HomeMy WebLinkAboutOrd.4917.12-05-16 BILL NO. 16-204 ORDINANCE NO.
AN ORDINANCE ENACTING A NEW ARTICLE XII OF
CHAPTER 17 OF THE CODE OF ORDINANCES OF THE
CITY OF CAPE GIRARDEAU, MISSOURI, ENTITLED
CHRONIC NUISANCE PROPERTIES
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF CAPE
GIRARDEAU, MISSOURI, AS FOLLOWS:
ARTICLE 1 . A new Article XII, Section 17-300, entitled,
"Chronic Nuisance Properties", is hereby enacted, in words and
figures, to read as follows :
ARTICLE XII
Sec. 17-300. Chronic Nuisance Properties
(a) Chronic nuisance unlawful . It shall be unlawful
for any owner or occupant of any property, premise,
lot, tract or parcel of land to cause, permit,
encourage or allow a chronic nuisance to exist upon
said property. This section is not intended to
discourage crime victims or a person in legitimate
need of police services from requesting them.
(b) Chronic nuisance defined. A chronic nuisance
property is any premise, lot, tract or parcel of land,
or any structure or portion of structure thereon, that
has any of the following activities, behaviors, or
conduct occurring on that property or any structure or
portion of structure thereon, or that is associated
with the property, when it is used in conjunction for
the commission of any of the following activities :
(1) Illegal use, possession, manufacturing,
delivery or distribution of drugs or drug
paraphernalia;
(2) Illegal possession, use or sale of firearms
or weapons;
(3) Prostitution or patronizing prostitution;
(4) Consumption or possession of alcoholic
beverages in public places in violation of Sec. 5-14
of this code;
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(5) Offenses against the public order in
violation of Chapter 17, Article VII of this code;
(6) Assaults in violation of Sec. 17-26 of this
code;
(7) Any activity that constitutes a felony or
misdemeanor under federal or state law.
(c) Administrative procedures .
(1) Whenever the city police department or other
law enforcement agency has responded to a property
for any of the activities described in subsection
(b) of this section and filed an incident report for
said response three (3) times within twelve (12)
months, except for the illegal manufacturing,
delivery or distribution of drugs which only
requires one (1) reported incident, the city
attorney may declare the property to be a chronic
nuisance and cause written notice to the property
owner declaring such and which: identifies the
property, states that the property may be designated
as a chronic nuisance property which may necessitate
the closing of the property, and describes the
activities that have occurred on the property.
(2) The written notice may be delivered by hand
to the owner of the property by delivery to him or
her personally or by U. S . mail, addressed to the
owner. If the owner is a corporation, the notice
may additionally be served personally or by U. S .
Mail upon an officer, a person in charge of any
local business office, or its registered agent or
any other agent authorized by appointment or
required by law to receive service of process .
(3) After a fifteen (15) day period following
the notice required in section (c) (1) above, the
city attorney shall determine whether the nuisance
activities have been abated. If the nuisance
activities have not been abated, or the city
attorney determines the property owner has not made
reasonable efforts toward abatement, the city
attorney may request a hearing and the Abatement
Hearing Officer shall set a hearing to determine if
the property is a chronic nuisance property. Such
determinations by the city attorney shall solely be
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in his or her discretion; nonetheless with respect
to incidents of domestic abuse or domestic violence
the city attorney shall consider the strong public
policy in favor of domestic victims reporting
alleged abuses, and this section shall not operate
to discourage such reports . Notice shall include the
time, date, and location of the hearing and shall be
served in the manner prescribed in section (c) (2)
above . All mortgagees of record and other interested
parties known to the city, including tenants of the
property known to the city, shall also be served a
copy of the notification.
(d) Chronic nuisance hearing.
(1) The hearing shall be heard by the Abatement
Hearing Officer to determine whether a property is a
chronic nuisance property. Each interested party in
attendance at the Hearing shall be given an
opportunity to present evidence and may be
questioned by the Abatement Hearing Officer.
(2) Following the hearing, the Abatement Hearing
Officer shall make a written determination as to
whether the property is a chronic nuisance property
and will consider the following in making said
determination:
a. Knowledge of the property owner of the
chronic nuisance or otherwise illegal activities
occurring on the property.
b. Nature and extent of the nuisance and/or
criminal activity associated with the property.
c. Nature and extent of conditions that violate
city code or state or federal law.
d. Actions taken by the property owner to
prevent nuisance and/or criminal activity and to
abate existing nuisance and/or criminal activity
found to exist on the property.
e . The physical characteristics of the
property, including the proximity of property to
residential property, parks, churches, schools
and playgrounds .
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f. Whether there is harassing or intimidating
conduct, as prohibited by law, by the owner,
occupant (s) or person (s) frequenting the property
toward persons living in the neighborhood or
passing by the place. A person shall be
considered to be frequenting the property if he
or she lives or works on the property, visits the
property, or loiters about the property.
g. Whether there is street or sidewalk
congestion caused by the owner, occupant or
persons frequenting the place, as defined in
subsection (d) (2) (f) above.
h. The impact of chronic nuisance determination
on innocent parties, such as, but not limited to,
tenants of the property.
i . Any other evidence deemed relevant by the
Abatement Hearing Officer.
(3) The Abatement Hearing Officer shall issue a
final written determination after the conclusion of
the hearing. If the Abatement Hearing Officer at his
or her discretion determines that the conditions on
the property constitute a chronic nuisance, he or
she may order the abatement of the nuisance or order
any action necessary to abate the nuisance and/or
criminal activity, including the closing of any
structure or any part thereof on the property for a
period not to exceed one year.
(4) The order issued by the Abatement Hearing
Officer shall include the address of the property, a
description of the nuisance (s) and/or criminal
activities, the length of time allowed for the
property owner to abate the nuisance and/or criminal
activity or, if the structure or any part thereof is
ordered closed, the length of time of the closure
and, if only a part of the structure is ordered
closed, the identification of the area to be closed.
Furthermore, the order will require that if the
prcberty is ordered closed, the property owner shall
submit a plan of action intended to prevent the
property from being a criminal nuisance property
after the period of closure expires, as further
described in section (e) (1) below. The order shall
also state that any costs incurred by the city in
order to uphold and enforce this order, including
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closure of the property, will be specially assessed
and shall be deemed both a personal debt against the
owner as well as a lien on the property until paid.
(5) The order shall be mailed to the property
owner, occupants known to the city, and mortgagees
of record of the property. The order shall be posted
on the property after the issuance of the decision.
(e) Enforcement of the order.
(1) Within 30 days of the closure of the
property, the property owner shall submit to the
Abatement Hearing Officer for approval a plan of
action as described in section (d) (5) above intended
to prevent the property from being a criminal
nuisance property after the period of closure
expires . The plan shall include any lawful method of
abatement and remediation. If the property owner,
lessor or lessee submits proof satisfactory to the
Abatement Hearing Officer that the nuisance (s) has
been abated for a period of 30 days, the Abatement
Hearing Officer may vacate the provisions of the
order directing closure or may modify said order.
(2) If a property or a portion thereof is
ordered closed, it shall be unlawful to occupy the
property ordered closed or allow the property
ordered closed to be occupied during the period of
closure.
(3) Any closure pursuant to this section shall
not constitute an act of possession, ownership or
control of the closed structure by the city.
(4) If the owner does not obey the order of the
Abatement Hearing Officer, the city may take all
appropriate steps to undertake and complete the work
necessary to abate the criminal nuisance and/or
close and secure the structure and shall assess the
costs .o the owner as a special tax bill. The
special tax bill from the date of its issuance shall
be deemed a personal debt against the owner and
shall also be a lien on the property until paid.
(5) If the owner does not obey the order of the
Abatement Hearing Officer, the City may suspend any
landlord license held by the owner under Chapter 15
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of the City Code, until the owner has complied with
that order.
(6) The owner of the property at the time an
order is issued shall be responsible for complying
with the order, regardless if he or she conveys his
or her interest in the property to any other person
or persons after such order was issued and, served.
(7) No order to close shall relieve the owner or
occupant of any property from complying with the
building, fire, property maintenance and zoning
codes or any other ordinance that regulates the
condition or use of the premises .
(8) None of the provisions in this section are
applicable to cases which are determined to be a
dangerous building, as defined in section 7-266 of
this code .
(f) Violations and penalties .
(1) It shall be unlawful for any owner or
occupant of any property, premise, lot, tract or
parcel of land to cause, permit, encourage or allow
a chronic nuisance to exist upon said property
(2) It shall be unlawful to use, occupy or
permit the use or occupancy of any structure ordered
closed through the procedures of this section.
(3) It shall be unlawful to interfere with any
entry into or upon the place by any police officer,
agent or employee of the city for the purpose of
closure of a structure or otherwise abating the
nuisance as ordered pursuant to this section.
(4) It shall be unlawful to remove an order
posted on the property.
(5) It shall be unlawful for a landlord to
terminate the lease agreement or periodic tenancy of
any tenant or otherwise retaliate against any tenant
because that tenant complained to the City regarding
the landlord' s premises . It shall be unlawful for a
landlord or any person acting as an agent for the
landlord, to intimidate or actively discourace a
tenant and/or persons associated with a Premises .
It shall be presumed that any attempt to increase
charges, reduce services, or to otherwise harass or
retaliate against the tenant during the 12-month
period following receipt of the complaint by the
City constitutes unlawful retaliation under this
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subsection. Such presumption shall be rebutted by
the preponderance of evidence that the actions taken
by the landlord were based upon good cause.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, a tenant' s lease
agreement or periodic tenancy may be terminated for
a failure to pay rent; committing an activity
defined under subsection (b) of this Section; for
the commission of waste upon the Premises; or for
violating the terms and conditions of the lease
agreement or periodic tenancy. A landlord' s failure
to renew a lease agreement or periodic tenancy upon
expiration of such lease agreement or periodic
tenancy shall not be deemed a violation of this
subsection.
(6) Any violation of this ordinance shall be
punishable as provided in section 1-8 of this code.
ARTICLE 2 . If any section, subsection, sentence, clause,
phrase or portion of this ordinance is for any reason held
invalid or unconstitutional by any court of competent
jurisdiction, such portion shall be deemed a separate, distinct
and independent provision and such holding shall not affect the
validity of the remaining portions hereof.
ARTICLE 3. It is the intention of the governing body and
it is hereby ordained that the provisions of this ordinance
shall become and be made a part of the Code of Ordinances of the
City of Cape Girardeau, Missouri, and the sections of this Code
may be renumbered to accomplish such intention.
ARTICLE 4 . This ordinance shall be in full force and
effect ten days after its passage and approval.
PASSED AND APPROVED THIS DAY OF r / Q 2016.
Ha ry E. Re ger, Mayor
ATTEST:
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Deputy City Clerk 50 A'`t
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