Chapter 8.12
NUISANCES

Sections:

8.12.010    Defined.

8.12.020    Health.

8.12.030    Repealed.

8.12.040    Peace and safety.

8.12.050    Enforcement procedures.

8.12.060    Repealed.

8.12.010 Defined.

“Nuisance” means a thing, act, omission to act, occupation or use of property which:

A. Unreasonably annoys, injures or endangers the safety, health, comfort or repose of the public;

B. Offends public decency;

C. Unlawfully interferes with, obstructs or tends to obstruct, or renders dangerous for passage, a lake, navigable river, bay, stream, canal or basin, or a public park, square, street, sidewalk, alley or highway;

D. In any way renders the public insecure in life or in use of property. (Ord. 1130 § 4, 2016; Ord. 31 § 1, 1962)

8.12.020 Health.

The following are nuisances affecting health:

A. All decaying or unwholesome food offered for sale to the public;

B. All diseased animals running at large;

C. All ponds or pools of stagnant water;

D. Carcasses of animals not buried or destroyed within 24 hours after death;

E. Accumulations of manure or rubbish except a compost pile so covered or concealed as not to affect the health, safety or depreciation of adjoining property;

F. Privy vaults and garbage cans which are not fly-tight;

G. The pollution of any public well or cistern, stream, lake, canal or body of water by sewage, creamery or industrial wastes, or other substances;

H. All noxious weeds, which means a plant that when established is highly destructive, competitive, or difficult to control by cultural or chemical practices or that is listed on the Washington State noxious weeds list, and other rank growth upon public or private property;

I. Dense smoke, noxious fumes, gas and soot, or cinders, in unreasonable quantities;

J. Offensive trades and businesses defined by statute or city ordinance;

K. All public exposure of persons having a contagious disease;

L. The distribution of samples of medicines or drugs unless such samples are placed in the hands of an adult person;

M. All other acts, omissions of acts, occupations and uses of property which are deemed by the city’s code enforcement officer to be a menace to the health of the inhabitants of this city, or any considerable number thereof. (Ord. 1130 § 4, 2016; Ord. 318 § 1, 1984; Ord. 31 § 2, 1962)

8.12.030 Morals and decency.

Repealed by Ord. 1130. (Ord. 318 § 1, 1984; Ord. 31 § 3, 1962)

8.12.040 Peace and safety.

The following are nuisances affecting public peace and safety:

A. All snow and ice not removed from public sidewalks within a reasonable time after the snow and ice has ceased to be deposited thereon;

B. All trees, hedges, fences or other obstructions which prevent persons from having a clear view of traffic approaching an intersection from cross streets or approaching a curve in the road a person cannot see around in sufficient time to bring a motor vehicle driven at a reasonable speed to a full stop before the intersection is reached;

C. All limbs of trees which are less than eight feet above the surface of any public sidewalk or 12 feet above the surface of any street;

D. All buildings, walls and other structures which have been damaged by fire, decay or otherwise so as to endanger the safety of the public;

E. All explosives, inflammable liquids and other dangerous substances stored in any manner or in any amount other than that provided by ordinance;

F. Obstructions and excavations affecting the ordinary use by the public of streets, alleys, sidewalks or public grounds, except under such conditions as are provided by ordinance;

G. Any use of property abutting on a public street or sidewalk or any use of a public street or sidewalk which causes large crowds of people to gather, obstructing traffic and the free use of the streets or sidewalks, except when undertaking constitutionally protected activities;

H. All hanging signs, awnings and other similar structures over the street or sidewalks, or so situated as to endanger public safety, not constructed and maintained as provided by ordinance;

I. All other conditions or things which are liable to cause injury to the person or property of anyone;

J. All places used or maintained as a junkyard or dumping grounds, or for the wrecking or disassembling of automobiles, trucks, tractors, or machinery of any kind, or for the storing or leaving of worn out, wrecked or abandoned automobiles, trucks or other machinery of any kind, or of any of the parts thereof;

K. Any poisonous or harmful substance which is reasonably accessible to persons or to animals;

L. The keeping, using or maintaining of any pen, stable, lot, place or premises in which any hog, cattle or fowl may be confined or kept, in such manner as to be nauseous, foul or offensive;

M. The keeping or harboring of any animal which by frequent or habitual howling, yelping, barking or the making of other noises, or the keeping or harboring of any fowl which by frequent habitual crowing or the making of other noises annoys or disturbs a neighborhood or any considerable number of persons;

N. All unused, abandoned or discarded refrigerators, ice boxes or like containers which are left in any place exposed or accessible to children and which are of a capacity of 1.5 cubic feet or more, unless all doors thereon may be readily opened from the inside thereof or have been removed therefrom, or unless all locks and locking devices have been removed therefrom;

O. Unregistered bee colonies, abandoned bee colonies, diseased bees, or bees living in trees, buildings, or any other space except in movable-frame hives or the existence of any bees which are not in full compliance with Chapter 15.60 RCW. (Ord. 1130 § 4, 2016; Ord. 820 § 3, 2000; Ord. 31 § 4, 1962)

8.12.050 Enforcement procedures.

This chapter shall be enforced as provided in Chapter 1.25 LFPMC. The provisions of this chapter are not exclusive and may be used in addition to other enforcement provisions authorized by the Lake Forest Park Municipal Code except as precluded by law. (Ord. 1130 § 4, 2016; Ord. 318 § 1, 1984; Ord. 31 § 6, 1962)

8.12.060 Violation – Penalty.*

Repealed by Ord. 784. (Ord. 318 § 1, 1984; Ord. 31 § 5, 1962)

*Code reviser’s note: Penalty provisions can be found in Chapter 8.90 LFPMC.