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 with 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. 1286, Sec. 3; Code 1984)

No person shall be found in violation of this article unless the city manager, after a reasonable inquiry and inspection of the premises, finds that conditions exist of a quality and appearance not commensurate with the character of the neighborhood. Such finding must be supported by evidence of a level of maintenance significantly below conditions declared unlawful under section 8-201, but shall not include conditions which are not readily visible from any surrounding private property.

(Code 1984; Code 2015)

The city manager and/or city health 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 fire chief. The city health 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 city health officer shall make a written report of findings.

(Ord. 1286; Code 2015)

The city manager and/or city health officer shall have the right of access and entry upon private property for the purpose of making inquiry and inspection to determine if a nuisance exists.

(Ord. 1286, Sec. 5(b))

(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 24 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; Ord. 1286; Code 1987; Code 2015)

The notice shall state the condition(s) which is (are) in violation of section 8-201. The notice shall also inform the person, corporation, partnership or association that

(a)   He, she or they shall have 15 days from the date of serving the notice to abate the condition(s) in violation of section 8-201; or

(b)   He, she or they have 15 days from the date of serving the notice to request a hearing before the governing body of the matter as provided by section 8- 209;

(c)   Failure to abate the condition(s) or to request a hearing within the time allowed may result in prosecution as provided by section 8-207 and/or abatement of the condition(s) by the city as provided by section 8-208.

(Ord. 1286, Sec. 5(d))

Should the person, corporation, partnership or association fail to comply with the notice to abate the nuisance or request and be granted a 30-day extension by the city manager or on request, a hearing the city health 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 8-201, be fined in an amount not to exceed $100 or be imprisoned not to exceed 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.

(Ord. 1286, Sec. 5(e))

In addition to, or as an alternative to prosecution as provided in section 8-207, the city manager may seek to remedy violations of this section in the following manner. If a person to whom a notice has been sent pursuant to section 8-205 has neither alleviated the conditions causing the alleged violation, requested and been granted a 30-day extension by the city manager, nor requested a hearing before the governing body within the time periods specified in section 8-206, the city health officer may present a resolution to the governing body for adoption authorizing the city health officer or other agents of the city to abate the conditions causing the violation at the end of 15 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 8-210. 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)   Service by certified mail, postage prepaid, 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 city health 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 24 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.

(Ord. 1286; Code 2015)

Whenever the city health officer is authorized to abate the conditions causing a violation, as provided in section 8-209, the following procedure shall be observed:

(a)   Items confiscated which have no practical value to the person in violation shall be disposed of by the city;

(b)   Items confiscated which might reasonably be of some value to the person in violation shall be placed in storage by the city. The persons in violation shall be informed by certified mail, postage prepaid, return receipt requested, of the disposition or storage of any items confiscated. In the case of items stored, the person in violation shall be further informed that such items shall be stored for a period of 30 days, and further that those items may be claimed by the person upon payment to the city for expenses incurred, as provided in section 8-212. If the items are not claimed within the 30 day period, then the city may sell the items and deduct its expenses, returning the amount in excess of expenses, if any, to the person in violation.

(Ord. 1286, Sec. 5(g); Code 1984)

If a hearing is requested within the 15 day period as provided in section 8-206, 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 city health officer before the governing body. The hearing shall be held by the governing body 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. The hearing need not be conducted according to the formal rules of evidence. Upon conclusion of the hearing, the governing body shall record its determination of the matter by means of adopting a resolution and serving the resolution upon the person in the matter provided in section 8-209.

(Ord. 1286, Sec. 5(h))

Any person affected by any determination of the governing body under sections 8-204 or 8-209 may appeal such determination in the manner provided by K.S.A. 60-2101.

(Code 1984)

If the city abates or removes the nuisance pursuant to section 8-208, 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 mailing 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 1984; Code 2015)

Nothing in this section shall be construed to abrogate or impair the powers of the courts or of any department of the city to enforce any provisions of its charter or its ordinances or regulations, nor to prevent or punish violations thereof; and the powers conferred by this section shall be in addition to and supplemental to the powers conferred by the Kansas Constitution, by any other law or by ordinance.

(Ord. 1286)