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(a) Maintaining unlawful vehicle prohibited. It shall be unlawful for any person to cause or maintain the location or presence of any unlawful vehicle on any lot, tract, parcel of land or portion thereof, improved or unimproved, within the City. It shall be unlawful for any person to cause or maintain such location or presence of any unlawful vehicle by wrecking, dismantling, rendering inoperable, abandoning or discarding his or her vehicle on the property of another or to suffer, permit, or allow the vehicle to be placed, located, maintained or exist upon his or her own real property, provided this section not apply to a vehicle or part thereof which is:

(1) Completely enclosed within a building in a lawful manner.

(2) Stored or parked in a lawful manner on public or private property in connection with the business of a licensed vehicle dealer, auto salvage yard, motor vehicle repair garage, or police impound lot.

(b) Notice and hearing. If any one or more of the conditions exist as enumerated in subsection (a) of this section and if any person is found guilty or enters a plea of guilty or no contest to a charge of violating this section, the city may, through the use of its own employees, take corrective action. The issuance of a summons and complaint shall be accompanied by a notice of a hearing to determine whether the city has probable cause to abate a violation of this section, the hearing to occur at the time of the arraignment. If a plea of guilty or no contest is entered at the arraignment and if the defendant fails to present a valid reason why the violation should not be abated at the accompanying hearing, the defendant shall have five days to correct the violation before the city acts. If a not guilty plea is entered, the court shall give first priority to the expedited docketing of the case commensurate with the due process rights of the defendant. Upon notice, no hearing shall be required when a defendant has failed to appear for a scheduled arraignment or trial. If a finding of guilty is made by the municipal court as a result of a trial, the named defendant in any case involving violation of this section shall have 30 days to correct the violation before the city acts, unless otherwise ordered by a court, or the matter is stayed due to the filing of an appeal. If the defendant fails to appear at either the arraignment or the trial, the city may take immediate corrective action.

(c) Abatement by city. After the expiration of the time allotted to a defendant for removal, the city manager is furthermore authorized to employ at his or her discretion private individuals to carry out the task of removal of unlawful vehicles. If the City is required to employ private individuals to engage in the removal of unlawful vehicles, the city shall forthwith compensate such private individuals for their services. The cost of carrying out the removal of unlawful vehicles, through either the services of the city personnel or private individuals, shall be recovered against the owner in accordance with subsection (d) of this section. If it is necessary to remove obstructions in order to effectuate the removal of unlawful vehicles, both city personnel and private individuals responsible for the removal of unlawful vehicles, under the provisions of this chapter, shall be empowered to take reasonable steps to remove such obstruction so as to permit the removal of unlawful vehicles. The cost for removing such obstruction shall also be recoverable in accordance with subsection (d) of this section.

(d) Recovery of removal costs and creation of lien.

(1) Notification of costs; failure to pay. Upon corrective action by the City as permitted in subsections (b) and (c) of this section, the city manager or designee, using the appropriate billing forms as supplied by the director of finance, shall notify the owner, in writing, of the costs for removal of unlawful vehicles or of any related obstructions if it is necessary for the City or its contractors to undertake such removal. Administrative costs shall be assessed at the rate of $50.00 per notice, with cumulative costs after the first notice. If the owner shall fail within 30 days after the date of transmission of any notification to pay the costs and expenses of removal of unlawful vehicles to the city clerk, the costs and expenses shall become a lien against the property. The director of finance shall certify the costs and expenses to the treasurer of the appropriate county for collection in the same manner as general property taxes are collected.

(2) Amount. The amount certified by the director of finance to the county treasurer for the collection shall include the actual cost for the removal of unlawful vehicles, plus 15 percent for administrative expenses.

(3) Superiority of lien. The liens created by this subsection shall be superior to all prior liens, regardless of date, except liens for general property taxes and special improvement district taxes.

(e) County treasurer to collect. Upon receipt of the assessment roll for the removal of unlawful vehicles, the county treasurer of the property county shall proceed to collect the amounts so assessed and certified against the property affected thereby in the same manner as the collection of general property taxes and the redemption thereof. (Code 1979, § 40-18; Ord. No. 95-53, exhibit A (§ 40-18), 9-11-1995)