For the purpose of this Chapter, the following definitions shall apply unless the context indicates or requires a different meaning.
ABANDONED VEHICLE.
Abandon vehicle includes any of the following:
(1) A vehicle located on public property illegally, or a vehicle left on public property continuously without being moved, for more than three days;
(2) A mechanically inoperable vehicle that is located on public property in such a manner as to constitute a hazard or obstruction to the movement of pedestrian or vehicular traffic on a public right-of-way;
(3) A vehicle that has remained on private property for more than 48 hours without authorization by the owner or other person having the legal right to control the use of the property;
(4) A vehicle from which the engine, transmission, or differential has been removed, or that is otherwise partially dismantled or inoperable and left on public property;
(5) A vehicle that has been removed by a towing service or a public agency upon request of an officer enforcing a statute or ordinance other than this chapter if the vehicle, once impounded, is not claimed or redeemed by the owner or his agent within 20 days of the date of its removal;
(6) A vehicle that is three or more model years old and mechanically inoperable, and is left on private property continuously in a location visible from public property for more than 20 days; or
(7) Any vehicle that constitutes an abandoned vehicle pursuant to Indiana Code 9-22-1.
ABATEMENT PERIOD.
The period of time the landowner has to correct or abate the violation stated on the violation notice issued to the landowner pursuant to this Chapter. The initial abatement period is ten days. At the discretion of the Fire Chief or, in the event of a timely appeal, at the discretion of the Board, this time may be extended by up to 45 days, depending upon the severity of the violation, the nature of the work required to abate the nuisance and the efforts, if any, of the landowner to attempt to abate the nuisance.
AUTOMOBILE SCRAP YARD.
A business organized for the purpose of scrap metal processing, automobile wrecking, or operating a junkyard.
BOARD.
The Board of Public Works and Safety for the City of Linton.
BUREAU.
The Bureau of Motor Vehicles.
DEBRIS.
The remains of something broken-down, unused for prolonged periods, discarded, abandoned, dilapidated, or destroyed, including but not limited to: refuse; accumulation of items on public or private property that could pose serious health or safety risks to persons or property; yard refuse, rank vegetation cut but not disposed of; animal remains; trash; junk cars, parts of automobiles or other vehicles which are no longer mobile; pieces or sheets of glass (whether fractured or whole); wood, particle board, bark, wood chips, lumber or other building materials; metal items from any source (whether rusted or not); fencing or other barriers with exposed nails, splinters, or sharp edges; wire, cables, hoses, ropes, chains, or other items that pose a choking or strangling threat to persons or animals; rubber products, gasoline, gasoline cans (whether in approved or unapproved containers for storage), oil cans, oil pans, oil, or any other petroleum product; cans of paint, solvents, varnishes, stains, or other types of surface coating; industrial detergents and mineral cleansers; grease, alone or in any container; chemical cleansers; refrigerants (including Freon); acetylene, propane, oxygen, or other chemical used for welding or manufacturing processes accumulated and stored in containers that are unsafe or unsafely stored; any other items not herein mentioned which accumulate and pose a threat to the health, safety and welfare of persons and property.
ENVIRONMENTAL PUBLIC NUISANCE.
Any of the following shah constitute an environmental public nuisance:
(1) A thing, act, occupation, condition, or use of property that shall continue for a length of time as to:
(a) Annoy, injure or have the potential to injure, endanger or have the potential to endanger the comfort, health, repose, safety, or welfare of persons or property;
(b) In any way render the public insecure in life or in the use of property;
(c) Interfere with, obstruct, or render any street, alley, highway, navigable body of water, or public right-of-way dangerous or a potential danger to persons or property;
(d) Become injurious to health, indecent, offensive to the senses, or an obstruction to the full use of property, so as essentially to interfere with the enjoyment of life or property.
(2) Any growth of weeds, grass or other rank vegetation on private or public property which is neglected, disregarded or not cut, mown, or otherwise removed which has attained a height of six inches or more;
(3) Any accumulation of dead weeds, grasses, or brush on private or public property;
(4) Any poison ivy, ragweed, rank vegetation, poisonous plant, or plants detrimental to health growing on any private or public property; and
(5) Property which has been allowed to become a health or safety hazard, or which has accumulated litter, contains debris, abandoned vehicles, waste products, graffiti, or any other items which pose a threat to the health, safety, and welfare of persons and property, unless specifically authorized under existing law, ordinance, or regulation.
GRAFFITI.
Markings of any kind, regardless of content, that may cause or do cause persons passing by to obstruct, delay, or disturb the regular flow of traffic (whether pedestrian or automobile), thereby creating a potential threat to the health, safety, and welfare of person or property. The markings are defined as any marking that defaces, deforms, mars, or causes the defacing, deforming, or marring of any public or private property, regardless of ownership or possessory interest therein, including but not limited to buildings, trees, lampposts, poles, hydrants, bridges, piers, sidewalks, streets, alleyways, or surface of any public or private property located upon any public thoroughfare or right-of-way, or upon any public place within the City. However, this section shall not prohibit the posting of notices as required by law.
JUNK.
Any articles in any form composed of or consisting of any of the following enumerated second-hand, discarded, abandoned or cast-off metals or materials, including but not limited to iron, brass, bronze, copper, tin, zinc, lead or any other metals or compounds thereof, broken glass, rags, clothing, rubber, plastics, synthetic substances, fabrics, bottles, papers, feathers, waste material, any RLF compound or byproduct of the foregoing items. Junk shall also include any wrecked, abandoned, dismantled, or immovable automobiles or parts thereof.
JUNK CAR.
Any motor vehicle which does not bear a currently valid license plate, and is not kept in a garage or other building, regardless of age or condition. A garage or other building does not include a tarp, plastic sheeting or any other material or impermanent means that are commonly used to cover a motor vehicle.
LANDOWNER.
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 or tenants if any;
(2) The record owner or owners as reflected by the most current records in the county or townships assessors' office of the county or township in which the real estate is located; or
(3) The purchaser or purchasers of real estate under any contract for the conditional sale thereof.
LITTERING.
Disposing of, tossing, dumping, ejecting or causing to be ejected from hands, containers, automobiles, homes, or any other place, refuse of any kind, onto the ground or other structure other than a refuse container;
OFFICER.
Any regular member of the Linton Police Department.
PUBLIC HEALTH NUISANCE.
Public health nuisances include, but are not limited to:
(1) All decayed, harmfully adulterated, or unwholesome food or drink offered for sale to the public;
(2) Carcasses of animals, birds, or fowl not carried off or otherwise disposed of in a sanitary manner within 24 hours after death;
(3) Accumulations of decayed animal or vegetable matter, trash, rubbish, rotting lumber, bedding, packing material, junk vehicles, scrap metal, or any material in which mosquitoes, disease-carrying insects, rats or other vermin may breed, or which may be a fire hazard;
(4) All stagnant water in which mosquitoes, flies, or insects may multiply;
(5) Garbage cans which are not fly-tight, or not kept clean;
(6) Pollution of any public well, cistern, stream, river, lake, canal, or body of water by sewage, waste, creamery, industrial wastes, or other substances;
(7) The escape of smoke, soot, cinders, noxious acids, fumes, gases, flying ash, or industrial dust within the city hmits in quantities which may cause injury or does cause injury, or which endangers the health of person of ordinary sensibilities or threatens to cause or causes substantial damage to property;
(8) Any use of property, substances or things that emit or cause foul, offensive, noisome, nauseous, noxious, or disagreeable odors, effluvia, or stenches repulsive to the physical senses or ordinary persons, or which annoy, discomfort, injure, or inconvenience the health of any appreciable number of persons within the City;
(9) All abandoned wells not securely covered or secured from public use;
(10) Any accumulation of junk rubbish, scrap metal, automotive parts, building materials, machinery, dead trees, or parts of dead trees, upon any premises in a residential or non-residential area;
(11) Any abandoned refrigerators, iceboxes, or similar containers from which the doors and other covers have not been removed, or which are not equipped with a device for opening from the inside by pushing only with the strength of a child, or may or may not contain rust, or that has refrigerant in any part thereof, or which still has electrical cables attached regardless of age or:
(12) Any sign of any size, shape, content, or purpose, which infringes upon the City's right-of-way easement from the center of the road to location of the sign, or which poses a serious threat to the health, safety, or welfare of the public.
VISIBLE FROM PUBLIC PROPERTY.
A vehicle which can be seen from public property, including vehicles that have been covered by an impermanent covering that allows the form or the outhne of the vehicle to remain visible from pubhc property.
WEEDS AND OTHER RANK VEGETATION.
Any growth of weeds, grass or other rank vegetation on private or pubhc property that is neglected, disregarded or not cut, mown, or otherwise removed that has attained a height of six inches or more.