For the purposes of this article the following definitions shall apply:

(a)   Compliance officer-means a person designated by the governing body to ensure that the laws pertaining to the health and safety of the citizens of the city are obeyed.

(b)   Date of notification-means the date upon which:

(1)   Personal service is made; or

(2)   Notice is received by restricted mail; or

(3)   After publication for two consecutive weeks in the official newspaper.

(c)   Owner-means the owner(s), tenant(s), lessee(s), and/or occupant(s) of any lot within the corporate limits of the city and also the owner(s) and /or lessee(s) of any personalty stored within the corporate limits of the city.

(d)   Personalty-means old, unused, stripped, junked, and other automobiles not in good and safe operating condition, equipment and personal property of any kind which is no longer safely usable for the purposes for which it was manufactured.

(e)   Nuisance-means:

(1)   Unsheltered open storage of personalty, for a period of thirty days or more (except in licensed salvage yards);

(2)   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;

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

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

(5)   All stagnant ponds or pools of water;

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

(7)   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;

(8)   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;

(9)   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.

(f)   It shall be unlawful for any person to maintain or permit any nuisance within the city.

(K.S.A. 21-4106:4107; Ord. 1551, Secs. 1:2; Code 2013)

The mayor, with the approval of the city council shall designate a compliance officer to be charged with the administration and enforcement of this article.

(Ord. 1551, Sec. 3; Code 2013)

The compliance 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 board of health, chief of police or the fire chief. The compliance 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 compliance officer shall make a written report of findings.

(Code 2013)

The police officer of compliance officer has the right of access and entry upon private property at any reasonable time for the purpose of making inquiry and inspection to determine if a nuisance exists.

(Ord. 1551, Sec. 4; Code 2013)

Whenever the compliance officer or any city employee finds or is notified of a nuisance within the corporate limits of the city, the compliance officer shall refer the matter to the Governing Body. If the Governing Body finds a violation of this Article, it shall issue an order stating the violation. The compliance officer shall exercise reasonable diligence in ascertaining the identity and address of the owner(s) as defined herein and shall send an Order of Violation and Notice to Abate the nuisance within ten days. Such notice shall contain the following additional information:

(a)   Nature of the complaint;

(b)   Description and location of the nuisance;

(c)   Statement that the nuisance will be:

(1)   Abated no later than ten days from date of notification; or in the alternative,

(2)   The owner(s) shall have ten days from the date of notification to request a hearing before the governing body of the matter, said request being in writing to the city clerk;

(d)   Statement that removal of the nuisance to another location within the corporate city limits where such storage is not permitted is prohibited and shall subject the person to additional penalties;

(e)   Statement of the penalties provided for noncompliance with such order and notice.

(Ord. 1551, Sec. 5; Code 2013)

The Order of Violation and Notice to Abate 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. 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, the governing body of the city 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 hangers, 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.

(Ord. 1511, Sec. 6; Code 2013)

Owner(s) of personalty declared to be a nuisance shall jointly and severally abate said nuisance into completely enclosed buildings authorized to be used for such storage purposes if within the corporate limits of the city, or otherwise remove it to a location without said corporate limits.

(Ord. 1511, Sec. 7; Code 2013)

(a)   A failure to file a written request with the city clerk within the ten-day period after service of the Notice to Abate, pursuant to 8-105, shall constitute a waiver of the person’s right to contest the findings of the compliance officer before the city council.

(b)   As soon as possible after a request for a hearing is filed with the city clerk, a hearing shall be held by the city council and the owner(s) shall be advised by the city of the time and place of the hearing at least five days in advance thereof.

(c)   At any such hearing, the owner(s) may be represented by counsel, and the owner(s) and the city may introduce such witnesses and evidence as is deemed necessary and property by the city council. The hearing need not be conducted according to formal rules of evidence.

(d)   Upon conclusion of the hearing, the city council shall record its determination of the matter by means of adopting a resolution and serving the resolution upon the owner(s) in the manner provided in 8-110 herein.

(Ord. 1511, Sec. 8; Code 2013)

Any person or persons violating any of the provisions of this article is guilty of a misdemeanor and on the conviction on the conviction thereof shall be punished by a fine of not more than $500.00, or by imprisonment not to exceed six months, or by both such fine and imprisonment. Each day of noncompliance constitutes a separate offense.

(Ord. 1511, Sec. 9; Code 2013)

In addition to, or as an alternative to prosecution as provided in 8-109, the city may seek to remedy violations of this article in the following manner:

If an owner(s) to whom a notice has been sent, pursuant to 8-105:106, has neither abated the nuisance nor requested a hearing before the governing body within the time periods specified in 8-105, the compliance officer may present a resolution to the governing body for adoption authorizing the compliance officer or his agents to abate the conditions causing the violation at the end of ten 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. A copy of the resolution shall be served upon the owner(s) in violation in one of the following ways:

(a)   Personal service upon the person in violation; or

(b)   Service by Certified mail return receipt requested; or

(c)   In the event the whereabouts of such person are unknown and the same cannot be ascertained in the exercise of reasonable diligence, an affidavit to that effect shall be made by the compliance officer and filed with the city clerk, and the serving of the resolution shall be made by publishing the same once each week for two consecutive weeks in the official city newspaper and by posting a copy of the resolution 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, the governing body of the city 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 hangers, 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.

(Ord. 1511, Sec. 10; Code 2013)

If the city abates or removes the nuisance pursuant to 8-110 above, 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 the receipt of the notice. The city also may recover the cost of providing the 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 taxes to the county clerk, 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.

(Ord. 1511, Sec. 11; Code 2013)