Chapter 8.55
NUISANCES
Sections:
8.55.010 Purpose and applicability.
8.55.030 Duty to maintain property.
8.55.040 Nuisances affecting health.
8.55.050 Nuisances affecting peace and safety.
8.55.060 Nuisances – Enforcement.
8.55.010 Purpose and applicability.
This chapter is designed to establish basic standards for the maintenance and upkeep of private and public property throughout the city of La Center and to help ensure that activities on one property do not disturb or impact significantly neighboring properties. The owners and all persons in control of property within the city shall adhere to these standards, and any violation shall be processed as a civil infraction under Chapter 2.15 LCMC. [Ord. 2002-4 § 3, 2002.]
8.55.020 Definitions.
The following definitions shall apply to this chapter:
(1) “Code” means all chapters of the La Center Municipal Code and any state law adopted therein by reference as these provisions now exist or may from time to time be amended or supplemented.
(2) “Junk” means discarded, broken or disabled material including, but not limited to, furniture, appliances, toys, tires, machinery or other equipment and any other item that is inoperable or otherwise unused.
(3) “Litter” means discarded waste materials, including but not limited to paper wrappings, packaging materials, discarded or used bottles, cans and other containers.
(4) “Nuisance” means any condition or use of property that annoys, injures or endangers the safety, health, comfort or repose of the public, unlawfully interferes with, obstructs or tends to obstruct or render dangerous for passage a public park, sidewalk, street or alley. Any violation of the La Center Municipal Code or any permit or approval issued by the city of La Center constitutes a nuisance.
(5) “Owner” means any person with an ownership interest in real property, as shown on the Clark County real property records or the most recent property tax records, and any person in possession or control of real property such as a renter, lessee, guest or other tenant.
(6) “Property” means land and any buildings or structures located thereon.
(7) “Trash” means waste food products, household garbage, furniture, mattresses, inoperable or unused appliances, tires and the like. [Ord. 2002-4 § 3, 2002.]
8.55.030 Duty to maintain property.
No owner of any real property or structure, including the owner of a vacant lot, shall maintain or allow to be maintained any of the following conditions visible from any public street or alley or from any other property:
(1) Junk, trash, litter, discarded lumber, salvage materials or other similar materials;
(2) Attractive nuisances dangerous to children, including but not limited to abandoned, broken or neglected equipment, machinery, refrigerators and freezers, excavations, wells or shafts, and any unguarded machinery;
(3) Broken or discarded furniture, household equipment, furnishings or shopping carts;
(4) Dead, decayed, diseased or hazardous trees, or any other vegetation which is dangerous to public health, safety and welfare;
(5) All trees, hedges, billboards or other obstructions which prevent drivers or pedestrians from having a clear view of traffic signs and other control devices or traffic approaching an intersection from cross streets in sufficient time to stop before entering the intersection;
(6) All limbs of trees which are less than eight feet above the surface of any sidewalk, street or public right-of-way;
(7) All wires, except clotheslines, which are strung less than 15 feet above the surface of the ground;
(8) Graffiti or signs, not in compliance with the La Center Municipal Code, on the exterior of any building, fence or other structure;
(9) Vehicle parts or other articles of personal property which are discarded or left in a state of disrepair, repair or partial construction;
(10) Any accumulation of growing or cut and piled weeds, brambles, branches, berry vines, or other vegetation;
(11) All hanging signs, awnings, A-frame signs and other similar structures in or over the public right-of-way, streets or sidewalks without permit, or which are situated in a manner that endangers public safety, or constructed and maintained in violation of applicable provisions of this code;
(12) All vehicles, or parts thereof, which are inoperable due to lack of legal requirements, have no currently valid license or registration, safety equipment or the like, or are not capable of being safely operated or driven in the manner for which they were designed and have been on the same parcel of private property for 30 days or longer. This section shall not apply to vehicles enclosed or stored within a building with walls and a roof and which are completely screened from public view. [Ord. 2002-4 § 3, 2002.]
8.55.040 Nuisances affecting health.
The following are declared nuisances affecting health:
(1) All decayed or unwholesome food offered for sale to the public;
(2) All diseased animals running at large;
(3) Carcasses of animals not buried or destroyed within 24 hours after death;
(4) The accumulation of rubbish, trash, manure or refuse of any kind on the owner’s property or on an adjacent public or private property;
(5) Garbage cans or other waste or septic containers which are not flytight;
(6) Dilapidation or state of filthiness or uncleanliness of any dwelling or other structure which endangers health or life, violates the dangerous building code as provided in Chapter 15.30 LCMC or which attracts, harbors or permits entrance by rats, mice or other rodents;
(7) Smoke, noxious fumes, smells, gas, soot or cinders produced on a property and which are not contained or filtered and are allowed to leave the property;
(8) The pollution or contamination of any public stream, river, lake, storm sewer or other surface water body with soil, sediments or dust or the contamination of any public or private street, road or storm water drainage facility with dirt, dust or mud from any construction, earth moving, vegetation removal or development activity;
(9) The discharge to, or contamination of, any surface water or well by sewage, agricultural or industrial wastes or other pollutants;
(10) Urinating in Public. A person is guilty of urinating in public if he or she intentionally urinates or defecates in a public place, whether on public or private property, that is generally visible to public view and not in a public washroom or toilet;
(11) All other acts, omissions, occupations or uses of property which are deemed by the Board of Health or Department of Ecology to be a nuisance or hazard to the health of the inhabitants of this city or any considerable number thereof. [Ord. 2004-3 § 1, 2004; Ord. 2002-4 § 3, 2002.]
8.55.050 Nuisances affecting peace and safety.
The following are declared to be nuisances affecting public peace and safety:
(1) All explosives, flammable liquids, fungicides, insecticides, herbicides or rodenticides, chemicals or other dangerous substances stored or disposed of in any manner or amount in violation of any applicable law;
(2) All public disturbance noises, meaning any unnecessary, frequent, loud or annoying noises or vibrations made or caused to be made by any person, organization or corporate entity, including but not limited to amplified music, singing or a public address system, motor and engine noise from vehicles, lawn mowers, garden tools or other machinery, horns, sirens and any other noise that can be heard beyond the property on which the noise or vibration originates and which unreasonably disturbs or interferes with the peace, comfort or repose of the owners or inhabitants of neighboring property. Where applicable, proof of violation of the objective noise level limitations set forth in Chapter 173-60 WAC shall be prima facie evidence of a violation of this section, but proof of a violation may be made by other or additional evidence. The subjective standard of unnecessary, frequent, loud or annoying noises or vibrations is more stringent between the hours of 10:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. as a means of preserving the peaceful repose of the city residents;
(3) All buildings and alterations to buildings made or erected within the fire limits as established in this code in violation of the regulations concerning manner and materials of construction;
(4) Any obstruction to, or within five feet of, a fire hydrant or fire standpipe, including fences, poles, trees, bushes or any other vegetation;
(5) Obstructions and excavations affecting the public’s ordinary and safe use of public property or public rights-of-way, including streets, alleys and sidewalks, unless specifically permitted by the city;
(6) Telecommunications receiving or transmitting antennas erected or maintained in any manner in violation of any law;
(7) Any use of property abutting a public street or sidewalk or any use of a public street or sidewalk which causes large crowds of people to gather and obstructs traffic or the free use of the streets and sidewalks. [Ord. 2004-3 § 1, 2004; Ord. 2002-4 § 3, 2002.]
8.55.060 Nuisances – Enforcement.
The violation of any provision of this chapter is a nuisance and a civil infraction subject to enforcement and prosecution under Chapter 2.15 LCMC in addition to any other means of enforcement available to the city before any court or administrative body of competent jurisdiction. [Ord. 2002-4 § 3, 2002.]