§ 18-44. Abatement procedure.

(a)

Duty to Notify Owner: Whenever the code enforcement official receives information that a public nuisance exists in, upon or originates from any property within the city, he shall serve a notice of violation upon the owner(s) of record of the property, and any representative designated by the owner, pursuant to subsection (d) below, that the property is being used in such manner as to constitute a public nuisance in violation of section 18-42, and that the public nuisance shall be abated.

(b)

Notice of Violation and Demand to Abate. Such notice shall describe in reasonable detail the nuisance so permitted or allowed to occur on, in or originate from the property, and shall demand abatement of such nuisance in the manner and within the time prescribed therein, which time shall not be less than the thirty-day appeal time granted in section 18-50. The notice shall be mailed by certified mail, return receipt requested, or may be personally served upon the owner(s). The notice shall include a statement to the effect that civil penalties of not less than five hundred dollars ($500.00) nor more than five thousand dollars ($5,000.00) may be imposed if the public nuisance is not abated and shall state the procedure and time frame established by section 18-50 for appealing and requesting a hearing on the notice to abate, vacate or the imposition of civil penalties, when applicable. The notice of violation shall represent a determination that a violation has been committed, and shall be final unless it is appealed as provided in section 18-50.

(c)

Order to Close and Vacate. If the public nuisance is not abated on or before the date stated in the notice to abate and no appeal is filed, the code official shall be authorized at any time thereafter to issue an order closing and vacating the premises and shall take any and all other actions reasonable and necessary to abate the public nuisance. Such closing and vacating shall be for such period of time as the code official may reasonably direct, but in no event shall the closing and vacating be for a period of more than one (1) year from the date of closing. An order to close and vacate issued pursuant to this section is not an act of possession, ownership, control or taking of property for public use by the city. An order to close and vacate shall be rescinded within fourteen (14) days of abatement of the public nuisance, unless such premises is the site of four (4) or more orders to close and vacate within a twelve-month period.

(d)

Service of Notice to Abate or Order to Close and Vacate. A notice to abate or an order to close and vacate shall be personally served upon the owner(s) or shall be mailed by certified mail, with a return receipt signed by a person with a fee simple interest in said property, to the last-known address of the owner(s) of the property as it appears on the current tax assessment roll. A copy of such notice or order shall also be posted in a conspicuous place on the property affected by the notice. Any property owner may voluntarily file with the Owensboro Police Department a completed certificate, on a form provided by the department, that provides the name and address of a management company or designated representative with authority over the subject property or an alternative address of the property owner(s) to which all notices issued under this article also shall be served.

(Ord. No. 37-2001, § 4, 7-17-2001; Ord. No. 30-2007, § 1, 8-21-2007)