Chapter VIII · Health and Welfare

Article 1. Health Nuisances

Sections 8-101 to 8-111 · 11 sections

8-101 Illustrative enumeration.

The maintaining, using, placing, depositing, leaving or permitting to be or remain on any public or private property any of the following items, conditions, or actions, are hereby declared to constitute a nuisance, to include, but not be limited to:

(a)Permitting the growth of weeds or other vegetation to reach a growth of twelve inches in height;

(b)The accumulation of garbage, rubbish, trash, refuse, junk, and other scrap or abandoned materials, including metals, lumber, inoperable vehicles, or other things that create an unsightly or blighted appearance;

(c)Any condition which provides harborage for rats, mice, snakes, and other vermin;

(d)Any building or other structure which is in such a dilapidated condition that it is unfit for human habitation or kept in such an unsanitary condition that it is a menace to the health of people residing in the vicinity thereof, or presents a more than ordinary dangerous fire hazard in the vicinity of its location.

(e)All disagreeable or obnoxious odors and stenches, as well as the conditions, substances, or other causes which give rise to the emission or generation of such odors and stenches;

(f)The carcasses of animals or fowl not disposed of within a reasonable time after death;

(g)The pollution of any public well or cistern, stream, lake, canal or body of water by sewage, dead animals, creamery, industrial wastes, or other substances;

(h)Any building, structure, or other place or location where any activity that is in violation of local, state, or federal law is conducted, performed, or maintained;

(i)Any accumulation of stagnant water permitted or maintained on any lot or piece of ground;

(j)Dense smoke, noxious fumes, gas, soot, or cinders in unreasonable quantities;

(k)Abandoned appliances kept on the property of any person outside the dwelling area or any appliances not in actual use.

(K.S.A. 21-6204(a) and (b); Ord. 2012-03; Code 2012; Ord. 2017-02; Ord. 2022-06)

8-102 Public Officer.

The City Council and/or Chief of Police shall designate a Public Officer(s) to be charged with the administration and enforcement of this article.

(Ord. 2017-02; Ord. 2022-06)

8-103 Complaints; inquiry and inspection.

The public 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 city council, board of health, chief of police or the fire chief. The public 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 public officer may make a written report of findings.

(Code 2012; Ord. 2017-02; Ord. 2022-06)

8-104 Right of entry.

The public officer has the right of access and entry upon private property at any reasonable time, and without notice, to the extent allowed by law for the purpose of making inquiry and inspection to determine if a nuisance exists.

(Code 2012; Ord. 2017-02; Ord. 2022-06)

8-105 Order of violation.

(a)The governing body/public officer/City Clerk 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 8-101 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 2012; Ord. 2017-02; Ord. 2022-06)

8-106 Same; contents.

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] may 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; and,

(b)He, she or they have 10 days from the receipt of the order to request a hearing before the governing body or its designated representative of the matter as provided by section 8-109; and

(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 2012; Ord. 2017-02; Ord. 2022-06)

8-107 Failure to comply; penalty.

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 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.

(Code 2012; Ord. 2017-02; Ord. 2022-06)

8-108 Abatement.

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 period 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, including attorneys’ fees, shall be charged to the owner, and if, unpaid, 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 2012; Ord. 2017-02; Ord. 2022-06 )

8-109 Hearing.

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, unless that time frame is waived by the requesting party. 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 2012; Ord. 2017-02; Ord. 2022-06)

8-110 Costs assessed.

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, including attorneys’ fees, 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 2012; Ord. 2017-02; Ord. 2022-06)

8-111 Emergency abatement by city.

When, in the opinion of the city council, chief of police, fire chief, public health officer, public officer, or other duly designated officer of the city is hereby authorized and empowered, without any notice of hearing, to order and require such premises to be vacated. The chief of police, fire chief, public health officer, public officer, or other duly designated officer of the city shall immediately post the premises, warning of the dangerous condition, and shall then abate such nuisance and prepare a statement of costs incurred in the abatement thereof to be certified to the governing body.

(Ord. 337; Code 2012; Ord. 2015-04; Ord. 2017-02; Ord. 2022-06)