Chapter 8.35
NUISANCES

Sections:

8.35.010    General.

8.35.020    Summary abatement – Penalties.

8.35.010 General.

A. It is unlawful for any person to maintain a public nuisance. A public nuisance includes, but is not limited to, any fence, wall, shed, deck, garage, building, structure or any part of aforesaid; or any tree, pole, smokestack; or any excavation, hole, pit, basement, cellar, sidewalk sub-space; or any lot, land, yard, premises or location which, in its entirety, or in any part thereof, by reason of the condition in which same is found or permitted to be or remain, shall or may endanger the health, safety, life, limb or property, or cause any hurt, harm, inconvenience, discomfort, damage or injury to any one or more individuals in the town, or which unlawfully obstructs the free passage, view in such a way to create a traffic hazard, or use in a customary manner of any public place, street, sidewalk or alley in the town, in any one or more of the following particulars:

1. By reason of being a menace, threat, and/or hazard to the general health and safety of the community.

2. By reason of being a fire hazard.

3. By reason of being unsafe for occupancy, or use on, in, upon, about or around the aforesaid property.

B. It shall be considered a nuisance and unlawful for any property owner or renter to store a junk vehicle or a major component of a motor vehicle on or near any residential lot within the town. A major component of a motor vehicle shall be considered to be a car or truck body, or parts thereof with or without wheels, a car or truck chassis, an engine block, transmission or axle with or without any ancillary features. A junk vehicle means any motor vehicle which is, at a minimum, of a type subject to registration under ARS Title 28, but does not have lawfully affixed thereto unexpired number or license plates assigned to the vehicle by any state, and in addition, which exhibits one or more of the following conditions: wrecked, partially or fully dismantled, abandoned, stripped, substantially damaged, inoperative, inoperable, unused, scrapped, having the status of hulk or shell, discarded, or unable to be safely operated. A historic vehicle legitimately under restoration shall not be considered a junk vehicle.

C. A violation of any provision of this chapter is a civil infraction and shall be adjudicated by the town magistrate. [Ord. 1998-12; prior code § 14-2-1.]

8.35.020 Summary abatement – Penalties.

A. “Summary abatement” means abatement of the nuisance by the town, or a contractor employed by the town, by removal, repair, or other acts without notice to the owner and occupant of the property when there is an immediate threat to the public health, safety and welfare.

1. “Abatement” means the removal, stoppage, prostration, or destruction of that which causes or constitutes a nuisance, whether by braking or pulling it down, or otherwise destroying, or effacing it.

2. “Owner” means the owner of record based on the county assessor’s record or any person with legal, financial or equitable interest in the property on which the alleged public nuisance exists at the time of the violation.

3. “Property” means any real property, premises, structure or location on which a public nuisance is alleged to exist.

4. The town is authorized to enter private property and abate nuisances that pose an immediate risk to public health, safety or welfare. If such nuisance does not pose an immediate risk of public harm, the town shall notify the owner and occupant of the property of the requirement to abate such nuisance within a certain period of time as stated in the notice. The town manager or his/her designee may cause the removal of the nuisance from private property should the property owner or person in control fail to remove the nuisance after the required notice. The town is expressly authorized to enter private property and abate nuisances.

5. The owner and occupant of the property shall be responsible for all costs incurred by the town in abating any nuisances under this section, including costs of enforcement of this chapter.

B. A violation of any provision of this chapter is a civil infraction and shall be adjudicated by the town magistrate. Each day such violation is committed or permitted to continue shall constitute a separate offense and shall be punishable as such hereunder. [Ord. 1998-12; prior code § 14-2-2.]