For purposes of this chapter, the following definitions shall apply unless the context clearly indicates or requires a different meaning.
ABANDONED VEHICLE. Any vehicle or parts thereof which are left on public or private property within the city under circumstances indicating a desertion, relinquishment, non-use, or divestment of the vehicle.
AUTOMOBILE PARTS. Any portion or parts of any motor driven vehicle as detached from the vehicle as a whole.
CONSTRUCTION OR DEMOLITION ACTIVITY. The erection (including excavation), demolition, alteration, or repair of any building, structure or roadway, or any utility related construction, for which all necessary and proper governmental permits have been obtained.
DWELLING. Any part of any building or its premises used as a place of residence or habitation or for sleeping by any person.
ENVIRONMENTAL NUISANCE. Every unlawful, unwarrantable, dangerous, or unreasonable use of property in such a way as to render the ground, air, water, or food, a material annoyance, hazard, or injury to human health, or which is detrimental to the property of others, or which causes or tends to cause substantial diminution in the value of other property in the neighborhood in which the property is located. The term shall include, but is not limited to the following:
(1) The keeping of waste, rubbish, or abandoned appliances in such a manner as can be seen from any public or private way or properties;
(2) The keeping, placing, or storage outside of any building or dwelling or any property owned or occupied by such person, or the keeping, placing, or storage in any place accessible to children of any abandoned, discarded icebox, ice chest, or refrigerator;
(3) Any weeds, grass or unlawful plant growth other than growing crops, trees, bushes, flowers, or other ornamental plants at a height of six inches or more on mowable lots, and at a height on unmowable lots which, in the reasonable exercise of the City Council’s discretion, constitutes a hazard, nuisance, unsightly condition, or any condition adverse to the public’s health, safety, or welfare;
(4) The disposal or accumulation of any foul, decaying, or putrescent substances or other offensive materials dangerous to public health in or on any lot, tract of land, street, highway, or any sidewalk or alley abutting any of these which shall by reason of offensive odors become injurious to the health of any person;
(5) Any tree which is in danger of collapse or which poses a danger of contamination because of disease, decay, injury, infestation, or damage;
(6) All outbuildings that are or hereafter may become unsafe, unsanitary, dilapidated, unkept, or which constitute a fire hazard, or are otherwise dangerous to the public welfare;
(7) An abandoned or dangerous sign. An on-premises or off-premises sign is deemed abandoned when a sign advertises any activity, business or service no longer conducted or available on the premises referred to in the off-premises business sign; and a temporary sign is deemed to be abandoned when the sign has not been removed within ten days after the event advertised has taken place. A sign is deemed dangerous when it becomes insecure, unsafe, dilapidated, or in danger of falling or collapsing, or when it constitutes a fire hazard or otherwise endangers human life or the public welfare; or when it constitutes a fire hazard or otherwise endangers human life or the public welfare; or when it is deemed unsafe by reason of illegal or improper use or maintenance.
(8) As used within divisions (1) through (7) under
ENVIRONMENTAL NUISANCE above, the following words or terms shall have the following meanings:
(a) Under division (1),
WASTE shall mean ashes, discarded wood, abandoned, discarded or unused objects or equipment such as furniture, appliances, cans or containers, garbage or refuse of any kind, whether liquid or solid, or any accumulation of any foul, decaying, or putrescent substances.
(b) Under division (1),
RUBBISH shall mean any combustible or noncombustible waste material, except garbage, including but not restricted to paper, rags, boxes, cartons, wood excelsior, rubber, leather, tree branches, yard trimmings, tin cans, metal, mineral matter, glass, crockery, and the residue from the burning of combustible materials.
(c) Under division (3),
WEEDS shall mean any noxious or unhealthy plant growth such as, but not limited to, jimpson, burdock, ragweed, thistle, cocklebur, or any other similar growth.
(d) Under division (5),
TREE/TREES shall mean a woody perennial plant having a single, usually elongated main stem generally with few or no branches on its lower part.
(e) Under division (7),
SIGN shall mean any fabricated sign or outdoor display structure, including its structure, consisting of any letter, figure, character, mark, trademark, reading matter, or illuminating device, constructed, attached, erected, fastened, or manufactured in any
manner whatsoever so that it is used for the attraction of the public to any place, subject, person, firm, corporation, public performance article, machine, or merchandise whatsoever, and displayed in any manner out-of-doors for recognized advertising purposes.
HIGHWAY. Any road, street, avenue, boulevard, lane, court, or bridge, viaduct, or trestle and the approaches to them.
INOPERATIVE CONDITION. Unable to move under its own power due to defective or missing parts, and which has remained in such condition for a period of not less than ten consecutive days.
JUNKED VEHICLE. Any vehicle or parts thereof which do not have lawfully affixed thereto an unexpired license plate, which in the judgment of a reasonably prudent man observing community standards is in one or more of the following conditions: rusted, wrecked, partially dismantled, or otherwise nonfunctional. JUNKED VEHICLES may be deemed to include major parts thereof, including, but not limited to bodies, engines, transmissions, and rear ends.
MOTOR VEHICLE. Any style or type of motor driven vehicle used for the conveyance of persons or property.
NOISE. The intensity, frequency, duration and character of sound or sounds from a source or sources.
NUISANCE. See PUBLIC NUISANCE.
PARKING LOTS. Any off-street parking facility for public use, and the approaches to same, whether publicly or privately owned, and shall include but not limited to parks, shopping centers, restaurants, entertainment centers, car washes, banking or financial institutions, whether publicly or privately owned, operated or controlled.
PERSON. Any person, firm, association, partnership, joint venture, corporation or any private entity of any nature.
PLAINLY AUDIBLE. Capable of being distinctly heard by a person with normal hearing.
PUBLIC NUISANCE. Any act, thing, occupation, condition or use of property which shall continue for such a length of time as to:
(1) Substantially annoy, injure, or endanger the comfort, health, repose, or safety of the public;
(2) Unlawfully and substantially interfere with, obstruct, or tend to obstruct or render dangerous for passage any street, alley, highway, sidewalk, stream, ditch or drainage;
(3) Substantially interfere with the comfortable enjoyment of life, and property, or tend to depreciate the value of property of others;
(4) Offend decency;
(5) Be offensive to the senses;
(6) Unlawfully interfere with, obstruct or tend to obstruct or render dangerous for passage any public or private street, highway, sidewalk, stream, ditch or drainage;
(7) In any way render other persons insecure in life or the use of property.
ROADWAY. That portion of the highway designed for ordinary use for vehicular travel, including the berm, shoulder or any public property adjacent thereto.
SCRAP METAL. Pieces or parts of steel, iron, tin, zinc, copper, aluminum, or any alloy thereof, whether covered with porcelain or any other material, whether intact or in parts, which has served its usefulness in it original form and can no longer be used for its originally intended purpose.
SOLID WASTE. Any garbage, refuse, sludge and other discarded material, including solid, liquid, semisolid, or contained gaseous material resulting from industrial, commercial, mining (excluding coal mining waste, coal mining by-products, refuse and overburden), and agricultural operations, and from community activities, but does not include solid or dissolved material in domestic sewage, or solid or dissolved materials in irrigation return flows or industrial discharges.
UNFIT FOR FURTHER USE. In a dangerous condition; having defective or missing parts, or in such a condition generally as to be unfit for its originally intended purpose.
UNFIT FOR HUMAN HABITATION. Dangerous or detrimental to life or health because of want of repair, defects in the drainage, plumbing, lighting, ventilation, or construction; infection with contagious disease; or the existence on the premises of an unsanitary condition likely to cause sickness among occupants of the dwelling.
UNREASONABLE PERIOD OF TIME. A period of time in excess of that necessary to accomplish:
(1) A danger warning with a horn or other audible signaling device; or
(2) The preservation or protection of property or the life, safety or welfare of a person or persons by use of an audible signaling device.
UNREASONABLY LOUD, HARSH OR EXCESSIVE NOISE. Any noise plainly audible at a distance of 50 feet from its point of origination or emanation.
VEHICLE. Every device in, on, or by which any person or property is or may be transported or drawn on a public highway, except vehicles moved by human power or used exclusively on stationary rails or tracks.
VEHICLE OWNER. Any individual, firm, corporation, or unincorporated association with a claim, either individual or joint, or ownership, or any legal or equitable interest in a vehicle.
(Ord. 742-2009, passed 5-18-09)