Sec. 14-173. Nuisance Abatement Board

There is hereby created and established a Board to be known and designated as the Nuisance Abatement Board.

The Board shall consist of seven members. There shall be a representative from the Police Department, the Department of Permitting, Inspections, and Enforcement, and the Fire/EMS Department. The other four citizen members shall be appointed by the County Executive and approved by the County Council to serve staggered terms of two years each. At least one of the citizen appointees shall represent the business community. Additionally, a citizen appointee shall be designated as the Chair of the Board.

Any member who fails, without an excused absence, to attend two (2) consecutive meetings of the Board, or six (6) or more meetings in any given calendar year, shall be considered to have resigned from the Board.

Any member may be removed by the County Executive, pursuant to Section 507 of the County Charter.

Citizen members of the Nuisance Abatement Board shall receive a stipend at the rate of Three Hundred Dollars ($300) per month. The Chair thereof shall be compensated an additional One Hundred Dollars ($100) per month for administrative responsibilities.

The Board shall have full authority to enforce the provisions of Subtitle 13, Division 15 of the Prince George's County Code, including any rules and regulations adopted under them.

Subsections (c) and (d) of this section, as well as Sections 14-174 and 14-175 of the County Code shall not apply to the requirements under Subtitle 13, Division 15 of the Prince George's County Code.

The Board shall hear complaints which allege that any premises constitute a public or neighborhood nuisance.

Upon the receipt of such an allegation, the Board shall give notice and an opportunity for a hearing to determine whether a public or neighborhood nuisance exists in the premises to the owner, lessor, lessee, mortgagor, and mortgagee of the premises.

The notice shall state the date, place, and time of the hearing, the right of the aforesaid persons to be heard and to be represented at the hearing, the possible consequences of failure to appear, and such other information as may be appropriate.

The notice shall be by United States Postal Service certified mail and addressed to said owner or other responsible person at the last known address or the address shown on the real property tax records in the Treasurer's Office for Prince George's County. In the event that such notice is returned by the postal authorities, the Board shall cause a copy of the notice to be personally served upon the owners or other responsible persons of the premises or upon the agent of the owner thereof. In the event that personal service cannot be accomplished, as aforesaid, after reasonable efforts, then notice shall be accomplished by physical posting on the premises.

The Board shall conduct a public hearing on the complaint not less than ten days after the Board has mailed a copy of the notice and complaint to the property owner. At the hearing the Board shall receive evidence pertaining to the unlawful activity at the premises. The Board may also consider evidence of the general reputation of the place or the premises, but such evidence in and of itself shall not be sufficient to establish the existence of the nuisance.

At the hearing, the owner shall have an opportunity to demonstrate that the notice was issued on insufficient grounds, or that a nuisance does not exist and therefore no adverse action should be taken.

The lack of knowledge of, acquiescence or participation in, or responsibility for a public or neighborhood nuisance on the part of any person who may be the owner, lessor, lessee, mortgagor, mortgagee, or other interested person and all those persons in possession of or having charge of as agent or otherwise, or having any interest in the property, real or personal, used in conducting or maintaining the public or neighborhood nuisance, is not sufficient grounds to dismiss the hearing.

Any State, County, or municipal law enforcement agency, fire department, or any other County or municipal agency or department authorized to issue citations or corrective orders must show, by a preponderance of the evidence, that a public or neighborhood nuisance does exist at the premises, and that the property owner, lessee, resident, or agent has failed or refused to cooperate with attempts to abate the nuisance.

The Board shall stay their proceedings against a landlord if the tenant's actions are the basis for the complaint and the landlord provides evidence that they have filed a complaint in the District Court to repossess the leased premises.

After notice and an opportunity for a hearing, if five of the seven Board members concur, the Board is authorized:

An order of the Board issued pursuant to this Division shall be posted on the premises and notice thereof shall be given to those persons and in the manner set forth in Subsection (b). On and after the tenth business day following the posting, the order may be enforced. The Board may vacate the provisions of the order to close if an interested person posts a bond for the period of the ordered closing in an amount not to exceed the assessed value of the premises as shown in the tax assessment records, prorated for the proportional assessment of units closed if less than all units therein are closed, but not to exceed One Million Dollars ($1,000,000) in any case, and submits reasonably adequate proof to the Board that the nuisance has been abated and will not be maintained or permitted in any unit of the premises during the period of the ordered closing.

A closing directed by the Board pursuant to this Division is not an act of possession, ownership, or control by Prince George's County.

The Board shall produce a written decision detailing the Board's final order or action no later than fifteen (15) days after the conclusion of the hearing.