§4876. Abandoned automobiles, major appliances, and other junk; disposition
A.The governing authority of any municipality or parish may enact ordinances
regulating or prohibiting the storing or abandoning of junk, wrecked, or used automobiles
or motor vehicles, or any part or parts thereof, or any other junk, discarded or abandoned
major appliances, such as refrigerators, freezers, ranges, or machinery or other metal, tin, or
other discarded items, on any vacant lot, or any portion of any occupied lot, neutral ground,
street, or sidewalk, within the municipality or parish. Notwithstanding any provisions of law
to the contrary, a governing authority, except in any parish with a population between four
hundred twenty thousand persons and four hundred thirty thousand persons based on the
lat
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§4876. Abandoned automobiles, major appliances, and other junk; disposition
A. The governing authority of any municipality or parish may enact ordinances
regulating or prohibiting the storing or abandoning of junk, wrecked, or used automobiles
or motor vehicles, or any part or parts thereof, or any other junk, discarded or abandoned
major appliances, such as refrigerators, freezers, ranges, or machinery or other metal, tin, or
other discarded items, on any vacant lot, or any portion of any occupied lot, neutral ground,
street, or sidewalk, within the municipality or parish. Notwithstanding any provisions of law
to the contrary, a governing authority, except in any parish with a population between four
hundred twenty thousand persons and four hundred thirty thousand persons based on the
latest federal decennial census, may enact ordinances that are less or more restrictive than
R.S. 32:443 as it relates to abandoned or stored motor vehicles which could be deemed of
historic or special interest.
B. The term "junk, wrecked, or used automobiles or motor vehicles" as used in this
Section shall mean any motor vehicle which is totally inoperable; left unattended on any
portion of any occupied lot, neutral ground, street, or sidewalk; and is so damaged or
dismantled as to be a total loss, including abandoned or stored motor vehicles which could
be deemed of historic or special interest. The term "inoperable" shall apply to vehicles that
remain inoperable for seventy-two consecutive hours on public property or thirty consecutive
days on private property. The term "total loss" shall mean that the cost to repair a damaged
or dismantled motor vehicle exceeds the junk value of the vehicle, as determined by any
recognized national appraisal book. The ordinance shall provide for the removal and
disposition of such junk motor vehicles after notice of not less than ten days either placed on
the vehicle itself or given to the owner, if known. Any vehicle which remains on the public
ways or private property described in this Subsection after notice given as provided in the
ordinance shall be considered as public property and disposed of by the municipality or
parish as the governing authority may designate. In the case of other abandoned property set
forth in Subsection A of this Section, the notice shall be given to the owner of the lot or
parcel of ground upon which the junk material is located, and the cost of removing the
material shall constitute a special lien collectible in the same manner as special assessments
are collectible by law.
C. In the exercise of the authority herein granted, the governing authority may
provide for the removal of such abandoned junk by the municipality or parish and for the
collection of the cost of removal, not to exceed two hundred dollars, from the owner of the
material and, among other things, may require, but not by way of limitation, that any vacant
lot or portion of any occupied lot used for the storage of junk, as herein defined, shall be
surrounded or enclosed by a board fence or other enclosure.