It shall be unlawful for any owner, agent, lessee, tenant, or other person occupying or having charge or control of any premises to permit weeds to remain upon said premises or any area between the property lines of said premises and the centerline of any adjacent street or alley, including but not specifically limited to sidewalks, streets, alleys, easements, rights-of-way and all other areas, public or private. All weeds as hereinafter defined are hereby declared a nuisance and are subject to abatement as hereinafter provided.

(Code 2001)

Weeds as used herein, means any of the following:

(a)   All noxious weeds enumerated at K.S.A. 2-1314 and K.S.A. 2-1314(b), and amendments thereto;

(b)   Brush and woody vines shall be classified as weeds;

(c)   Weeds and grasses which may attain such large growth as to become, when dry, a fire menace to adjacent improved property;

(d)   Weeds which bear or may bear seeds of a downy or wingy nature;

(e)   Weeds which are located in an area which harbors rats, insects, animals, reptiles, or any other creature which either may or does constitute a menace to health, public safety or welfare;

(f)   Weeds and grasses on or about property which, because of its height, has a blighting influence on the area. Any such weeds and indigenous grasses shall be presumed to be blighting if they exceed 10 inches in height.

(Code 2001; Ord. 2415)

The city manager shall designate a public officer to be charged with the administration and enforcement of this ordinance. The city clerk or an authorized assistant shall give the notice set forth herein in writing to the owner, occupant or agent in charge of any premises in the city upon which weeds exist in violation of this ordinance, by certified mail, return receipt requested, or by personal service. Such owner, occupant or agent shall only be entitled to this notice once each calendar year. Should the owner be a nonresident and there is no resident agent, and the address of the owner is unknown, the notice provided for herein shall be published one time in the official city newspaper. Such notice shall include the following:

(a) That the owner, occupant or agent in charge of the property is in violation of the city weed control law.

(b) That the owner, occupant or agent in charge of the property is ordered to cut the weeds within 10 days of the receipt or publication of the notice.

(c) That the owner, occupant or agent in charge of the property may request a hearing before the governing body within five days of the receipt of notice.

(d) That if the owner, occupant or agent in charge of the property does not cut the weeds or request a hearing, the city or its authorized agent will cut or destroy the weeds and assess the cost of cutting or destroying, including a reasonable administrative fee, including costs of mail or publication, against the owner, occupant or agent in charge of the property.

(e) That the owner, occupant or agent in charge of the property will be given an opportunity to pay the assessment and, if it is not paid, it may be added to the property tax as a special assessment, or collected by other legal means.

(f) The owner, occupant or agent shall only be entitled to receive one notice during any current calendar year. After notice is provided as set forth herein, the city may thereafter cut or otherwise destroy the weeds in violation of this ordinance on the same property without any additional notice.

(g) That the public officer should be contacted if there are any questions regarding the order. If there is a change in the record owner of title to property subsequent to the giving of notice pursuant to this subsection, the city may not recover any costs or levy an assessment for the costs incurred by the cutting or destruction of weeds on such property unless the new record owner of title to such property is provided notice as required by this section.

(Code 2001; Ord. 2415)

(a)   Upon the expiration of 10 days after receipt of the notice required by section 8-503, and in the event that the owner, occupant or agent in charge of the premises shall neglect or fail to comply with the requirements of section 8-501, the public officer or an authorized assistant shall cause to be cut, destroyed and/or removed all such weeds and abate the nuisance created thereby at any time during the current calendar year.

(b)   The public officer or an authorized assistant shall give notice to the owner, occupant or agent in charge of the premises by certified mail of the costs of abatement of the nuisance. The notice shall state that payment of the costs is due and payable within 30 days following receipt of the notice.

(c)   If the costs of removal or abatement remain unpaid after 30 days following receipt of notice, a record of the costs of cutting and destruction and/or removal shall be certified to the city clerk who may cause such costs to be assessed against the particular lot or piece of land on which such weeds were so removed, and against such lots or pieces of land in front of or abutting on such street or alley on which such weeds were so removed. The city clerk shall certify the assessment to the county clerk at the time other special assessments are certified for spreading on the tax rolls of the county. The city may, as an alternative to the collection procedure set forth above, collect the above described costs of abatement pursuant to K.S.A. 12-1,115 and amendments thereto.

(d) The minimum charge for cutting or otherwise destroying weeds and grasses in violation of this Article is the sum of $100.00, and an additional charge of $100.00 per man hour for each additional hour, or any part thereof, after the first hour, together with an administrative fee of $25.00.

(Ord. 2364; K.S.A. 12-1617f; Ord. 2415)

The public officer, and the public officer’s authorized assistants, employees, contracting agents or other representatives are hereby expressly authorized to enter upon private property at all reasonable hours for the purpose of cutting, destroying and/or removing such weeds in a manner not inconsistent with this article.

(Code 2001)

It shall be unlawful for any person to interfere with 6’r to attempt to prevent the public officer or the public officer’s authorized representative from entering upon any such lot or piece of ground or from proceeding with such cutting and destruction. Such interference shall constitute a code violation.

(Code 2001)

(a)   Nothing in this article shall affect or impair the rights of the city under the provisions of Chapter 2, Article 13 of the Kansas Statutes Annotated, relating to the control and eradication of certain noxious weeds.

(b)   For the purpose of this section, the term noxious weeds shall mean kudzu (Pueraria lobata), field bindweed (Convolvulus arvensis), Russian knapweed (Centaurea picris), hoary cress (Lepidium draba), Canada thistle (Cirsium arvense), 8-20 quackgrass (Agropyron repens), leafy spurge (Euphorbia esula), burragweed (Franseria tomentosa and discolor), pignut (Hoffmannseggia densiflora), musk (nodding) thistle (Carduus nutans L.), Johnson grass (Sorghum halepense), and sericea lespedeza (Lespedeza cuneata).

(K.S.A. 2-1314; Code 2001)