For use in this chapter, the following terms are defined:
1. “Junk” means all old or scrap copper, brass, lead, or any other non-ferrous metal; old or discarded rope, rags, batteries, paper, trash, rubber, debris, waste or used lumber, or salvaged wood; dismantled vehicles, machinery and appliances or parts of such vehicles, machinery or appliances; iron, steel or other old or scrap ferrous materials; old or discarded glass, tinware, plastic or old or discarded household goods or hardware. Neatly stacked firewood located on a side yard or a rear yard is not considered junk.
2. “Junk motor vehicle” or “junk machinery” means any motor vehicle or machine stored or parked within the corporate limits of the City, whether on public or private property, which vehicle or machine is not enclosed in a permanent structure such as a garage or other building suited for the storage of motor vehicles or machinery, and which because of any one or more of the following characteristics set forth in the following paragraphs A through E constitutes a threat to the public health and safety:
A. Any vehicle or machine which could not be operated on the public streets and highways because the same is not currently licensed under the Iowa Motor Vehicles Laws then in effect;
B. Any vehicle or machine with a broken or cracked windshield, window, headlight or tail light, or any other cracked or broken glass;
C. Any vehicle with a broken, loose or missing fender, door, bumper, hood, hood ornament, door handle, window handle, running board, steering wheel, trunk top, trunk handle, radio aerial, tail pipe or decorative piece;
D. Any vehicle or machine which has become or threatens to become the habitat of rats, mice, snakes, vermin, insects or other wild or domestic animals;
E. Any vehicle or machine which contains gasoline, diesel oil or other flammable fuel in a container other than a factory-installed fuel tank;
F. Any vehicle or machine which is rendered inoperable by the lack of one or more wheels (exclusive of the “spare”), or the lack of an engine, transmission, differential, drive shaft, axle or any component part thereof, which absence or removal makes the vehicle or machine inoperable by its own power. Provided, however, this subsection does not prohibit the owner of a motor vehicle from making ordinary and routine repairs to any motor vehicle currently registered to said owner or a member of said owner’s immediate family, while such vehicle is parked on property owned or controlled by said owner when the ordinary and routine repairs do not require the vehicle to be inoperable for more than fifteen days. And provided further, the 15-day limit referred to in this subsection may, in the discretion of the Mayor, Police Chief or Council, be extended for an additional 15-day period if the owner can demonstrate to the Mayor, Police Chief or Council that it is impossible to complete the ordinary and routine repairs within 15 days because of the unavailability of parts or other emergency beyond the control of the owner. In such a case, the Mayor, Police Chief or Council may grant written permission for an additional 15-day period; or
G. Any other vehicle or machine which, because of its defective or obsolete condition, in any way constitutes a threat to the public health or safety.
3. “Owner” includes but is not limited to any one or more of the following: (i) the current registered owner of any motor vehicle as shown by the public records of the office charged with licensing and registering motor vehicles in Iowa or any other state; or (ii) the owner of the land upon which the refuse, junk motor vehicle or junk machinery is situated as the same is shown by the public records of the County Auditor. In the event the owner of land as described in this subsection does not occupy or control the property subject to this section, the word “owner” includes the person in control or in possession of the subject real estate. In the case of refuse or junk machinery whose actual ownership is not readily ascertainable by reference to public records in Story County, the owner of such refuse or junk machinery shall be deemed to be the same as the owner of the land upon which the refuse or machinery is located, or the person in possession of such land, or both. It is the intent of the Council to impose vicarious liability upon absent landlords as well as parties in possession for any violation of this chapter.
4. “Refuse” means all garbage, rubbish, ashes, inoperative appliances, scrap lumber and building materials, or other substances offensive to sight or smell or detrimental to the best interests of the community.
It is hereby declared that storage within the corporate limits of the City of refuse or junk or of junk motor vehicles or junk machinery upon private property constitutes a threat to the health and safety of the citizens and is a nuisance within the meaning of Section 657.1 of the Code of Iowa. If any refuse, junk, junk motor vehicles or machinery is stored upon private property in violation hereof, the owner as defined in Section 51.01 of this chapter shall be prima facie liable for said violation. Provided, however, this chapter does not prohibit the temporary storage of refuse if the same is enclosed in a water-tight covered container made of galvanized steel or other non-rusting material.
Upon discovery of any refuse, junk, junk motor vehicle or junk machinery stored upon private property within the corporate limits of the City in violation of Section 51.02 of this chapter, the Police Chief shall within ten (10) days notify by certified mail or hand delivery all owners whose identity can be readily ascertained, as said owners are defined pursuant to Section 51.01 of this chapter, that:
1. The refuse, junk, motor vehicle or machine constitutes a nuisance under the provisions of this chapter;
2. The owner must remove the refuse or junk or remove or repair the motor vehicle or machinery in accordance with the terms of this chapter; and
3. Failure to remove or repair as herein provided will be sufficient cause for its removal by the City at the owner’s cost, or each of them, and furthermore, that failure to remove or repair may subject the owners to a criminal penalty.
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