Senate Bill No. 90

(By Senators Macnaughtan, Anderson, Holliday and Minard)

__________

[Originating in the Committee on the Judiciary;

reported January 21, 1994.]

__________




A BILL to amend and reenact section three-ff, article one, chapter seven of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to county commissions; duty to require clearance of refuse and debris from private lands; notice of demand thereof; and procedure to contest demand.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section three-ff, article one, chapter seven of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 1. COUNTY COMMISSIONS GENERALLY.

§7-1-3ff. Duty to require clearance of refuse and debris from private lands; notice of demand thereof; procedure to contest demand.

In addition to all other powers and duties conferred by law upon county commissions, as set forth in this article, county health officers, as set forth in section two, article two,chapter sixteen of this code, and state fire marshals as set forth in section twelve, article three, chapter twenty-nine of this code, such commissions and health officers are hereby authorized and obliged to require clearance of any refuse or debris consisting of remnants or remains of any unused or unoccupied dwelling, cement foundation, piping, basements, intact chimneys, nonfarm building, structure or manmade appurtenance on all private lands within their respective scopes of authority by the owners thereof that has accumulated as the result of any natural or manmade fire, force or effect which presents a safety or health hazard, including the removal of toxic or contaminant spillage and seepage or which has deteriorated to such a degree as to be unsightly, visually offensive and be depressive of the value of the adjacent properties or uses of such properties.
Upon a determination by any state fire marshal that substantial accumulations of refuse, debris or destroyed structures or appurtenances, as described above, exist on the property as a result of a natural or manmade fire, notice shall be given by the fire marshal and forwarded to the owner immediately informing the landowner of the requirements of this article to effect repair, removal, closure or demolition of the fire damaged property within ninety days of the receipt of such notice.
Upon a determination by a county commission or county health officer that substantial accumulations of refuse or the presence of debris, as described above, exist on any such private lands,notice shall be forwarded to the owner thereof informing the landowner of the following:
(a) Of the commission's or health officer's demand to remove all refuse and debris within ninety days of the receipt of such notice unless an extension be granted by said commission or health officer;
(b) Of the landowner's right to contest such demand and of the proper procedure in which to do so;
(c) That if the landowner fails to both properly contest and comply with the commission's or health officer's demand, that removal will be achieved otherwise and that the reasonable costs incurred thereto will become a civil debt owed by the landowner to the county;
(d) That if the county incurs costs of removal and the landowner fails to pay such costs within two months of such removal that a judgment lien on the subject property will be filed in the county clerk's office wherein the subject property exists.
The commission or health officer shall send notice as described herein by certified mail. If, for any reason, such certified mail is returned without evidence of proper receipt thereof, then in such event, a Class III-0 legal advertisement shall be published in a newspaper of general circulation in the county wherein such land is situated in order to render proper notice in accordance with this section: Provided, That if the commission or health officer determines, after notice and inquiryas provided herein, that such refuse or debris was created by someone other than the present landowner, without such landowner's expressed or implied permission, the commission or health officer shall remove any such refuse or debris and shall apply to and be eligible to receive from the solid waste reclamation and environmental response fund created under section five-a, article five-f, chapter twenty of this code for reimbursement for all reasonable costs incurred for such removal.
In the event any landowner desires to contest any demand brought forth pursuant to this section, the landowner shall do so in accordance with article three, chapter fifty-eight of this code.

_______


(NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to require the county commission to enforce the clearance of refuse and debris from fire damage to private land to include clean up of cement foundations, piping, basements, chimneys as well as clean up of toxic and contaminant spillage. Also, to require the state fire marshal to deliver an order to the owner to effect repair.)