CHAPTER 4
LITTERING

SECTION:

5-4-1: Definitions

5-4-2: Prohibited Acts And Regulated Activities

5-4-3: Sweeping Litter Into Gutters Prohibited

5-4-4: Permitting Accumulation Of Uncontainerized Litter Prohibited

5-4-5: Litter From Construction Sites Prohibited

5-4-6: Litter From Loading Or Unloading Operation Prohibited

5-4-7: Violation; Penalty

5-4-8: Enforcement

5-4-1: DEFINITIONS:

LITTER: Any quantity of uncontainerized garbage, trash, refuse, rubbish, debris, or other waste material including, but not limited to, cans, bottles, jars, treated or untreated paper, wrappings, ashes, cigarettes, cardboard, rags, yard clippings, leaves, grass, wood, glass, dead animals or parts thereof, scrap metal, salvaged metal, motor vehicle parts including bodies, discarded furniture, used appliances, or any other matter which constitutes a threat to public health or safety.

This is not to preclude persons who compost materials described above such as leaves, grass, or wood chips from doing so in a manner not constituting a threat to public health or safety. A person may also leave grass clippings or leaves in their yards as a means of protecting gardens or flowerbeds over the course of a winter when it is their intent to properly dispose or incorporate these materials the following spring and not to create a public health or safety concern. A person may also recycle metal so long as it is not done in a manner creating a public health or safety issue by drawing in insects such as creating breeding places for mosquitoes, attracting rodents or vermin such as skunks or otherwise creating a public health concern. However, this is intended to allow a private citizen the ability to recycle materials on an occasional basis and is not meant to allow a permanent recycling business in any residential area of the city. A person may also have wood piles for burning as firewood but such should be neatly stacked and not scattered about the yard or area so as to be unduly unsightly or creating a public health or safety concern including, but not limited to, creating a fire hazard.

LITTER RECEPTACLE: A container designed for and suitable for the depositing of litter.

PERSON: Any individual, corporation, company, partnership, firm, association or organization subject to the jurisdiction of the city of Cut Bank as it now exists or as it may exist subsequent to annexation or addition or by jurisdictional extension properly adopted by the city council of the city of Cut Bank.

The city of Cut Bank recognizes that certain businesses within the business or industrial zoning districts operate businesses which as a necessary part of their business involve the collecting of scrap metal, used appliances, motor vehicles or parts, salvaged metal, paper or cardboard, and other such materials defined as "litter" hereinabove, that these businesses so long as they continue operations in a manner not creating either public health or safety issues or creating an unsightly or disorganized mess may continue to operate their business pursuant to appropriate industry standards of that type of business. (Ord. 2010-01, 4-19-2010)

5-4-2: PROHIBITED ACTS AND REGULATED ACTIVITIES:

   A.   It shall be unlawful for any person to throw or deposit litter in or upon any street, sidewalk, or other public place or any private property, except in public or private containers designed and intended for the collection of litter. Persons placing litter in containers shall do so in such a manner as to prevent its being carried or deposited by the elements upon any streets, sidewalks, or other public or private property.

   B.   No person shall drive or move any truck or other motor vehicle unless such vehicle is so constructed or loaded so as to prevent any load, contents, or litter from falling, being blown or otherwise being deposited upon any street, alley or other public place or any private property.

   C.   In any prosecution for violation of this chapter involving a motor vehicle, proof that a particular vehicle was the origin of the litter, together with proof that the defendant was at the time of the alleged violation the registered owner of the motor vehicle, shall constitute in evidence a rebuttable presumption that the registered owner was the person who committed the violation. If a law enforcement officer has the ability to charge a violation of this chapter to a particular person other than the owner, then the registered owner shall not be charged. (Ord. 2010-01, 4-19-2010)

5-4-3: SWEEPING LITTER INTO GUTTERS PROHIBITED:

   A.   No person shall sweep into and leave or deposit in any gutter, alley, street, or other public place within the city of Cut Bank any accumulation of litter from any building or lot or from any public or private sidewalk or driveway.

   B.   Every person owning or occupying property shall keep the sidewalks and alleys abutting such property free of litter.

   C.   It is the duty of every person distributing or causing to be distributed commercial handbills, leaflets, fliers, yard sale notices or other such advertising to take reasonable measures to ensure such materials are handled so as to prevent them from littering any public or private property. All such materials must be removed and properly disposed of within twenty four (24) hours of the end of the sale or event. (Ord. 2010-01, 4-19-2010)