The purpose of this chapter is to protect, preserve, upgrade and regulate the environmental quality of the city.  This will be accomplished by prohibiting certain environmental conditions which may exist and are identified as a threat to the health, safety and welfare of the general public or to the aesthetic characteristics of the city and to provide for the administration and enforcement thereof.

(Ord. 993)

It shall be unlawful for any person to maintain or permit any nuisance within the city as defined, without limitation, as follows:

(a)      Filth, excrement, lumber, rocks, dirt, cans, paper, trash, metal or any other offensive or disagreeable thing or substance thrown or left or deposited upon any street, avenue, alley, sidewalk, park, public or private enclosure or lot whether vacant or occupied;

(b)     All dead animals not removed within 24 hours after death;

(c)      Any place or structure or substance which emits or causes any offensive, disagreeable or nauseous odors;

(d)     All stagnant ponds or pools of water;

(e)      All grass or weeds or other unsightly vegetation not usually cultivated or grown for domestic use or to be marketed or for ornamental purposes;

(f)      Abandoned iceboxes or refrigerators kept on the premises under the control of any person, or deposited on the sanitary landfill, or any icebox or refrigerator not in actual use unless the door, opening or lid thereof is unhinged, or unfastened and removed therefrom;

(g)      All articles or things whatsoever caused, kept, maintained or permitted by any person to the injury, annoyance or inconvenience of the public or of any neighborhood;

(h)     Any fence, structure, thing or substance placed upon or being upon any street, sidewalk, alley or public ground so as to obstruct the same, except as permitted by the laws of the city;

(i)      Any other conduct or condition prohibited by this Chapter.

(Code 2001; Ord. 573, Sec 1; Ord. 993)

The Governing Body shall designate one or more Code Enforcement Officers to be primarily charged with the administration and enforcement of this chapter.  Any law enforcement officer of the city also may enforce this chapter.

(Code 2001; Ord. 573, Sec. 2; Ord. 993)

The Code Enforcement Officer shall make inquiry and inspection of premises upon receiving a complaint or complaints in writing signed by two or more persons stating that a nuisance exists and describing the same and where located or is informed that a nuisance may exist by the chief of police, city staff or any other governmental agency.  The Code Enforcement Officer may make such inquiry and inspection when he or she observes conditions which appear to constitute a nuisance.  Upon making any inquiry and inspection, the Code Enforcement Officer shall make a written report of findings.

(Code 2001; Ord. 573, Sec. 3; Ord. 993)

The Code Enforcement Officer has the right of access and entry upon private property, including the interior of any building or structure, at any reasonable time for the purpose of making inquiry and inspection to determine if a nuisance exists.

(Code 2001; Ord. 573, Sec 5; Ord. 993)

(a)      The Code Enforcement Officer shall serve upon the owner, any agent of the owner of the property or any other person, corporation, partnership or association found by the Code Enforcement Officer to be in violation of this chapter, an order stating the violation.  The order shall be served on the owner or agent of such property by certified mail, return receipt requested, or by personal service.  If the property is unoccupied and the owner is a nonresident, then by mailing the order by certified mail, return receipt requested, to the last known address of the owner.

(b)     If the owner or agent of the owner of the property has failed to accept delivery or otherwise failed to effectuate receipt of a notice or order sent pursuant to this section during the preceding twenty-four month period, the Code Enforcement Officer may provide notice of the issuance of any further orders to abate or remove a nuisance from such property or provide notice of the order by such methods, including, but not limited to, door hangars, conspicuously posting notice of such order on the property, personal notification, telephone communication or first class mail.  If the property is unoccupied and the owner is a nonresident, notice provided by this section shall be given by telephone communication or first class mail.

(Code 2001; Ord. 573, Sec 6; Ord. 993)

The order shall state the condition(s) which is (are) in violation of Section 8-102.  The order shall also inform the person, corporation, partnership or association that:

(a)      He, she or they shall have 10 days from the receipt of the order to abate the condition(s) in violation of Section 8-102; provided, however, that the Code Enforcement Officer or his or her designee shall grant one or more extensions of the 10 day period if the owner or agent of the property demonstrates that due diligence is being exercised in the abatement of the conditions in violation of Section 8-102; or

(b)     He, she or they have 10 days from the receipt of the order, plus any additional time granted under subsubsection (a), to request a hearing before the Municipal Court Judge or his or her designated representative of the matter as provided in Section 8-109; and

(c)      Failure to abate the condition(s) or to request a hearing within the time allowed may result in prosecution as provided by Section 8-111 and/or abatement of the condition(s) by the city as provided by Section 8-108.

(Code 2001; Ord. 573, Sec. 7; Ord. 993)

In addition to, or as an alternative to prosecution as provided in Section 8-111, the Code Enforcement Officer may seek to remedy violations of this chapter in the following manner.  If a person to whom an order has been served pursuant to Section 8-106 has neither alleviated the conditions causing the alleged violation nor requested a hearing before the Municipal Court Judge within the time periods specified in Section 8-107, the Code Enforcement Officer may present a resolution to the Governing Body for adoption authorizing the public officer or other agents of the city to abate the conditions causing the violation at the end of 10 days after passage of the resolution.  The resolution shall further provide that the costs incurred by the city shall be charged against the lot or parcel of ground on which the nuisance was located as provided in Section 8-110.  A copy of the resolution shall be served upon the person in violation in one of the following ways:

(a)      Personal service upon the person in violation;

(b)     Certified mail, return receipt requested; or

(c)      In the event the whereabouts of such person is unknown and the same cannot be ascertained in the exercise of reasonable diligence, an affidavit to that effect shall be made by the Code Enforcement Officer and filed with the city clerk, and the serving of the resolution shall be made by publishing the same or a summary thereof once each week for two consecutive weeks in the official city newspaper and by posting a copy of the resolution or a summary thereof on the premises where such condition exists. 

(d)     If the owner or the agent of the owner of the property has failed to accept delivery or otherwise failed to effectuate receipt of a notice or order sent pursuant to this section during the preceding twenty-four month period, then Code Enforcement Officer may provide notice of the issuance of any further orders to abate or remove a nuisance from such property or provide notice of the order by such methods including, but not limited to, door hangars, conspicuously posting notice of such order on the property, personal notification, telephone communication or first class mail.  If the property is unoccupied and the owner is a nonresident, notice provided by this section shall be given by telephone communication or first class mail.

(Code 2001; Ord. 573, Sec. 9; Ord. 993)

If a hearing is requested within the 10-day period as provided in Section 8-107, such a request shall be made in writing to the city clerk.  Failure to make a timely request for a hearing shall constitute a waiver of the person’s right to contest the findings of the Code Enforcement Officer.  The hearing shall be held by the Municipal Court Judge or his or her designated representative at the next regularly scheduled Municipal Court trial docket, and the person shall be advised by the city of the time and place of the hearing at least five days in advance thereof.  At any such hearing, the person may be represented by counsel, and the person and the city may introduce such witnesses and evidence as is deemed necessary and proper by the Municipal Court Judge or his or her designated representative.  The hearing need not be conducted according to the formal rules of evidence.  Upon conclusion of the hearing, the findings of the Municipal Court Judge or his or her designated representative shall be set forth in writing and served upon the person in the manner provided in Section 8-108.

(Code 2001; Ord. 573, Sec. 10; Ord. 993)

If the city abates or removes the nuisance pursuant to Section 8-108, the city shall give notice to the owner or his or her agent by certified mail, return receipt requested, of the total cost of the abatement or removal incurred by the city.  The notice shall also state that the payment is due within 30 days following receipt of the notice.  The city also may recover the cost of providing notice, including any postage, required by this section.  The notice shall also state that if the cost of the removal or abatement is not paid within the 30-day period, the cost of the abatement or removal shall be collected in the manner provided by K.S.A. 12-1,115, and amendments thereto, or shall be assessed as special assessments and charged against the lot or parcel of land on which the nuisance was located and the city clerk, at the time of certifying other city taxes, shall certify the unpaid portion of the costs and the county clerk shall extend the same on the tax rolls of the county against such lot or parcel of land and it shall be collected by the county treasurer and paid to the city as other city taxes are collected and paid.  The city may pursue collection both by levying a special assessment and in the manner provided by K.S.A. 12-1,115, and amendments thereto, but only until the full cost and applicable interest has been paid in full.

(Code 2001; Ord. 573, Sec. 13; Ord. 993)

Any person who shall be convicted in the city’s municipal court for violating any provision or provisions of this chapter shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor.  Each day that any such violation of this chapter occurs or continues to occur shall constitute a separate offense and shall be separately punishable as hereinafter designated as a new and different violation.

Any violation of this chapter shall be punishable by a sentence to be imposed at the discretion of the court of not more than a $500.00 fine and 30 days in jail for each such separate violation.  Provided, however, that upon trial of any person charged with a violation of this chapter who is found guilty or upon a plea of guilty or nolo contendere to a violation of this chapter, it shall appear to the court that a nuisance complained of as proscribed in this chapter continues, the court may enter such further orders as necessary to cause said nuisance to be abated.

(Ord. 993)