§ 28-32. Findings of fact.

(a)

The accumulation of trash, junk, debris, nonliving plant material, or the excessive growth of grass, or weeds, brush, or branches, upon residential, professional office, commercial, or industrial property or the keeping of fill on residential property, constitutes a nuisance and a menace to the public health, safety and welfare.

(b)

The aesthetic appearance of residential, professional office, commercial, and industrial property relates to the general welfare of the people of the county by preserving or enhancing the value of residential, professional office, commercial, and industrial property.

(c)

The accumulation of trash, junk, debris, nonliving plant material, or the excessive growth of grass, weeds, brush, or branches on residential, professional office, commercial, and industrial property, or the keeping of fill on residential property, is visually unpleasant to the reasonable person of average sensibilities and a visual nuisance in that it tends to depreciate the value of neighboring property, thereby injuring the general welfare.

(d)

Orange County having become an urbanized county, many agriculturally zoned lands in Orange County have a residential, nonagricultural, commercial, or industrial use. In recognition of this fact, agriculturally zoned property with such a nonagricultural use shall therefore be subject to the procedures and requirements of this article.

(e)

The taxpayers are being required to fund the enforcement of lot cleanings several times a year, for the same lot, in some cases.

(f)

Orange County therefore believes that punitive measures should be taken to deter an owner from neglecting his property if more than one (1) county notice of lot cleaning is issued in a given year.

(g)

In view of the need to deter such second, third, etc. recleaning, the board hereby finds that a fine is necessary, to be imposed over and above a special assessment lien, in case of multiple violations.

(Code 1965, § 16-27; Ord. No. 88-1, § 7, 1-11-88; Ord. No. 89-11, § 1(7), 8-7-89; Ord. No. 98-17, § 3, 8-11-98; Ord. No. 2005-10 , § 6, 8-30-05)