Chapter 8.36
PUBLIC NUISANCES

Sections:

8.36.010    Nuisance defined.

8.36.020    Public nuisances affecting health.

8.36.030    Public nuisances affecting peace and safety.

8.36.040    Notification.

8.36.050    Failure to comply with notice – Enforcement by city.

8.36.060    Maintaining or permitting nuisance declared violation.

8.36.010 Nuisance defined.

A nuisance is 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 renders dangerous for passage, a public park, square, street, alley, highway or sidewalk;

D. In any way renders the public insecure in life or use of property. (Ord. 1169 § 1 (Exh. A), 2010; Ord. 572 § 1, 1978).

8.36.020 Public nuisances affecting health.

The following are declared to be nuisances affecting health:

A. All diseased animals running at large;

B. All ponds or pools of stagnant water;

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

D. Accumulations of manure or rubbish;

E. Solid waste receptacles which are not fly tight;

F. All noxious weeds and other rank growths upon public or private property;

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

H. The insufficient covering and sealing of unused wells. (Ord. 1169 § 1 (Exh. A), 2010; Ord. 572 § 2, 1978).

8.36.030 Public nuisances affecting peace and safety.

The following are declared to be nuisances affecting public peace and safety:

A. All snow and ice not removed from public sidewalks within 24 hours after the snow and ice has ceased to be deposited thereon;

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

C. Combustible rubbish including shavings, rubbish, sacks, bags, litter, hay, straw, or any combustible waste liable to spontaneous combustion or otherwise to cause fire, except in a receptacle made of incombustible material;

D. 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;

E. 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;

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

G. The keeping or harboring of any dog, rooster, or other animal which by frequent or habitual howling, yelping, barking, crowing or the making of other noises, shall annoy or disturb a neighborhood;

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

I. The keeping, using or maintaining of any pen, stable, lot, place or premises in which any animal of any sort is confined or kept, in violation of CMC 6.32.030(A) or 17.58.085(C)(2);

J. The unreasonable acceleration of motor vehicles so as to cause backfiring and/or excessive noise;

K. All barbed wire fences which are located within three feet of any public sidewalk, and any fence charged with electricity in any amount whatsoever;

L. Riding or leading horses upon the sidewalks or parking strips, public parks, or any public property anywhere within the city limits;

M. The repair or abandonment of an automobile, truck or other motor vehicle of any kind upon the public streets or alleys of the city, or private property as provided by CMC 17.58.090(A)(3);

N. The dumping, throwing, placing, leaving or causing to be permitted or dumped, thrown, placed, or left, any filth, paper, cans, glass, rubbish, trash, garbage, grass trimmings, shrub trimmings, and shrubbery of any kind in or upon any street, alley, sidewalk, ditch, or private property of another in the city;

O. The permitting to remain outside any dwelling, building, or other structure, or within any unoccupied or abandoned building, dwelling, or other structure, in a place accessible to children, any abandoned, unattended, or discarded icebox, refrigerator, or other container, which has an airtight door or lid, snap lock or other automatic locking device, which may not be released from the inside, without first removing said door or lid, snap lock, or other locking device;

P. The permitting any unused well, cistern or storing tank to remain on any real property without first demolishing or removing from the city such storage tank or securely closing and barring any entrance or trap door thereto, or without filling any well or cistern, or capping the same securely. (Ord. 1169 § 1 (Exh. A), 2010; Ord. 572 § 3, 1978).

8.36.040 Notification.

An enforcement officer appointed by the mayor, having knowledge of any public nuisance, shall cause any owner or other responsible person to be notified pursuant to CMC 14.13.080 of the existence of a public nuisance on any premises and shall direct the owner or other responsible person to abate the condition within 10 days after notice or other reasonable period. (Ord. 1169 § 1 (Exh. A), 2010; Ord. 572 § 4, 1978).

8.36.050 Failure to comply with notice – Enforcement by city.

If, within 10 days after receiving a proper notice in writing for the abatement of any public nuisance, the person owning, occupying or controlling such premises fails, neglects or refuses to remove the same, the city may exercise any enforcement remedy and impose any penalty set forth in CMC 14.13.090. (Ord. 1169 § 1 (Exh. A), 2010; Ord. 601 § 1, 1980; Ord. 572 § 5, 1978).

8.36.060 Maintaining or permitting nuisance declared violation.

Every person who commits or maintains a public nuisance for which no special punishment is prescribed; or willfully omits or refuses to perform any legal duty relating to the removal of such nuisance; and every person who lets or permits to be used any building or lot or portion thereof, knowing that it is intended to be or is being used, for committing or maintaining any such nuisance, is guilty of a violation of this chapter. (Ord. 1169 § 1 (Exh. A), 2010; Ord. 572 § 6, 1978).