Chapter 8.16
NUISANCES*
Sections:
8.16.010 Definitions.
8.16.020 Public nuisance declared.
8.16.030 Spitting in certain places prohibited.
8.16.040 Prohibited conduct.
8.16.050 Enforcement--Notice.
8.16.060 Appeal.
8.16.070 Abatement by the city.
8.16.080 Abatement by owner or other responsible person.
8.16.090 Immediate danger--Summary abatement.
8.16.100 Violation--Penalty.
8.16.110 Remedies nonexclusive.
* For statutory provisions regarding nuisances, see RCW Ch. 7.48; for criminal provisions regarding nuisances, see RCW Ch. 9.66; for provisions authorizing first class cities to declare what shall be a nuisance, to abate the same, and to impose fines upon parties who create, continue, or suffer nuisances to exist, see RCW 35.22.280(31); for provisions granting to code cities all of the powers of any city of any class, see RCW 35A.21.160.
8.16.010 Definitions.
Unless the context requires otherwise, the following means:
Nuisance. Unless the context of the use of the term in a particular section or the specific language of this code otherwise provide or requires, for purposes of this code, a "nuisance" or a "public nuisance" consists in an occupation, use of property, a thing, unlawfully doing an act, or omitting to perform a duty, which occupation, use, thing, act or omission:
1. Unreasonably annoys, injuries or endangers the comfort, repose, health or safety of the public or others;
2. Unreasonably offends decency;
3. Unlawfully interferes with, obstructs or tends to obstruct, or renders dangerous for passage or use, any lake, stream, canal or basin, or any public park, square, street, alley or highway;
4. In any way renders other persons unreasonably insecure in life or the use of property; or
5. Unreasonably obstructs the free use of property so as to essentially interfere with the comfortable enjoyment of life and property.
Officer, Enforcement Officer or Designated Person. The "officer or designated person" for the purpose of this chapter means either the city supervisor, fire chief, fire marshal, building official or their respective designees, as may be applicable under the circumstances and subject to the provisions of RCW 35A.12.100.
"Person" means a natural person, firm, partnership, association or corporation, whether he is acting for himself or as representative or agent of another.
"Person in charge of property" means an agent, lessee, contract purchaser, or other person having possession or control of property or the supervision of any construction project.
Person Responsible. The "person responsible" for abating a nuisance shall include:
1. The owner;
2. The person in charge of property, as defined in this section;
3. The person who caused to come into or continue in existence a nuisance as defined in this chapter or another ordinance of the city.
"Premises" as used in this chapter, means and includes property, landscaping, plantings, trees, bushes, fences, buildings, fixtures and exterior storage of personal property, equipment, supplies and vehicles.
"Public place" means a building, public street, alley or right-of-way, place or accommodation, whether publicly or privately owned, open and available to the general public. (Ord. 942 §1, 1995).
8.16.020 Public nuisance declared.
Each of the following conditions, unless otherwise permitted by law, is declared to constitute a public nuisance, and whenever the enforcement officer determines that any of these conditions exist upon any premises, the officer may require or provide for the abatement thereof pursuant to this chapter:
The construction, maintaining, using, placing, depositing, causing, allowing, leaving or permitting to be or remain in or upon any private or public lot, building, structure, or premises, on, in or upon any street, avenue, alley, park, parkway or other public or private place in the city, any one or more of the following places, conditions, things, or acts to the prejudice, danger or annoyance of others:
1. Accumulations of manure, rubbish or other solid waste; provided, that a compost pile so covered or concealed as not to affect the health, safety or value of adjacent property shall not be so deemed;
2. Pollution of a body of water, spring, stream or drainage ditch by sewage, industrial wastes, or other substances that cause harmful material to pollute the water;
3. All limbs or trees overhanging a public sidewalk or alley which are less than nine feet above the surface of said sidewalk or overhanging a city street which are less than fourteen feet above the surface of said street;
4. Premises or residences:
a. Which are in such a state of decay as to cause an offensive odor;
b. Which are in an unsanitary condition; or
c. Which create or constitute an unreasonable risk of fire or public safety hazard for adjoining property owners, whether public or private;
5. Ponds or pools of stagnant water, except those areas of wetlands as designated by city, federal or state laws, rules or regulations;
6. Privies, vaults, cesspools, sumps, pits, or like places which are not securely protected from flies and rats or which are foul or malodorous;
7. All unused, abandoned or discarded refrigerators, iceboxes, or like containers which are left in any place exposed or accessible to children; or any water closet, bathtub or other appliance;
8. All places not properly fenced which are used or maintained as junkyards or dumping grounds, or for the wrecking, disassembling, repair or rebuilding of automobiles, trucks, tractors or machinery of any kind, or for the storing or leaving of worn out, wrecked or abandoned automobiles, trucks, tractors, or machinery of any kind or of any of the parts thereof, or for the storing or leaving of any machinery or equipment used by contractors or builders or by other persons, which said places are kept or maintained so as to essentially interfere with the comfortable enjoyment of life or property by others;
9. Deposit, keep or leave or to permit to be deposited, kept or left in any place accessible to children, or in any place viewable from a public street or alley, any abandoned, unused, unlicensed, non-running, or discarded automobile, trailer, truck or other such vehicle, or any vehicle hulk or any part thereof. For the purposes of this subsection, "abandoned, unused, non-running" refers to a vehicle which is not movable under its own power and which has been in a stationary position for more than fourteen days.
This section shall not apply to junk kept in a duly licensed junkyard, automobile wrecking yard, automobile sales lots, or automobile repair shop.
The term "junk" as used in this section includes all motor vehicles not currently licensed, old, or unusual motorized or nonmotorized vehicle or vehicle parts, abandoned automobiles, old machinery, old machinery parts, old appliances, or parts thereof, old iron or other metal, glass, paper, lumber, wood or other waste or discarded material;
10. An open pit, quarry, cistern, or other excavation without safeguards or barriers to prevent such places from being accessed or used by children.
This section shall not apply to authorized construction projects with reasonable safeguards to prevent injury or death to playing children;
11. The depositing or burning of or causing to be deposited or burned in any street, alley, sidewalk, park, parkway, or other public place which is open to travel, any hay, straw, grass, grass clippings, papers, wood, boards, boxes, leaves, manure, or other rubbish or material except by permission of the fire marshal;
12. The existence of any dead, diseased, infested or dying tree that may constitute a danger to property or persons. No tree on property which abuts upon a street or public sidewalk shall interfere with street or sidewalk traffic;
13. All shrubs, bushes, trees or vegetation which have grown and are in such a condition, whether as the result of size, flammability, or state of decay, constitute a fire hazard;
14. Any tin cans, bottles, glass, cans, ashes, small pieces of scrap iron, wire, pipe, metal articles, plaster, and all other trash or abandoned material, unless the same, is kept in covered bins or metal receptacles approved by the director of public works and further except for recyclables kept in approved containers;
15. Any trash, litter, rags, accumulations of empty barrels, boxes, crates, packing cases, mattresses, bedding accessories, packing hay, straw, or other packing material, scrap iron, tin, pipe and other metal not neatly piled;
16. Lumber, roofing or siding materials, logs, or pilings not so stacked, piled or arranged as to be free from being dangerous to or/and accessible to children;
17. Any of the following not properly secured from access by the public; provided, that the building official shall have concurrent jurisdiction in relation to any covered structures:
a. Any unsightly or dangerous building, billboard or other structure,
b. Any abandoned, or partially destroyed building or structure,
c. Any building or structure commenced and left unfinished for a period of more than six months from the date of the last completed work pursuant to the authority of an applicable valid building permit,
d. Storage of vehicles, materials or other objects contrary to the provision of any applicable section of this code;
18. Repair upon the public streets, alleys or other public property of the city, of any automobile, truck or other motor vehicle or any other device required to possess a license issued by the Department of Motor Vehicle/Licenses of this state or the state of its registration except for emergency repairs not to exceed forty-eight hours in any seven-day period and only so long as it is so located as to not constitute a hazard or unreasonable interference to pedestrian or motor vehicle travel or the placement or storage upon these sights of vehicles, materials, or other objects contrary to the provision of any applicable section of this code;
19. Any putrid, unsound or unwholesome bones, meat, hides, skins, skeletons or other whole or part of any dead animal, fish or fowl, butcher’s trimmings and offal, or any waste, vegetable or animal matter, in any quantity, garbage, human excreta, or other offensive substance, provided nothing contained in this chapter shall prevent the temporary retention of waste in receptacles in the manner approved by the director of public works of the city or the local disposal company;
20. Except to the extent allowed by the lawful terms of a permit issued by the governmental authority having jurisdiction thereof, burning or disposal of refuse, sawdust, or other material in such a manner to cause or permit ashes, sawdust, soot, or cinders to be cast upon the streets or alleys of the city, or to cause or permit dense smoke, noxious fumes, ashes, soot, or gases arising from such burning to become annoying or injurious to the health, comfort, or repose of the general public;
21. The existence of any vines, plants growing into or over any street, sidewalk, public hydrant, pole or electrolier, or the existence of any shrub, vine or plant, growing on, around, or in front of any hydrant, stand pipe, sprinkler system connection, or any other appliance or facility provided for fire protection purposes in such a way as to obscure the view thereof or impair the access thereto, or obstruct or interfere with the proper diffusion from the light from any street lamp, or obstruct the vision of vehicle or pedestrian traffic;
22. Any poisonous or harmful substance which is reasonably accessible to persons or to animals;
23. The existence of any fence or other structure or thing on private property abutting or fronting upon any public street, alley, sidewalk, or place which is in a sagging, leaning, fallen, decayed, or other dilapidated or unsafe condition;
24. Poultry which creates a nuisance;
25. To dispose of animals within the city;
26. All trees, hedges, billboards, fences or other obstructions which prevent persons from having a clear view of traffic approaching an intersection from cross streets in sufficient time to bring a motor vehicle driven at a reasonable speed to a full stop before the intersection is reached;
27. All explosives, inflammable liquids, and other dangerous substances stored in any manner or in any amount other than that provided by ordinance;
28. For any person to obstruct or encroach upon public highway, streets, private ways, alleys, and ways open to the public, including cemeteries, or to unlawfully obstruct or impede the flow of municipal transit vehicles, as defined in RCW 46.04.355, as now existing or hereafter amended or succeeded, or passenger traffic, or to otherwise interfere with the provision or use of public transportation services, or obstruct or impede a municipal transit driver, operator, employee, or supervisor in the performance of that individual’s duties;
29. For any person to erect, continue or use any building or other structure or place for the exercise of any trade, activity, employment or manufacture, which, by occasioning obnoxious, hazardous or toxic exhausts or emissions, offensive smells, or otherwise, is offensive or dangerous to the health of individuals or the public;
30. For any person to cause or allow the obstruction of or impeding, without legal authority, of the passage or flow of any stream, canal or body of water;
31. Any place wherein intoxicating liquors or controlled substances are kept for unlawful use, sale or distribution. (Ord. 942 §2, 1995).
8.16.030 Spitting in certain places prohibited.
Spitting upon any sidewalk in the city or upon the floors or walls of a public building, a building used for public assemblage, or a building used for manufacturing or industrial purposes is prohibited. (Ord. 524 §6, 1972).
8.16.040 Prohibited conduct.
It is unlawful for any responsible person or owner to create, permit, maintain, suffer, carry on, or allow upon any premises any of the acts or things declared by this chapter to be a public nuisance. (Ord. 942 §3, 1995).
8.16.050 Enforcement--Notice.
A. The enforcement officer, upon receiving a written complaint from any neighbor, person, citizen, or other source, or becoming aware that a nuisance may exist, shall investigate the complaint or information with all reasonable dispatch.
B. The enforcement officer, upon finding any condition in violation of this chapter, shall cause any owner or other responsible person to be notified in writing of the existence of the public nuisance, including posting of a notice on the premises where the nuisance exists, directing the owner or person in charge of the property to abate the condition within ten calendar days after notice or other reasonable period. If not personally served, the written notice shall be mailed to the last known address of the owner or other responsible person, with copies being transmitted by first class post and certified mail.
1. At the time of posting, if in the determination by the enforcement office said property appears abandoned, a copy of such notice shall be forwarded by certified mail to the legal owner or designated guardian, postage paid, and if known or disclosed from official public records of the tax assessor’s office, to the holder of any other legal interest in the building or land created by contract, deed of trust, mortgage or deed.
2. The notice shall be substantially in the following form and may contain such other information as may be deemed appropriate by the issuing official:
NOTICE TO ABATE UNSAFE OR UNLAWFUL CONDITION
(Name and address of person notified)
As owner, agent, lessee, or other person occupying or having charge or control of the building, lot, or premises ___________ you are hereby notified that the undersigned, pursuant to Ordinance Number/Code Section ____ of the City of Elma has determined that there exists upon or adjoining said premises the following condition contrary to the provisions of subsection ____ of Ordinance Number/Code Section _______.
You are hereby notified to abate or correct said condition to the satisfaction of the undersigned within ten (10) days of the date of this notice. If you do not abate, correct or appeal such condition within ten (10) days, the City may without further notice to you abate the condition at your expense.
Dated: ______________.
By (Name of Enforcement Officer) (Ord. 942 §4, 1995).
8.16.060 Appeal.
Within the time allowed after posting and mailing of such notice, as provided in Section 8.16.050, the person responsible shall remove the nuisance or within the same ten-day time period show that no nuisance exists unless an appeal/protest is taken as provided in this section.
A. An owner or person responsible protesting that no nuisance exists shall file with the public works director a written statement which shall specify the basis for so protesting within the ten-day period allowed for removal pursuant to Section 8.16.050. The statement shall set out with reasonable specificity the factual matters which are the basis of the protest.
B. The statement shall be referred to the mayor for administrative review. In undertaking such a review, the mayor may consider such materials as are within the file, including those submitted by the party protesting the decision. The mayor may also undertake a personal view of the site or condition at issue. If determined necessary and appropriate by the mayor, an informal conference may be held at which the protestor and all other interested parties and persons may present such factual and legal information as is determined relevant by the mayor. Following such administrative review, the mayor shall thereupon determine whether or not a nuisance in fact exists, and the determination shall be entered in the official records of the city. An administrative review shall be required only in those instances where a written statement has been filed as provided within this section.
C. 1. If the administrative review determines that a nuisance does in fact exist, the person responsible shall, within the time specified after the administrative determination, abate the nuisance.
2. If more than one person is a person responsible, they shall be jointly and severally liable for abating the nuisance, and for the costs incurred by the city in abating the nuisance.
3. If, within the time allowed, the nuisance has not been abated by the person or persons responsible, the city may cause the nuisance to be abated. (Ord. 942 §5, 1995).
8.16.070 Abatement by the city.
In all cases where the mayor has determined to proceed with abatement, the city shall acquire jurisdiction to abate the condition at the person’s expense as provided in this chapter. Upon the abatement of the condition or any portion thereof by the city, all the expenses thereof shall constitute a civil debt owing to the city jointly and severally by such persons who have been given notice as herein provided. The debt shall be collectible in the same manner as any other civil debt owing to the city. To the extent allowed by law, whether statute, ordinance, rule or regulation, including, but not limited to, the provisions of the building code, fire code, or uniform code relating to the abatement of abandoned or dangerous buildings, it shall become a lien against the property and may be collected in such manner as may be allowed by law. (Ord. 942 §6, 1995).
8.16.080 Abatement by owner or other responsible person.
If and when an owner or other responsible person shall undertake to abate any condition described in this chapter, whether by order of the enforcement officer or otherwise, all necessary and legal conditions pertinent to the abatement may be imposed by the enforcement officer.
It is unlawful for the owner or other responsible person to fail to comply with such conditions. Nothing in this chapter shall relieve any owner or other responsible person of the obligation of obtaining any required permit to do any work incidental to the abatement. (Ord. 942 §7, 1995).
8.16.090 Immediate danger--Summary abatement.
Whenever any condition on or use of property causes or constitutes or reasonably appears to cause or constitute an imminent or immediate danger to the health or safety of the public or a significant portion thereof, the enforcement officer shall have the authority to summarily and without notice abate the same to the extent and subject to the provisions of applicable law, including by way of representation, RCW 35A.12.100, as now existing, amended or succeeded. The expenses of such abatement shall become a civil debt against the owner or other responsible party and be collected as provided in Section 8.16.070. (Ord. 942 §8, 1995).
8.16.100 Violation--Penalty.
A. Any person violating any of the provisions of this chapter shall be subject to the following penalty or punishments:
1. In the event of a first violation within any six-month period, be issued a notice of infraction and, upon a finding of committed, be subject to a penalty of up to two hundred fifty dollars;
2. In the event of a second violation within any six-month period, be issued a notice of infraction and, upon a finding of committed, be subject to a penalty of up to five hundred dollars, one hundred fifty dollars of which may be neither suspended nor deferred;
3. In the event of a third and subsequent violation within any six-month period, be subject to issuance of a criminal citation, and upon conviction, be guilty of a misdemeanor and, subject to punishment by a fine not to exceed one thousand dollars, two hundred fifty dollars of which shall be neither suspended nor deferred, by imprisonment in jail not to exceed ninety days, or by both such fine and imprisonment.
B. In addition to any other penalty, fine or imprisonment which may be imposed, the court may direct the correction or elimination of the nuisance and in the event the party fails to timely correct, order such correction to be carried out and require the party to pay the costs related to such correction or elimination. In the event that summary abatement has been carried out pursuant to the authority within in Section 8.16.090, the costs incurred by the city in so acting may be imposed. (Ord. 942 §9, 1995).
8.16.110 Remedies nonexclusive.
The remedies prescribed in this chapter are in addition to all other remedies provided or authorized by law, whether ordinance, statute or regulation. (Ord. 942 §10, 1995).