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2. Ordinance 1581 - Decay, Junk Vehicle and Weeds Abatement Ordinance - 2nd ReadingREPORT TO FROM: SUBJECT: City of Kalispell Planning Department "dStreet East, Suite 211, , Kalispell, Montana 59901 Telephone: 06) 751-1850 Fax: o) 751-1858 Webs : kalispellplanning.com Honorable Manor and City Council Tom Jet, Planning Director James H. atr'ek, City Manager Second Reading - Decay, Junk Vehicle & Weeds Abatement Ordinance MEETINGDATE: August 7, Zoo BACKGROUND: This is the second reading on a request to amend. the Decay, Junk Vehicle & Weeds Abatement Ordinance. The Kalispell City Council approved the first reading of the ordinance at their regular meeting of July 17, 200 RECOMMENDATION: Staff recommends that the Council move to adopt the ordinance. ALTERNATIVES: TIVES: s suggested by the Council. Respectfully submitted, TOM i2tz Planning Director Report compiled July 28, 2006 James H. Patrick City Manager ORDINANCE NO.1581 AN ORDINANCE AMENDING PORTIONS of CHAPTERS 10, 11 AND 19 of THE KALISPELL MUNICIPAL CODE RELATING TO THE REGULATION of JUNK VEHICLES, COMBUSTIBLE WEEDS AND GRASSES AND COMMUNITY DECAY AND DECLARING AN EFFECTIVE DATE. E IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL of THE CITY of KALISPELL, 1 oNTANA, AS FOLLOWS: SECTION I Chapter 19 Section 36 of the Kalispell Municipal Code shall be and is hereby amended to read as follows: 1 -- : JUNK -VEHICLES ON PRIVATE PROPERTY: A. Definitions: 1. "'Component part'* means any identifiable part of a discarded, ruined, wrecked, or dismantled motor vehicle, including but not Bruited to fenders, doors, foods, engine blocks, motor parts, transmissions, frames, axles, wheels, tires, and passenger compartment fixtures. 2. "Junk Vehicle" means a discarded, ruined, wrecked, or dismantled motor vehicle (including component parts) that is inoperative or incapable of being riven, 3. "Public V:Ie v" means any point within the public right-of-way, or private road or alley, from which junk vehicles can be seen. . "ReasonableDiligence"" means a period of less than sixty days. . "Shielding" means the construction or use of fencing or manmade or natural. barriers to conceal junk vehicles from public view. The use of plastic tarps does not constitute shielding; under this section. B. Unlawful: No junk vehicle or component part shall be placed on or allowed to remain on any premises in the city exposed to the public view. C. Exception: This section shall not be construed to prevent any occupant of any premises from repairing his motor vehicle on his premises even though exposed to public view, as lonor as he pursues his work to completion with reasonable diligence. D. Responsibility for violation: The occupant of any premises shall be responsible for any violation of this section; the head of the household shall be deemed to be the occupant. In the case of vacant or unoccup .ed premises, the owner thereof shall be responsible for any violation of this section. E. Wrecking andJunkyards: This section shall apply to all automobile wrecking and junkyards, except to the extent permitted in industrial districts by the zoning chapter. F. Inspection; Notice Of violation: It shall be the duty of the City Manager or his designee to inspect the city at reasonable intervals and cause written notice of any violation of this section to be given to the occupant of any premises or to the owner of unoccupied premises which are in violation of this section, who shall have ten 10 days after the service of such notice within which to comply with this section. The notice may be personally served on the head of such household, or owner if the premises are unoccupied, or may be served by registered mail addressed to the dead of such household, or owner of unoccupied premises, at his address on such premises, or at such other address as he may personally reside, G. violation; Nuisance: Any violation of this section shall constitute a nuisance which may be abated as provided in section 1 -2( through 11--2) of this code, and the occupant or owner of such premises, 'upon conviction thereof, may also be punished as rov Wed i . sectio 1- of this code. SECTION 11 Chapter 10 Section 9 of the Kalispell Municipal Code shall be and is hereby amended to read as follows: 10- : REMOVAL of FIRE HAZARDS FROM PRIVATE PROPERTY REQUIRED: It shall be the duty of the owner, his representative or contract purchaser, or the occupant of real property within the city to remove all dry grass, readily combustible rubbish or debris from said property so that such material shall not constitute a fire hazard. After July 1 of each year all weeds and grasses over eight inches " in height constitute a fire hazard for the purposes of this section. 1.0- 9: PROCEDURE UPON FAILURE of PROPERTY OWNER: The City Manager or his designee is hereby authorized to remove such material, weeds or grasses and charge such person with the cost of such removal and a reasonable administrative charge if the owner, his representative or contract purchaser, or the occupant of any real property in the city fails or refuses within ten 10) days after having been given written notice to do so: a to remove therefrom all dry grasses, or readily combustible rubbish or debris, or b after July 1, to remove any grasses or weeds over eight inches ") in height, SECTION III Chapter 11 of the Kalispell Municipal Code shall be and is hereby amended as follows: 11-22: PURPOSE: The purpose of this article is to regulate, control, and prohibit conditions that contribute to community decay on or adjacent to all public streets within the city of Kalispell. 11-23-. DEFINITIONS-. in this article the following terms have the meanings indicated below: COMMUNITY DECAY: A public nuisance created by allowing rubble, debris, junk or refuse to accumulate resisting in conditions that are injurious to health, indecent, offensive to the senses, or obstruct the free -use of property so as to interfere with the comfortable enjoyment of life or property; provided, however, that "community decay" may not be construed or defined to apply to normal farming, ranchine, or other agricultural facility, and any appurtenances thereof, during the course of its normal operation or normal activities at a shooting; range. PUBLIC VIEW: Any area visible from any point within the public right -of --way, or from a private road or alley. PERSON: An individual, firm, partnership, company, association, corporation, city,, town., county or any other entity whether organized for profit or riot. PUBLIC NUISANCE: A condition which endangers safety or health, is offensive to the senses, or obstructs the free use of property so as to interfere with the comfortable enjoyment of life or property by an entire community ty or neighborhood or by any considerable number of persons. The condition is no less a nuisance although the extent of the annoyance or damage inflicted upon individuals may be unequal. SHIELDING: The construction or use of fencing or manmade or natural barriers to conceal community decay from public view. The use of plastic tarps does not constitute shielding under this section. .1- : PROHIBITION: No person shall maintain community decay on property owned by him, or under his control. For purposes of this article, a public nuisance includes, but is not necessarily limited to., any of the following conditions that exist within public view: A. The dumping, piling, or stacking of bricks, concrete block, waste wood and similar material on open lots or fields, unless said material is stacked in neat piles and all waste materials from the cleaning of such items, such as mortar, wood splinters, broken and unusable bricks, are removed; ; B. The storage or accumulation of a significant amount of cardboard boxes, broken packing; boxes, paper, or other similar items on lots or fields; C. The piling, dumping or depositing of any dirt, demolition wastes including wood, bricks, concrete, used road blacktop and other similar materials on any open tots or fields, unless such material is to be utilized for fill material to fill a laird depression, and provided that, if such material is used as fill. material, all such material is completely covered with clean fill material once every tear (10) days and the fill area is adequately fenced to restrict access to the area; and further provided that the failure to comply with the periodic cover and access control requirements shall constitute a violatlon of this article; r . The. storage and accumulation of iron, metal, component vehicle and machine parts, junk vehicles, household appliances, barrels and other salvaged metal items, unless such material is stored in are approved, licensed, and shielded rotor vehicle wrecking facility; E. The accumulation and storage of any other rubble, debris, junk, or refuse that, upon investigation, is deemed to be a "public nuisance" as defined in this article. 11-25. SHIELDING: The maintenance of materials that would be considered community decay_nrrder this article shall be lawful if such materials are shielded from public view in accordance with the following standards: A. Any shielding must conform to all local zoning, planning, , and building provisions and shall be of sufficient height that -none of the violation on the premises is visible to public view. B. When feces are used for shielding, the boards may be spaced and/or slanted to reduce wind load, the space between boards when viewed from a broadside view shall not be more than one and one-half inches 1 1/2" and the interval between spaces shall not be less than seven and one-half inches 1 2" . Rough dimensional lumber or better is acceptable. Chain li..k fencing; with standard fiberglass or other inserts is acceptable, provided the gap between adjacent slats does not exceed one and one-half inches 1 1 2" . The fencing is to be maintained by the property owner or occupant in a neat and workmanlike manner and shall be replaced when necessary. C. Shielding with shr-ubs and trees shall provide a degree of shielding similar to that produced by fencing at all times of the year. Dirt berms are acceptable for shielding purposes, provided the berm soles are graded smooth and seeded with are adequate grass seed formula. D. other types of fencing of equivalent permanence, attractiveness, and shielding qualities are also acceptable. E. The use of plastic tarps does not constitute shielding under this section. F. No more than one of the approved shielding materials shall be used on any one side of a. shielding fence. 11 -26 ABATEMENT: In addition to proceedings under Chapter 1, Article I of the Kalispell City Code, the abatement of conditions which constitute community decay prohibited by this article may be accomplished under the provisions of this section. A. The City of Kalispell City Manager or his designee shall be responsible for initiating abatement proceedings. B. When the City Manager or his designee receives a complaint that a condition of community decay exists, he, or his agent, shall inspect the property alleged to be in violation of this article to determine whether .er there is a violation of this article. C. If he determines that there is a violation of this article, the City Manager or his designee shall notify the owner of the property in writing of the violation by certified mail and order its abatement within thirty 3 days. The notice of violation shall: 1. Include a statement specifically describing the violation; 2. Specify that the owner has thirty 3 days from receipt of such notice to bring the property into compliance with this article by means of removal or shielding of the conditions; and 3. Advise the owner that if the violation is not abated, the city may undertake abatement and assess the costs of that abatement to the owner. D. The owner may, after receipt of the notice of violation, submit a plan of abatement to the City Manager or his designee, which shall include: 1. The type of abatement or shielding to be undertaken; 2. The date for commencement of action; and 3. The date for completion of the abatement, The City Manager or his designee may accept such plan and defer further proceedings under this article pending the date of completion of the abatement. E. In the alternative, the owner may, within fourteen. 1 days of the date of issuance of the order, appeal the abatement order to the City Manager. Upon receipt of a timely notice of appeal, the City Manager shall schedule a hearing within twenty (20) days, but may postpone that hearing at the request of either party. Following the hearing, the City Manager may either: , Determine that a violation exists and order abatement within thirty 3) days; or 2. Determine that no violation exists and dismiss the proceedings. ' In the event that the owner falls to comply with an abatement order, or an abatement plan approved by the City Manager or his designee under sbseot.on D of this section., the City Manager or his designee may enter upon the owner's .property with the specific purpose of abating or shielding the violation, whichever the City Manager or his designee deems appropriate: 1. The city may assess the property owner/user for the actual costs of the abatement. 2. If the assessment is not paid, it shall become a Hen upon the property and enforced as in nonpayment of property taxes. 11-2 : JURISDICTION: IoN: This article applies to all of the city limits of the city of Kalispell. 11-28,- PENALTY: A person convicted of the offense of maintaining communIty decay under this article i guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by a fine not to exceed five hundred dollars ($500.00) or imprisonment not to exceed six months, or by both fine and imp.ri on .en.t. SECTION IV This Ordinance shall be effective thirty 3) days from and after the date of its final passage and approval. PASSED AND APPROVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL AND SIGNED BY THE MAYOR THIS 7TH DAY of AUGUST, 2006. Pamela B. Kennedy Mayor ATTEST: Theresa White City Clef