826.22 REMOVAL OF UNLAWFUL SIGNS.
(a) Any sign which violates the provisions of this chapter is a public and private nuisance, and the City shall give seven days’ notice by personal service or by registered or certified mail, to the owner or lessee of the land on which such sign is located, to remove such sign. However, in the case of an unlawful sign which is not permanently attached to the ground or to a building or structure, the City need give only twenty-four hours’ notice to remove the sign. The owner or lessee shall have the right of appeal to the Board of Zoning Appeals.
(b) If any such sign has not been removed on or before the expiration of the applicable notice period prescribed in subsection (a) hereof, or within seven days after the adverse decision of the Board of Zoning Appeals, the City or any of its duly authorized agents may enter upon the premises and cover, remove, or otherwise abate the sign. The cost of such covering, removal, or abatement shall be paid out of any money in the City Treasury not otherwise appropriated. City Council shall make a written return to the County Auditor with a statement of the charges for services in covering, removing, or abating the sign, together with a legal description of the parcel. Such amounts shall be certified to the county auditor for entry upon the tax duplicate, shall constitute a lien upon such lands from the date of the entry and shall be collected as other taxes and returned to the City’s General Fund.
(c) Notice to the owner or lessee shall not be required prior to the removal of a hazardous sign which, in the joint opinion of the City Manager and City Engineer, creates an immediate danger to persons or property due to structural design deficiencies, inadequate maintenance or improper location. Notice to the owner or lessee shall not be required prior to the removal of any sign unlawfully placed on public property.
(Ord. 96-38. Passed 7-11-96.)