It shall be the duty of any owner or occupant or person having control of any lot or land to cut and remove or cause to be cut and removed all such weeds, grass or other rank, poisonous or harmful vegetation as often as may be necessary to comply with the provisions of §
259-38, provided that cutting and removing such weeds, grass and vegetation at least twice in each of the months from May 1 until October 30 shall be deemed to be a compliance with this article.
[Amended 9-25-1997 by Ord. No. 24-1997; 12-5-2019 by L.L. No. 3-2020]
A. If the provisions of the foregoing sections are not
complied with, the Code Enforcement Office shall serve written notice,
personally or by mail, upon the owner, occupant or any person having
the control of any such lot or land to comply with the provisions
of this article. Mailing by regular mail to the owner's address on
file in the City Assessor's office shall be deemed sufficient five
days after mailing. In the event that the owner files with the Code
Enforcement Office a notice designating another person as being responsible
for the care and maintenance of said property, then mailing by regular
mail to both shall be deemed sufficient five days after mailing.
B. If the person upon whom the notice is served fails,
neglects or refuses to cut and remove or cause to be cut and removed
such weeds, grass or other vegetation within five days after receipt
of such notice, or if no person can be found in the City who either
is or claims to be the owner of such lot or land or who either represents
or claims to represent such owner, the Code Enforcement Office shall
cause such weeds, grass and other vegetation on such lot or land to
be cut and removed, and the cost established at least annually by
the City Council through a budget resolution that adopts a City fee
schedule of such cutting and removal plus a service charge of 50%
thereof to cover the administrative cost of supervision and administration
shall be certified by the Code Enforcement Office to the City Clerk,
and such certified amount shall thereupon become and be a lien upon
the property on which such weeds, grass and other vegetation were
located and shall be added to and become and form part of the taxes
next to be assessed and levied upon such lot or land and shall bear
interest at the same rate as City real estate taxes and shall be collected
and enforced in the same manner as such taxes.
C. The owner, occupant or any person having control over any lot, land or property found in violation of §
259-38 shall be notified in writing only once between May 1 and October 1 of each year for a particular violation. Subsequent violations of a similar nature at the same location during the same period shall be corrected by the City or its agent without notice to the owner, occupant or person having control of said property. After initial notification, such owner, occupant or person having control of said property will be presumed to have been given sufficient notice of infraction for the entire period referenced herein.
It shall be unlawful for any person to resist, obstruct or interfere with the Director of Parks and Recreation or any agent or employee of the City in the cutting and removal of weeds, grass or rank, poisonous or harmful vegetation as set forth in §
259-40 herein.