Ordinance No. 2026-269

AN ORDINANCE REVISING CHAPTER 15 OF THE TOWN’S ORDINANCES REGARDING THE REGULATION OF JUNK AS A PUBLIC NUISANCE WITHIN THE CORPORATE LIMITS OF THE TOWN OF LIVONIA, LA

Chapter 15 - JUNK 

Section 15.1 Definitions

Section 15.2 Keeping prohibited; declared nuisance

Section 15.3 Notice to remove

Section 15.4 Judicial review

Section 15.5 Failure to remove

Section 15.6 Right of entry of inspectors

Section 15.7 Penalties

Sec. 15.1  Definitions  

As used in this Chapter, the following terms shall have the respective meanings ascribed to them:  

• "Inspector" means a duly authorized agent or representative of the town.
• "Junk" includes:
  • unused, discarded, or abandoned major appliances or parts thereof, including, but not limited to, washing machines, clothes driers, refrigerators, freezers, stoves, ovens, ranges, and kitchen appliances;
  • lumber, metal, tin, plumbing materials, masonry, and other construction debris;
  • machinery and equipment, or parts thereof, which, by reason of deterioration through rusting, rotting, or other wear, have become inoperable and/or unsuitable for the purposes for which they were intended;, 
  • tires, rims, boats, motors, auto parts, and other means of conveyance not defined in Article B of Chapter 16 of the Town’s ordinances, or parts thereof, which, by reason of deterioration, have become inoperable and/or unsuitable for the purposes for which they were intended;
  • unused or abandoned furniture and household furnishings;
  • barrels, cardboard, wastepaper, boxes, crates, yard waste, garbage, refuse, rubbish, and other discarded or abandoned items. 

Section 15.2  Keeping prohibited; declared nuisance   

It is unlawful for any person to keep, deposit, store, or abandon junk on any vacant lot or on any  portion of any occupied lot, neutral ground, street, or sidewalk within the town. The presence of such items is hereby declared to be a public nuisance. 

Section 15.3 Notice to remove 

• Whenever the storing or abandoning of junk exists on any occupied or unoccupied premises within the town in violation of Section 15.2, and in order to more effectively carry out the intent of Section 15.2, the clerk, upon instructions by the mayor, shall provide written notice to remove the nuisance junk to the property owner as determined from the latest  property tax rolls of the Pointe Coupee Assessor’s Office. Such notice and order to abate the nuisance junk shall:
• Be in writing;
• Specify the storing or abandoning of junk and its location;
• Specify the corrective measures required;
• Provide for compliance within ten (10) days from service thereof; and
• Provide the opportunity for a hearing by request received by the town within ten (10) days from service of the notice.

• The notice shall be served onthe owner of the lot or parcel of ground upon which the junk material is located by personal service or by sending the notice by certified mail, return receipt requested, to the last address shown on the Assessor’s tax rolls.Any notice so sent and returned by the United States Postal Service, whether returned as delivered, refused, unclaimed, or undeliverable, shall be considered as having fulfilled the notification requirement.
• Though not required, the town may, in addition to the foregoing manner of service, send the notice by regular U.S. first class mail, serve notice on an occupant of the premises, and/or post notice of pending abatement action on or adjacent to the lot or parcel where the junk material is located.
• The notice to abate may, in addition to other abatement actions, order that any vacant lot or portion of any occupied lot used for the storage of junk, as herein defined, be surrounded or enclosed by a board fence or other enclosure.

Section 15.4  Judicial review 

Any person receiving notice that  they are in violation of the requirements of this Chapter may request, within the ten (10) day period  following service of the notice, a hearing  before the town’s mayor's court to determine whether  they are in violation of this Chapter. Such hearing request may be made in person at Livonia Town Hall or in writing and must be received by the town within the ten (10) day period following service of the notice. The person shall not be required to post a bond to secure a hearing in accordance with this Chapter.

Section 15.5 Failure to  abate  

If the owner of the premises fails to abate the storing or abandoning of junk in compliance with the notice to abate within the ten (10) day period following service of the notice or fails to timely request a hearing, the town is authorized to enter the premises to remove or cause to be removed the junk material and to dispose of the same.  The clerk shall then  prepare a statement, giving a description of the property and cost incurred in removing the material, not to exceed $200.00, which shall be filed and recorded in the mortgage records of the parish. When so filed and recorded, the statement shall constitute a lien upon the property from the date of recordation, which shall be added to the next property tax bill of the property owner.

Section 15.6 Right of entry of inspectors

An inspector for the town may enter, at reasonable times, any premise in the town to inspect such premises for compliance with this Chapter.

Section 15.7  Penalties

In addition to any other provision of this Chapter, the failure or refusal to comply with the notice to abate within ten (10) days of service of the notice, shall constitute a misdemeanor offense punishable by a fine of not more than two hundred ($200) dollars, imprisonment not to exceed thirty (30) days, or both. Each day such violation occurs may be considered a separate offense. The court may, upon conviction, order the abatement and removal of the nuisance junk.

Said Ordinance having been introduced on May 11, 2026, by Bergeron, notice of public hearing having been published, said public hearing having been held, the title having been read and the Ordinance considered, a motion was made by Bergeron and seconded by   T. Jarreau to adopt the Ordinance.  A record vote was taken and the following results were had:

                                    YEAS:         Bergeron, L. Jarreau, T. Jarreau, LeJeune, Webre                                                                                                                                                         

                                    NAYS:  None               

                                    ABSENT:  None                                           ABSTAIN:                      None                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

Whereupon, the Ordinance was declared adopted on this 9th day of June 2026.

ATTEST and delivered to the Mayor                                                                                                     APPROVED and delivered to the Clerk

June 10, 2026                                                                                                                                                                                               June 10, 2026

 Donna Bergeron, MMC                                                                   Rhett Pourciau, MAYOR

Town Clerk, Livonia, Louisiana                                                 Town of Livonia, Louisiana