15.08.020 Determination procedures and orders.
Whenever an appointed or elected officer of the city of North Bend shall be of the opinion that there is a dangerous building in the city, it shall be the duty of such officer to report the same to the city council which may determine whether such building is dangerous and issue orders under the following procedures:
(1) Within a reasonable time after receiving said report, the council shall make provisions for calling a public hearing to determine whether the building is dangerous. Not less than 10 days’ notice of the time and place of said hearing shall be given by a publication in a newspaper of general circulation in the city and by delivering or mailing such notice to the owner. If the owner is unknown or cannot be found, then such notice shall be posted in a conspicuous place on the premises. If the notice is properly published, then no irregularity or failure to mail notices shall invalidate the proceedings.
(2) At the hearing the owner or other persons interested in said property or building shall have the right to be heard. As a part of the hearing the council may inspect the building, and the facts observed by the council at such inspection may be considered in determining whether or not said building is dangerous and what orders should be issued. The council may recess such hearing to a different time or place and may receive evidence and reports concerning such building until the council is prepared to make a determination. Prior to making a determination as to the disposition of the building, the council may issue temporary orders for the protection of persons or property.
(3) If the council shall find that said building is in a dangerous condition, then its finding shall be incorporated in a resolution in which it may order said building to be made safe by repair, by demolition, or by repair or demolition at the option of the owner, and it may prohibit occupancy of the building or continue its temporary orders until it has been made safe. If said building may be made safe by repair, then the council shall specify the repairs required to make such building safe. The order of the council shall establish the time within which said building shall be made safe, which shall not be less than 10 days from the giving of notice of the action of the council by mail or delivery to the owner or by posting on the building.
(4) If the work required by the council shall not be performed within the time established in the resolution, or within any extension of such time, then the council shall have the authority to enforce its orders as follows:
(a) The council may order the city to proceed to make such building safe by repair or demolition and have the cost thereof charged to the property as a special assessment. In such event the council shall specify with convenient certainty the work to be done and whether such work shall be performed by personnel of the city or by advertising for bids in the manner provided for public improvements, and when the costs shall have been determined, they shall be assessed against the property on which the building was situated and shall be entered in the docket of city liens.
(b) The council may order that an action be brought in the circuit court of Coos County to require the owner to make the building safe. (Ord. 1724 § 2, 1987)