For the purpose of this subchapter, the following definitions shall apply unless the context clearly indicates or requires a different meaning.
AUTHORIZED EMPLOYEE. An individual designated to make the necessary inspections or any individual of any governmental department of the city, which department has been designated by the Mayor to enforce this chapter. The following departments may assist with enforcement of this chapter: The County Sheriff’s Department,; County Health Department; County Area Plan; Jonesboro Police Department; City Code Enforcement; and the Street/Utility Department.
CITY. The City of Jonesboro.
GOVERNMENTAL PROPERTY. Real estate within the city which is owned, leased, controlled, or occupied by the United States, the state, or any political subdivision thereof.
OFFICER. An employee of the Code Enforcement Department or any other government department of the city so authorized by the Mayor having law enforcement powers to issue a city ordinance violation summons in order to enforce the provisions of this subchapter or those involved in the county under county nuisance ordinances.
OWNER. Any one or more of the following:
(1) The owner or owners in fee simple of a parcel of real estate, including the life tenant, if any;
(2) The record owner or owners as reflected by the most current records in the township assessor’s office of the township in which real estate is located; or
(3) The purchaser or purchasers of such real estate under any contract for the conditional sale thereof.
PRIVATE PROPERTY. All real estate within the city except governmental property.
PUBLIC NUISANCE. Whatever is injurious to health, safety, or welfare of the citizens, or indecent or offensive to the senses, or an obstruction to the free use of property, so as essentially to interfere with the comfortable enjoyment of life or property. The following is a list of PUBLIC NUISANCES, but does not limit the conditions constituting a nuisance under this subchapter it is unlawful for any person to maintain, use, create, cause, place, deposit, leave, or permit a nuisance to remain on any property within the city, including:
(1) Accumulation of rubbish, trash, refuse, junk, and other abandoned materials, metals, lumber, ashes, filth, excrement, boards, slops, cinders, old tires, pallets, sawdust, wood or metal shavings, rubber, boxes, barrels, crates, cans, bottles, cartons, paper, debris, manure, grass cuttings, tree limbs, discarded food, clothing, parts from bikes, cycles, vehicles, lawn mowers, household items such as washers or dryer, refrigerators, hot water heaters, and the like, or any other offensive or disagreeable substance (meaning not orderly, stacked, packed, racked, stored, or in containers, and with the following exception: compost pile);
(2) Any condition which provides harborage of rats, mice, snakes, and other vermin and/or carcasses of animals or fowls, not disposed of within a reasonable time;
(3) Disagreeable or obnoxious odors and stenches, as well as the conditions, substances, or other causes which give rise to the emission or generation of those odors and stenches; other than which originate from customary agricultural or industrial practice;
(4) Any building or other structures on property which is in such dilapidated condition that it is unfit for human habitation or kept in such an unsanitary condition that it is a menace to the health or safety of the people residing in the vicinity thereof, or presents a more than ordinarily dangerous fire hazard in the vicinity where it is located;
(5) Unauthorized obstruction of any public street, road, alley, or sidewalk creating a public nuisance;
(6) Accumulation of stagnant water;
(7) Any abandoned, unattended, or discarded freezer, refrigerator, or other container which has an airtight door or lid, without first removing the door or lid from the freezer, refrigerator, container, or leaving such items on property not being used;
(8) The pollution of any public well or cistern, stream, lake, canal, or body of water by sewage, dead animals, creamery, industrial waste, or other substances;
(9) No trash, refuse, brush, or garbage shall be removed, hauled, or conveyed within the city limits, unless the vehicles used for removal, hauling, or conveying is rightly covered by screen, and driven in a manner that none of the contents may be spilled, dropped, or blown from it;
(10) It shall be a nuisance to permit furniture designed for interior use or household furnishings to be placed outside any structure, unless placed for refuse collections;
(11) It shall be a nuisance to maintain a swimming pool 42 inches or more deep without being secured by fences or gates. The County Area Plan will be responsible for issuing permits for a fence over six feet and the city shall issue permits for those six feet and under; and
(12) It shall be a nuisance to fill land with materials other than that allowed by state law.
(Ord. 4-2022, passed 5-10-2022)