ARTICLE 1. HEALTH NUISANCES

8-101. Nuisances unlawful; defined.

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;

(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.

(K.S.A. 21-4106:4107; K.S.A. 12-1617e; K.S.A. 12-1617f; Code 2016)

8-102. Public officer.

The mayor shall designate a public officer to be charged with the administration and enforcement of this article.

(Code 2016)

8-103. Complaints; inquiry and inspection.

The public officer shall make inquiry and inspection of premises upon receipt of a complaint 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 public 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 public officer shall make a written report of findings.

(Code 2016)

8-104. Same; right of entry.

(a) Whenever necessary to make an inspection of any building, structure or premises to determine if a nuisance exists, or whenever the public officer has cause to believe that there exists therein any condition which endangers the public health, the public officer is authorized to enter such building, structure or premises at all reasonable times to inspect the same and to exercise any power or authority or to perform any duty imposed upon the public officer under this code.

(b) The authority granted to the public officer by subsection (a) of this section is subject to the following:

(1) If the building, structure or premises is occupied, the public officer shall first present proper credentials, explain the purpose for which admittance is desired and demand entry.

(2) If such property is unoccupied, the public officer shall first make a reasonable effort to locate the owner or other person having charge or control of the property, present proper credentials, explain the purpose for which admittance is desired and demand entry.

(3) If the public officer is refused admission or cannot locate the owner or occupant, the public officer shall refrain from entering until authorized to do so by proper judicial authority.

(Code 2016)

8-105. Order of violation.

(a) The governing body shall serve upon the owner, any agent of the owner of the property or any other person, corporation, partnership or association found by the public officer to be in violation of section 8-101 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 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 24 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.

(K.S.A. 12-1617e; Code 2016)

8-106. Same; contents.

The order shall state the condition(s) which is (are) in violation of section 8-101. The order shall also inform the person, corporation, partnership or association that:

(a) He, she or they shall have 10 days from the date of mailing the order to abate the condition(s) in violation of section 8-101; provided, however, that the governing body (or its designee named in section 8-105) 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 8-101; or,

(b) He, she or they have 10 days from the date of mailing the order, plus any additional time granted under subsection (a), to request a hearing before the governing body or its designated representative of the matter as provided by section 8-109;

(c) Failure to abate the condition(s) or to request a hearing within the time allowed may result in prosecution as provided by section 8-107 and/or abatement of the condition(s) by the city as provided by section 8-108.

(Code 2016)

8-107. Failure to comply; penalty.

Should the person, corporation, partnership or association fail to comply with the order to abate the nuisance or request a hearing the public officer may file a complaint in the municipal court of the city against such person, corporation, partnership or association and upon conviction of any violation of provisions of section 8-101, be fined in an amount not to exceed $100 or be imprisoned not to exceed 30 days or be both fined and imprisoned. Each day during or on which a violation occurs or continues after notice has been served shall constitute an additional or separate offense.

(Code 2016)

8-108. Abatement.

(a) In addition to, or as an alternative to prosecution as provided in section 8-107, the public officer may seek to remedy violations of this article in the following manner. If a person to whom an order has been served pursuant to section 8-105 has neither alleviated the conditions causing the alleged violation nor requested a hearing before the governing body within the time periods specified in section 8-106, the public 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:

(1) Personal service upon the person in violation;

(2) Certified mail, return receipt requested; or

(3) 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 public 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.

(Code 2016)

8-109. Hearing.

If a hearing is requested within the 10 day period as provided in section 8-106, such request shall be made in writing to the governing body. Failure to make a timely request for a hearing shall constitute a waiver of the person’s right to contest the findings of the public officer. The hearing shall be held by the governing body or its designated representative as soon as possible after the filing of the request therefore, 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 governing body or its designated representative. The hearing need not be conducted according to the formal rules of evidence. Upon conclusion of the hearing, the findings of the governing body or its designated representative shall be prepared in resolution form, adopted by the governing body, and the resolution shall be served upon the person in the manner provided in section 8-108.

(Code 2016)

8-110. Costs assessed.

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 mailing 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 2016)

8-111. Junk on private property.

(a) It shall be unlawful for any person to throw, spill, keep, deposit, place and/or accumulate trash, paper, refuse, waste materials, containers, cans, barrels, junk, and/or junked, worn-out, disassembled, dismantled, wrecked and/or abandoned motor vehicles, wagons, trailers, motor cycles, motor scooters, bikes and/or bicycles in, on or upon any highway, road, street, alley, sidewalk, lot, property, easement, right-of-way and/or parking lot, whether such be privately or publicly owned, owned by another, and/or whether zoned residential, commercial, industrial or agricultural, within the City of Clifton, Clay and Washington Counties, Kansas.

(b) If any of the actions, or lack of action, described in this article, be committed or if this article be violated in any manner, the material objects of such action or violation shall constitute rubbish and unsightly debris and a nuisance detrimental to the health, safety and welfare of the inhabitants of the City of Clifton, Kansas. It shall be the duty of the owner, landlord and/or tenant of both the trash, debris, and vehicles described in section 8-101, and the owner, landlord and/or tenant of the property on which said trash, debris and vehicles exist to remove the same from the City of Clifton, have the same housed in a building or covered so it will not be visible from the street or other private or public property. The covering used must be a tarp and must be anchored securely. A vehicle which does not have a current tag and the owner cannot show an up-to-date proof of tax payment will be considered a junk vehicle. A limit of one junk vehicle will be allowed on a property so long as it is in compliance with this article.

(c) Any person, individual, member of a partnership, firm or association, and/or officer or manager of a corporation violating any provision of this article shall upon conviction thereof, be fined in an amount not to exceed One Hundred Dollars ($100.00) or by imprisonment for not more than thirty (30) days or by both such fine and imprisonment.

Each day’s violation shall constitute a separate offense.

(Ord. 392; Code 2016)