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HomeMy WebLinkAboutOrdinance 94-09 ORDINANCE NO. 94- 09 AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF OCOEE, FWRIDA REPEALING CHAPTER 115 OF THE CODE OF ORDINANCES ENTITLED NUISANCES, PUBLIC HEALTH AND ADOPTING A NEW CHAPTER 115 ENTITLED "NUISANCES; WEEDS, GRASSES AND ABANDONED OR UNSAFE SWIMMING POOLS"; RELATING TO REMOVAL OF NUISANCES; PROVIDING FOR CONDITIONS CONSTITUTING NUISANCE; PROHffiITING CREATION OF NUISANCES; PROVIDING FOR CERTAIN PROHmITED ACTS; PROVIDING FOR ENFORCEMENT; PROVIDING FOR EXCESSIVE WEED AND GRASS GROWTH TO CONSTITUTE A NUISANCE; PROVIDING FOR ABANDONED OR UNSAFE SWIMMING POOLS TO CONSTITUTE A NUISANCE; PROVIDING THE DUTY OF PROPERTY OWNERS GENERALLY; PROVIDING NOTICE TO REMOVE AND APPEAL PROCESS; PROVIDING FOR REMOVAL BY CITY, COLLECTION OF COSTS AND RECORDS AND SECURED PROPERTY, ADMINISTRATIVE CHARGE AND ADMINISTRATIVE PENALTY; PROVIDING FOR CUMULATIVE REMEDIES; PROVIDING FOR SEVERABILITY; PROVIDING FOR CODIFICATION; PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE. WHEREAS, the City Commission of the City of Ocoee desires to provide for a efficient and expeditious process for the abatement and removal of nuisances or menaces to the public health, safety and welfare to the citizens of the City of Ocoee; and WHEREAS, the City Commission of the City of Ocoee desire to provide for an efficient and expeditious process for the abatement and removal of nuisances related to grass, weeds and abandoned or unsafe swimming pools. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ENACTED BY THE CITY COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF OCOEE, FLORIDA, AS FOLWWS: SECTION 1. Authority. The City Commission of the City of Ocoee has the authority to adopt this Ordinance pursuant to Article VIII of the Constitution of the State of Florida and Chapter 166, Florida Statutes, and Section C-8.L of Article II of the Charter of the City of Ocoee. SECTION 2. Repeal of Chapter 115. Chapter 115 of the Code of Ordinances of the City of Ocoee, Florida, is hereby repealed in its entirety. SECTION 3. Adoption of a New Chapter 115. A new Chapter 115 of the Code of Ordinances of the City of Ocoee, Florida, is hereby adopted and reads as follows: CHAPTER 115 NUISANCES; GRASSES, WEEDS AND ABANDONED OR UNSAFE SWIMMING POOLS ARTICLE I NUISANCES IN GENERAL Section 115-1. Conditions Constituting a Nuisance. For the purposes of this Article, the existence or accumulation of any combination of the following conditions or things on lands within the city is hereby declared and defined to be a "nuisance and menace to public health, safety and welfare": garbage, refuse, rubbish, junk, unusable furniture, refrigerators, stoves and appliances, trash, debris, the remains or rubble of structures which have been burned or which have been stricken by other casualty or any other noxious material of any kind or any used or scrap building materials, any of which tend to be a breeding place or haven for snakes and vermin or which tend to create any hazard endangering the lives, health, welfare and property of the citizens of the city or which tend to create fire or traffic hazards. Section 115-2. Creation prohibited. No person shall dump or cause to be dumped or place or cause to be placed on any lands or premises within the city any nuisance and menace to public health, safety and welfare. 2 Section 115-3. Prohibited acts. No person shall allow to be dumped, placed, accumulated or otherwise located on lands or premises owned by such person within the city any nuisance and menace to public health, safety and welfare, nor shall any person, after notice as provided in Sections 7-6 and 7-10 of the Code that a nuisance and menace to public health, safety and welfare exists on lands or premises owned by such person within the city, maintain or fail to remove such nuisance and menace to public health, safety and welfare. Section 115-4. Enforcement. This Article shall be enforceable pursuant to Chapter 7, Enforcement of Code, and Section 1-12, Penalties for Offenses, of the Code. ARTICLE II Weeds, Grass, and Abandoned or Unsafe Swimming Pools Section 115-5. Excessive Weed or Grass Growth Constituting a Nuisance No person shall allow or permit excessive growth of weeds, grass, undergrowth or other dead or living plant life (collectively referred to herein as "weed or grass growth ") on property owned, rented, leased or controlled by such person. Weed or grass growth shall be deemed excessive if the growth reaches a height of ten (10) inches or more on improved property or twenty-four (24) inches or more on unimproved property. Excessive weed or grass growth is prohibited and declared to be a public nuisance and unlawful. This Article shall not apply to (i) any tree, whether damaged, diseased, decayed or otherwise unsafe, or any limb or other portion thereof; (ii) any active pasture land, and (iii) any Environmentally Sensitive Properties as defined in Section 2-4(106) of the Land Development Code. Section 115-6. Abandoned or Unsafe Swimming Pool Constituting a Nuisance. No person shall allow or permit a pool, as defined in Section 158-3 of the Code, to become or remain in an abandoned, unsafe or unsanitary condition or which tends to create a hazard endangering the lives, health, safety, welfare or property of the citizens of the city on property owned, rented, leased or controlled by such person. Any such condition is prohibited and declared to be a public nuisance and unlawful. 3 Section 115-7. Duty of property owner generally. It shall be the duty of the owner of each lot, tract, or parcel of land within the City to reasonably regulate and effectively control excessive weed or grass growths and accumulations, as enumerated in Section 115-5 hereof, on the property and on the portion of the adjoining public right-of-way between the property and the street. It shall also be the duty of the owner of each lot, tract, or parcel of land within the City to drain, fill, regulate or control any abandoned, unsafe or unsanitary swimming pool, as set forth in Section 115-6 hereof. Section 115-8. Notice to remove and appeal process. (a) If the City Manager or his designee finds and determines that a public nuisance as described and declared in Section 115-5 or Section 115-6 hereof exists, the City Manager or his designee shall so notify the record owner of the offending property and demand that such owner cause the condition to be remedied. The notice shall be given by both physically posting on the property in the name of the property owner and by certified mail or personal delivery to the owner or owners as their names and addresses are shown upon the record of the Orange County Tax Assessor. Notice shall be deemed complete and sufficient when so physically posted and personally delivered or mailed. (b) The notice required by subsection (a) shall contain the following: 1. Name(s) and address(es) of the owner(s) of the property, according to the public records of Orange County, Florida. 2. Location of the property on which the violation exists. 3. A statement by the City Manager or a designee that a violation of Section 115-5 or Section 115-6, as the case may be, has been determined to exist on the property, which violation constitutes a public nuisance. 4. A description of the condition which causes the property to be in violation. 5. A requirement that the record owner of the property remedy the violation within fifteen (15) days from the date of the notice, failing which the City will remedy the condition and assess against the record owner the costs thereof plus an administrative charge. 4 6. A statement that, if the costs and administrative charge are not paid within thirty (30) days of invoice date, a lien will be placed on the property which is enforceable by foreclosure on the property. 7. A schedule of the charges which may be assessed against the record owner if the City has to remedy the violation. 8. An estimate of the total cost, based on the schedule of charges, if the violation is remedied by the City. Such estimate is not to be interpreted or construed as the final cost which may be assessed, but only as a good-faith approximation of such cost. The final assessable cost may be greater or lesser than the estimate. 9. A statement that the record owner of the property may, within fifteen (15) days from the date of the notice, submit a written appeal, from the determination of a public nuisance, which must contain all reasons, evidence and argument that the cited condition does not constitute a violation. (c) Within fifteen (15) days from the date of the notice the owner of the property may appeal the determination of nuisance by submitting a written appeal and request for a hearing before the City Commission to show that the condition does not constitute a public nuisance. Such appeal shall be addressed to the City Clerk and shall state the name of the property owner, the location of the cited property, and the specific grounds upon which the owner relies in order to show that the cited condition does not constitute a public nuisance. Section 115-9. Removal by City. (a) If after fifteen (15) days from the date of the notice no written appeal has been filed and the condition described in the notice has not been remedied, the City Manager or his designee shall cause the condition to be remedied by the City at the expense of the property owner. If a written appeal has been f1led and the finding of public nuisance is upheld, the City Manager or his designee may cause the condition to be remedied by the City at the expense of the property owner unless the City Commission otherwise directs. (b) If a written appeal has been filed and the finding of public nuisance is reversed, the City will not assess any costs or administrative penalties 5 against the property, although such administrative penalties would otherwise be authorized by Section 115-11 of this Chapter. (c) In cases involving violations of Section 115-5 or Section 115-6 of this Chapter in which the City Manager or his designee finds and determines that immediate, direct action to abate hazards imminently dangerous to the health, welfare or safety of the public is required, the City may, upon authorization from the City Manager or his designee, cause the conditions to be immediately remedied by City-authorized action. Notice of such remedial action shall be given within five (5) days after such action and according to the procedures detailed in Section 115-8 above, except that the notice shall explain that the property contained hazards in violation of Section 115-5 or Section 115-6 of this Chapter requiring immediate remedy, that the violative condition has already been remedied, and that the property owner has fifteen (15) days from the date of the notice to apply to the City Commission to show why costs of the remedial action should not be assessed against the property. Said emergency remedial action shall be at the expense of the property owner; however, the property owner may make a written request for a hearing before the City Commission as above provided within fifteen (15) days from the date of notice that the violative condition had to be remedied and that a charge is being assessed therefore. Section 115-10. Collection of costs and records; secured property. (a) After causing the condition to be remedied, the expense incurred in remedying the condition plus a charge to cover City administrative expenses, plus any administrative penalty as provided in Section 115-11 of this Chapter, shall become payable within thirty (30) days after the date of such remedial action, after which a special assessment lien and charge will be made upon the property, which shall be payable with interest at the rate of eighteen percent (18%) per annum from the date of such remedial action until paid. (b) Such lien shall be enforceable in the same manner as a tax lien in favor of the City and may be satisfied at any time by payment thereof including accrued interest. Notice of such lien may be filed in the office of the Clerk of the Circuit Court and recorded among the public records of Orange County, Florida. (c) If the property is secured by locks or otherwise, the City shall have the authority to enter the property for purposes of remedying the violative condition, and any additional costs incurred by the City in gaining access to the property or in re-securing the property after cleaning or removal of the nuisance shall be considered expenses of remedying the condition. 6 Section 115-11. Administrative charge; administrative penalty. (a) In addition to the actual cost of remedying the violation cited under Sections 115-5, 115-6 and/or 115-7, the City may also assess a charge to cover administrative expenses incurred in securing and monitoring the services of a private contractor to remedy the violation. The administrative charge shall from time-to-time be established by the City Commission by resolution. (b) If a second violation of Sections 115-5, 115-6 and/or 115-7 is cited against the same property and property owner within twelve (12) months from the date of the first citation, an administrative penalty of one hundred dollars ($100.00) shall additionally be assessed five (5) days after the second citation. If the condition is abated by the owner during that five (5) day period, the penalty will not be assessed. If a third violation of Sections 115-5, 115-6 and/or 115-7 is cited against the same property and property owner within twelve (12) months from the date of the first citation, an administrative penalty of two hundred dollars ($200.00) shall additionally be assessed five (5) days after the third citation. If the condition is abated by the owner during that five (5) day period, the penalty will not be assessed. Any violation of this Article may be referred to the City Attorney for appropriate legal action including, but not limited to, injunctive relief, in addition to enforcement as provided in this Article. ARTICLE ill Remedies Cumulative SECTION 115-12. This chapter shall be deemed to be cumulative and supplemental and in addition to any other provision of this Code, act, law, or ordinance relating to the regulation, control and abatement of the nuisances described in this Chapter. The provisions of this Chapter shall be liberally construed in order to effectively carry out its purposes. SECTION 4. Severability. If any section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase or portion of this Ordinance is for any reason held invalid or unconstitutional by any court of competent jurisdiction, such portion shall be deemed a separate, distinct and independent provision and such holding shall not affect the validity of the remaining portion hereto. SECTION 5. Codification. It is the intention of the City Commission of the City that the provisions of this Ordinance shall become and be made a part of the Code of Ordinances 7 of the City; and that sections of this Ordinance may be renumbered or relettered and the word "ordinance" may be changed to "chapter", "section", "article", or such other appropriate word or phrase in order to accomplish such intentions; and regardless of whether such inclusion in the code is accomplished, sections of this Ordinance may be renumbered or relettered and the correction of typographical errors which do not affect the intent may be authorized by the City Manager, without need of public hearing, by filing a corrected or recodified copy of same with the City Clerk. SECTION 6. Effective Date. This Ordinance shall become effective immediately upon passage and adoption. PASSED AND ADOPTED this J d. day of ~, 1994. APPROVED: ATTEST: ( S. Scott Vandergrift, May (SEAL) ADVERTISED April 21 , 1994 READ FIRST TIME April 19, 1994 READ SECOND TIME AND ADOPTED ~3 ,1994, UNDER AGENDA ITEM NO. V It r. FOR USE AND RELIANCE ONLY BY THE CITY OF OCOEE, FLORIDA APPROVED AS Tp FORM AND LEGALITY this ~ day of M~ ' 1994. FOLEyff LARD~ By: ((dJ 5 City Attorney C:\WPSI \DOCS\ORDINI2.NEW 1411 1194 I DEBBIE 1 PER:ddh 8