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;

(c)   Any place or structure or substance which emits or causes any offensive, disagreeable or nauseous odors;

(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; Ord. 532, Sec. 1; Code 2007)

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

(Ord. 532, Sec. 2; Code 2007)

The compliance officer shall make inquiry and inspection of premises upon receiving a complaint or complaints in writing signed by two or more persons 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 compliance 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 compliance officer shall make a written report of findings.

(Ord. 532, Sec. 2; Code 2007)

It shall be a Class A misdemeanor to deny the Compliance Officer or authorized representative the right to access and entry upon private property generally accessible to the public under the Plain View and Open Fields doctrines at any reasonable time for the purpose of making inquiry and inspection to determine if a nuisance exists.

(Ord. 532, Sec. 3; Code 2007)

(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 8-201 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 twenty-four 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 2007)

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 receipt of 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 receipt of 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 2007)

(a)   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 $100.00 or be imprisoned not to exceed thirty (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 and shall be punishable as such hereunder.  For a subsequent offense, upon conviction, the individual shall be fined an amount not to exceed $500.00, or be imprisoned not to exceed ninety (90) days or be both fined and imprisoned.

(b)   In all such cases, as a condition of probation, parole or suspended sentence, upon conviction, the Court shall order the Defendant to abate, clean up and/or otherwise remedy the conditions found to violate this section, in addition to any fine and/or imprisonment imposed.

(Ord. 532, Sec. 3; Code 2007)

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:

(a)   Personal service upon the person in violation;

(b)   Certified mail, return receipt requested; or

(c)   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.

(d)   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 twenty-four 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.

(Code 2007)

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 2007)

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 receipt 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 2007)