(A) In addition to what is declared in this section to be a public nuisance, those offenses which are known to the common law and the statutes of the state as public nuisances, may, in case any thereof exist within the town limits, be treated as such and be against as is provided in this section; or in accordance with any other provisions of law. Wherever the word “nuisance” is used in this section, it refers to a public nuisance.
(B) Whenever the singular of the word person, owner, occupant, tenant, agent, representative, company, corporation, or any other word referring to a person or entity subject to this section is used, the use thereof shall likewise include the plural of such word and likewise when the plural of such word is used, it shall include the singular. Whenever the word person or persons is used to denote someone subject to the terms of this section, such word or words shall include companies, corporations, partnerships, and other legal entities, as the case may be.
(C) For the purpose of this section, the following definitions shall apply unless the context clearly indicates or requires a different meaning.
AUTOMOBILE. A vehicle used to transport persons or property that is moved by an engine or motor that is a part of said vehicle over streets, highways, tracks, or roads.
AUTOMOBILE PARTS. Any portion or parts of any motor driven vehicle, whether used in the transportation of persons, animals, personal property, or merchandise of any nature, that is detached from the automobile as a whole.
DEBRIS. Broken scattered remains of anything, such as tree limbs, bottles, appliances, building material, and paper that would create an unkept condition.
JUNK. Scraps, parts, or obsolete pieces of anything including, but not limited to, metal, glass, paper, rags, tires, or other rubber products, wood, masonry, and plastics.
JUNK VEHICLES. Any style or type of conveyance, whether for the transportation of persons or property, that is unfit for further use as a vehicle; a conveyance not bearing a current license plate registered to that vehicle; or a conveyance that appears to be obsolete and derelict that has been placed on blocks or jacks for a period exceeding 30 days.
NOXIOUS WEEDS. Any weed, over 8 inches in height, defined by the U.S.D.A. as of a prohibited or restricted nature and includes, but is not limited to: Canadian and bull thistles, bind weed, wild garlic, wild grasses such as crab, Johnson, peper, and quack, giant fox tail, oxeye daisy, penny crest, wild mustard, and horse weeds.
RAGS. Cloth products of any nature whether wearing apparel, bed clothing, towels, or other usually in a dilapidated state or otherwise discontinued from use.
SCRAP LUMBER. Anything of a wood nature that could not be construed as suitable for building in the commonly accepted manner.
SCRAP METAL. Pieces or parts of steel, iron, tin, zinc, copper, aluminum, or any alloy. Any pieces or parts of metal covered with porcelain, paint, or other material shall be considered SCRAP.
SCRAP PAPER. Paper of any kind whether loose, baled, or bundled and includes, but is not limited to: boxes, whether assembled or knocked down; newspapers, in whole or in part; wrapping paper, loose or in a roll whether it be brown, waxed, white or any color; plastics such as bisqueen, saran wrap, and such.
(D) For the purpose of this section, it shall not be essential that the nuisance be created or contributed to by the owner, tenants, or their agents or representatives, but it shall suffice if the nuisance be created or contributed to by licensees, invitees, guests, habitual trespassers, or other persons whose presence on the premises is subject to the control of the conduct that have been made aware or ought to have become aware by the exercise of reasonable care.
(E) It shall be unlawful, inside the corporation boundaries of the town, for any person, firm, partnership, or corporation:
(1) To store or keep junk vehicles or automobile parts on a public right-of-way or on a private or public lot exposed to the view of the general public; it shall be unlawful to have more than five vehicles for each piece of property. No more than two vehicles may be parked on the street. All vehicles must be operational and bear current license plates registered to that vehicle;
(2) To put, throw, dump, leave, deposit, or to cause or allow the putting, throwing, dumping, leaving, or depositing of junk, scrap of any kind, rags, debris, or junk vehicles in or upon or within the limits of any street, alley, sidewalk, thoroughfare, or public way;
(3) To allow any premises owned, occupied, or controlled by him or her to become or remain in a filthy condition or the permission of the use or occupation of same in such a manner as to create noxious or offensive smells or odors in connection therewith, or the allowance of the accumulation or creation of scrap, junk, rags, or other unwholesome and offensive matter or the allowance of the breeding of flies, rodents, or other vermin on the premises to the menace of the public health or the annoyance of people residing in the vicinity;
(4) To permit any building, house, or structure owned by same to become so out of repair and dilapidated that it constitutes a fire hazard liable to catch on fire or communicate fire because of its condition and lack of repair or that due to lack of adequate maintenance or neglect it endangers the public health, welfare, or safety, or materially devalues and interferes with the peaceful enjoyment by owners or occupants of adjacent property;
(5) To erect, use, or maintain a dwelling which is unfit for human habitation. A “dwelling” shall include any part of any building or its premises used as a place of residence or habitation or for sleeping by any person. A dwelling is “unfit for human habitation” when it is dangerous or detrimental to life or health because of want of repair, defects in the drainage, plumbing, lifting, 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;
(6) To cause or allow any trees, stack, or other object to remain standing upon such premises in such condition that it shall, if the condition is suffered to continue, endanger the life, limb, or property 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;
(7) To permit to emit from premises into the surrounding atmosphere such odors, dusts, smoke, or other debris as to render ordinary use or physical occupation of other property in the vicinity uncomfortable or impossible;
(8) To allow any pool of stagnant water to accumulate and stand on any property;
(9) To make or cause to be made any noise noxious enough to destroy the enjoyment of dwelling houses or other uses of property in the vicinity by interfering with the ordinary comforts of human existence including, but not limited to, continual pounding, continual barking by one or more dogs, unnecessary sounding of horns, racing the motor, causing the screeching or squealing of tires on any vehicles, radios, phonographs, televisions, and sound tracks on public address systems;
(10) To cause or allow debris, junk, noxious weeds, such an accumulation on any premises of filth, trash, garbage, or other waste materials that it endangers the public health, welfare, or safety, or materially interferes with the peaceful enjoyment by owners or occupants of adjacent property because of the danger of its catching or communicating fire, its attracting and propagating vermin, rodents, or insects or its blowing into any street, sidewalk, or property of another. It shall be the duty of persons owning or being in charge of those business establishments whose patrons purchase goods of services from their automobiles, commonly known as “drive-ins”, to furnish sufficient covered receptacles for the deposit of wastes created in the operation of such business and to clean up such wastes as are not deposited in receptacles at the close of business of each day (if such business operates continuously, at least once each day) and at such other times when weather conditions are such that waste from the operation of such business is being blown to adjoining premises;
(11) To store or allow on the premises such combustible or explosive material as to create a safety hazard to other property or persons in the vicinity (automobile fuels in underground storage are exempt from this restriction);
(12) To maintain or allow any unlocked refrigerator, upright or chest type freezer, any open or uncovered, or insecurely covered, cistern, cellar, well, pit, excavation, or vault situation upon private premises in any open or unfenced lot or place;
(13) To maintain or allow the growing of trees with less than 14 feet clearance over streets, of less than ten feet over sidewalks, or the growing and maintenance of shrubbery in excess of three feet in height within the radius of 20 feet from the point where the curb line of any street intersects the curb line of another street. No shrub shall be planted between the curb line of any street within a radius of 20 feet from the point where the curb line of any street intersects with the curb line of another street;
(14) It shall be the duty of every owner, occupant, or person in charge of any lot or land within the town to cause noxious weeds to be destroyed by spraying with a chemical approved by the Council or by cutting them or digging them under;
(15) It shall be unlawful to perform non-emergency vehicle repairs on the streets, alleys, or public rights-of-way; and
(16) It shall be unlawful to ride a bicycle on the streets, alleys, or public rights-of-way after dusk unless said bicycle is equipped with operating lights on both the front and rear of said bicycle.
(F) (1) In any case where any nuisance may exist, it shall be the duty of the Town Marshal at the direction of the Council to serve notice upon the owner of the premises where such nuisance exists and upon any other person so causing such nuisance to abate such nuisance with ten days of said notice.
(2) If the owner, occupant, and any other person or entity served with a notice to abate the nuisance shall refuse or neglect to abate such nuisance within the designated time.
(a) Such person, persons, or entity shall be subject to the penalties provided in § 92.99.
(b) In addition thereto, the Council may remove, cause to be removed, or do or cause to be done such other acts as are necessary and reasonable to abate said nuisance, and the Town Clerk- Treasurer shall make a certified statement of the actual cost incurred by the town in such removal, which statement shall be delivered to the owner of such real estate by the Town Marshal or by certified mail, or where appropriate, by publication, provided such owner shall have been served with notice as provided in division (F)(1) above and such owner shall have not more than ten days within to pay amount to the Clerk-Treasurer of the town. If such owner fails to pay the sum within the time prescribed, a certified copy of the statement of such costs shall he filed in the Auditor’s Office of the county wherein said real estate is located, and the said Auditor shall place the amount so claimed on the tax duplicate against the real estate of the owner affected by said work, and the same shall be collected as taxes are collected or said costs may be collected by suit.
(c) The Council may cause such nuisance to be abated in any manner authorized by law, including the institution in the name of the town against the owner, occupant, or other person, of any action therefore and for the recovery of the amount of the expense of such abatement.
(3) The requirement for service of notice under the provisions of this section may be complied with by the certified mailing of such notice to the person or persons sought to be notified, provided however, that when the owner is unknown, notice shall be to the person or persons in whose name or names the real estate taxes on said real estate are shown on record in the office of the Auditor of the county, wherein said real estate is located, by registered or certified mail to the last known address of such person or persons sought to be notified, or when the address of such persons is unknown, by publication of said notice once each week for three consecutive weeks in a newspaper of countywide circulation, published in the county.
(G) For the purposes of carrying the provisions of this section into effect, it is hereby made the duty of all officers and employees of the town to report the existence of nuisances to the Council or the Town Marshal, and for this purpose the Town Marshal or other employees designated by the Council, after reasonable notice to the occupant and at reasonable times shall be permitted to visit, enter into or upon any building, lot, grounds, or premises within the limits of the town to investigate complaints of any such nuisances and to make examination thereof.
(H) Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit the keeping of vehicles intended to be used in a demolition derby so long as only one such vehicle shall be kept at any residence or other location, and said vehicle shall be completely covered by a tarp whenever stored outside, and said vehicle shall be removed from such premises within ten days after said demolition derby.
(Ord. 4-06-1, passed 4-10-2006) Penalty, see § 92.99