845.010. Public Nuisances Affecting Peace, Safety and General Welfare.

The following are declared to be nuisances affecting public peace, safety and general welfare:

1.   interfering with, obstructing or rendering dangerous for passage, a public highway or right-of-way, or waters used by the public;

2.   leaving or displaying anything for sale on public or private property, except that an owner of an item for sale may display it on property that the person owns or otherwise controls;

3.   trees, hedges, billboards or other obstructions that prevent persons from having a clear view of traffic approaching an intersection;

4.   piling, storing or keeping of old machinery, junk, furniture, household furnishings or appliances or component parts of them or other debris;

5.   placing or throwing on any street, sidewalk, or other public property of any glass, tacks, nails, bottles or other substances that may injure a person or animal or damage any pneumatic tire;

6.   depositing of, permitting or failing to remove, garbage, trash, rubbish, bottles, cans and other refuse on any property, including large quantities of organic debris and materials that accumulated by other than natural means, except neatly maintained compost piles;

7.   property that has been disturbed by construction, grading, or other activity and is not seeded, sodded, or otherwise planted with a ground cover within 240 days, unless the 240 days expires between November 1 and May 15, in which case the ground cover must be established by the following July 15, unless the city approves a time extension;

8.   the accumulation of any piles of wood that are not:

   a.   neatly stacked; or

   b.   stacked or secured in a stable manner to avoid collapse.

9.   a structure, or a portion of a structure, located in a residential zoning district, if the exterior is not completed in accordance with city-approved construction plans within 180 days after the date that the city building permit was issued;

10.   construction materials, including piles of dirt, sand, and sod, left in the open on property more than 60 days after construction has been completed or a certificate of occupancy has been issued, whichever occurred first;

11.   a truck or other vehicle whose wheels or tires deposit mud, dirt, sticky substances, litter or other material on any street or highway;

12.   discarded construction material or other litter at a construction site that is not placed in an adequate waste container or that is allowed to blow around or off the site;

13.   reflected glare or light from private exterior lighting exceeding five-tenth footcandles as measured on the property line of the property where the lighting is located when abutting any residential parcel and one footcandle when abutting any commercial or industrial parcel;

14.   the placement of mailboxes and other delivery receptacles on public right of way, except those that comply with the following:

   a.   must be in compliance with united states postal service requirements for location and type;

   b.   must be installed as far back from the street pavement as reasonably practical to avoid snow plowing damage;

   c.   must be located within four feet of the intersection of a side property line with the street, or located in front of, and on the same side of the street as, the building it serves; and

   d.   must be located as a group in one place within four feet of a side property line and as close to the beginning of a cul-de-sac bulb as possible if the mailboxes and delivery receptacles serve buildings fronting and on the circular portion of a cul-de-sac endpoint, also known as a bulb.

15.   any violation of section 300.28, subdivisions 15 through 18;

16.   erosion or stockpiling of any material onto a public street that is not part of a public improvement; or erosion or drainage from a property when it is causing, or has the likelihood of causing, serious harm to neighboring property or to natural resources such as significant trees, water bodies, wetlands, and wetland buffers. Serious harm includes actual damage as well as interference with reasonable use of the property;

17.   the intentional discharge of items such as leaves, grass clippings, pet feces, solvents, antifreeze, oil, fireplace ashes, paint, and cement rinsate into a street, storm sewer system, or water resource such as a wetland, creek, pond or lake;

18.   depositing of, or permitting the depositing of, pet feces upon frozen lakes, ponds, wetlands or creeks or upon any public right-of-way, public trail easement area, or publically owned or controlled property;

19.   gravel driveways maintained in such a manner that the gravel erodes into, or is placed in, a public street or a water resource such as a wetland, creek, pond or lake;

20.   encroachments onto publicly-owned property or tax-forfeited property under public control without a legal right or permission from the public owner, such as the placement of buildings or other objects, the dumping of organic materials, the storing of privately-owned items, and the undertaking of activities affecting the physical nature of the property such as mowing, vegetation removal, or the application of fertilizer, pesticides, or herbicides; or

21.   a tree located on private property that the city forester has determined: (a) has defects in its structure, roots or branches that are likely to cause the tree or part of the tree to fail, and (b) is likely to damage public property or improvements when the tree or part of the tree fails.

A violation of this ordinance is subject to the penalties and provisions of Chapter XIII of the city code.

(Amended by Ord. No. 2018-07, effective July 28, 2018; Amended by Ord. No. 2011-30, adopted December 19, 2011; Amended by Ord. No. 2005-07, adopted March 21, 2005; Amended by Ord. No. 2003-12, adopted April 14, 2003; Amended by Ord. No. 2002-10, adopted May 6, 2002)