Skip to code content (skip section selection)
Compare to:
North Liberty Overview
North Liberty, IA Code of Ordinances
CODE OF ORDINANCES OF THE CITY OF NORTH LIBERTY, IOWA
SUPPLEMENT RECORD
GENERAL CODE PROVISIONS
CHAPTER 1 CODE OF ORDINANCES
CHAPTER 2 CHARTER
CHAPTER 3 MUNICIPAL INFRACTIONS
CHAPTER 5 OPERATING PROCEDURES
CHAPTER 6 CITY ELECTIONS
CHAPTER 7 FISCAL MANAGEMENT
CHAPTER 8 INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY TAX EXEMPTIONS
CHAPTER 9 ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT PROPERTY TAX EXEMPTION
CHAPTER 10 URBAN RENEWAL
CHAPTER 11 URBAN REVITALIZATION
CHAPTER 15 MAYOR
CHAPTER 16 MAYOR PRO TEM
CHAPTER 17 CITY COUNCIL
CHAPTER 18 CITY CLERK
CHAPTER 19 CITY TREASURER
CHAPTER 20 CITY ATTORNEY
CHAPTER 21 CITY ADMINISTRATOR
CHAPTER 22 PUBLIC LIBRARY
CHAPTER 23 PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION
CHAPTER 24 TREE AND STORM WATER ADVISORY BOARD
CHAPTER 25 COMMUNICATIONS ADVISORY COMMISSION
CHAPTER 26 CEMETERY BOARD
CHAPTER 30 POLICE DEPARTMENT
CHAPTER 35 FIRE DEPARTMENT
CHAPTER 36 HAZARDOUS SUBSTANCE SPILLS
CHAPTER 37 KEY LOCK BOX SYSTEM
CHAPTER 40 PUBLIC PEACE
CHAPTER 41 PUBLIC HEALTH AND SAFETY
CHAPTER 42 PUBLIC AND PRIVATE PROPERTY
CHAPTER 43 CLANDESTINE LABORATORIES / GROW OPERATIONS
CHAPTER 45 ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION AND INTOXICATION
CHAPTER 46 MINORS
CHAPTER 47 PARK REGULATIONS
CHAPTER 48 DRUG PARAPHERNALIA
CHAPTER 49 SMOKEFREE PLACES
CHAPTER 50 NUISANCE ABATEMENT PROCEDURE
CHAPTER 51 JUNK AND JUNK VEHICLES
CHAPTER 52 WEEDS AND GRASS
CHAPTER 53 NOISE
CHAPTER 55 ANIMAL CONTROL
CHAPTER 56 CAT AND DOG LICENSES
CHAPTER 57 DANGEROUS ANIMALS
CHAPTER 60 ADMINISTRATION OF TRAFFIC CODE
CHAPTER 61 TRAFFIC CONTROL DEVICES
CHAPTER 62 GENERAL TRAFFIC REGULATIONS
CHAPTER 63 SPEED REGULATIONS
CHAPTER 64 TURNING REGULATIONS
CHAPTER 65 STOP OR YIELD REQUIRED
CHAPTER 66 LOAD AND WEIGHT RESTRICTIONS
CHAPTER 67 PEDESTRIANS
CHAPTER 68 ONE-WAY TRAFFIC
CHAPTER 69 PARKING REGULATIONS
CHAPTER 70 TRAFFIC CODE ENFORCEMENT PROCEDURES
CHAPTER 74 OPERATION OF GOLF CARTS ON CITY STREETS
CHAPTER 75 ALL-TERRAIN VEHICLES AND SNOWMOBILES
CHAPTER 76 BICYCLE REGULATIONS
CHAPTER 77 VEHICLE NOISE AND EMISSION STANDARDS
CHAPTER 80 ABANDONED VEHICLES
CHAPTER 90 WATER SERVICE SYSTEM
CHAPTER 91 WATER METERS
CHAPTER 92 WATER RATES
CHAPTER 93 PRIVATE WELLS AND WATER SYSTEMS
CHAPTER 94 WATER RATIONING
CHAPTER 94A WELLHEAD PROTECTION
CHAPTER 95 SANITARY SEWER SYSTEM
CHAPTER 96 BUILDING SEWERS AND CONNECTIONS
CHAPTER 97 USE OF PUBLIC SEWERS
CHAPTER 98 ON-SITE WASTEWATER SYSTEMS
CHAPTER 99 SEWER SERVICE CHARGES
CHAPTER 100 STORM WATER MANAGEMENT
CHAPTER 101 STORM WATER COLLECTION, DISCHARGE AND RUNOFF
CHAPTER 105 SOLID WASTE CONTROL
CHAPTER 106 COLLECTION OF SOLID WASTE
CHAPTER 110 NATURAL GAS FRANCHISE
CHAPTER 111 ELECTRIC FRANCHISE
CHAPTER 112 TELEPHONE FRANCHISE
CHAPTER 113 CABLE TELEVISION FRANCHISE (SOUTH SLOPE COOPERATIVE)
CHAPTER 114 CABLE TELEVISION FRANCHISE (GALAXY TELECOM, L.P.)
CHAPTER 115 CABLE TELEVISION REGULATIONS
CHAPTER 116 RESIDENTIAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS INFRASTRUCTURE STANDARD
CHAPTER 117 RURAL ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE ELECTRIC FRANCHISE
CHAPTER 118 ITC ELECTRIC TRANSMISSION FRANCHISE
CHAPTER 120 LIQUOR LICENSES AND WINE AND BEER PERMITS
CHAPTER 121 CIGARETTE AND TOBACCO PERMITS
CHAPTER 122 PEDDLERS, SOLICITORS AND TRANSIENT MERCHANTS
CHAPTER 123 HOUSE MOVERS
CHAPTER 124 MOBILE FOOD UNITS
CHAPTER 125 ELECTRICIAN AND PLUMBER LICENSES
CHAPTER 126 LICENSING OF TAXI SERVICE
CHAPTER 127 SANITARY SEWER AND WATER SERVICE INSTALLER LICENSES
CHAPTER 135 STREET USE AND MAINTENANCE
CHAPTER 136 SIDEWALK REGULATIONS
CHAPTER 137 VACATION AND DISPOSAL OF STREETS
CHAPTER 138 STREET GRADES
CHAPTER 139 NAMING OF STREETS
CHAPTER 140 CONTROLLED ACCESS FACILITIES
CHAPTER 145 MANUFACTURED AND MOBILE HOMES
CHAPTER 146 HOUSING CODE
CHAPTER 150 TREES
CHAPTER 155 CONSTRUCTION SITE EROSION AND SEDIMENT CONTROL
CHAPTER 156 POST-CONSTRUCTION STORM WATER RUNOFF CONTROL
CHAPTER 157 BUILDING CODE
CHAPTER 158 FIRE CODE
CHAPTER 165 ZONING CODE - ADMINISTRATIVE
CHAPTER 166 ZONING CODE - ORGANIZATION AND ENFORCEMENT
CHAPTER 167 ZONING CODE - DEFINITIONS
CHAPTER 168 ZONING CODE - ZONING DISTRICT REGULATIONS
CHAPTER 169 ZONING CODE - DEVELOPMENT REGULATIONS
CHAPTER 170 RESERVED
CHAPTER 171 ZONING CODE - NONCONFORMING, CONDITIONAL, AND TEMPORARY USES
CHAPTER 172 ZONING CODE - COMMUNICATION TOWERS AND ANTENNAS
CHAPTER 173 ZONING CODE - SIGN REGULATIONS
CHAPTER 180 SUBDIVISION ORDINANCE
APPENDIX:
CHAPTER 50
NUISANCE ABATEMENT PROCEDURE
 
50.01 Definition of Nuisance
50.05 Nuisance Abatement
50.02 Nuisances Enumerated
50.06 Abatement of Nuisance by Written Notice
50.03 Other Conditions
50.07 Municipal Infraction Abatement Procedure
50.04 Nuisances Prohibited
 
 
50.01 DEFINITION OF NUISANCE.
   Whatever is injurious to health, indecent, or unreasonably offensive to the senses, or an obstruction to the free use of property so as essentially to interfere unreasonably with the comfortable enjoyment of life or property is a nuisance.
(Code of Iowa, Sec. 657.1)
50.02 NUISANCES ENUMERATED.
   The following subsections include, but do not limit, the conditions which are deemed to be nuisances in the City:
(Code of Iowa, Sec. 657.2)
   1.   Offensive Smells. Erecting, continuing or using any building or other place for the exercise of any trade, employment or manufacture, which, by occasioning noxious exhalations, unreasonably offensive smells, or other annoyances, becomes injurious and dangerous to the health, comfort or property of individuals or the public.
   2.   Filth or Noisome Substance. Causing or suffering any offal, filth, or noisome substance to be collected or to remain in any place to the prejudice of others.
   3.   Impeding Passage of Navigable River. Obstructing or impeding without legal authority the passage of any navigable river, harbor, or collection of water.
   4.   Water Pollution. Corrupting or rendering unwholesome or impure the water of any river, stream, or pond, or unlawfully diverting the same from its natural course or state, to the injury or prejudice of others.
   5.   Blocking Public and Private Ways. Obstructing or encumbering, by fences, buildings or otherwise, the public roads, private ways, streets, alleys, commons, landing places, or burying grounds.
   6.   Billboards. Billboards, signboards and advertising signs, whether erected and constructed on public or private property, which so obstruct and impair the view of any portion or part of a public street, avenue, highway, boulevard or alley or of a railroad or street railway track as to render dangerous the use thereof. (See also Section 62.05) 
   7.   Storing of Flammable Junk. Depositing or storing of flammable junk, such as old rags, rope, cordage, rubber, bones and paper, by dealers in such articles within the fire limits of the City, unless in a building of fireproof construction. (See also Chapter 51) 
   8.   Air Pollution. Emission of dense smoke, noxious fumes, or fly ash.
   9.   Weeds, Brush. Dense growth of all weeds, vines, brush, or other vegetation in the City so as to constitute a health, safety, or fire hazard.
   10.   Dutch Elm Disease. Trees infected with Dutch elm disease. (See also Chapter 151)
   11.   Airport Air Space. Any object or structure hereafter erected within one thousand (1,000) feet of the limits of any municipal or regularly established airport or landing place, which may endanger or obstruct aerial navigation including take-off and landing, unless such object or structure constitutes a proper use or enjoyment of the land on which the same is located.
   12.   Houses of Ill Fame. Houses of ill fame, kept for the purpose of prostitution and lewdness; gambling houses; places resorted to by persons participating in criminal gang activity prohibited by Chapter 723A of the Code of Iowa or places resorted to by persons using controlled substances, as defined in Section 124.101 of the Code of Iowa, in violation of law, or houses where drunkenness, quarreling, fighting or breaches of the peace are carried on or permitted to the disturbance of others.
   13.   Blocking Public Easements. Obstructing or encumbering by fences, buildings, plantings, or otherwise, any utility easement, sewer easement, drainage easement, access easement, or walkway easement, where such easement is dedicated for public use, and where such obstruction or encumbrance interferes with the City's rights in the easement.
(Ord. 2020-11 - Sep. 20 Supp.)
50.03 OTHER CONDITIONS.
   The following chapters of this Code of Ordinances contain regulations prohibiting or restricting other conditions which are deemed to be nuisances:
   1.   Junk and Junk Vehicles (See Chapter 51)
   2.   Storage and Disposal of Solid Waste (See Chapter 105)
   3.   Trees (See Chapter 150)
50.04 NUISANCES PROHIBITED.
   The creation or maintenance of a nuisance is prohibited, and a nuisance, public or private, may be abated in the manner provided for in this chapter or State law.
(Code of Iowa, Sec. 657.3)
50.05 NUISANCE ABATEMENT.
   Whenever any authorized municipal officer finds that a nuisance exists, such officer has the authority to determine on a case-by-case basis whether to utilize the nuisance abatement procedure described in Section 50.06 of this chapter or the municipal infraction procedure referred to in Section 50.07. 
(Code of Iowa, Sec. 364.12[3h])
50.06 ABATEMENT OF NUISANCE BY WRITTEN NOTICE.
   Any nuisance, public or private, may be abated in the manner provided for in this section:
(Code of Iowa, Sec. 364.12[3h])
   1.   Contents of Notice to Property Owner. The notice to abate shall contain: 2   
      A.   Description of Nuisance. A description of what constitutes the nuisance.
      B.   Location of Nuisance. The location of the nuisance.
      C.   Acts Necessary to Abate. A statement of the act or acts necessary to abate the nuisance.
      D.   Reasonable Time. A reasonable time within which to complete the abatement.
      E.   Assessment of City Costs. A statement that if the nuisance or condition is not abated as directed and no request for hearing is made within the time prescribed, the City will abate it and assess the costs against the property owner.
   2.   Method of Service. The notice may be in the form of an ordinance or sent by certified mail to the property owner.
(Code of Iowa, Sec. 364.12[3h])
   3.   Request for Hearing. Any person ordered to abate a nuisance may have a hearing with the City Administrator as to whether a nuisance exists. A request for a hearing must be made in writing and delivered to the Clerk within the time stated in the notice, or it will be conclusively presumed that a nuisance exists and it must be abated as ordered. The hearing will be before the City Administrator at a time and place fixed by the City Administrator. The findings of the City Administrator shall be conclusive and, if a nuisance is found to exist, it shall be ordered abated within a reasonable time under the circumstances.
(Ord. 11-03 - July 11 Supp.)
   4.   Abatement in Emergency. If it is determined that an emergency exists by reason of the continuing maintenance of the nuisance or condition, the City may perform any action which may be required under this chapter without prior notice. The City shall assess the costs as provided in subsection 6 of this section after notice to the property owner under the applicable provisions of subsection 1 and 2, and the hearing as provided in subsection 3.
(Code of Iowa, Sec. 364.12[3h])
   5.   Abatement by City. If the person notified to abate a nuisance or condition neglects or fails to abate as directed, the City may perform the required action to abate, keeping an accurate account of the expense incurred. The itemized expense account shall be filed with the Clerk, who shall pay such expenses on behalf of the City.
(Code of Iowa, Sec. 364.12[3h])
   6.   Collection of Costs. The Clerk shall send a statement of the total expense incurred by certified mail to the property owner who has failed to abide by the notice to abate, and if the amount shown by the statement has not been paid within one month, the Clerk shall certify the costs to the County Treasurer and such costs shall then be collected with, and in the same manner as, general property taxes.
(Code of Iowa, Sec. 364.12[3h])
   7.   Installment Payment of Cost of Abatement. If the amount expended to abate the nuisance or condition exceeds one hundred dollars ($100.00), the City may permit the assessment to be paid in up to ten (10) annual installments, to be paid in the same manner and with the same interest rates provided for assessments against benefited property under State law.
(Code of Iowa, Sec. 364.13)
   8.   Failure to Abate. Any person causing or maintaining a nuisance who shall fail or refuse to abate or remove the same within the reasonable time required and specified in the notice to abate is in violation of this Code of Ordinances.

 

Notes

2
 EDITOR’S NOTE: A suggested form of notice for the abatement of nuisances is included in the Appendix of this Code of Ordinances. Caution is urged in the use of this administrative abatement procedure, particularly where cost of abatement is more than minimal or where there is doubt as to whether or not a nuisance does in fact exist. If compliance is not secured following notice and hearings, we recommend you review the situation with your attorney before proceeding with abatement and assessment of costs. Your attorney may recommend proceedings in court under Chapter 657 of the Code of Iowa rather than this procedure.
Loading...