5-1-115 - Overgrown vegetation Accumulating debris Removal. [Amendment contingent on county approval; see the Compiler's Notes.]
5-1-115. Overgrown vegetation Accumulating debris Removal. [Amendment contingent on county approval; see the Compiler's Notes.]
(a) The authority in this section is permissive and not mandatory and may or may not be exercised by a county, as each county deems appropriate.
(b) If it is determined by the appropriate department or person, as designated by the governing body of a county, that any owner of record of real property has created, maintained or permitted to be maintained on such property, the growth of trees, vines, grass, underbrush or the accumulation of debris, trash, litter, garbage, or any combination of the preceding elements, or a vacant dilapidated building or structure, so as to endanger the health, safety or welfare of other citizens, or to encourage the infestation of rats and other harmful animals, the appropriate department or person shall provide notice to the owner of record to remedy the condition immediately. The notice shall be given by United States mail, addressed to the last known address of the owner of record. The notice shall state that the owner of the property is entitled to a hearing. The notice shall be written in plain language and shall also include, but not be limited to, the following elements:
(1) A brief statement of this section, which shall contain the consequences of failing to remedy the noted condition;
(2) The person, office, address and telephone number of the department or person giving notice;
(3) A cost estimate for remedying the noted condition, which shall be in conformity with the standards of cost in the community; and
(4) A place wherein the notified party may return a copy of the notice, indicating the desire for a hearing.
(c) (1) If the person fails or refuses to remedy the condition within ten (10) days after receiving the notice, the appropriate department or person shall immediately cause the condition to be remedied or removed at a cost in conformity with reasonable standards and the cost thereof assessed against the owner of the property. The cost shall be a lien upon the property in favor of the county. These costs shall be placed upon the tax rolls of the county as a lien upon the property and shall be collected in the same manner as the county's taxes are collected, when the county causes a notice thereof to be filed in the office of the register of deeds of the county in which the property lies, second only to liens of the state, county and municipality for taxes, any lien of the county for special assessments and any valid lien, right or interest in such property duly recorded or duly perfected by filing, prior to the filing of such notice. Such notice shall identify the owner of record of the real property, contain the property address, describe the property sufficiently to identify it and recite the amount of the obligation secured by the lien.
(2) If the person who is the owner of record is a carrier engaged in the transportation of property or is a utility transmitting communications, electricity, gas, liquids, steam, sewerage or other materials, the ten-day period provided for in subdivision (c)(1) shall be twenty (20) days, excluding Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays.
(d) (1) The county governing body or the appropriate department, or both, may make any rules and regulations necessary for the administration and enforcement of this section. The county shall provide for a hearing upon request of the person aggrieved by the determination made pursuant to subsection (b). A request for a hearing shall be made within ten (10) days following the receipt of the notice issued pursuant to subsection (b). Failure to make the request within this time shall without exception constitute a waiver of the right to a hearing.
(2) Any person aggrieved by an order or act of the board, agency or commission under the provisions of this subsection (d) may seek judicial review of the order or act. The time period established in subsection (c) shall be stayed during the pendency of a hearing.
(e) (1) Except in any county having a population of
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according to the 1990 federal census or any subsequent federal census, the provisions of subsection (c) permitting a county to remedy such dangerous conditions shall not apply to any parcel of property upon which an owner-occupied residence is located.
(2) Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivision (e)(1), in any county having a population of not less than sixty-nine thousand four hundred (69,400) nor more than sixty-nine thousand five hundred (69,500), according to the 2000 federal census or any subsequent federal census, the provisions of subsection (c) permitting a county to remedy such dangerous conditions shall apply to any parcel of property, including any parcel upon which an owner-occupied residence is located.
(f) The provisions of this section are in addition and supplemental to, and not in substitution for, similar authority in any county's charter or other applicable law.
[Acts 1989, ch. 49, § 1; 1990, ch. 941, §§ 1, 2; 1992, ch. 997, § 1; 1994, ch. 894, §§ 1-3; 1996, ch. 613, § 1; 1999, ch. 53, § 1; 2000, ch. 791, § 1; 2003, ch. 3, § 1; 2006, ch. 530, § 1.]