Chapter 8.10
NUISANCES
Sections:
8.10.020 Nuisances affecting the public health.
8.10.050 Snow and ice removal.
8.10.070 Surface water drainage.
8.10.090 Adoption of Oregon fireworks law.
8.10.100 Notices and advertisements.
8.10.130 Abatement by the owner.
8.10.140 Abatement by the city.
8.10.170 Penalty for violation.
8.10.010 Definitions.
As used in this chapter the following means:
“Agent in charge of property” means any lessee, contract purchaser, or person, other than the owner, having the possession or control of property. [Code 2000 § 6.500.]
8.10.020 Nuisances affecting the public health.
The following are hereby declared to be nuisances affecting the public health and may be abated in the manner prescribed in CMC 8.10.120 to 8.10.160:
(A) Privies. Any open vault or privy maintained within the city, except those privies used in connection with construction projects and constructed in accordance with the directions of the city engineer.
(B) Debris, Solid Waste or Garbage on Private Property. All accumulations of debris, solid waste, garbage, rubbish, manure and other refuse located on private property and which has not been removed within a reasonable length of time and which affects the health, safety or welfare of the city.
(C) Stagnant Water. Any pool of water which is without a proper inlet or outlet and which, if not controlled, will be a breeding place for mosquitoes and other similar insects.
(D) Water Pollution. The pollution of any body of water or stream or river by sewage, industrial wastes or other substances placed in or near such water in a manner that will cause harmful material to pollute the water.
(E) Food. All decayed or unwholesome food which is offered for human consumption.
(F) Odor. Any premises which are in such a state or condition as to cause a noisome or offensive odor or which are in an unsanitary condition.
(G) Particular Businesses. Any pigsty, slaughter house or tannery maintained within the city.
(H) Vermin Infestation. The infestation of real property, improvements thereon, or accumulations of debris, solid waste or other matter located thereon, with rats, mice, rodents, vermin and other related or similar animals. For purposes of this section, the term “infestation” means the nesting, use, occupancy or location of one or more rats or mice, or rodents, or vermin or other related or similar animals on real property, improvements thereon, or in accumulations of debris, solid waste or other matter located thereon.
(I) Encroachments within Public Rights-of-Way. The placement of any object within a public right-of-way without first having received a revocable permit pursuant to CMC 9.10.090(C). [Ord. 716 § 3, 1991; Code 2000 § 6.505.]
8.10.030 Abandoned ice boxes.
No person shall place, leave or discard any abandoned, unattended or discarded ice box, refrigerator or similar container which has an airtight snap lock in any place accessible to children without first removing such airtight snap lock or the door or doors from the ice box, refrigerator or similar container. [Code 2000 § 6.510.]
8.10.040 Attractive nuisance.
(A) No person owning, controlling or in possession of any premises shall permit:
(1) Any machinery, equipment or other devices on such premises which are attractive and dangerous to children and which are accessible to the children.
(2) The piling of any lumber, logs, or piling in such manner as to be attractive and dangerous to children and which is accessible to children.
(3) Any excavation to remain open for an unreasonable length of time without erecting proper safeguards or barriers to prevent such excavation from being used by children.
(B) The provisions of this section shall not apply to authorized construction projects; provided, that during the course of construction reasonable safeguards are maintained to prevent injury or death to playing children.
(C) Any nuisance as described in this section may be abated as provided in CMC 8.10.120 to 8.10.160. [Code 2000 § 6.515.]
8.10.050 Snow and ice removal.
No person owning or controlling any premises, improved or unimproved, abutting upon any public sidewalks within the city shall permit:
(A) Any snow to remain on such sidewalk for a period longer than the first two hours of daylight after the snow has fallen.
(B) Any such sidewalk to be covered with ice, and it shall be the duty of any such person to remove any ice accumulating on such sidewalk or to properly cover it with sand, ashes or other suitable material to assure safe travel within the first two hours of daylight after the ice has formed. [Code 2000 § 6.520.]
8.10.060 Weeds.
(A) No person, as owner, occupant or agent in charge of, shall permit on any real property, improved or unimproved, or upon any sidewalk or right-of-way abutting such property, obnoxious vegetation; provided, however, that nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit bushes, trees, grass and other shrubbery grown or maintained for ornamental purposes nor shall it prohibit the growth or maintenance of any vegetation designed for food or fuel purposes.
(B) As used in this section, “obnoxious vegetation” includes:
(1) Grass or weeds more than 12 inches high;
(2) Poison oak or poison ivy; and
(3) Blackberry vines or vegetation that:
(a) Constitute a fire hazard because it is near other combustibles;
(b) Extend into a public way or a pathway;
(c) Extend across a property line; or
(d) Are used for habitation by trespassers.
(C) Obnoxious vegetation as defined in subsection (B) of this section is hereby declared to be a nuisance and may be abated as provided in CMC 8.10.120 to 8.10.160. [Code 2000 § 6.525; Ord. 2013-003 § 2, 2013.]
8.10.070 Surface water drainage.
(A) No person owning or controlling any real property shall permit any type of surface water from any source whatsoever to flow from the premises across or upon any sidewalk abutting such property.
(B) It is hereby made the duty of each person owning or controlling real property abutting upon any sidewalk to provide a proper system of drainage so that any overflow water will not be carried across or upon any sidewalk.
(C) The improper drainage of any type of surface water from any source across or upon any sidewalk is hereby declared to be a nuisance and may be abated as provided in CMC 8.10.120 to 8.10.160. [Code 2000 § 6.530.]
8.10.080 Fences.
(A) No person shall construct or maintain any barbed-wire fence or allow barbed-wire to remain as a part of any fence, unless such wire is placed not less than six inches above the top of a board or picket fence when such fence is not less than six feet in height.
(B) No person shall install, maintain or operate any electric fence within the city without first securing a permit from the city manager. A permit shall be granted only where the construction of such a fence will not endanger the general public.
(1) No person shall erect, maintain or locate, or permit the erection, maintenance or location, of a fence or barrier within that portion of the public right-of-way abutting property owned by or under the control or possession of any such person. Any fence or barrier located within the public right-of-way in violation of this section is hereby declared to be a nuisance subject to abatement under the provisions of this code.
(2) Any fence or barrier located within the public right-of-way on the effective date of the ordinance codified in this chapter shall be permitted to remain; provided, however, no person shall improve, repair, enlarge or extend said fence or barrier. If any such existing fence is partially damaged or destroyed, the entire fence shall be removed and its use terminated under the abatement provisions of this code.
(3) For purposes of this section, the terms “fence” or “barrier” shall not include structures used to establish vines, bushes or other landscaping materials; provided, however, no such structure shall be located or maintained within the public right-of-way for more than 12 calendar months. [Code 2000 § 6.535.]
8.10.090 Adoption of Oregon fireworks law.
The sale, use, and display of fireworks within the city shall be governed by and subject to applicable state law including OAR Chapter 837, Division 12, and ORS 480.110 to 480.170, inclusive. [Ord. 618 § 1, 1984; Code 2000 § 6.545.]
8.10.100 Notices and advertisements.
(A) No person shall affix or cause to be distributed any placard, bill, advertisement or poster upon any real or personal property, public or private, without first securing permission from the owner or person in control of private property. This section shall not be construed as an amendment to or a repeal of any regulation now or hereafter adopted by the city regulating the use of and the location of signs and advertising.
(B) No person shall, either as principal or agent, scatter, distribute or cause to be distributed on the streets, sidewalks or other public places or upon any private property any placards or advertisements whatsoever.
(C) This section shall not be construed to prohibit the distribution of advertising material during any parade or approved public gathering. [Code 2000 § 6.550.]
8.10.110 General nuisances.
In addition to those nuisances specifically enumerated within CMC 8.10.010 to 8.10.100, every other thing, substance or act which is determined by the council to be injurious or detrimental to the public health, safety or welfare of the city is hereby declared to be a nuisance and may be abated as provided in CMC 8.10.120 to 8.10.160. [Code 2000 § 6.555.]
8.10.120 Abatement notice.
(A) Upon determination in writing by the city manager, which shall be filed with the city recorder, that a nuisance as defined in this or any other law of the city exists, the city manager, or chief of police, or chief of the fire department shall forthwith cause a notice to be posted on the premises liable for the abatement directing the removal of such nuisance.
(B) At the time of posting, the city manager shall cause a copy of such notice to be forwarded by registered mail, postage prepaid, to the owner or agent in charge of the property at the last known address of such owner or agent.
(C) The notice to abate shall contain:
(1) A description of the real property, by street address or otherwise, on which such nuisance exists.
(2) A direction to remove the nuisance within 10 days from the date of the notice.
(3) A description of the nuisance.
(4) A statement that unless such nuisance is removed the city will remove the nuisance and the cost of removal shall be a lien against the property.
(5) A statement that the owner or agent in charge of the property may protest the action by giving notice to the city recorder within 10 days from the date of the notice.
(D) The person posting and mailing the notice as provided herein shall, upon completion of the posting and mailing, execute and file a certificate stating the date and place of such mailing and posting.
(E) An error in the name or address of the owner or agent in charge of the property or the use of a name other than that of the owner or agent shall not make the notice void and in such a case the posted notice shall be deemed sufficient. [Code 2000 § 6.560.]
8.10.130 Abatement by the owner.
(A) Within 10 days after the posting and mailing of the notice as provided in CMC 8.10.120, the owner or agent in charge of the property shall remove and abate the nuisance or show that no nuisance exists.
(B) The owner or agent in charge protesting that no nuisance in fact exists shall file with the city recorder a written statement which shall specify the basis for contending that no nuisance exists.
(C) The statement shall be referred to the council as a part of the council’s regular agenda at its succeeding meeting. At the time set for the consideration of the abatement, the owner or agent may appear and be heard by the council and the council shall thereupon determine whether a nuisance in fact exists and such determination shall be entered in the official minutes of the council. Council determination shall be required only in those cases where a written statement has been filed as provided herein.
(D) Upon council determination that a nuisance does in fact exist, the owner or agent shall, within 10 days after the council determination, remove or abate the nuisance. [Code 2000 § 6.565.]
8.10.140 Abatement by the city.
(A) If within the time fixed as provided by CMC 8.10.120 and 8.10.130, the nuisance has not been abated by the owner or agent in charge of the property, the city manager shall cause the nuisance to be abated.
(B) The city shall maintain an accurate record of all expenses incurred by it in abating the nuisance which expense shall include an amount to cover administrative costs. As used in this section, “administrative cost” includes (but is not necessarily limited to) those costs, expenses or charges imposed for or by direct administrative, clerical, legal and other support services for nuisance abatement under this chapter. The amount imposed for said administrative costs will be in an amount so as to cover the city’s true cost(s) for nuisance abatement.
(C) The total cost, including the administrative cost, shall thereupon be assessed to the property as hereinafter provided. [Code 2000 § 6.570; Ord. 824 § 1, 2001.]
8.10.150 Assessment of costs.
(A) A notice of the assessment shall be forwarded by registered mail, the postage prepaid, to the owner or agent in charge of the property by the city recorder. The notice shall contain:
(1) The total cost, including the administrative overhead, of the abatement.
(2) A statement that the cost as indicated will become a lien against the property unless paid within 60 days.
(3) A statement that if the owner or agent in charge of the property objects to the cost of the abatement as indicated, he may file a notice of objection with the city recorder within 30 days from the date of the notice.
(B) Upon the expiration of 30 days after the date of the notice objections to the proposed assessment shall be heard and determined by the council in its regular course of business.
(C) An assessment for the cost of abatement as determined by the city manager or by the council shall be made by resolution of the council and shall thereupon be entered in the docket of city liens, and upon such entry being made, it shall constitute a lien upon the property from which the nuisance was removed or abated.
(D) The lien shall be collected in the same manner as liens for street improvements are collected, and shall bear interest at the rate of seven percent per annum. Such interest shall commence to run 30 days after the entry of the lien in the lien docket.
(E) An error in the name of the owner or agent in charge of the property shall not void the assessment nor will a failure to receive the notice of the assessment render the assessment void, but it shall remain a valid lien against the property. [Code 2000 § 6.575.]
8.10.160 Summary abatement.
Upon determination by the city manager, chief of police or chief of the fire department that a nuisance as defined by this code exists and that unless the nuisance be summarily abated, the public health, safety or welfare will be endangered, such officer may act as follows:
(A) He shall give or cause to be given a notice to remove or abate such nuisance within 24 hours.
(B) If the nuisance is not removed or abated within 24 hours, he is authorized to remove or abate the nuisance and the cost shall be charged against the property and collected as provided in CMC 8.10.140 and 8.10.150. [Code 2000 § 6.580.]
8.10.170 Penalty for violation.
A finding of a violation of CMC 8.10.020 to 8.10.110 shall not relieve the responsible party of the duty to abate the nuisance. The abatement of a nuisance is not the exclusive remedy for violating CMC 8.10.020 to 8.10.110 but is in addition to and not in lieu of any other remedies available to the city. [Ord. 745 § 6, 1994; Code 2000 § 6.585.]