(a) Declaration of Public Purpose. The City recognizes and declares that abandoned vehicles, junked vehicles, old vehicle tires and certain abandoned or inoperative household appliances are and constitute a public nuisance and hazard to both adults and children and therefore are dangerous and constitute a clear and present danger, that such abandoned vehicles, junked vehicles, old vehicle tires and certain abandoned or inoperative household appliances serve as harborage and breeding places for rodents, mosquitoes, fleas, ticks, mice, rats and other insects, pests and flies injurious to the public health, safety and general welfare; that abandoned vehicles and junked vehicles serve frequently as temporary or permanent places of human residence unconducive to public health, safety and welfare; that the accumulation and storage of any of such items or parts thereof on private or public property, including but not limited to highways, is hereby found to create a condition tending to reduce the value of private property and to promote blight and deterioration which if permitted to remain will continue to destroy the natural beauty of this City and have adverse economic and social effects; that such abandoned vehicles, junked vehicles, old vehicle tires and certain abandoned or inoperative household appliances constitute an attractive nuisance creating a hazard to the health and safety of all citizens; that such items are nearly always located on public highways, rights of way, or within sight of such highway rights of way and on private property within a reasonable proximity thereto, and when so located the cost of controlling or abating such visual pollution is a cost of maintenance of public highways; that all such visual pollution is a deterrent to economic development; and that it is in the public interest and welfare to provide for a program to eliminate the unsightly practice of abandoning vehicles, old vehicle tires and certain abandoned or inoperative household appliances. In view of these findings, the City declares it to be a public policy of the City to eliminate the present danger resulting from abandoned vehicles, junked vehicles, old vehicle tires, and certain abandoned or inoperative appliances and to eliminate the visual pollution resulting from these items, and that in order to provide for the public health, safety and welfare, and quality of life, to enact legislation to that and by providing expeditious means and methods for effecting the disposal of abandoned vehicles, junked vehicles, old vehicle tires and certain abandoned household appliances. The City further finds and declares that the presence of an abandoned or inoperative household appliance, or any part thereof, on private or public property, including but not limited to highways, except as expressly hereinafter permitted, is a public nuisance injurious to the public health, safety and general welfare of the residents of this City which shall be abated as such by the methods provided in this article.
(b) Definitions. Unless the context indicates a different meaning, as used in this section:
(1) "Abandoned household appliance" means a refrigerator, deepfreeze, range, stove, automatic dishwasher, clothes washer, clothes dryer, trash compactor, television set, radio, air conditioning unit, commode, microwave oven, or bed springs, and which is not in an enclosed building, a licensed salvage yard or the actual possession of a demolisher, or located upon the properly licensed premises of a business located within a commercially zoned business area.
(2) “Abandoned vehicle” means every device in, upon or by which any person or property is or may be transported or drawn upon a highway, excepting devices moved by human power, or used exclusively upon stationary rails or tracks, or major part thereof, which is inoperative and which has remained on public or private property for any period of time over five days, other than in an enclosed building or in a licensed salvage yard or at the business establishment of a demolisher, or any vehicle, or major part thereof, which has remained illegally on public or private property for any period of time over five days, or any vehicle, or major part thereof, which has remained on private property without consent of the owner or person in control of the property for any period of time over three days, or any vehicle, or major part thereof, which is unattended, discarded, deserted and unlicensed and is not in an enclosed building, a licensed salvage yard, the actual possession of a demolisher, or located upon the properly licensed premises of a business located within a commercially zoned business area.
(3) "Demolisher" means any person licensed by the Commissioner of the Department of Highways whose business, to any extent or degree, is to convert a motor vehicle or any part thereof or an inoperative household appliance into processed scrap or scrap metal, or into saleable parts, or otherwise to wreck or dismantle vehicles or appliances.
(4) "Enclosed building" means a structure surrounded by walls or one continuous wall, and having a roof enclosing the entire structure and includes a permanent appendage thereto.
(5) "Enforcement agency" means the public law-enforcement officers of this City.
(6) "Inoperative household appliance" means a refrigerator, deepfreeze, range, stove, automatic dishwasher, clothes washer, clothes dryer, trash compactor, television set, radio, air conditioning unit, commode, microwave oven, or bed springs, which by reason of mechanical or physical defects can no longer be used for its intended purpose, and which is either not serving a functional purpose or use or is not in an enclosed building, a licensed salvage yard or the actual possession of a demolisher.
(7) "Junked vehicle" means a vehicle, or any part thereof, (other than an on- premise farm utility vehicle), which:
A. Is discarded, wrecked, ruined, scrapped or dismantled;
B. Cannot pass the State inspection required by West Virginia Code Article 17C, and/or is not registered as required by West Virginia Code Article 17A; and/or
C. Is either not serving a functional purpose or use or is not in an enclosed building, a licensed salvage yard, the actual possession of a demolisher, or located upon the properly licensed premises of a business located within a commercially zoned business area.
(8) "Licensed salvage yard" means a salvage yard licensed under West Virginia Code Article 17-23.
(9) "Vehicle" means every device in, upon or by which any person or property is or may be transported or drawn upon a highway, excepting devices moved by human power or used exclusively upon stationary rails, or tracks, or any major part thereof, including but not limited to automobiles, trucks, buses, trailers and motorcycles.
(10) "Old vehicle tire" means a pneumatic tire in which compressed air is designed to support a load, but which because of wear, damage or defect can no longer safely be used on a motor vehicle and which is either not serving a functional purpose or use or is not in an enclosed building, a licensed salvage yard or the actual possession of a demolisher.
(11) "Person" includes a natural person, corporation, firm, partnership, association or society, and the plural as well as the singular.
(12) "Properly licensed business" means any business located within a commercially zoned business area and which is currently licensed by the City.
(c) Prohibitions. No person shall, within the City, place or deposit any junked vehicle or any major part thereof, upon the right of way of any public highway or upon any other public property; nor shall any person, within this City, place or deposit any junked vehicle or any major part thereof, upon any private property unless it is at a licensed salvage yard or at the business establishment of a demolisher, or unless it is placed upon the property of a properly licensed business located within a commercially zoned area; nor shall any person, within this City, place or deposit any abandoned household appliance upon any public or private property, unless it is at a licensed salvage yard or the business establishment of a demolisher, or unless it is placed upon the property of a properly licensed business located within a commercially zoned area; nor shall any person within this City, place any old vehicle tire upon any public or private property, unless it is at a licensed salvage yard or at the business establishment of a demolisher, or unless it is located within an enclosed building.
(d) Incorporation of Statutes. The City hereby incorporates verbatim, the provision of West Virginia Code 17-24-7 (1970), 17-244 (1974), 17-24-9 (1974), and 17-24-10 (1974) as the same exist on the date of the passage of this section.
(e) Penalty. Whoever violates this section shall be fined not less than twenty-five dollars ($25.00) nor more than five hundred dollars ($500.00).
(Ord. 9-23-02.)