It shall be unlawful for the owner, occupant, or person having control or management of any land within the city to permit a public nuisance to develop thereon. The following conditions are declared to be public nuisances:
(A) No person shall act, fail to act, behave, erect, contrive, cause, continue, maintain in any manner, or permit to exist any public nuisance within the city. Repeated violation of the terms of this chapter shall constitute a public nuisance;
(B) Any act, thing, occupation, condition, use of property, non-use of property, or misuse of property that continues for a length of time so as to:
(1) Substantially annoy, injure, or endanger the comfort, health, repose, or safety of the public;
(2) In any way render the public insecure in life, peaceful uninterrupted existence, or in the use of their property;
(3) Offend the public morals or decency; or
(4) Unlawfully and substantially interfere with, obstruct or tend to obstruct, or render dangerous for passage any street, alley, highway, navigable body of water, or other public way, including but not limited to sidewalks;
(C) To allow any physical condition, use, or occupancy of any premises or its appurtenances to be an attractive nuisance to children, including, but not limited to, abandoned wells, shafts, standing pools of water or liquid, basements, excavations, retaining walls, and unsafe fences, accessible to children or other persons, on the premises. No person shall abandon or leave unattended in any place accessible to children any refrigerator, freezer ice chest, ice box, or similar airtight box or container, which has a locking device inoperable from within, without first unhinging and removing the door or lid thereof or detaching the locking device from the door or lid. Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit the normal use of any refrigerator, ice box, freezer, or similar appliance for the storage of food in any home or buildings appurtenant thereto;
(D) For any premises to have unsanitary, defective, or insufficient sewerage or plumbing facilities;
(E) To keep or maintain any premises designated by a Code Enforcement Officer as unsafe or unfit for human habitation;
(F) For any premises to present an imminent fire hazard, be in imminent danger of collapse, or to be unsafe or unsecure so as to endanger life, limb, or property;
(G) For any premises to lack electrical service, plumbing, heating, and/or other equipment required by this chapter, state statute, or any other ordinance of the city. If the utility providing natural gas service to a furnace, water heater, or other equipment determines that the equipment is defective, the utility shall cite or "red tag" the defective equipment and notify the Code Enforcement Officer of such citation. Any equipment so cited by a utility company as defective will be deemed a public nuisance;
(H) For any structure or building to be in a state of dilapidation, deterioration, or decay, or be a product of faulty construction;
(I) For any structure or building to be vacant or abandoned and open or accessible to vagrants or passersby, or damaged by fire so as not to provide shelter;
(J) To allow on any premises or structure any stagnant water in which mosquitos, flies, or other insects may breed or multiply. For stagnant water that cannot be easily eliminated, a property owner may use mosquito dunks or other environmentally safe larvacides to kill mosquitoes and other insects, and evidence of the effective use of such products will constitute a defense to any citation issued under this section;
(K) To allow any rubbish to remain on any premises;
(L) To allow any premises or structure to pollute any public well or cistern, stream, lake, canal, or body of water by sewage, creamery, or industrial wastes or other polluting substances;
(M) To allow any premises or structure within the city to emit or cause any foul, offensive, noisome, nauseous, noxious, or disagreeable odors, effluvia, or stenches repulsive to the physical senses of ordinary persons, or that annoy, cause discomfort, or injure the health of any appreciable number of persons within the county;
(N) Harboring or keeping any canine or hybrid canine outside in a residential neighborhood which by loud and frequent or habitual barking, howling, or yelping, shall cause serious annoyance or disturbance to adjacent residents in the neighborhood;
(O) The keeping of cattle, horses, chickens, and other barn type animals shall be prohibited in any non-agricultural zoned area within the city;
(P) Emission of noxious odors or smoke into the surrounding atmosphere of dust, smoke, or other matter which renders ordinary use or physical occupation of other property in the vicinity uncomfortable or impossible;
(Q) Storage of explosives or combustible material. The storage of combustible or explosive material which creates a safety hazard to other property or persons in the vicinity; excepted therefrom is any oil or gas approved for residential use and stored in an approved container;
(R) Any tree, stack of wood or trees, or other object standing in such a condition that it will, if the condition is allowed to continue, endanger the life, limb, or property of, or cause hurt, damage, or injury to, persons or property upon the public streets or public ways adjacent thereto, by the falling thereof or of parts thereof;
(S) Any tree, stack of wood or tress, or other object standing in such a condition that would not allow the city access to any easement or right-of-way;
(T) Any outdoor fire, except for that of candles, torches, grills, and approved properly positioned and maintained fire pits, with a fuel load of paper, firewood, charcoal, propane, or natural gas, and no more than 24 square feet in area. Open burning of trees and all forms of vegetation for the purpose of land clearing is prohibited. The burning of trash is also prohibited. Burn permits from the Fire Department are not required for the approved type of fires defined in this chapter;
(U) To allow any motor vehicle to be parked on an unpaved (concrete or blacktop) surface in excess of 24 hours without city permission;
(V) The storage of motor vehicles in an inoperative condition, motor vehicles unfit for further use, automobile parts, or scrap metal within the city limits, except on premises authorized by the city for those purposes;
(W) (1) It shall be a public nuisance and a violation of this chapter to keep, maintain, or own a dangerous building within the city. A dangerous building is defined as any of the following:
(a) A building whose interior or exterior walls or other vertical structural members list, lean, or buckle to such an extent that a plumb line passing through the center of gravity falls outside the middle third of its base;
(b) A building, exclusive of the foundation, that shows 33% or more damage or deterioration to its supporting members, or 50% or more damage or deterioration to its non-supporting members, or to the enclosing or outside walls or coverings;
(c) A building having improperly distributed loads on the floors or roofs or in which the same are overloaded, or which have insufficient strength to be reasonably safe to occupants or the public;
(d) A building damaged by fire, wind, or other causes so as to cause the building to become dangerous to life, limb, or property of the occupants or to the public;
(e) A building that has become or is so dilapidated, decayed, unsafe, unsanitary, or which so utterly fails to provide the amenities essential to decent living that it is unfit for human habitation, or is likely to cause sickness or disease, or injury to health, safety, or general welfare of those living therein;
(f) A building having light, air, and sanitation facilities that are inadequate to protect the health, safety, or general welfare of human beings who live or may live therein;
(g) A building having inadequate facilities for egress in case of fire or panic, or having insufficient stairways, elevators, fire escapes, or other means of travel;
(h) A building that has parts or elements that are attached or not attached in such a way that they may fall and cause injury to persons or property; or
(i) A building for human habitation that is missing or has nonfunctioning smoke detectors or similar detection devices in violation of the Fire Code;
(2) Every person owning or having control of a building shall not allow unsecure openings where a door, window, or other architectural feature should be located;
(X) The failure to keep an animal's pen, yard, lot, or other enclosure in a sanitary condition and free from preventable offensive odors; and
(Y) Nuisances defined herein.
(Ord. 2017-1, passed 6-20-2017)