(A) No person shall cause or permit on property owned or controlled by him or her a nuisance affecting public health.
(B) The following are nuisances affecting public health and may be abated as provided in this chapter:
(1) Debris. Accumulations of debris, rubbish, manure and other refuse that are not removed within a reasonable time and that affect the health of the public;
(2) Stagnant water. Stagnant water which affords a breeding place for mosquitoes and other insect pests;
(3) Water pollution. Pollution of a body of water, well, spring, stream or drainage ditch by sewage, industrial wastes or other substances placed in or near the water in a manner that will cause harmful material to pollute the water;
(4) Odor. Premises which are in such a state or condition as to cause an offensive odor or which are in an unsanitary condition;
(5) Surface drainage. Drainage of liquid wastes from private premises;
(6) Creating a hazard. No person shall create a hazard by:
(a) Maintaining or leaving in a place accessible to children a container with a compartment and a door or lid which locks or fastens automatically when closed and which cannot be easily opened from the inside; or
(b) Being the owner or otherwise having possession of property upon which there is a well, cistern, cesspool, excavation or other hole of a depth of four feet or more and a top width of 12 inches or more, fail or refuse to cover or fence it with a suitable protective construction.
(7) Attractive nuisances.
(a) No owner or person in charge of property shall permit thereon:
1. Unguarded machinery, equipment or other devices which are attractive, dangerous and accessible to children;
2. Lumber, logs or piling placed or stored in a manner so as to be attractive, dangerous and accessible to children; or
3. An open pit, quarry, cistern or other excavation without safeguards or barriers to prevent such places from being used by children.
(b) This section shall not apply to authorized construction projects with reasonable safeguards to prevent injury or death to playing children.
(8) Snow and ice. No owner or person in charge of property, improved or unimproved, abutting a public sidewalk shall be responsible for snow removal when the snow has been placed on the sidewalk by a public agency. However, no owner or person in charge of property, improved or unimproved, abutting on public sidewalk shall permit:
(a) Snow to remain on the sidewalk for a period longer than the first eight hours of daylight after the snow has fallen; or
(b) Ice to remain on the sidewalk for more than eight hours of daylight after the ice has formed, unless the ice is covered with sand, ashes or other suitable material to assure safe travel.
(9) Defective sidewalks. No owner of property, improved or unimproved, abutting on a public sidewalk, shall permit:
(a) A sidewalk to deteriorate to such a condition that because of cracks, chipping, weeds, settling, covering by dirt or other similar occurrences, the sidewalk becomes a hazard to persons using it; and
(b) The city shall not be liable to any person for loss or injury to a person or property suffered or sustained by reason of any accident on sidewalks caused by ice, snow, encumbrances, obstructions, cracks, chipping, weeds, settling, holes covered by dirt or other similar conditions. Abutting property owners shall maintain sidewalk free from such conditions.
(10) Fences along a sidewalk.
(a) No owner or person in charge of property shall construct or maintain a barbed-wire fence thereon, or permit barbed-wire to remain as part of a fence along a sidewalk; except such wire may be placed above the top of other fencing not less than six feet, six inches high.
(b) No owner or person in charge of property shall construct, maintain or operate an electric fence along a sidewalk or public way, or along the joining property line of another person.
(11) Surface waters, drainage.
(a) No owner or person in charge of a building or structure shall suffer or permit rainwater, ice or snow to fall from the building or structure onto a street or public sidewalk or to flow across the sidewalk.
(b) The owner or person in charge of property shall install and maintain in proper state of repair adequate drainpipes or a drainage system, so that any overflow water accumulating on the roof or about the building is not carried across or upon the sidewalk.
(12) Trees, brush, grass, weeds.
(a) The owner, person in possession or the agent of the owner of any tract or parcel of land improved or unimproved shall, on and after May 1 of each year, keep, cut and remove therefrom all dead bushes, dead trees, stumps and other items likely to cause fire and to spread fire, and shall cause the grass and vegetation to be cut to a height of less than ten inches at least once each year after May 1 and before July 15.
(b) Brush, bushes and limbs of all kinds shall be trimmed and cut back so that they shall not project over the sidewalk or roadway area. Limbs may be allowed to project at an elevation of not less than nine feet above the level of the sidewalk and not less than 14 feet above the level of the roadway. Limbs, trees and other growth shall not be allowed to interfere with city utility lines, or to block the view of the street signs or traffic signs.
(c) Nothing herein contained shall be considered to apply to bushes, trees or other vegetation grown for food or fuel: providing that the health and safety of the public be not hereby endangered by the growth of such growth or vegetation.
(d) No owner or person in charge of property shall allow to stand a dead or decaying tree that is a hazard to the public or to persons or property on or near the property.
(13) Junk.
(a) No person shall keep any junk outdoors on any street, lot or premises, or in a building that is not wholly or entirely closed, except doors used for ingress and egress.
(b) This section shall not apply to junk kept in a duly licensed junk yard or automobile wrecking house.
(Ord. 344, passed 7-10-2000) Penalty, see § 95.99