to cut the weeds and remove the cuttings or any accumulation of weeds as provided in this article, or who shall fail, neglect or refuse to comply with the provisions of any section of this article or any notice herein provided for, or who shall violate any of the provisions of this article whatsoever, or who shall resist or obstruct the city manager or his authorized representatives in the cutting of weeds or the removal of cuttings or the removal of the accumulation of the weeds, shall upon conviction thereof be subject to a fine as provided for in the general penalty provision found in section 1.01.009 of this code, and each day on which such violation continues may constitute a separate offense.
(Ordinance adopted 4/15/91, sec. 11; 1998 Code, sec. 6.412)