(a) Title. This section shall be known as the "Yard Maintenance Ordinance" and may be cited as such.
(b) Purpose. The purpose of this section is to provide minimum requirements for the protection of life, limb, health, property, safety and welfare for the general public and the owners and occupants of residential buildings.
(c) Definition of Nuisance. For the purposes of this section, the term "nuisance" is defined to mean any condition or use of residential yards 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 such yards are located. This includes, but is not limited to, the keeping or maintaining or the depositing on or scattering over such yards of any of the following:
(1) Lumber, junk, trash or debris;
(2) Abandoned, discarded or unused objects or equipment such as automobiles, furniture, stoves, refrigerators, freezers, cans or containers;
(3) Any compost pile which is of such a nature as to spread or harbor disease, emit unpleasant odors or harmful gas, or attract rodents, vermin or other disease-carrying pests, animals or insects, provided that the presence of earthworms in a compost pile shall not constitute a nuisance;
(4) Garbage and unsanitary matter on premises unless such material is retained in containers, garbage pails or vessels which deny access to flies, insects, rodents and animals. Garbage cannot be stored outside in plastic bags or paper bags, except on the day of garbage collection and then only for the purpose of such collection.
(5) Abandoned wells, cisterns, shafts, basements, excavations, mounds of gravel or earth, abandoned and/or inoperative motor vehicles or parts thereof, structurally unsound structures or fences, trash, debris or vegetation; and
(6) Container units or garbage cans which have failed to be maintained in good repair, clean and well painted.
(d) Duty of Maintenance of Private Property. No person owning, leasing, occupying or having charge of any premises shall maintain or keep any nuisance thereon, nor shall any such person keep or maintain such premises in a manner causing substantial diminution in the value of the other property in the neighborhood in which such premises are located.
(e) Criminal Liability; Equitable Remedy.
(1) No owner or occupant shall fail to abate a nuisance as above defined within seven days after receiving a notice to abate.
(2) In addition to the penalty provided in Section 670.99, if an owner or occupant fails to abate a nuisance, as above defined, within fifteen days after receiving a notice to abate, the City shall make the corrective clean-up or repairs and assess the costs against the property receiving the same and collect such costs in accordance with the special assessment procedures established by the City Charter. If correction of the violations involves substantial cost (in excess of two hundred fifty dollars ($250.00), and/or construction activities adversely affected by the elements, the owner or occupant shall submit plans and a reasonable time frame for accomplishing the repair activities, within the fifteen days, to the City Manager. The City Manager may grant extensions, based upon the merits of each individual request, consistent with the nature and cost of the corrective work.
(Ord. 156. Passed 5-13-86.)