For the purpose of this chapter, the following definitions shall apply unless the context clearly indicates or requires a different meaning.
ABATE/ABATEMENT. Action to terminate, eradicate, stop, cease, repair, rehabilitate, replace, demolish, correct or otherwise remedy nuisance activity, condition or conduct by means and in a manner as to bring the activity, condition or conduct into compliance with the laws or regulations of the city and/or this state or in a manner as is necessary to promote the health, safety or general welfare of the public.
AGENT. Any individual, partnership or corporation authorized by the owner to receive notices of code violations and receive process in any court proceeding or administrative enforcement proceeding on behalf of an owner, regarding matters regulated by the city.
BRUSH. Trimmings from shrubs, trees or other woody plants.
BUILDING. Any structure used or intended for supporting or sheltering any use or occupancy.
BUNDLED. The bringing together of items that are no more than five feet in length and the combined weight of which is no more than 50 pounds. Brush bundles must be bound with twine or other biodegradable tie, not wire or plastic. No single piece of brush shall be over five inches in diameter.
CITY. The City of Galesburg, Illinois or the area within the territorial limits of the city and any territory outside of the city over which the city has jurisdiction or control by virtue of any constitutional or statutory provision.
COMPOST BIN(S). A container or containers designed to hold composting material in such a way as to prevent material from being windblown.
COMPOSTING. The biological process by which microorganisms decompose the organic fraction of waste, producing a humus-like material that may be used as a soil conditioner.
CONSTRUCTION OR DEMOLITION DEBRIS. Nonhazardous, uncontaminated materials typically used in the construction, remodeling, repair and demolition of utilities, structures and pavement, limited to the following: soil, sod, wall coverings, reclaimed asphalt pavement, rock, plaster, glass, nonhazardous painted wood, drywall, plastics, nonhazardous treated wood, plumbing fixtures, electrical wiring, iron, pipe, nonhazardous coated wood, nonasbestos insulation, bricks, wood products, roofing shingles, concrete, concrete blocks and general roof coverings.
CONSTRUCTION SITES. Any area where the construction, alteration, movement, enlargement, replacement, repair, maintenance, removal or demolition takes place concerning any building or structure or any appurtenances connected or attached to the building or structure. When required, city construction permits shall have been issued and still valid for the premises in accordance with adopted building codes. In cases where a construction permit is not required, the premises will not be considered a CONSTRUCTION SITE if the work on the premises is suspended or abandoned for a period of 90 days.
CONTROL. Being in charge of or being in possession, whether as owner, agent, lessee, renter or tenant, under statutory authority, or otherwise.
DEBRIS. Material that is incapable of immediately performing the function for which it was designed, including but not limited to: the remains of something broken down, apparently abandoned to the elements, destroyed or collections of equipment which are missing parts, not complete in appearance and in an obvious state of disrepair or anything else of an unsightly or unsanitary nature, which has been stored, abandoned or otherwise disposed of improperly.
DEPARTMENT. Any department of the city designated by the City Manager to enforce the provisions of this chapter.
DRIVEWAY. A concrete, asphalt, gravel, brick or other permanent low-dust surface. Safety curbing or a barrier shall be provided to define the limits of parking areas constructed of gravel or similar material.
ERADICATE. The complete killing or destruction of exotic and noxious weeds or other parts of weeds by pulling, destroying, chemically spraying, tillage or any one or all of these in effective combination.
EXOTIC WEEDS. Plants not native to North America which, when planted, either spread vegetatively or naturalize and degrade natural communities, reduce the value offish and wildlife habitat, or threaten an Illinois endangered or threatened species as designated in the Illinois Exotic Weed Act (ILCS Ch. 525, Act 10), including but not limited to Japanese honeysuckle, multiflora rose, purple loosestrife, common buckthorn, glossy buckthorn, saw-toothed buckthorn, dahurian buckthorn, Japanese buckthorn, Chinese buckthorn and kudzu.
FIREWOOD. Logs or kindling materials that have more wood than rot, not exceeding 24 inches in length and suitable for use in a fireplace or other wood-burning appliance. FIREWOOD shall not include pressure-treated lumber of any type, wood-framing components of any size or glue-laminated lumber components.
GARBAGE. Waste resulting from the handling, preparation; cooking and consumption of food and wastes resulting from the handling, storage or sale of produce.
GRAFFITI. Any sign, symbol, marking, drawing, name, initial, word, diagram, sketch, picture or letter placed upon the real or personal property of an owner without the owner’s express, written permission, provided, however, it shall not be a defense that the owner or occupant has given permission where this graffiti tends to incite violence.
HAZARDOUS WASTE. Waste, in any amount, which is defined, characterized or designated as hazardous waste by the United States Environmental Protection Agency or Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, or other federal or state law. It may include batteries, mercury, motor oil, paint (when still in liquid form), paint thinner, propane gas and used tires.
HEAVY CONSTRUCTION EQUIPMENT. Tractors, augurs, backhoes, cement mixers, bulldozers, plows, harrows, construction vehicles or other similar equipment.
IMMINENT DANGER. A condition where there exists reasonable certainty of harm that could occur within a short time frame to an individual’s or the public’s health, safety or welfare if circumstances remain unchanged.
IMMEDIATE AND CONTINUING HAZARD. A condition where there exists a reasonable or logical probability of harm to an individual’s or the public’s health, safety or welfare unless corrective measures are taken including but not limited to demolition of the structure(s).
INDOOR UPHOLSTERED FURNITURE. Any furniture not manufactured for outdoor use, including but not limited to upholstered chairs and couches.
INFECTED. The presence of a disease deemed a nuisance by the Illinois Department of Agriculture or the United States Department of Agriculture, the presence of circumstances that make it reasonable to believe that such a disease is present or the presence of any plant disease that is liable to spread to other plants, trees or shrubs to the injury of such plants, trees or shrubs or to the injury of humans or property.
INFESTED. The presence of a pest deemed a nuisance by the Illinois Department of Agriculture or the United States Department of Agriculture, the presence of circumstances that make it reasonable to believe that such a pest is present or the presence of any injurious insect or pest that is liable to spread to other plants, trees or shrubs to the injury of such plants, trees or shrubs or to the injury of humans or property.
NOXIOUS WEEDS. Any plant which is determined by the Director, the Dean of the College of Agriculture of the University of Illinois and the Director of the Agricultural Experiment Station at the University of Illinois, to be injurious to public health, crops, livestock, land or other property and designated in the Illinois Noxious Weed Law (ILCS Ch. 505, Act 100) and in Title 8 of the Ill. Adm. Code Part 220, including but not limited to marijuana, giant ragweed, common ragweed, Canada thistle, perennial sowthistle, musk thistle, perennial members of the sorghum genus and kudzu.
NUISANCE. To commit, perform or permit any act, conduct, circumstances or condition which constitutes an unreasonable, unwarrantable or unlawful use by a person of property, real or personal, which produces the material annoyance, health hazard, inconvenience, discomfort, unsafe or dangerous situation to members of the general public by reason of their inability to appreciate the peril therein, and/or which may reasonably be expected to attract children to the premises and risk injury by playing with, in or on it that the law will presume an actionable NUISANCE and as defined by common law of this state or defined by any of the ordinances of the city.
OCCUPANT. Any person, tenant, lessee, renter, corporation, partnership or group, whether or not the legal owner of record, occupying a building or portion thereof.
OUTSIDE STORAGE. The placing, keeping, using, maintaining or leaving of items customarily associated with the residential use of a dwelling, including but not limited to machinery, clothing, firewood, vehicle parts and tires, construction or demolition debris, indoor upholstered furniture, shopping carts, or other similar personal property or fixtures in unenclosed structures or areas exposed to precipitation.
OWNER. Any person who alone, jointly or severally with others, has legal or equitable title to any building, structure or premises with or without actual possession thereof; or has charge, care or control of any building, structure or premises as owner, agent of the owner, or as executor, executrix, administrator, trustee or guardian of the estate of the beneficial owner. Any person thus representing the actual OWNER shall be bound to comply with the provisions of this chapter, and the rules and regulations adopted pursuant thereto, the same extent as if he or she were the OWNER. However, when the area over which ownership is alleged is parkway, OWNER shall mean the owner of the real property immediately adjacent or abutting thereto.
PARKING SPACE. A concrete, asphalt, gravel, brick or other permanent low-dust surface, not less than nine feet wide and 18 feet long, together with a connecting driveway permitting ingress and egress of a vehicle without the necessity of moving any other vehicle.
PARKWAY. The area between the property line and the curb or, in the absence of a curb, between the property line and the nearest edge of the street paving.
PEST. Undesirable anthropods (including certain insects, spiders, mites, ticks and related organisms), wood-infesting organisms, rats, mice and other obnoxious undesirable animals, but does not include a feral cat, a “companion animal” as that term is defined in the Humane Care for Animals Act (ILCS Ch. 510, Act 70), “animals” as that term is defined in the Illinois Diseased Animals Act (ILCS Ch. 510, Act 50), or the animals protected by the Wildlife Code (ILCS Ch. 510, Act 5).
PORTABLE ON-DEMAND STORAGE STRUCTURES. Any container, storage unit, shed-like container or other portable structure that is intended for the purpose of filling or emptying personal property of any kind while located outside an enclosed building, other than an accessory building or shed complying with all building codes and land use requirements, and then later removed from the premises.
PORTABLE TOILETS. A toilet structure equipped with a watertight impervious container which receives waste discharged through a hopper, seat, urinal or similar device and into which container may be placed disinfecting or deodorizing chemicals.
PRAIRIE PLOT. An area which is naturally landscaped so as to exhibit the deliberate and conscious decision to plant, cultivate and maintain native plant species identified as prairie grasses and wildflowers characteristic of the native Illinois prairie; however, this term shall not include ornamental grasses and wildflowers typically sold in Illinois retail establishments and utilized within a cultivated landscape bed.
PREMISES. Any building, structure, lot, plot, tract, parcel of land or portion thereof, whether improved or unimproved, including adjacent parkways.
PRINCIPAL STRUCTURE. A structure in which the primary or predominant use of the premises on which the structure is located. In any residentially used or zoned parcel, any dwelling shall be deemed to be the principal building of the lot on which the same is situated.
RECEPTACLE. All containers used for the deposit of ashes, brush, debris, garbage, trash or yard waste. Containers shall be galvanized or noncorrodible metal or plastic, rodent- and insect-proof, waterproof and of a suitable gauge and construction to ensure durability, equipped with a tight fitting cover and handles so that they may be lifted, wheeled or carried by one person. No such container shall have a capacity of more than 30 gallons, unless the container is designed and equipped to be hydraulically lifted by a waste disposal vehicle. Durable plastic bags, securely fastened, are not proper RECEPTACLES, unless the plastic bags are within an enclosed building until lawfully set out for collection in conformance with the requirements of the solid waste chapter of this municipal code (Chapter 50). Yard waste may be contained in heavy duty, kraft paper bags designed for yard waste collection. Cardboard boxes, paper sacks, truck beds, wagons and trailers are not proper RECEPTACLES. When being used on a construction site, truck beds and trailers may be considered RECEPTACLES.
RECREATIONAL VEHICLE. Every camping trailer, motor home, mini motor home, travel trailer, truck camper or van camper used primarily for recreational purposes and not used commercially nor owned by a commercial business, all as defined in § 70.001.
RESIDENTIAL USE. A structure or part of a structure containing dwelling units or rooming units, including single-family or two-family houses, multiple dwellings, boarding or rooming houses, apartments, dormitories, and fraternity or sorority houses. RESIDENTIAL USES do not include, in a mixed-use structure, that part of a structure used for any nonresidential uses, except accessory to residential uses.
RESPONSIBLE PARTY OR PERSON. Any owner, agent, occupant or other entity in charge or control, under statutory authority or otherwise, of any lot, building or premises within the city responsible for creating, causing, maintaining or permitting the nuisance activity, condition or conduct.
STRUCTURE. That which is built or constructed or a portion thereof.
TRASH. Combustible materials, including but not limited to scrap lumber, old rope, rags, paper, newspaper, magazines, plastic or paper containers or other packaging material, bedding, carpeting, padding, cartons, boxes, barrels, broken toys, bedding; noncombustible materials, including but not limited to metals, batteries, empty bottles of different kinds and sizes, tin cans, broken toys, metal furniture, roofing shingles, plumbing fixtures and piping, upholstered furniture, dirt, rock, bricks and pieces of concrete, glass, rubber, crockery or other mineral waste deposited, left, discarded or scattered, that may become a breeding place for insects, rodents or vermin, or that may give off unpleasant odors or create a health or fire hazard where located.
UNENCLOSED STRUCTURE. An area not totally surrounded with a combination of walls, windows, doors, floor and roof, such as carports, garages with no doors, porches, decks, patios, rooftops and balconies.
WEEDS. All grasses, annual plants, vegetation and unattended growths of other plants, bushes and shrubbery: however, this term shall not include cultivated or attended trees flowers, gardens, planted perennial grasses, plants, bushes or shrubbery.
WHITE GOODS. Appliances, including stoves, washers, dryers, refrigerators, freezers, water heaters, air conditioners, dehumidifiers and any appliance commonly used for household purposes.
YARD WASTE. Accumulations of brush, grass clippings, leaves, garden waste, tree droppings (for example, pinecones and crabapples) and other materials accumulated as the result of the maintenance of lawns, vines and other vegetative landscaping.
(Ord. 22-3670, passed 5-4-2022; Ord. 23-3720, passed 12-18-2023)