HomeMy Public PortalAbout1999-17 Rank VegetationORDINANCE 1999 -17
Ordinance Amending Article 7, Division I (Rank Vegetation)
Article 7, Division I of the City of Greencastle Code is hereby amended and shall read as
follows:
Division I. Rank Vegetation.
Sec. 6 -68. Definitions.
For the purpose of this chapter, the following terms shall have the following meanings.
The word "shall" is always mandatory and not merely directory.
(1) Authorized employee means an employee of the City of Greencastle.
(2) City means the City of Greencastle.
(3) Rank Vegetation means:
a. Vegetation on private or governmental property which is abandoned,
neglected, disregarded or not cut, mown, or otherwise removed and
which has attained a height of twelve (12) inches or more;
b. Vegetation, trees or woody growth on private property which, due to its
proximity to any governmental property, right -of -way or easement,
interferes with the public safety or lawful use of the governmental
property, right -of -way or easement or which has been allowed to become
a health or safety hazard;
(4) Excluded property means:
a. Cultivated land in commercial, domestic, agricultural or horticultural
use;
b. An existing natural or developed forest which does not create a health or
safety hazard;
C. Vacant, open lands, fields or wooded areas more than one hundred fifty
(150) feet from occupied property;
d. A nature habitat area more than one hundred (150) feet from an occupied
structure on adjacent property and determined by state and /or local
governmental health authorities not to be a health or safety hazard; or
e. A wetland area designated by the United States Department of Interior •
Fish and Wildlife Division on a National Wetlands Inventory Map
(5) Governmental property means real estate which is owned, leased, controlled or
occupied by the United States, the State of Indiana, the City of Greencastle, or
any political subdivision thereof.
(6) Equipment means such equipment as trucks, tractors, bulldozers and similar
motor vehicles and hand - operated equipment such as weed trimmers and similar
equipment.
(7) Occupant means the person, firm, partnership, association, corporation,
business trust, joint stock company, unincorporated organization, religious or
charitable organization, or entity who is from time to time in possession or
exercising dominion and control over the real estate or any house or other
structure located thereon. Occupant shall include any lessee of the property.
(8) Owner means the record owner or owners as reflected by the most current
records in the township assessor's office of the township in which the real estate
is located.
(9) Private property means all real estate within the City except governmental •
property.
(10) Recipient means the owner or occupant to whom notice of violation has been
directed.
(11) Repeat violation occurs upon a recipient's second failure to abate a similar
environment public nuisance for the same property within eighteen (18) months
of the date of notice of the most recent violation. A failure to abate occurs after
the department has issued a notice of violation described herein and the time for
compliance set forth in the notice has expired.
Sec. 6 -69. Purpose and intent; application of chapter; prohibited activity.
(a) It is hereby declared to be the purpose of this chapter to protect public safety,
health and welfare and enhance the environment for the people of the City by making it
unlawful for property owners and occupants to allow rank vegetation to exist.
(b) Each department or agency of the United States, the State of Indiana, or
political subdivision thereof shall be required to keep governmental property within the City
free from rank vegetation.
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(c) All owners, occupants, or other persons in control of any private property
® within the City shall be required to keep the private property free from rank vegetation.
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(d) It shall be unlawful for any property owner or occupant to allow rank vegetation
to exist. This provision shall not apply to excluded property.
Sec. 6 -70. Determination of violation; notice of violation.
(a) Any department of the City or elected City Official who receives a complaint
regarding an environmental public nuisance on any property within the City shall forward that
complaint to the City Building Commissioner. An authorized employee shall visually inspect
the property in question. If the authorized employee determines that a violation exists, the
Building Commissioner shall issue a notice of violation to the owner and, in the City's sole
discretion, to the occupant.
(b) Notice of violation shall be issued either by personal service or by first class
United States mail, postage prepaid. Such notice shall state the nature of the alleged rank
vegetation violation and the action deemed necessary to correct the condition, and shall fix a
date, not sooner than ten (10) days from the date of the notice, when the property will be
reinspected. The notice shall inform the recipient that, if the condition is not corrected upon
reinspection, the City has the right to enter on the property to abate or correct the condition
and bill the recipient for costs incurred in so doing and /or to file a court action against the
recipient for ordinance violation. A notice to the occupant at the real estate or to the owner at
the address to which property tax statements are sent as these addresses are shown by the most
current records in the township assessor's office of the township in which the real estate is
located shall be sufficient notice under this subsection.
(c) If, upon reinspection, it is determined that the rank vegetation has been abated,
the recipient shall not be liable for any charges under this chapter.
Sec. 6 -71. Failure to abate after notice; abatement by city; court action for ordinance
violation and /or injunction; court action for repeat violation; penalty.
(a) Abatement by City. If, upon reinspection, it is determined by the authorized
employee that abatement has not occurred, then the City Building Commissioner, or his
designee, may enter upon the premises and abate the rank vegetation violation. The recipient
shall be liable for the costs of abatement. After abatement is completed, the City shall, either
by personal service or first class United States mail, postage prepaid, send the recipient a bill
for the costs of abatement.
0 (b) Responsibility of occupant or owner for costs of abatement.
(1) Abatement costs. As reimbursement to the City for its costs, the recipient shall, •
within ten (10) days of the date of the bill, pay to the Board of Works of the
City the following fees and charges:
a. The following administrative fees for such administrative tasks as
inspecting the property to determine compliance, determining ownership
and preparing and mailing notices:
Administrative fees ...............$140.00
b. The following labor fees per person, per hour, or fraction thereof, for
labor necessary to abate an environmental nuisance:
Laborer .............................. $ 24.84
Truck driver ......................... 25.60
Equipment operator ..................27.15
Heavy equipment operator ......... 28.32
Crew leader . ..........................29.70
C. The following equipment fees per machine, per hour, or fraction thereof,
for the use of each piece of equipment
necessary to abate an
environmental nuisance:
Pickup truck . ........................$..4.75
•
Tractor /bush hog ......................
9.25
Boom truck .. ..........................17.70
Backhoe...... ..........................16.90
Dump truck (single axle) ............
19.40
Dump truck (tandem axle) ..........
21.25
Packer . ...............................
19.75
Excavator .............................
31.60
Dozer (small ) .........................20.25
Dozer (large) ..........................30.00
Loader .. ...............................
21.00
Bobcat or equivalent .................15.00
d. Any disposal fees actually incurred to dispose of materials, litter and
waste products removed;
C. Any other reasonable fees actually incurred in abating the violation;
f. Administrative, labor and equipment fees may be changed by action of
the Common Council of the City of Greencastle as necessary to assure
that such fees are adequate to reimburse the department.
•
® (2) Hearing. A recipient may request in writing an informal hearing before the
Board of Works, or its designee, to dispute the existence of a violation and /or
the accuracy of all or part of the costs of abatement billed. Upon receipt of a
hearing request, the City shall not take abatement action until after the Board of
Works or its designee notifies the recipient of its decision. After such hearing,
the Board of Works, or its designee, shall determine the existence of a violation
and /or the accuracy of all or part of the abatement costs billed and shall notify
the recipient of any amounts due to the City. The decision of the Board of
Works, or its designee, shall be final.
(3) Unpaid costs become lien upon affected property; perfecting of lien. Upon the
failure of the owner who was sent a notice of violation and bill to pay the
appropriate fees and charges within the ten -day time period, the City shall have
a lien upon the property on which the rank vegetation was abated for the
amount billed in accordance with the fee schedule listed above. In addition,
there will be a ten - dollar charge for services necessary in order to perfect such
lien. Such liens may be perfected in the following manner:
a. By the adoption by the Board of Works at any regular or special meeting
thereof of an assessment resolution, which shall give the name of the
owner or owners, a description of the property on which the
® environmental public nuisance was abated, and the amount of the
charges being assessed; and
b. The certification of such assessment resolution to the auditor of Putnam
County, who by special assessment shall cause the amount thereof to be
placed on a tax duplicate for the property on which the rank vegetation
violation was abated for collection as in the nature of a real property tax;
C. Upon receipt of a written verified request from the purchaser, the
department shall release liens perfected after the recorded date of
conveyance of the property. The request must state that the purchaser
was not an owner or occupant of the property at the time of the notice of
violation, had no knowledge of the notice of violation and has not been
paid by the seller for the costs of abatement billed.
d. The Board of Works may release any liens for abatement costs or
judgment liens for any other amount due pursuant to this chapter if it
finds that the benefit to the City outweighs the detriment caused by such
a release. The Board may require parties affected by the release to agree
to whatever conditions the Board deems appropriate; provided, however,
® all conditions shall be set forth in a conditional release of the lien and
shall be recorded in the office of the Recorder of Putnam County,
Indiana. If the Board finds that an affected party has failed to comply
substantially with the conditions imposed by the Board, the release shall •
be void and the lien affecting the property may be reinstated by the
Board.
(4) Civil action to recover costs of abatement. Upon the failure of the recipient who
was sent the notice of violation and bill to pay the appropriate fees and charges
within the ten -day period, the Board of Works may bring a civil action in court
against such recipient to recover the amount billed, plus reasonable attorney's
fees.
(c) In addition to or in lieu of the foregoing, if, upon reinspection, it is determined
by the authorized employee that abatement has not occurred, the Board of Works may initiate
a civil court action for ordinance violation against the recipient.
(d) Regardless of whether later abatement by the recipient has occurred, the Board
of Works may initiate a civil court action for a repeat violation.
(e) Any recipient found in violation of this chapter may be fined not more than two
thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500.00) for each violation. Each day such violation is
permitted to continue may be deemed to constitute a separate violation. A previous violation
of this chapter on the same property during the current or preceding calendar year may be
considered in determining the penalty as assessed. A finding that a violation occurred or an •
admission that a violation occurred is not required to assess and recover a penalty if the
recipient subject to the penalty agrees to pay the penalty pursuant to an agreed judgment or
consent decree in a court action for ordinance violation.
(f) Notwithstanding paragraph (c) above, a recipient shall be tined two thousand
five hundred dollars ($2,500.00) for each repeat violation.
Sec. 6 -72. Variance.
An owner or occupant may submit a written request for a variance to the Board of
Works if compliance with this chapter will cause undue hardship to such owner or occupant
without a sufficient corresponding benefit to the health or safety of the public. To receive
consideration, such request must be received prior to the time the city abates the rank
vegetation on the property. Upon receipt of a request, the Board of Works shall schedule a
hearing and notify the owner or occupant of the time and place. At least ten (10) days prior to
the hearing, the owner or occupant shall notify in writing the owners and occupants of all
property within one hundred fifty (150) feet of the property for which the variance is
requested. The notice shall state the location of the property for which the variance is
requested, the nature of the variance requested, and the time and place of the hearing. At the
hearing, the owner or occupant requesting the variance, representatives of the city, •
representatives of state or local governmental health authorities and any person affected by the
proposed variance may present evidence. After the hearing, the Board of Works may grant or
deny the request. The decision of the Board of Works shall be final. Within ten (10) days of
the decision, written notice of the Board of Works' decision shall be given to the owner or
occupant who requested the variance.
ADOPTED AND P SED by the Common Council of the City of Greencastle,
Indiana this day of 1999.
Thomas W. Roach
Kit . Green
Marl N. Hammer
Barry Bay6ard
yviT C /A tl
David Masten
ATTEST:
•
le-1
Pamela S. Jones, Clerk - (L surer
Presented by me to the Mayor of Greencastle, Indiana this 9t of
1999, at 1 7'�g o'clock -/-)-.m.
/j Pamela S. Jones, Cle I' asurer
Approved and signed by me this % day of 1999, at / / -/ .5)
o'clock M.
Nancy A. M[ hael, Mayor
ATTEST: J
• �a?L,7�
Pamela S. Jones, Cler - r surer
greenlenvmnt.nui
§ 6.68 PUBLIC HEALTH AND SAFETY § 6 -73
ARTICLE 7. TREE AND VEGETATIVE CONTROL.
Division I. Rank V to ion
Sec. 6 -68 Removal of Weeds and Other Rank Vegetation..12
a. Pursuant to the provisions of Indiana Code, § 36-7 -10-3 (now Indiana Code, § 36-7-
remove
10. 1), all owners of real estate within the geographical limits of the City shall cut and
weeds and all other rank vegetation growing thereon
b. A five (S) day written notice to remove such weeds or other rank vegetation shall be
issued by the Clerk- Treasurer of the City and shall be served upon such landowner by:
1. the Sheriff of Putnam County upon such landowner if he is a resident; or
2. registered mail addressed to his last known address if he is a non - resident
C. If such landowner fails to remove . such weeds or rank vegetation within the time
prescribed, the Common Council may remove such weeds or rank vegetation, and the Clerk-
Treasurer shall make a certified statement. of the actual cost incurred by the City in such .
removal. The statement shall be delivered to the owner of. such real estate by the Sheriff of
Putnam County or by registered mail; and the owner shall have not more than ten (10) .days
....within which to-pay the amount to the Clerk -T easuier of the City.
d.., If. the owner fails to pay the: sum within the time prescribed, a certified copy of the
statement of costs shall be filed in the auditor's office. in the county wherein the real estate it
located: Theauditor shall place the amount so claimed on the tax duplicate against the lands of
the landowner affected by such-work, and the:amount shall be collected as taxes are collected
and when.so collected shall be disbursed to'the General Fund.of the City. (1986 City.of
Greencastle Cade, § 310-5
Sec. 6 -69 . through Sec. 6-72 Reserved for Future Use.
Division 1T Planting, Maintenance and Removal of Treea 13
Sec. 6 -73 Definitions.14
Street trees are herein defined as trees, shrubs, bushes, and all other woody
12 f.C., §§ 36-7- 10.1.1 through 36-7- 10.1 -5 addresses removal of used, and tank vegetation
13 Editor's Note: Ord. No. 1990 -1 was I p ` g (Public Law 89 1991).
city trees` Pas in order to protect the safety of the residents and the value of the
14 Editor's Note: Ord No. 1990-1 was replaced by Ord. o. 1995.4.
Board. u Sec. 2 -135 seq. of this Code address the Tree
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