FIRST REGULAR SESSION

HOUSE COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR

SENATE BILL NO. 345

91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY



Reported from the Committee on Local Government and Related Matters, April 12, 2001, with recommendation that the House Committee Substitute for Senate Bill No. 345 Do Pass.

TED WEDEL, Chief Clerk

1444L.03C

AN ACT

To repeal sections 71.285, 82.300 and 347.189, RSMo 2000, relating to property maintenance and to enact in lieu thereof four new sections relating to the same subject.





Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the state of Missouri, as follows:



Section A. Sections 71.285, 82.300 and 347.189, RSMo 2000, are repealed and four new sections enacted in lieu thereof, to be known as sections 71.285, 82.300, 263.232 and 347.189, to read as follows:

71.285. 1. Whenever weeds or trash, in violation of an ordinance, are allowed to grow or accumulate, as the case may be, on any part of any lot or ground within any city, town or village in this state, the owner of the ground, or in case of joint tenancy, tenancy by entireties or tenancy in common, each owner thereof, shall be liable. The marshal or other city official as designated in such ordinance shall give a hearing after ten days' notice thereof, either personally or by United States mail to the owner or owners, or his or her or their agents, or by posting such notice on the premises; thereupon, the marshal or other designated city official may declare the weeds or trash to be a nuisance and order the same to be abated within five days; and in case the weeds or trash are not removed within the five days, the marshal or other designated city official shall have the weeds or trash removed, and shall certify the costs of same to the city clerk, who shall cause a special tax bill therefor against the property to be prepared and to be collected by the collector, with other taxes assessed against the property; and the tax bill from the date of its issuance shall be a first lien on the property until paid and shall be prima facie evidence of the recitals therein and of its validity, and no mere clerical error or informality in the same, or in the proceedings leading up to the issuance, shall be a defense thereto. Each special tax bill shall be issued by the city clerk and delivered to the collector on or before the first day of June of each year. Such tax bills if not paid when due shall bear interest at the rate of eight percent per annum. Notwithstanding the time limitations of this section, any city, town or village located in a county of the first classification may hold the hearing provided in this section four days after notice is sent or posted, and may order at the hearing that the weeds or trash shall be abated within five business days after the hearing and if such weeds or trash are not removed within five business days after the hearing, the order shall allow the city to immediately remove the weeds or trash pursuant to this section. Except for lands owned by a public utility, rights-of-way, and easements appurtenant or incidental to lands controlled by any railroad, the department of transportation, the department of natural resources or the department of conservation, the provisions of this subsection shall not apply to any city with a population of at least seventy thousand inhabitants which is located in a county of the first classification with a population of less than one hundred thousand inhabitants which adjoins a county with a population of less than one hundred thousand inhabitants that contains part of a city with a population of three hundred fifty thousand or more inhabitants, any city with a population of one hundred thousand or more inhabitants which is located within a county of the first classification that adjoins no other county of the first classification, or any city, town or village located within a county of the first classification with a charter form of government with a population of nine hundred thousand or more inhabitants, or any city with a population of three hundred fifty thousand or more inhabitants which is located in more than one county, or the city of St. Louis, where such city, town or village establishes its own procedures for abatement of weeds or trash, and such city may charge its costs of collecting the tax bill, including attorney fees, in the event a lawsuit is required to enforce a tax bill.

2. Except as provided in subsection 3 of this section, if weeds are allowed to grow, or if trash is allowed to accumulate, on the same property in violation of an ordinance more than once during the same growing season in the case of weeds, or more than once during a calendar year in the case of trash, in any city with a population of three hundred fifty thousand or more inhabitants which is located in more than one county, in the city of St. Louis [or], in any city, town or village located in a county of the first classification with a charter form of government with a population of nine hundred thousand or more inhabitants or in any fourth class city located in a county of the first classification with a charter form of government and a population of less than three hundred thousand, the marshal or other designated city official may order that the weeds or trash be abated within five business days after notice is sent to or posted on the property. In case the weeds or trash are not removed within the five days, the marshal or other designated city official may have the weeds or trash removed and the cost of the same shall be billed in the manner described in subsection 1 of this section.

3. If weeds are allowed to grow, or if trash is allowed to accumulate, on the same property in violation of an ordinance more than once during the same growing season in the case of weeds, or more than once during a calendar year in the case of trash, in any city with a population of three hundred fifty thousand or more inhabitants which is located in more than one county, in the city of St. Louis [or], in any city, town or village located in a county of the first classification with a charter form of government with a population of nine hundred thousand or more inhabitants or in any fourth class city located in a county of the first classification with a charter form of government and a population of less than three hundred thousand, the marshal or other designated official may, without further notification, have the weeds or trash removed and the cost of the same shall be billed in the manner described in subsection 1 of this section. The provisions of subsection 2 and this subsection do not apply to lands owned by a public utility and lands, rights-of-way, and easements appurtenant or incidental to lands controlled by any railroad.

4. The provisions of this section shall not apply to any city with a population of one hundred thousand or more inhabitants which is located within a county of the first classification that adjoins no other county of the first classification where such city establishes its own procedures for abatement of weeds or trash, and such city may charge its costs of collecting the tax bill, including attorney fees, in the event a lawsuit is required to enforce a tax bill.

82.300. 1. Any city with a population of [three] four hundred [fifty] thousand or more inhabitants which is located in more than one county may enact all needful ordinances for preserving order, securing persons or property from violence, danger and destruction, protecting public and private property and for promoting the general interests and ensuring the good government of the city, and for the protection, regulation and orderly government of parks, public grounds and other public property of the city, both within and beyond the corporate limits of such city; and to prescribe and impose, enforce and collect fines, forfeitures and penalties for the breach of any provisions of such ordinances and to punish the violation of such ordinances by fine or imprisonment, or by both fine and imprisonment; but no fine shall exceed five hundred dollars nor imprisonment exceed twelve months for any such offense, except as provided in subsection 2 of this section.

2. Any city with a population of [three] four hundred [fifty] thousand or more inhabitants which is located in more than one county which operates a publicly owned treatment works in accordance with an approved pretreatment program pursuant to the federal Clean Water Act, 33 U.S.C. 1251, et seq. and chapter 644, RSMo, may enact all necessary ordinances which require compliance by an industrial user with any pretreatment standard or requirement. Such ordinances may authorize injunctive relief or the imposition of a fine of at least one thousand dollars but not more than five thousand dollars per violation for noncompliance with such pretreatment standards or requirements. For any continuing violation, each day of the violation shall be considered a separate offense.

3. Any city with a population of more than four hundred thousand inhabitants may enact all needful ordinances to protect public and private property from illegal and unauthorized dumping and littering, and to punish the violation of such ordinances by a fine not to exceed one thousand dollars or by imprisonment not to exceed twelve months for each offense, or by both such fine and imprisonment.

4. Any city with a population of more than four hundred thousand inhabitants may enact all needful ordinances to protect public and private property from nuisance and property maintenance code violations, and to punish the violation of such ordinances by a fine not to exceed one thousand dollars or by imprisonment not to exceed twelve months for each offense, or by both such fine and imprisonment.

263.232. It shall be the duty of any person or persons, association of persons, corporations, partnerships, the state highways and transportation commission, any state department, any state agency, the county commissions, the township boards, school boards, drainage boards, the governing bodies of incorporated cities, railroad companies and other transportation companies or their authorized agents and those supervising state-owned

lands:

(1) To control and eradicate the spread of cut-leaved teasel (Dipsacus laciniatus) and common teasel (Dipsacus fullonum), which are hereby designated as noxious and dangerous weeds to agriculture, by methods approved by the Environmental Protection Agency and in compliance with the manufacturer's label instructions; and

(2) To control the spread of kudzu vine (Pueraria lobata), which is hereby designated as a noxious and dangerous weed to agriculture, by methods approved by the Environmental Protection Agency and in conformity with the manufacturer's label instructions.

347.189. Any limited liability company that owns and rents or leases real property, or owns unoccupied real property, located within any home rule city with a population of more than four hundred thousand inhabitants which is located in more than one county, shall file with that city's clerk an affidavit listing the name and address of at least one person, who has management control and responsibility for the real property owned and leased or rented by the limited liability company, or owned by the limited liability company and unoccupied.


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