Chapter 9.10
NUISANCES1
Sections:
9.10.010 Definitions.
9.10.020 Prohibited conduct.
9.10.030 Types of nuisances.
9.10.040 Violation – Penalty.
9.10.010 Definitions.
The words and phrases used in this chapter, unless the context otherwise indicates, shall have the following meanings:
A. “Abate” means to repair, replace, remove, destroy or otherwise remedy a condition which constitutes violation of this chapter by such means and in such a manner and to such an extent as the applicable department director determines is necessary in the interest of the general health, safety and welfare of the community.
B. “Applicable department director” means the director of the department or any designated alternate who is empowered by the city manager or by ordinance to enforce a city ordinance or regulation.
C. “Building materials” means and includes lumber, plumbing materials, wallboard, sheet metal, plaster, brick, cement, asphalt, concrete block, roofing material, cans of paint and similar materials.
D. “Shopping cart containment area” as required by LUC 20.10.440 – Note 39 means: (1) a location determined by the city to constitute a shopping cart containment area; (2) an area designated during permit review as a shopping cart containment area; (3) an area stipulated to by the city and wholesale or retail owner pursuant to a voluntary compliance agreement; or (4) any area designated as a shopping cart containment area through adjudication of a civil enforcement action. A shopping cart containment area may include all or a portion of the property permitted for wholesale or retail use but may not include property located outside of said permitted use areas and may not include any area designated as right-of-way.
E. “Construction debris” includes any building material used prior to, during, or after construction-related activities, which is not properly screened or is otherwise offensive to a reasonable person. For purposes of this chapter, “construction-related activities” include any development on real property as defined in LUC 20.50.016.
F. “Person” means any individual, firm, association, partnership, corporation or any other entity, public or private.
G. “Premises” means any building, lot, parcel, real estate or land or portion of land whether improved or unimproved, including adjacent sidewalks and parking strips and any lake, river, stream, drainage way or wetland. (Ord. 5889 § 3, 2009; Ord. 5791 § 9, 2007; Ord. 4242 § 1, 1991.)
9.10.020 Prohibited conduct.
It is a violation of this chapter for any person to permit, create, maintain, or allow, upon any premises, any of the acts or things declared in BCC 9.10.030 to be a public nuisance. (Ord. 4242 § 1, 1991.)
9.10.030 Types of nuisances.
Each of the following conditions, unless otherwise permitted by law, is declared to constitute a public nuisance, and whenever the applicable department director determines that any of these conditions exist upon any premises, the applicable department director may provide for the abatement thereof and monetary penalties may be assessed pursuant to Chapter 1.18 BCC, Civil Violations:
A. The existence of any trash, dirt, filth, the carcass of any animal, accumulation of yard trimmings or other matter which is offensive to a reasonable person, except for such yard debris that is properly contained for the purpose of composting; or
B. Erecting, maintaining, using, placing, depositing, leaving or permitting to be or remain in or upon any premises which may be viewed or smelled from without the premises, or in or upon any street, alley, sidewalk, park, parkway or other public or private place in the city, any one or more of the following disorderly, disturbing, unsanitary, fly-producing, rat-harboring, disease-causing places, conditions or things:
1. Any putrid, unhealthy or unwholesome bones, meat, hides, skins, the whole or any part of any dead animal, fish or fowl, or waste parts of fish, vegetable or animal matter in any quantity; but nothing herein shall prevent the temporary retention of waste in approved covered receptacles; or
2. Any privies, vaults, cesspools, sumps, pits or like places which are not securely protected from flies and rats, or which are malodorous; or
3. An accumulation of material including, but not limited to, bottles, cans, glass, plastic, ashes, scrap metal, wire, bric-a-brac, broken stone or cement, broken crockery, broken glass, broken plaster, litter, rags, empty barrels, boxes, crates, packing cases, mattresses, bedding, packing hay, straw or other packing material or building materials on any premises which is not properly stored or neatly piled or is offensive to a reasonable person or in which flies or rats may breed or multiply; or
4. An accumulation of any construction debris used prior to, during, or after construction-related activities as defined in LUC 20.50.016 which is not properly screened or is otherwise offensive to a reasonable person; or
C. The existence of any fence or other structure on private property abutting or fronting upon any public street, sidewalk or place which is in a sagging, leaning, fallen, decayed or other dilapidated or unsafe condition; or
D. The existence of wrecked or disassembled trailers, house trailers, boats, tractors or other vehicles, appliances or machinery of any kind, or any major parts thereof; or
E. The existence on any premises of any abandoned or unused well, pit, shaft, cistern or storage tank, without first demolishing or removing from the premises such storage tank, or securely closing and barring any entrance or trapdoor thereto, or without filling any well, pit, shaft or cistern or capping the same with sufficient security to prevent access thereto; or
F. The existence in a place accessible to children of any attractive nuisance dangerous to children, including but not limited to any abandoned, broken or neglected equipment, machinery, refrigerator, freezer, or other large appliance; or
G. The presence of rodents on any premises causing a threat to the public health, as determined by the director of the Seattle-King County department of public health pursuant to King County Board of Health Rules and Regulations No. 06-01 as adopted or hereafter amended; or
H. The presence of abandoned shopping carts outside of a shopping cart containment area as defined in BCC 9.10.010(D) and required by LUC 20.10.440 – Note 39. The following parties may collectively or independently be responsible for shopping carts leaving a containment area or causing abandonment of shopping carts: (1) the property owner, (2) the tenant, (3) a person causing abandonment of a shopping cart, or (4) a person causing the shopping cart to leave the containment area.
I. Any violation of Chapter 9.13 BCC, Minimum Maintenance Standards for Vacant Residences and Abandoned Construction Sites in Single-Family Residential Land Use Districts. (Ord. 5897 § 1, 2009; Ord. 5889 § 4, 2009; Ord. 5791 § 10, 2007; Ord. 5689 § 1, 2006; Ord. 4242 § 1, 1991.)
9.10.040 Violation – Penalty.
A. Any violation of any provision of this chapter constitutes a civil violation under Chapter 1.18 BCC for which a monetary penalty may be assessed and abatement may be required as provided therein.
B. In addition to or as an alternative to any other penalty provided in this chapter or by law, any person who violates any provision of this chapter shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. (Ord. 4242 § 1, 1991.)
Prior legislation: 1961 code §§ 6.10.010 – 6.10.080; Ords. 2090, 2427, and 3339.