A "public nuisance" is defined as:
A. Anything which is injurious to health, indecent or offensive to the senses, or an obstruction to the free use of property so as to interfere with the comfortable enjoyment of life or property by a neighborhood or by any considerable number of persons;
B. All buildings or structures which are deemed by the building inspector to be structurally unsafe, or not provided with adequate egress, or which constitute a fire hazard to the safety or health, or public welfare, by reason of inadequate maintenance, dilapidation, obsolescence or abandonment;
C. Any open excavation, sump, pit, oil-well cellar, or tank or hole in the surface of the earth which is found by the building inspector to constitute a dangerous condition because of the following:
1. It is accessible to children or others who may not be aware of its existence, or who may not realize the extent of the danger or take proper precautions to avoid injury to themselves or others, or
2. Its proximity to a public street or way, or to a private street or way used with more than occasional frequency by persons other than the owner or occupant of the land, unreasonably increases the hazard to pedestrian or vehicular traffic;
D. Any building or structure that has been constructed, erected, set up, altered, enlarged, converted, moved or maintained or that is permitted or suffered to remain in existence, in violation of any provision of this code or any provision of any ordinance of the city or of any statute of the state or any lawful order or regulation of competent authority thereunder;
E. All items of machinery, equipment and apparatus of any oil well or of any manufacturing, processing, or refining plant or works of any kind set up, erected, constructed, altered or enlarged, converted, moved, stored or maintained in violation of any provision of this code or any ordinance of the city or of any law of the state or any lawful order or regulation of competent authority thereunder;
F. Any use of land or of any building or structure which is in violation of any provision of this code or of any other ordinance of the city;
G. Any use of land or of any building or structure which is in violation of any term or condition of any permit granted by the council or the planning commission pursuant to the authority of any provision of this code or any other ordinance of the city, which permit authorizes a conditional or nonconforming use of the land, building or structure, or which imposes conditions or restrictions upon the conduct of any business, activity, pursuit or calling upon the land or within the building;
H. Any oil well or water or gas injection well which is an idle well, as defined in this code, and all foundations, structures, pumping units, tanks, pipelines, cellars, sumps, pits, and apparatus constructed, erected, installed, set up or maintained in connection with the drilling or operation of such a well;
I. Any excavation in a public street or way for the making of which a permit from the city engineer is required under the provisions of this code, unless such a permit has been in fact obtained and the excavation has been made and is being maintained in strict compliance with the terms and conditions of the permit;
J. All obstructions and encroachments erected or constructed, or caused, suffered or permitted to be placed or to exist in or upon a public street or way, either below, upon, or above the surface except when and to the extent that such obstruction or encroachment is duly authorized by the laws of the state or a franchise or permit granted by the council or an authorized officer of the city;
K. Refuse deposited upon private property, or upon any public street or alley, or upon any city owned property. For purposes of this section, “refuse” shall include any discarded or cast-off object or material which may include, by way of example, but shall not be limited to, paper and cardboard, plant materials, scrap metals, obsolete household appliances and furniture, paving and building materials, and human and household wastes;
L. Any condition, activity or thing which is expressly declared to be a nuisance by any provision of this code or any other ordinance of the city or by the laws of the state or of the United States or by any lawful order or regulation of competent authority made or issued pursuant to such laws.
M. Any "release" or threatened "release" of a "hazardous contaminant" which creates a risk of harm or danger to the health or safety of the public and/or the environment. For purposes of this chapter, the term "release" shall mean any spilling, leaking, pumping, pouring, emitting, emptying, discharging, injecting, escaping, leaching, dumping or disposing into the environment. For purposes of this chapter, the term "hazardous contaminant" shall mean any "hazardous material" as that term is defined under California Health and Safety Code Section 25501(1); any "hazardous substance" as that term is defined under California Health and Safety Code Sections 25281(f), 25501(e), 25501.1, and under Title 42, Section 9601(14) of the United States Code; any "hazardous waste" as that term is defined under California Health and Safety Code Section 25117; any chemical which the Governor has identified as a chemical known to the state to cause cancer or reproductive toxicity pursuant to California Health and Safety Code Section 25249.8; and any crude oil or refined or unrefined petroleum product or any fraction or derivative thereof. The definition of the term "hazardous contaminant" shall include any and all amendments to the above referenced statutory and regulatory provisions.
N. Any "release" or threatened "release" of a "hazardous contaminant" into any storm drain, sanitary drain or sewer, drainage channel or canal or ditch, flood control channel, or any waters of the state as defined under Section 13050(e) of the California Water Code.
O. Any "release" or threatened "release" of a "hazardous contaminant" into or on any public property, including, but not limited to, any public curbs, gutters, sidewalks, streets, alleys, or any other public rights-of-way.
P. Any "release" or threatened "release" of any crude oil or refined or unrefined petroleum product, or any derivative or fraction thereof, in, onto, under or from any public or private property, where the levels of any such release or threatened release in any soil in, on, under or beneath the property in issue equal or exceed one hundred parts per million of petroleum hydrocarbons for lighter petroleum hydrocarbons (e.g., gasoline, naphtha and kerosene) as analyzed by EPA Method 8015 Modified, and one thousand parts per million of petroleum hydrocarbons for heavier hydrocarbons (e.g., diesel, motor oil, waste oil and crude oil) as analyzed by EPA Method 418.1.
R. All landscaped front and street side yards deemed by the city abatement officer to be unattractive and constitute a public nuisance by reason of one or more of the following:
1. Failure to regularly remove trash, debris, accumulated leaves or plant clippings;
2. Failure to regularly mow, weed, fertilize or prune landscaping;
3. Failure to restore or replant missing or dead plant material;
4. Failure to mow grass, weeds, undergrowth in excess of twelve (12) inches in height;
5. Failure to maintain a sufficient combination of landscape plant materials to non-plant materials in front and side yards, pursuant to the “sufficient materials exhibit” on file in the community development department.
The determination of whether the condition of the property is "attractive," or so "unattractive," as to be a nuisance, shall be based on a comparison of the condition of the landscaping on the submit site to an exhibit of photographs entitled, "Attractive and Unattractive Landscaped Yards," dated April 13, 1999, on file in the community development department, which displays typical landscaped yards in various states of repair and maintenance. When, in the determination of the city abatement officer, a property owner's landscaped yard is comparable to the photographs labeled as "unattractive" on such exhibit, the city shall provide notice in accordance with Section 8.12.080, "Notice and order for abatement of a nuisance," and shall include a description of why the yard is deemed unattractive and shall include recommended corrective measures that when implemented would make the yard more comparable to the photographs labeled "attractive" on such exhibit.
S. Any abandoned, wrecked, dismantled, or inoperative vehicle or parts thereof on private or public property, not including highways. Abatement of a nuisance under this subsection shall be consistent with the provisions of this chapter and Chapter 10.46.
T. Canopies which are caused or permitted to remain either entirely or partially in front and side yard areas, or in a rear yard if visible to the public or within two (2) feet of any rear property line, for a period exceeding seventy-two (72) hours. "Canopy" means a device with more than one support, made of canvas, or a similar pliable material, which may be stretched or placed upon a frame, including any tent device, the purpose of which is to provide a shelter to, or exclude direct rays of the sun from, a vehicle or personal effects. This section shall apply to canopies on lots zoned for residential purposes, but shall not apply to nonconforming commercial or industrial uses in residential zones.
(Ord. 2015-11-1481 § 2; Ord. 2004-11-1338 § 1; Ord. 2002-01-1301 § 1; Ord. 99-05-1256 § 1; Ord. 94-01-1174 § 1; Ord. 88-02-1004 § 1; Ord. 595 § 2 (part), 1966: prior code § 9.33.010)