Chapter 8.24
NUISANCES

Sections:

8.24.010    Definitions.

8.24.020    Public nuisances declared.

8.24.030    Prohibited conduct.

8.24.040    Snow and ice removal.

8.24.045    Prohibited noise.

8.24.050    Abatement--Notice.

8.24.060    Abatement--City action.

8.24.065    Abatement by city--Notice of claim of lien--Collection.

8.24.070    Abatement--Owner action.

8.24.080    Abatement--Right of appeal.

8.24.090    Abatement--Summary abatement.

8.24.100    Violation--Penalty.

8.24.110    Remedies not exclusive.

8.24.120    Severability.

8.24.010 Definitions.

The words and phrases used in this chapter, unless the context otherwise indicates, shall have the following meanings:

"Abate" means to repair, replace, remove, destroy or otherwise remedy the condition in question by such means and in such a manner and to such an extent as the enforcement officer, in his judgment, determines is necessary in the interest of the general health, safety and welfare of the community.

"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.

"Enforcement officer" means a uniformed officer or the mayor’s designated appointee.

"Premises" means any building, lot, parcel, real estate, land or portion of land, whether improved or unimproved, including adjacent sidewalks and parking strips.

"Property" means any object of value that a person may lawfully acquire and hold.

"Public nuisance" means a thing, act, omission to act, occupation, or use of property which:

A. Annoys, injures or endangers the comfort, repose, health or safety of the public;

B. Offends public decency;

C. Unlawfully interferes with, obstructs, or renders dangerous for passage any stream, channel, public park, square, street, alley, highway or sidewalk;

D. In any way renders the public insecure in life or use of property.

"Responsible person" means any agent, lessee, renter, owner or other person occupying or having charge or control of any premises. (Ord. 1012 §2(part), 1996)

8.24.020 Public nuisances 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 erecting, maintaining, using, placing, depositing, causing, allowing, leaving or permitting to be or remain in or upon any private lot, building, structure, or premises, or 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 conditions, things, or acts:

A. Accumulations of manure or rubbish except a compost pile so covered or concealed as not to affect the health, safety or depreciation of adjoining property;

B. 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;

C. Any pools of standing water created by irrigation of private property that could serve as breeding areas for flies or mosquitoes;

D. All limbs of trees overhanging a public sidewalk which are less than ten feet above the surface of said sidewalk, or overhanging a city street which are less than fourteen feet above the surface of said street or alley;

E. The existence of any vines or climbing plants growing into or over any street, alley, 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 of light from any street lamp;

F. Any use of property abutting on a public street or sidewalk or any use of public street, alley, or sidewalk which causes any obstructing of traffic and the free use of the streets or sidewalks; provided, that this subsection shall not apply to events, programs or parades authorized by the city council;

G. Any poisonous or harmful substance which is reasonably accessible to persons or to animals;

H. All unused, abandoned or discarded refrigerators, ice boxes, or like containers which are left in any place exposed or accessible to children;

I. The existence of any tree, shrub or foliage, unless by consent of the city, which is apt to destroy, impair, interfere or restrict:

1. Streets, alleys, sidewalks, sewers, utilities or other public improvements;

2. Visibility on, or free use of, or access to such improvements.

J. Any grass, weeds, shrubs, bushes, trees or vegetation growing or which has grown and died upon any property and are a fire hazard or a menace to public health, safety or welfare;

K. The depositing of burning 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, paper, wood, boards, boxes, leaves, manure, or other rubbish or material;

L. The storage or keeping on any premises for more than sixty days of any demolition materials, without a special permit from the building official; providing that nothing herein shall:

1. Prohibit such storage without a permit when done in conjunction with a construction project for which a building permit has been issued and which is being prosecuted diligently to completion;

2. Prohibit such storage without a permit on the premises of a bona fide lumber yard, dealer and building materials or other commercial enterprise when the same is permitted under the zoning ordinance and other applicable ordinances;

3. Make lawful any such storage or keeping when it is prohibited by other ordinances or laws.

M. The existence of any fence or other structure or thing on private property which is in a sagging, leaning, fallen, decayed or other dilapidated or unsafe condition abutting or fronting upon any public street, alley, sidewalk or place;

N. The existence of any drainage onto or over any sidewalk or public pedestrian way, street and/or alley or another property;

O. Privies, vaults, cesspools, sumps, pits, or like places which are not securely protected from flies or rats, or which are foul or malodorous;

P. Any tin cans, bottles, glass, cans, ashes, small pieces of scrap iron, wire, pipe, metal articles, bric-abrac, broken stone or cement, broken crockery, broken glass, broken plaster, and all other trash or abandoned material, unless the same is kept in covered bins or metal receptacles approved by the building official;

Q. Any trash, litter, rags, accumulations or empty barrels, boxes, crates, packing cases, mattresses, bedding, excelsior, packing hay, straw or other packing material, lumber not neatly piled, scrap iron, tin or other metal not neatly piled, or anything whatsoever in which flies or rats may breed and multiply or which may be a fire hazard;

R. 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 are maintained so as to essentially interfere with the comfortable enjoyment of life or property of others;

S. Any putrid, unsound or unwholesome bones, meat, hides, skins, or the whole or any 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 building official of the city;

T. The erection, continuance or use of any building, room or other place in the city for the exercise of any trade, employment or manufacture which, by occasioning noxious exhalations, offensive odors or other annoyances, is discomforting or offensive or detrimental to the health of individuals or of the public;

U. The playing or causing to be played, in front of any building where any show, moving picture exhibition or theatrical performance is given, or in the open vestibule or area of any building of any automatic or mechanical musical instrument for the attraction of customers;

V. Any unguarded or abandoned excavation, pit, well, or holes which would endanger safety;

W. The existence of snow and ice on the sidewalk or sidewalks adjacent to commercial type premises during the time snow remains on the ground after twelve noon on every day after a snowfall. (Ord. 1012 §2(part), 1996)

8.24.030 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. 1012 §2(part), 1996)

8.24.040 Snow and ice removal.

Further regulation relating to the provisions of subsection W of Section 8.24.020, relating to the removal of snow and ice; any responsible person or owner shall, during the winter season and during the time snow remains on the ground, by twelve noon on every day after a snowfall, and whenever necessary, clear the sidewalk or sidewalks adjacent to or in front of commercial properties from snow and ice and shall keep them conveniently free therefrom during the day, and when removing such snow or ice, so scatter the same over the adjacent street so as not to blockade or obstruct, or interfere with travel thereon, or fill up the gutter adjoining the side walk to prevent drainage of the streets. (Ord. 1012 §2 (part), 1996)

8.24.045 Prohibited noise.

The making, causing, permitting or allowing any noise of any kind by means of any whistle, rattle, bell, gong, clapper, hammer, drum, horn or similar mechanical device, or by outcry, singing, loud speaking (whether by the natural voice or reproduced or amplified by mechanical means), at any time, for the purpose of advertising any goods, wares or merchandise, or show, entertainment, lecture or speech, or for attracting attention or inviting the patronage of any person to any business whatsoever, or for advertising or promoting or campaigning for any candidate for office, or for any political party; provided, however, that the use of bands or orchestras playing in person and not by reproduction, is not prohibited; providing further that a permit may be granted by the city council to programs for any public or charitable purpose; and providing, further that broadcasts of news and sport events may be permitted if conducted in a reasonably quiet and orderly manner. (Ord. 321 §1, 1939)

8.24.050 Abatement--Notice.

The enforcement officer shall investigate all public nuisance complaints. If the enforcement officer determines that a public nuisance exists, the enforcement officer shall take such action as is reasonably necessary to abate the nuisance. This includes, but is not limited to, ordering the owner or responsible person creating, permitting, or maintaining the nuisance to abate it. If the owner or responsible person does not abate the nuisance, then the enforcement officer shall give the owner or the responsible person written notice that a nuisance exists, a description of the nuisance, the sections of this code or other law that is being violated, a time frame by which to abate the nuisance that shall not exceed ten days, and a statement that if the owner or the responsible person does not abate the nuisance, then the city shall abate the nuisance at the owner’s or the responsible person’s expense and a lien for such expense be imposed upon the property. The notice shall be served personally or by first class mail. (Ord. 1130 §1(part), 2005)

8.24.060 Abatement--City action.

Anyone creating, permitting, or maintaining a nuisance, who does not fully abate the nuisance within the time frame set out in the notice shall be liable for all abatement costs and expenses if the city abates the nuisance. The enforcement officer shall file a statement containing the amount of the expense of the work done, a description of the lot or parcel of land affected, and shall direct the city treasurer to proceed with the collection. (Ord. 1130 §1(part), 2005)

8.24.065 Abatement by City--Notice of claim of lien--Collection.

When the statement provided for in Section 8.24.060 of this chapter is filed with the city treasurer, the city treasurer shall immediately file with the auditor of the county of Yakima a notice of claim of lien in substantially the following form:

NOTICE OF CLAIM OF LIEN

City of Wapato
vs.
......................................., reputed owner

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the City of Wapato, Washington, has and claims a lien against the following described property in the City of Wapato, County of Yakima, State of Washington, to-wit:
(here insert legal description of property)
for expenses incurred by the city for the removal of _____________________ from said property in the amount of $........, together with interest thereon at the rate of 12% per annum from and after the .......(date of performing work)......... until paid.

DATED..................................

CITY OF WAPATO

By.....................................
City Treasurer

and the city shall proceed to collect the same in the same manner and within the time provided for the foreclosure of labor and materialmen’s liens under the laws of the state of Washington. (Ord. 1130 §2, 2005)

8.24.070 Abatement--Owner action.

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 needful 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. 1012 §2(part), 1996)

8.24.080 Abatement--Right of appeal.

Any person notified of the existence of a condition specified in this chapter shall have the right to appeal to the council of the city. Such appeal shall be taken by filing with the city council, within seven calendar days after notice as provided in Section 8.24.050 has been given, a written statement setting forth fully the grounds for the appeal. The council shall set a time and place for hearing on such appeal and notice of such hearing shall be given to the appellant in writing setting forth specifically the grounds for the complaint and the time and place of hearing. Such notice shall be mailed, postage prepaid, to the appellant at his last known address, at least five days prior to the date set for the hearing. Further action on the abatement as specified in the original notice shall be stayed pending the decision of the council on the appeal. The decision and order of the council on such appeal shall be final and conclusive. (Ord. 1012 §2(part), 1996)

8.24.090 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. The expenses of such abatement shall become a lien against the property and be collected as provided in Sections 8.24.060 and 8.24.065. (Ord. 1130 §3, 2005; Ord. 1012 §2(part), 1996)

8.24.100 Violation--Penalty.

Any person violating any of the provisions of this chapter shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction shall be punished by a fine not to exceed one thousand dollars, or by imprisonment in jail not to exceed ninety days, or by both such fine and imprisonment. The civil penalty is in addition to any other costs, such as cleanup costs, which may be imposed against the violator. (Ord. 1130 §4, 2005; Ord. 1012 §2(part), 1996)

8.24.110 Remedies not exclusive.

The remedies prescribed in this chapter are in addition to all other remedies provided or authorized by law. (Ord. 1012 §2(part), 1996)

8.24.120 Severability.

If any section, sentence, clause or phrase of this chapter is for any reason held illegal, invalid or unconstitutional by the decision of any court, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions hereof. The city council declares that it would have approved this chapter and each section, subsection, sentence, clause and phrase hereof, irrespective of the fact that any one or more sections, subsections, sentences, clauses or phrases be declared illegal, invalid or unconstitutional. (Ord. 1012 §2(part), 1996)