For purposes of this chapter, the following definitions shall apply unless the context clearly indicates or requires a different meaning.
ABANDONED VEHICLE. Any of the following, as described by I.C. 9-13-2-1, as that section may be amended from time to time:
(1) A vehicle located on public property illegally, or a vehicle left on public property continuously without being moved for more than 24 hours;
(2) A vehicle located on public property in a manner as to constitute a hazard or obstruction to the movement of pedestrian or vehicular traffic on a public right-of-way;
(3) A vehicle that has remained on private property without consent of the owner, or person in control of that property, for more than 48 hours;
(4) A vehicle from which the engine, transmission or differential has been removed, or that is otherwise partially dismantled or inoperable and left on public property;
(5) A vehicle that has been removed by a towing service or a public agency upon request of an officer enforcing a statute or ordinance if the impounded vehicle is not claimed or redeemed by the owner or the owner's agent within 20 days after the vehicle's removal;
(6) A vehicle that is at least three model years old, is mechanically inoperable, and is left on private property continuously in a location visible from public property for more than 20 days. For purposes of this subdivision, a vehicle covered by a tarpaulin or other plastic, vinyl, rubber, cloth, or textile covering is considered to be visible;
(7) A vehicle that was repaired or stored at the request of the owner, that has not been claimed by the owner; and for which the reasonable value of the charges associated with the repair or storage remain unpaid more than 30 days after the date on which the repair work is completed or the vehicle is first stored; or
(8) A vehicle deemed "abandoned" under I.C. 9-22-1.
ABATEMENT PERIOD. The period of time the owner has to correct the violation stated on the violation notice or warning issued by the town personnel. The initial abatement period is ten days unless otherwise stated herein. This time may be extended up to 30 days, depending upon the severity of the violation, and only at the discretion of the Town Council, Town Marshal or other designee of the town.
CONTINUOUS ABATEMENT NOTICE. A notice, issued pursuant to I.C. 36-7-10.1 et seq., after an initial notice of violation of the provisions relating to weeds, rank vegetation and tall grass, that serves as notice to the real property owner that each subsequent violation during the same year for which the initial notice of the violation was provided may be abated by the town or its contractors.
CONTINUOUS ENFORCEMENT ORDER. A continuous enforcement order is an order in relation to an unsafe building pursuant to I.C. 36-7-9 et seq., or a real property nuisance pursuant to I.C. 36-1-6 et seq., that:
(1) Is issued for compliance or abatement and that remains in full force and effect on a property without further requirements to seek additional compliance and abatement authority or seek additional orders for the same or similar violations;
(2) Authorizes specific ongoing compliance and enforcement activities if a property requires reinspection or additional periodic abatement;
(3) Can be enforced, including assessment of fees and costs, without the need for additional notice or hearing; and
(4) Authorizes the office of the Clerk-Treasurer to assess and collect ongoing costs for continuous enforcement order activities from a party that is subject to the notice.
DEBRIS. The remains of something broken down, unused for prolonged periods, discarded, abandoned, dilapidated or destroyed, which accumulates and poses a threat to the health, safety and welfare of persons and property, and includes by way of illustration and not limitation: refuse; accumulation of items on public or private property which could pose serious health or safety risks to persons or property; yard refuse, rank vegetation cut but not disposed of, animal remains; trash; junk cars, parts of automobiles or other vehicles which are no longer mobile; pieces or sheets of glass (whether fractured or whole); wood, particle board, bark, wood chips, lumber or other building materials; metal items from any source (whether rusted or not); broken fencing or other barrier with exposed nails, splinters or sharp edges; wire, cables, hoses, ropes, chains or other items which pose a choking or strangling threat to children or other persons; rubber products, gasoline or other flammable liquids, gases and solids, gasoline cans (whether in approved or unapproved containers for storage), oil cans, oil pans, oil or any other type of surface coating; improperly stored industrial detergents and mineral cleaners; grease, alone or in any container, chemical cleansers; refrigerants (including Freon); acetylene, propane, oxygen or other chemical used for welding or manufacturing process accumulated and stored (whether properly or improperly) in containers which are unsafe or unsafely stored; any other items not herein mentioned which accumulate and pose a threat to the health, safety and welfare of person and property.
ENVIRONMENTAL PUBLIC NUISANCE. A thing, act, occupation, condition or use of property which shall continue for a length of time as to:
(1) Annoy or may annoy, injure or has the potential to injure, or endanger or has to the potential to endanger the comfort, health, repose, safety or welfare of persons or property;
(2) In any way renders the public insecure in life or in the use of property;
(3) Greatly offends the public morals or decency;
(4) Unlawfully and substantially interferes with or may interfere with, obstruct or tend to obstruct, or render and have the potential to render any street, alley, highway, navigable body of water, or public right-of-way dangerous or a potential danger to person or property;
(5) Is injurious to health, indecent, offensive to the senses or an obstruction to the full use of property, so as essentially to interfere with the comfortable enjoyment of life or property;
(6) Any growth of weeds, grass or other rank vegetation on private or public property which is neglected, disregarded or not cut, mowed or otherwise removed and/or which has attained a height of six inches or more;
(7) Any accumulation of dead weeds, grasses or brush on private or public property;
(8) Any poison ivy, ragweed, rank vegetation, poisonous plant or plants detrimental to health, growing on any private or public property;
(9) Property which has been allowed to become a health or safety hazard, or which has accumulated litter, contains debris, an unsafe building, abandoned vehicles, waste products, graffiti or any other items which pose a threat to the health, safety and welfare of persons and property, unless specifically authorized under existing laws and regulations; and/or
(10) A PUBLIC HEALTH NUISANCE, as defined below.
GARBAGE. Rejected food wastes, and shall include every waste accumulation of animal, fruit, or vegetable matter used or intended for food or that attend the preparation, use, cooking, dealing in or storing of meat, fish, fowl, fruit or vegetable.
GRAFFITI. Markings of any kind, regardless of content, that may cause or do cause passerby to obstruct, delay or disturb the regular flow of traffic (whether pedestrian or vehicular), thereby creating a potential threat to the health, safety and welfare of citizens or property. The markings are defined as any markings which deface, deform, mar or which cause the defacing, deforming or marring of any public or private property, regardless of ownership or possessory interest therein, including by way of illustration and not limitation, buildings, trees, lampposts, poles, hydrants, bridges, piers, sidewalks, streets, alleyways or surface of any public or private property located upon any public thoroughfare or right-of-way, or upon any public place within the town. However, this section shall not prohibit the posting of notices required by law to be posted.
INERT MATERIAL. Dirt, soil, brick, broken concrete or similar materials.
JUNK. Any articles in any form composed of or consisting of any of the following enumerated secondhand, discarded, abandoned or cast-off metals or materials, namely iron, brass, bronze, copper, tin, zinc, lead or any other metals or compounds thereof, broken glass, rags, clothing, rubber, plastics, synthetic substances, fabrics, bottles, papers, feathers, waste material, any compound or by-product of the foregoing items. JUNK shall also include and mean wrecked, abandoned, dismantled or immobile vehicles or parts thereof.
JUNK CAR. Any motor vehicle which does not bear a currently valid license plate, and is not kept in a garage or building, regardless of age or condition.
MECHANICALLY INOPERABLE. A vehicle that is not readily capable of being operable, such as by having uninflated tires and a battery incapable of starting the engine.
OWNER. Any one or more of the following:
(1) The person or entity with an ownership or occupancy interest in a structure of a parcel of real estate including the life tenant or tenants if any;
(2) The record owner or owners as reflected by the most current records in the county auditor where the real estate is located; or
(3) The purchaser or purchasers of real estate under any contract for the conditional sale thereof.
PUBLIC HEALTH NUISANCE. Includes, but is not limited to the following specific situations:
(1) All decayed, harmfully adulterated or unwholesome food or drink offered to the public;
(2) Carcasses of animals, birds or fowl not carried off or otherwise disposed of in a sanitary manner within 24 hours after death;
(3) Accumulations of decayed animal or vegetable matter, trash, rubbish, rotting lumber, bedding, packing material, junk vehicles, scrap metal or any material in which flies, mosquitoes, disease-carrying insects, rats or other vermin may breed, or may be a fire hazard;
(4) All stagnant water in which mosquitoes, flies or other insects may multiply;
(5) Garbage cans which are not fly-tight, or not kept clean;
(6) Pollution of any public well, cistern, stream, river, lake, canal or body of water by sewage, waste, pollution, industrial wastes or other substances;
(7) The escape of smoke, soot, cinders, noxious acids, fumes, gases, flying ash or industrial dust within the town limits in quantities which may or does cause injury or endangers the health of persons or threatens or causes substantial injury to property;
(8) Any use of property, substances or things within the town limits emitting or causing foul, offensive, unpleasant, nauseous, noxious or disagreeable odors, or stenches extremely repulsive to the physical senses of ordinary persons which annoy, discomfort, injure or inconvenience the health of any appreciable number of persons within the town; or any slaughter house;
(9) All abandoned wells not securely covered or secured;
(10) Any accumulation of junk, rubbish, scrap metal, automotive parts, building materials, machinery, dead trees or parts of dead trees, upon any premises in a residential or nonresidential area;
(11) Any abandoned refrigerators, freezers or similar appliances from which the doors and other covers have not been removed, or which are not equipped with a device for opening from the inside by pushing only with the strength of a child, or which may or may not contain rust, or which have refrigerant in any part thereof or which still have electrical cables attached regardless of age;
(12) Any sign of any size, shape, content or purpose, which infringes upon the town's right-of-way easement from the center of the road to location of the sign, or which poses a serious threat to the health, safety or welfare of the citizens of the town; or
(13) Whenever any animal of any species, whether or not it is kept as a household pet, is allowed to run at large in the town or is a hazard to the health and safety of any person, or is allowed to disturb the peace and quiet of one or more neighbors, whether through loud and frequent barking, damage to property, noxious odor, or otherwise.
REFUSE. Garbage, rubbish or any combination thereof.
RUBBISH. Solid wastes including incinerator ashes, inert material, paper, cardboard, tin cans, yard clippings, wood, glass, bedding, crockery, metals, and similar materials or litter of any kind.
SUBSTANTIAL PROPERTY INTEREST. Any right in real property that may be affected in a substantial way by actions authorized by I.C. 36-7-9 et seq., including a fee interest, a life estate interest, a future interest, a mortgage interest, or an equitable interest of a contract purchaser.
UNSAFE PREMISES. Any premises, building or structure, or any part of a building or structure, defined as unsafe by I.C. 36-7-9-4, as may be amended from time to time.
VICIOUS ANIMAL. Dogs that display vicious characteristics, as well as any animal that has been known to have bitten, or otherwise physically molested or inflicted a personal injury upon a human being without provocation, or an animal who promiscuously attacks other animals, or has chased or approached a person at some place other than its owner's or keeper's property, in a menacing fashion or apparent attitude of attack (collectively referred to herein as "vicious").
WEEDS AND RANK VEGETATION. Weeds and rank vegetation include grasses and those weeds and growing vegetation which is excessively vigorous in growth, shockingly conspicuous, malodorous and/or flagrant, or tends to overgrow or choke out plants that are more desirable. Weeds and rank vegetation do not include agricultural crops, such as hay and pasture.
(Ord. 2020-0716, passed 7-16-2020; Ord. 2021-0304B, passed 3-29-2021)