For use in this chapter, the following terms are defined:
1. “Junk” means all old or scrap copper, brass, lead, or any other non-ferrous metal; old or discarded rope, rags, batteries, paper, trash, rubber, debris, waste or used lumber, or salvaged wood; dismantled vehicles, machinery and appliances or parts of such vehicles, machinery or appliances; iron, steel or other old or scrap ferrous materials; old or discarded glass, tinware, plastic or old or discarded household goods or hardware. Neatly stacked firewood located on a side yard or a rear yard is not considered junk.
2. “Junk vehicle” means any vehicle licensed, unlicensed or legally placed in storage with the County Treasurer, stored within the corporate limits of the City and which has any of the following characteristics:
A. Habitat for Nuisance Animals or Insects. Any vehicle which has become the habitat for rats, mice, or snakes, or any other vermin or insects.
B. Flammable Fuel. Any unlicensed vehicle which contains gasoline or any other flammable fuel.
C. Inoperable. Any motor vehicle, if it lacks an engine or two or more wheels or other structural parts which render said motor vehicle unfit for legal use, or which cannot be immediately started and moved under its own power, as demonstrated by the owner to the police officer.
D. Unsafe and/or Unattended. Any vehicle left unattended up on blocks, jacks or elevated in any other way which constitutes a threat to the public health or safety. Any vehicle that has any broken glass or broken or loose parts, which individually or collectively make the vehicle unsafe or unfit for legal use or which otherwise constitutes a threat to public health or safety.
E. Storage. Any vehicle used as storage for items such as rags, old rope, batteries, paper, trash bags, machinery, mechanical parts, scrap housing goods, dead plant material or any similar material.
F. Defective or Obsolete Condition. Any other vehicle which, because of its defective or obsolete condition, in any other way constitutes a threat to the public health and safety.
Mere licensing of such vehicle shall not constitute a defense to the finding that the vehicle is a junk vehicle.
3. “Vehicle” means every device in, upon, or by which a person or property is or may be transported or drawn upon a highway or street, excepting devices moved by human power or used exclusively upon stationary rails or tracks, and includes without limitation a motor vehicle, automobile, truck, motorcycle, motor home, camper, tractor, buggy, wagon, farm machinery, or any combination thereof.
4. “Property” means either private or public real property within the City.
5. “Unlicensed” means any vehicle which is not displaying a valid current registration plate(s) as required by the laws of the State.
6. “Structure” means fully enclosed building that does not allow the contents to be viewed from the outside (excluding windows). A structure does not include a carport, car cover or tarp.
It is hereby declared that any junk or junk vehicle located upon private property, unless excepted by Section 51.04, constitutes a threat to the health and safety of the citizens and is a nuisance within the meaning of Section 657.1 of the Code of Iowa. If any junk or junk vehicle is kept upon private property in violation hereof, the owner of or person occupying the property upon which it is located shall be prima facie liable for said violation.
(Code of Iowa, Sec. 364.12[3a])
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