503.06 NUISANCES PROHIBITED; HABITATION DEEMED UNCLEAN; AGRICULTURAL EXCEPTION.
   (a)    Prohibition Against Nuisance in General: Except as provided in division (o) of this Section, no owner or person shall create any nuisance in the City, and no owner or person shall by inaction permit a nuisance to occur or continue on any property owned or under such person's control, nor shall any owner or person permit a nuisance to occur involving any personal property owned or under such person's control.
   (b)   Prohibition Against Noxious Odors: Except as provided in division (o) of this Section, no person shall erect, continue to use, or maintain a building, structure, or place for the exercise of a trade, employment, or business or for keeping or feeding an animal which, by occasioning noxious exhalations or noisome or offensive smells, becomes injurious to the health, comfort, or property of individuals or of the public.
   (c)   Prohibition Against Collection of Filth: Except as provided in division (o) of this Section, no person shall cause or allow offal, filth, or noisome substances to be collected or remain in any place to the damage or prejudice of others or of the public.
   (d)   Prohibition Against Impeding or Polluting Waterways: No person shall unlawfully obstruct or impede the passage of a navigable river, harbor, or collection of water, or corrupt or render unwholesome or impure a watercourse, stream of water, or unlawfully divert such watercourse from its natural course or state to the injury or prejudice of others.
   (e)    Prohibition Against Unsanitary Habitations: It shall be unlawful for any owner or person to lease, let, permit the occupancy of, permit the continuation of the occupancy of, or continue the occupancy of a structure or building or any portion thereof used for human habitation, unless such structure or building or portion thereof is free from unclean and unsanitary conditions as defined in subsection (n) hereof and unless there is compliance with the provisions of the subsequent sections.
   (f)   Prohibition Against Unsanitary Vaults: It shall be unlawful for any person being the owner, lessor, occupant, or person in charge of any premises upon which a privy vault, cesspool, or septic tank is located to permit such vault, pool, or tank, or any building, fixture, or device appurtenant thereto, to become foul, noisome, filthy, or offensive to neighboring property owners.
   (g)   Prohibition Against Deposit of Dead Animals, Offal Upon Land or Water: No person shall put the carcass of a dead animal or the offal from a slaughter house, butcher's establishment, packing house or fish house, or spoiled meat, spoiled fish, or other putrid substance or the contents of a privy vault, upon or into a lake, river, bay, creek, pond, canal, road, street, alley, lot, meadow, public ground, market place, or common. No owner or occupant of such place shall knowingly permit such thing to remain therein to the annoyance of any citizen or neglect to remove or abate the nuisance occasioned thereby within twenty-four (24) hours after knowledge of the existence thereof, or after notice thereof in writing from an "Inspector" as provided in Section 503.08.
   (h)   Prohibition Against Defiling Spring or Well: No person shall maliciously put a dead animal, carcass, or part thereof, or other putrid, nauseous, or offensive substance into, or befoul, a well, spring, brook, or branch of running water, or a reservoir of a waterworks, of which use is or may be made for domestic purposes.    
   (i)   Prohibition Against Abandoned Refrigerators: No person shall abandon, discard, or knowingly permit to remain on premises under his or her control, in a place accessible to children, any abandoned or discarded icebox, refrigerator, or other airtight or semi-airtight container which has a capacity of one and one half (1-1/2) cubic feet or more and an opening of fifty (50) square inches or more and which has a door or lid equipped with a hinge, latch, or other fastening device capable of securing such door or lid, without rendering the equipment harmless to human life by removing such hinges, latches or other hardware which may cause a person to be confined therein. This Section shall not apply to an icebox, refrigerator or other airtight or semi-airtight container located in that part of a building occupied by a dealer, warehouse official or repair technician.
   (j)   Prohibition Against Discarding Litter: Discarding of litter is controlled by Section 331.42 of the Codified Ordinances; and Section 3767.32 of the Ohio Revised Code; however, improper discarding of litter may also be considered creating, permitting or maintaining a nuisance under this chapter.
   (k)   Prohibition Against Trees and Shrubbery Obstruction: The pruning of trees or shrubs to prevent obstruction shall be controlled by Section 917.02 of the Codified Ordinances; however, the failure to prune trees or shrubs to prevent obstruction may also be considered creating, permitting or maintaining a nuisance under this chapter.
   (l)   Prohibition Against Dumping of Refuse in City: The dumping of refuse in the City is controlled by Section 925.05 of the Codified Ordinances; however, may also be considered creating, permitting or maintaining a nuisance under this chapter.
 
   (m)   Prohibition Against Weeds and Litter on Private Property: No owner of land within the City shall fail to keep such property free and clear from all litter, noxious weeds, rank vegetation, or weeds, grass or plants, which are of excessive length, unless otherwise authorized, in writing, by the Zoning Administrator or Nuisance Officer for just cause.
 
   (n)   When Habitations are Deemed Unsanitary: A structure, building, or any portion thereof used for human habitation shall be deemed to be in an unclean and unsanitary condition when any of the following conditions exist:
      (1)   Infection with communicable disease;
      (2)   Absence of the toilet facilities required by law;
      (3)   Presence of sewer gas;
      (4)   Accumulation of dirt, filth, litter, refuse, or other offensive or dangerous substances likely to cause sickness among the occupants;
      (5)   Defective or improperly used drainage, plumbing, or ventilation facilities likely to cause sickness.
 
   (o)   Agriculture Exceptions: Persons who are engaged in agriculture-related activities, as agriculture is defined in Ohio R.C. 519.01, and who are conducting those activities outside the City, or inside the City when such activities were engaged into inside the City prior to the adoption of this section, in accordance with generally accepted agricultural practices, and in such a manner so as not to have a substantial, adverse effect on the public health, safety, or welfare, are exempt from paragraphs (a), (b) and (c) above and from any ordinances, resolutions, rules, or other enactments of the City that prohibit excessive noise.
(Ord. 044-10. Passed 6-21-10.)