ORD 2020-086 2018-2020 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Section 14-151. Complaint by adjacent or abutting owner(s); request to clear. (a) If a majority of all the adult residents within a radius of five hundred feet from any boundary of, or the property owner of a property adjacent to or abutting, any occupied or unoccupied lot, in writing to the mayor requests that the lot be cleared of refuse, uncultivated undergrowth, or unsafe flora, the mayor shall investigate the complaint. If the mayor certifies that there is refuse, uncultivated undergrowth, or unsafe flora on the lot complained about to an extent that the lot poses or is likely to pose an imminent danger for fire, health, safety, property damage, or crime hazard, the mayor shall notify the owner of the lot to clear the occupied or unoccupied lot of the refuse, uncultivated undergrowth, or unsafe flora. (b) If the offending uncultivated undergrowth or unsafe flora is registered as an endangered or protected species or is listed as "exceptional"pursuant to chapter 14, article 10 of this Code, or if the owner wants to keep the offending uncultivated undergrowth or unsafe flora, the owner shall submit in writing a treatment plan for its continued safe existence to the mayor's office, the department of public works, the arborist advisory committee, the offended property owner(s), and, if applicable, the homeowners association. The treatment plan shall be approved by the department of public works and, if applicable, the homeowners association. (c) If a building is constructed in close proximity to an existing stand of trees used for wind block,boundary markers or ornamentals, the property owner may not file a complaint under this section and may seek other legal remedies should an emergency situation arise. (d) If a person files three unsubstantiated complaints about the same refuse, uncultivated undergrowth, or unsafe flora, that person may not file a complaint for that same property, providing that property is under the same ownership at the time that the three unsubstantiated complaints were filed. Section 14-152. Clearance by County; costs. (a) If any owner, after notice to clear any occupied or unoccupied lot has been mailed to the owner and posted by the mayor, fails or refuses to comply with the order within thirty days after the notice, the County may proceed to clear the lot of the refuse, uncultivated undergrowth, or unsafe flora at the expense of the owner. (b) The collection of any expense that has been unpaid by the property owner for clearing any unoccupied lot shall be a lien on the property so cleared, and the County may recover the amount of the lien and the expense and costs of the clearing by action at law in assumpsit, or by any action allowed by law in equity, or that may be prescribed by statute, including any proceeding allowed for the foreclosure of tax liens. (c) The collection of recoverable expenses that has been unpaid by the property owner for clearing any occupied lot shall proceed as follows: (1) The department of public works shall keep an itemized record of recoverable expenses. Promptly after completion of the lot clearing, the department shall certify those expenses to the office of the corporation counsel. (2) The office of the corporation counsel, on behalf of the County, shall submit a written itemized claim for the total recoverable expenses incurred by the County to the responsible person or persons and a written notice stating that unless the amounts are paid in full within thirty days after receipt of the claim and notice, the County will file a civil action seeking recovery for the stated amount. 4