Athens City Code

1. (1) Prohibition. Pursuant to the authority granted to municipalities under T.C.A. § 6-54-113, it is unlawful for any owner of record of real property to create, maintain, or permit to be maintained on such property the growth of trees, vines, grass, underbrush and/or the accumulations of debris, trash, litter, or garbage or any combination of the preceding elements so as to endanger the health, safety, or welfare of other citizens or to encourage the infestation of rats and other harmful animals.
2. (2) Designation of public officer or department. The city manager shall designate an appropriate department or person to enforce the provisions of this section.
3. (3) Notice to property owner. It shall be the duty of the department or person designated by city manager to enforce this section to serve notice upon the owner of record in violation of subsection (a) of this section a notice in plain language to remedy the condition within ten days (or 20 days if the owner of record is a carrier engaged in the transportation of property or is a utility transmitting communications, electricity, gas, liquids, steam, sewage, or other materials), excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays. The notice shall be sent by United States mail, addressed to the last known address of the owner of record. The notice shall state that the owner of the property is entitled to a hearing and shall, at the minimum, contain the following additional information:
   1. (a) A brief statement that the owner is in violation of ACC 13-35, which has been enacted under the authority of T.C.A. § 6-54-113, and that the property of such owner may be cleaned up at the expense of the owner and a lien placed against the property to secure the cost of the cleanup;
   2. (b) The person, office, address, and telephone number of the department or person giving the notice;
   3. (c) A cost estimate for remedying the noted condition, which shall be in conformity with the standards of cost in the city; and
   4. (d) A place wherein the notified party may return a copy of the notice, indicating the desire for a hearing.
4. (4) Cleanup at property owner's expense. If the property owner of record fails or refuses to remedy the condition within ten days after receiving the notice (20 days if the owner is a carrier engaged in the transportation of property or is a utility transmitting communications, electricity, gas, liquids, steam, sewage, or other materials), the department or person designated by the city manager to enforce the provisions of this section shall immediately cause the condition to be remedied or removed at a cost in conformity with reasonable standards, and the costs thereof shall be assessed against the owner of the property. The city may collect the costs assessed against the owner through an action for debt filed in any court of competent jurisdiction. The city may bring one action for debt against more than one or all of the owners of properties against whom such costs have been assessed, and the fact that multiple owners have been joined in one action shall not be considered by the court as a misjoinder of parties. Upon the filing of the notice with the office of the register of deeds in the county, the costs shall be a lien on the property in favor of the city, second only to liens of the state, county, and city for taxes, any lien of the city for special assessments, and any valid lien, right, or interest in such property duly recorded or duly perfected by filing, prior to the filing of such notice. These costs shall be placed on the tax rolls of the city as a lien and shall be added to property tax bills to be collected at the same time and in the same manner as property taxes are collected. If the owner fails to pay the costs, they may be collected at the same time and in the same manner as delinquent property taxes are collected and shall be subject to the same penalty and interest as delinquent property taxes.
5. (5) Cleanup of owner-occupied property. When the owner of an owner-occupied residential property fails or refuses to remedy the condition within ten days after receiving the notice, the department or person designated by the city manager to enforce the provisions of this section shall immediately cause the condition to be remedied or removed at a cost in accordance with reasonable standards in the community, with these costs to be assessed against the owner of the property. The provisions of subsection (d) of this section shall apply to the collection of costs against the owner of an owner-occupied residential property except that the city must wait until cumulative charges for remediation equal or exceed $500.00 before filing the notice with the register of deeds and the charges becoming a lien on the property. After this threshold has been met and the lien attaches, charges for costs for which the lien attached are collectible as provided in subsection (d) of this section for these charges.
6. (6) Appeal. The owner of record who is aggrieved by the determination and order of the public officer may appeal the determination and order to the city manager. The appeal shall be filed with the city recorder within ten days following the receipt of the notice issued pursuant to subsection (c) of this section. The failure to appeal within this time shall, without exception, constitute a waiver of the right to a hearing.
7. (7) Judicial review. Any person aggrieved by an order or act of the code enforcement officer under subsection (d) of this section may seek judicial review of the order or act. The time period established in subsection (c) of this section shall be stayed during the pendency of judicial review.
8. (8) Supplemental nature of this section. The provisions of this section are in addition and supplemental to, and not in substitution for, any other provision in the city Charter, this Code or other applicable law which permits the city to proceed against an owner, tenant or occupant of property who has created, maintained, or permitted to be maintained on such property the growth of trees, vines, grass, weeds, underbrush and/or the accumulation of the debris, trash, litter, or garbage, or any combination of the preceding elements, under its Charter, any other provisions of this Code or any other applicable law.
9. (9) Exempt lands. This section is not meant to prohibit the growth of plants in natural areas that have not been developed and have existed historically in their natural state. Other areas that are exempt include, but are not limited to, the following: public parks, designated wildlife areas, conservation easements, buffers around streams, wetlands, and vegetation within designed retention areas that are kept within the designed conditions approved by the city. In addition, the city public works director has the right to make a determination on the vegetative growth on any property within the municipal boundary to see if it qualifies for an exemption from the requirements of this section.

(Code 1972, § 8-601; Code 1995, § 13-201; Ord. No. 984, 3-16-2010; Ord. No. 1012, § 1, 12-18-2012)