(a) Public Nuisances Prohibited; Notice to Abate. No person shall suffer or permit to exist within the Village any act, thing or condition of a kind which has been or may hereafter be defined by ordinance as a public nuisance.
Whenever a public nuisance exists, the appropriate Village department shall cause the owner, tenant or person in charge of the property upon which such public nuisance exists to be served with a notice to abate such public nuisance on or before five days after receipt of such notice. Notice as described herein shall consist of the mailing of the same to the owner, tenant or person in charge of such property by registered or certified mail, return receipt requested, or by personal service or by posting such notice in a conspicuous place upon such property for a period of five days.
No person shall fail to comply with any notice as required herein.
(Ord. 1572. Passed 7-28-97; Ord. 2248. Passed 9-27-10.)
(b) Public Nuisance Defined. The following shall be deemed to constitute a public nuisance within the Village:
(1) The erection, continuance, use or maintenance of a building, structure or place for the exercise of a trade, employment or business, either upon public or private property, or for the feeding of any animal, which activity, by causing noxious exhalations or noisome or offensive smells, becomes injurious to the health, comfort or property of individuals or of the public;
(2) The storage of a motor vehicle in an inoperative or unlicensed condition upon public or private property for more than ten days, unless such vehicle is stored in a building in such a way as to be obscured from view;
(3) The storage of garbage and/or offal, which means and includes all refuse and waste of animals, fish, fowl, fruit and vegetable matter or other accumulations in the use and preparation of food for the table, or which has been discarded and abandoned and is of no future use or value to the owner for domestic consumption;
(4) The suffering, permitting or maintaining of rubbish, refuse or junk, which includes, but is not limited to, wire, chips, shavings, bottles, broken glass, crockery, tin, cast or wooden ware, boxes, rags, weeds (either growing or cut), paper, circulars, handbills, boots, shoes, ashes or discarded or abandoned iceboxes, refrigerators, washing machines or other airtight or semi-airtight containers, or any other waste material upon public or private property contrary to the ordinances of the Village; or
(5) The maintenance or allowance of building materials upon public or private property if such building materials, which include all residue from building construction and new building materials, are not removed or utilized in construction within thirty days after such materials are placed upon a premises, provided that if construction is initiated upon such premises and such building materials are to be used in such construction, then such building materials shall be allowed to remain upon such premises for a period of time not to exceed thirty days after the completion of such construction. For the purpose of preventing rodents and other unsanitary conditions, building materials that are stored or deposited upon property shall be placed at least six inches off the ground at all times.
(c) Action by Solicitor. Whenever any public nuisance exists, the Solicitor may, upon his or her own action or at the request of Council, institute proceedings, either legal or equitable, that may be appropriate or necessary for the abatement of such public nuisance. This section shall not relieve any person from criminal prosecution or punishment under the ordinances or any other criminal law enforced by the Village.
(d) Noncompliance; Remedy of Village. If the owner or person having charge of any premises within the Village, upon which a public nuisance exists, fails to comply with any notice provided for herein or fails to prohibit the existence of such public nuisance, the Village shall have the authority to take whatever action is necessary to abate such public nuisance, including, but not limited to, entering upon any public or private property, and contracting for or otherwise furnishing labor and materials necessary to abate such public nuisance. All such expenses and costs shall be paid out of Village funds appropriated therefor and the Village shall thereafter report such expenses to the County Auditor and such amounts shall thereupon be entered upon the tax duplicate and be a lien upon such lands from and after the date of the entry thereon and shall be collected as other taxes and returned to the Village when so collected.
(e) Penalty. Whoever fails to comply with the notice to abate provided for in subsection (a) hereof is guilty of a minor misdemeanor. A separate offense shall be deemed committed each day during or on which a noncompliance occurs or continues.
(Ord. 1572. Passed 7-28-97.)