The following acts, action, inaction, omissions, behavior, or conditions shall constitute a public nuisance:
(A) Any act, thing, occupation, condition, use of property, non-use of property, misuse of property that continues for a length of time so as to:
(1) Substantially annoy, injure, or endanger the comfort, health, repose or safety of the public;
(2) In any way render the public insecure in life, peaceful uninterrupted existence, or in the use of their property;
(3) Offend the public morals or decency; and
(4) Unlawfully and substantially interfere with, obstruct or tend to obstruct, or render dangerous for passage any street, alley, highway, navigable body of water, or other public way, including but not limited to sidewalks.
(B) To allow any physical condition, use, or occupancy of any premises or its appurtenances be an attractive nuisance to children, including, but not limited to, abandoned wells, shafts, standing pools of water or liquid, basements, excavations, retaining walls, and unsafe fences, accessible to children or other persons, on the premises. No person shall abandon or leave unattended in any place accessible to children any refrigerator, freezer, ice chest, ice box, or similar airtight box or container, which has a locking device inoperable from within, without first unhinging and removing the door or lid thereof or detaching the locking device from the door or lid. Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit the normal use of any refrigerator, ice box, freezer, or similar appliance for the storage of food in any home or buildings appurtenant thereto.
(C) For any premises to have unsanitary, defective, or insufficient sewerage or plumbing facilities.
(D) To keep or maintain any premises designated by a Code Enforcement Officer as unsafe or unfit for human habitation.
(E) For any premises to present an imminent fire hazard, be in imminent danger of collapse, or to be unsafe or unsecure so as to endanger life, limb, or property.
(F) (1) For any premises to lack electrical service, plumbing, heating, and/or other equipment required by this chapter, the Property Maintenance Code, state statute or any other ordinance of the city.
(2) If the utility providing natural gas service to a furnace, water heater, or other equipment determines that the equipment is defective, the utility shall cite or "red tag" the defective equipment and notify the Code Enforcement Officer of such citation. Any equipment so cited by a utility company as defective will be deemed a public nuisance.
(G) For any structure or building to be in a state of dilapidation, deterioration, or decay, or be a product of faulty construction.
(H) For any structure or building to be vacant or abandoned and open or accessible to vagrants or passersby, or damaged by fire so as to not provide shelter.
(I) To allow on any premises or structure any stagnant water in which mosquitoes, flies, or other insects may breed or multiply. For stagnant water that cannot be easily eliminated, a property owner may use mosquito dunks or other environmentally safe larvicides to kill mosquitoes and other insects and evidence of the effective use of such products will constitute a defense to any citation issued under this section.
(J) To allow any rubbish to remain on any premises.
(K) To allow any premises or structure to pollute any public well or cistern, stream, lake, canal, or body of water by sewage, creamery, or industrial wastes or other polluting substances.
(L) To allow any premises or structure within the city, to emit or cause any foul, offensive, noisome, nauseous, noxious, or disagreeable odors, effluvia or stenches repulsive to the physical senses of ordinary persons, or that annoy, cause discomfort, or injure the health of any appreciable number of persons within the city.
(M) Harboring or keeping any animal of the dog kind which by loud and frequent or habitual barking, howling, or yelping, shall cause serious annoyance or disturbance to adjacent residents in the neighborhood. No animal shall be kept on any lot or parcel of land or property within the city consisting of less than 10,000 square feet in area. This provision does not apply to small household pets, dogs or cats or those maintained for commercial purposes in compliance with the city's zoning code.
(N) Any person having the custody and control of any domestic animal shall be responsible for the removal of the animal's excrement and shall not allow excessive excrement to accumulate on his or her premises.
(O) The keeping of cattle or fowl within the city. No owner, harborer, landlord, tenant or person having the custody, control or possession of any chicken, poultry, fowl or livestock shall permit the storage, keeping, raising or harboring of any such animal within the city. The keeping or harboring of such animals shall be considered a nuisance, de facto, under the terms of this chapter.
(P) Emission of noxious odors or smoke into the surrounding atmosphere of dust, smoke, or other matter which renders ordinary use or physical occupation of other property in the vicinity uncomfortable or impossible.
(Q) Emission of noise or sounds which is noxious enough to destroy the enjoyment of dwellings or other uses of property in the vicinity by interfering with the ordinary comforts of human existence.
(R) Storage of explosives or combustible material. The storage of combustible or explosive material which creates a safety hazard to other property or persons in the vicinity.
(S) Any tree, stack of wood or trees, or other object standing in such a condition that it will, if the condition is allowed to continue, endanger the life, limb, or property of, 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.
(T) The operation of any ATV within the city on any day, before 8:00 a.m. or after 10:00 p.m., prevailing time without the muffler system provided by the manufacturer of the ATV, as provided by the manufacturer, without any modification thereof other than like kind parts replacement, and which prevents the emission of sound from the ATV in excess of the levels identified in 40 CFR 205.166 for motorcycles; or at any speed in excess of the minimum speed required to maintain the forward motion of the ATV while it is within 150 feet of any dwelling on a lot or parcel of real estate other than that upon which the ATV is being operated.
(U) Any fire, other than that of candles, torches, grills, and fire code compliant fire pits, that is outside of any building of any material other than paper, wood, charcoal, propane or natural gas or more than three square feet in area.
(V) To allow any motor vehicle to be parked on an unpaved surface.
(W) The feeding of ducks, geese, pigeons, and similar such birds and wild animals, such as, raccoons and squirrels in a manner causing or contributing to unsanitary conditions and offensive odors within the city limits. This would include making mass quantities of food available to groups of waterfowl, pigeons, or wild animals, on repeated occasions, so as to encourage them to amass in one particular location. This does not include maintenance of birdhouses or backyard bird feeders designed to feed sparrows, cardinals, hummingbirds, or similar such birds.
(X) It shall be a violation of this chapter to allow criminal activity to occur upon any property within the city. Any building or premises where law enforcement officers have, on more than one occasion in the preceding 12-month period, cited or arrested persons for crimes involving prostitution, controlled
substances, disorderly conduct or gambling or have executed court issued search warrants for crimes involving prostitution, controlled substances, disorderly conduct or gambling shall be in violation of this chapter. Property owners are to be placed on notice if any of the preceding events occur and will be deemed to have knowledge of these events once given notice. In the event of criminal activity as described above occurs with the city, the Ludlow Police Department shall provide this information to the City Administrator within 30 days. The City Administrator shall then provide this information to the city Code Enforcement Department for the issuance of a citation, if applicable.
(Y) No person shall remove a shopping cart from the property of any retail shopping establishment. Property as used in this section shall be considered to include, but not be limited to any public or private parking lot contiguous to the retail shopping establishment. Every retail establishment that provides carts to its customers that leave the building in which the establishment is located shall post signs in conspicuous locations throughout the parking lot of the retail establishment that state it is unlawful to remove carts from the premises of the establishment, including, but not limited to, the parking lot.
(Ord. 2016-9, passed 11-10-2016)