No person shall leave unattended any motor vehicle, trailer, semitrailer
or mobile home on any public street or highway or private or public property
in the Town of Cedarburg for such time and under such circumstances as to
cause the vehicle to reasonably appear to have been abandoned. Whenever any
such vehicle has been left unattended on any street or highway in the Town
of Cedarburg or upon private or public property without the permission of
the property owner or other person charged with the lawful jurisdiction thereof
for more than 72 hours, the vehicle shall be deemed abandoned and constitutes
a public nuisance.
For purposes of this chapter, the following definitions shall be applicable:
STREET
Any public highway or alley and shall mean the entire width between
the boundary lines of any public way where any part thereof is open to the
public for purposes of vehicular traffic.
UNATTENDED
Unmoved from its location with no obvious sign of continuous human
use.
VEHICLE
A motor vehicle, trailer, semitrailer or mobile home, whether or
not such vehicle is registered under Wisconsin law.
For purposes of this chapter, the following irrebuttable presumptions
shall apply:
A. A vehicle shall be presumed unattended if it is found
in the same position 72 hours after issuance of a traffic ticket or citation
and if such traffic ticket or citation remains placed upon the windshield
during said 72 hours.
B. Any vehicle left unattended for more than 72 hours on
any public street or public ground or left unattended for more than 72 hours
on private property without the consent of the property owner is deemed abandoned
and constitutes a nuisance, provided that the vehicle shall not be deemed
abandoned under this subsection if left unattended on private property outside
of public view and enclosed within a building, or if designated as not abandoned
by the Town Constable.
This chapter shall not apply to a vehicle in an enclosed building or
a vehicle stored on a premises licensed for storage of junk or junked vehicles
and fully in compliance with Town zoning regulations, or to a vehicle parked
in a paid parking lot or space where the required fee has been paid.
Any vehicle in violation of this chapter shall be removed and impounded until lawfully claimed or disposed of under the provisions of §
301-6.
Any abandoned vehicle impounded by the Town which has not been reclaimed
or junked or sold by direct sale to a licensed salvage dealer pursuant to
the provisions of this chapter may be sold by public auction sale or public
sale calling for the receipt of sealed bids. A Class 1 notice including the
description of the vehicles, the name(s) and address(es) of the Wisconsin
titled owner and secured party of record, if known, and the time of sale shall
be published before the sale.
Within five days after the direct sale or disposal of a vehicle as provided
for herein, the Town Constable or his designee shall advise the State of Wisconsin
Department of Transportation, Division of Motor Vehicles, of such sale or
disposal on a form supplied by said Division. A copy of the form shall be
given to the purchaser of the vehicle enabling the purchaser to obtain a regular
certificate of title for the vehicle. The purchaser shall have 10 days to
remove the vehicle from the storage area but shall pay a reasonable storage
fee established by the Town for each day the vehicle remains in storage after
the second business day subsequent to the sale date. Ten days after the sale
the purchaser shall forfeit all interest in the vehicle and the vehicle shall
be deemed to be abandoned and may be sold again. Any listing of vehicles to
be sold by the Town shall be made available to any interested person or organization
who or which makes a written request for such list to the Town Constable.
The Town Constable may charge a reasonable fee for the list.
In the event of any conflict between this chapter and any other provisions
of this Code, this chapter shall control.