Agenda - Council - 08/14/2007 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Case# 6 CONSIDER PROPOSED AMENDMENTS TO 5.08 (PUBLIC NUISANCES), 5.11 (WEEDS), AND 5.12 (CONDITION OF PREMISES) OF CHAPTER NINE OF CITY CODE: CASE OF CITY OF RAMSEY Background: The City Council has recently adopted an abatement ordinance that will become effective within the next month. In the process of crafting the ordinance, it came to Staff's attention that there were changes necessary to the public nuisance, condition of premises, and weeds sections of Chapter Five. The purpose of these proposed amendments is to consolidate public nuisances, identify City Code violations that would be subject to abatement, and clarify and specify the definitions of junk vehicles, and other nuisance activities. In addition to these changes, the City Council has expressed interest in establishing an administrative ticketing process as an alternative to a citation that is routed through the County court system. This ordinance establishes that administrative ticketing process. The following items are included in your packet: 1) City Council worksession minutes from May 1, 2007 2) Proposed Ordinance, with mark -ups Notification: There is no public hearing associated with City Code amendments from Chapter Five. Discussion: Below is a summary of the changes that were made to Chapter Five: • The weed section was eliminated because of outdated references and extraneous definitions. Long grass and weeds were added to. the nuisance list. • The Condition of Premises Section was eliminated because of ill - defined and difficult -to- enforce regulations. Inoperable and abandoned vehicles were re- defined and incorporated in the nuisance list. • The Nuisance list was aggregated to eliminate different types of nuisances (nuisances relating to public safety vs. relating to public morals and decency vs. public health). All nuisances were compiled into one list. • An Enforcement Section was added at the end of Chapter Five. This Section is intended to stand alone and serves as an enforcement section for all City Code violations we wish to enforce. It calls for three distinct methods of enforcement that can be used separately or in concert with one another: abatement, administrative ticketing, and prosecution throught the County court system. Administrative ticketing would allow the City to issue a ticket for Code violations that are not appropriate for prosecution through the courts. Staff will be bringing forward a resolution and ordinance that establishes these violations and proposes a fee structure. Examples of violations would include animal violations, sign code violations, parking violations, and public nuisance issues. MICZ