For the purpose of this subchapter, the following definitions shall apply unless the context clearly indicates or requires a different meaning.
NUISANCE. Whatever is injurious to health, indecent or offensive to the senses or an obstacle to the free use of property so as essentially to interfere with the comfortable enjoyment of life or property. The following are declared to be nuisances:
(1) Buildings. The erecting, continuing or using any building or other place for any trade, employment or manufacture, which, because of offensive odors or pollutants, becomes injurious or dangerous to the health, comfort or property of individuals or the public;
(2) Various materials and deposits. Putrid, filthy and offensive substances, materials, deposits or things left deposited or existing in or upon any street, alley, sidewalk, park, public place, vacant or occupied lot or building, or upon any pond or pool of water which are or may be injurious, offensive, dangerous, deleterious to the health of the city or its inhabitants;
(3) Waters. The obstructing or impeding, without legal authority, the passage of any navigable river, harbor or collection of water;
(4) Pollution. The pollution of the water of any river, stream or pond, or unlawfully diverting the same from its natural course or state, to the damage of others;
(5) Obstructions. The obstructing or encumbering by fences, buildings or otherwise public roads, private ways, streets, alleys, commons or landing places;
(6) Cotton bearing trees. Cotton bearing cottonwood trees and all other cotton bearing poplar trees;
(7) Inflammables. The depositing or storing of inflammable junk, such as rags, rope, cordage, rubber, bones and paper, unless it be in a structure of fireproof construction;
(8) Emissions. The emission of dense smoke, noxious fumes or fly ash;
(9) Yard waste. Piles or accumulations of yard waste exceeding, in total, 16 cubic feet. Such piles or accumulations shall not be placed in a front yard. Firewood, landscaping features and material which constitutes inventory used in the manufacture of a product on the premises are exempt;
(10) Standing water. Allowing or permitting land to remain in such a condition as to allow stagnant, standing water;
(11) Houses. A house, other than building, or land visible from any public place or private premises remaining in an unclean or disorderly condition and to a standard not conforming with other orderly premises in that vicinity;
(12) Property maintenance. Premises maintained in a manner causing substantial diminution in the value of other property in the neighborhood in which such premises are located;
(13) Construction site maintenance. The maintenance of a construction site in such a manner that litter will not be prevented from being carried by the elements to adjoining premises;
(14) Objects. Abandoned, discarded or unused objects or equipment such as automobiles, furniture, appliances, cans or containers;
(15) Compost. Any compost pile which is of such a nature as to spread or harbor disease, emit unpleasant odors or harmful gas, or attract rodents, vermin or other disease carrying pests, animals or insects;
(16) Farm animals. Except in areas zoned F Agricultural, the keeping within the city limits of farm animals and fowl, including, but not limited to, ducks, geese, chickens, turkeys, cattle, goats, swine, sheep, buffalo, horses and ponies;
(17) Materials.
(a) Storing or permitting the storage of material, such as, but not limited to, sand, gravel, rock, earth, coal and grain in piles with side slopes in excess of the angle of repose of said material, the angle of repose being the angle that the surface of freestanding material makes with the horizontal plane without slipping, sliding or collapse of the material.
(b) Subsection (17)(a) shall not apply to accumulations or piles of snow, nor to materials stored in a building, enclosure or completely fenced area to which members of the public are not permitted access.
(18) Privy. Any privy, unless it has connection with the public sewer. Privies that emit or cause an offensive or noxious or disagreeable smell or odor. Modern chemical toilets are permitted at construction sites and for event specific temporary use or emergency use;
(19) Animal and vegetable matter. Carcasses of animals remaining exposed and unburied six hours after death, except game animals being processed in accordance with State Department of Natural Resources regulations. Green or slated hides left or deposited in any open or public places;
(20) Obstructing streets, sidewalks, parking and drains. The unlawful obstructing or impeding of any street, alley, sidewalk, parking, gutter, drainage ditch, sewer or catch basin;
(21) Deposits on parking. The deposit or storage of any garbage or refuse containers, brush, rubbish, grass, rocks, building materials, incinerators or any other debris or materials on the parking or area between the sidewalk and the curb on any street, except for a period not to exceed 24 hours while awaiting removal by garbage or refuse haulers;
(22) Air quality. Any business, trade, manufacture or other operation or condition of property, which gives rise to noxious or offensive odors, gases, vapors, smoke, pollen or fumes which injure or threaten the health or safety of individuals or the public which result in three independent complaints within any six-hour period;
(23) Storage, collection, discharge or depositing. The storage, collection, discharge or depositing of any liquid waste, offal, filth, garbage, refuse, dead animals or contaminated material in any private or public place so as to threaten the health, safety or is offensive to the senses of any individual or the public, or to be conducive to the breeding and harborage of flies, rats or other vermin. Game animals being processed according to State Department of Natural Resources regulations are exempted;
(24) Rats. An infestation of rats or other vermin in or upon any premises;
(25) Bodies of water. The discharge or depositing of any liquid waste, offal, filth, refuse, garbage, dead animals, contaminated material or other polluting material into any stream, river, lake or other body of water so as to injure or threaten the health and safety of individuals or the public;
(26) Communicable disease. The exposure of any person to any communicable disease by unlawful act or practice;
(27) Drugs, medication, devices, materials and chemicals. The unlawful manufacture, formulation, sale, distribution and/or use of drugs, medication, devices, materials and/or chemicals;
(28) Dead animals. The disposal of dead animals by means other than by rendering, by burying at least three feet under the surface of the ground, or by transportation to and disposal at the Northern Plains Regional Landfill;
(29) Secure areas. Failure to secure areas, buildings or places against unauthorized access where such access threatens the health or safety of individuals, or is an attractive nuisance to children;
(30) Debris, refuse, rubbish and trash. Accumulations of unused boards, bricks, concrete or rocks, animal or vegetable products or matter, appliances, ashes, barrels (excluding solid waste collection barrels awaiting pickup), bones, bottles, boxes, broken glass, brush, cans, cartons, cinders, coal, crates, pallets, decayed fruits or vegetables, dirt, dust, excrement, fence wire, filth, firewood not piled or stacked neatly or systematically, flammable materials, garbage, gasoline, grass, household furniture, discarded or broken or abandoned toys, iron and other metals, junk, kegs, leaves, logs, lumber not piled or stacked neatly and systematically (must have nails removed and be in rear yard, untreated lumber must be stacked), lumber scraps, manure, nails, offal, oil, old wearing apparel, paper, plaster, plastic (discarded containers or wrappers), plumbing fixtures, putrid fish or meat entrails, rags, roof shingles, rubber, sawdust, slag slop, soot, straw, sweepings, tacks, tarpaulin not in good repair, tire(s) (mounted or unmounted), toilets, tubs, vehicle parts, weeds, wire, wood or metal shavings, any type of solid or yard waste (bagged or unbagged), or any condition or item that would prohibit the routine maintenance of the property or adversely affect the use and habitability of nearby property and of property within the city as a whole. Foliage and shrub clippings or cuttings, leaves, brush and fallen tree limbs or debris, firewood and other yard waste may be stored in piles in a rear yard not less than two feet from a lot line and should be stored temporarily pending disposal or when used for mulch or composting or firewood;
(31) Furniture, fixtures and appliances outdoors. Any furniture, fixture and appliance, including sofas, divans, recliners, toilets, bathtubs, sinks and similar objects which are not designed for outdoor use but which are maintained or located on any porch, lawn, parking lot, driveway or public right-of-way;
(32) Miscellaneous. Any act done or committed or suffered to be done or committed by any person or any substance or thing kept, maintained, placed or found in or on any public or private place which is annoying or damaging or injurious or dangerous to the public health or welfare or safety and every act or thing done, permitted, maintained, allowed or continued on any property, public or private, by any person, which is liable to or does endanger, annoy, damage or injure any person or inhabitant of the city or property of said person or inhabitant;
(33) Storage. Storage other than in an enclosed building on private property which is residentially zoned of any two or more vehicle parts, including, but not limited to, bumpers, engines, exhaust pipes, doors, fenders, hoods, mufflers, seats, windshields or windows, wheels, or any other structural, mechanical or decorative vehicle parts;
(34) Unenclosed storage. The storage of anything on an unenclosed (a tarp shall not be considered enclosed) trailer, pickup or truck box or like vehicles shall be treated in the same manner as storage outside of an enclosed structure; and
(35) Other nuisances. Any matter, thing, substance or condition within the city deemed to be a nuisance in Iowa Code Chapter 657, or defined as a public nuisance in Iowa Code Chapter 657A, or the successor provisions of either of the chapters, or existing by reason of any violation of other provisions of this chapter.
PROPERTY OWNER. The contract purchaser if there is one of record; otherwise, the record holder of legal title.
(Prior Code, § 4-1-1) (Ord. 13, passed - -; Ord. 67, passed 12-7-1953; Ord. 324, passed 9-16-1985; Ord. 452, passed 3-7-1994; Ord. 686, passed 4-20-2009; Ord. 824, passed 11-6-2017)