The following are deemed nuisances:
A. The erecting, continuing or using any building or other place for the exercise of any trade, employment or manufacture, which, by occasioning noxious exhalations, offensive smells, or other annoyances becomes injurious and dangerous to the health, comfort or property of individuals or the public.
B. The causing or suffering of offal, filth or noisome substances to be collected or to remain in any place to the prejudice of others.
C. The obstructing or impeding, without legal authority, the passage of any navigable river, harbor or collection of water.
D. The corrupting or rendering unwholesome or impure the water of any river, stream or pond, or unlawfully diverting the same from its natural course or state, to the injury or prejudice of others.
E. The obstructing or encumbering by fences, buildings or otherwise the public roads, private ways, streets, alleys, commons, landing places or burying grounds.
F. Houses of ill fame kept for the purposes of prostitution and lewdness, gambling houses, or houses resorted to for the use of controlled substances, or houses where drunkenness, quarrelling, fighting or breaches of the peace are carried on or permitted to the disturbance of others.
G. Billboards, signboards and advertising signs, whether erected and constructed on public or private property, which so obstruct and impair the view of any portion or part of a public street, avenue, highway, boulevard or alley or of a railroad or street railway track as to render dangerous the use thereof.
H. Any object or structure hereafter erected within one thousand feet (1,000') of the limits of any municipal or regularly established airport or landing place, which may endanger or obstruct aerial navigation, including takeoff and landing, unless such object or structure constitutes a proper use or enjoyment of the land on which the same is located.
I. Any and all wood, lumber, timbers, metals and unused, abandoned or junked cars or vehicles, scrap iron, brush, poles, rubber tires, dumping grounds, tin cans, junk or other rubbish or deposits left deposited or existing in or upon any street, alley, sidewalk, park, public place, vacant or occupied private or public lot or building.
J. Open wells or cisterns, uncovered wells or cisterns or improperly covered wells or cisterns.
K. Anything that was a nuisance under the common law and has not been modified or repealed by statute. (Rev. Ord. 1541, Comp. 1941, p. N-3)
A. The city council shall have the power to require the owner or lessee of any lot, portion of a lot, or tract of ground extending into, across or bordering on any hollow or ravine which constitutes a drain for surface water, or a watercourse of any kind, who shall, by grading or filling such lot, portion of a lot or tract of ground, obstruct the ordinary flow of water through such ravine or watercourse, to build or construct, to the extent of the lot or filling, such a drain or passageway for water as the city council may by resolution designate.
B. In all cases where the owner or lessee of any lot, portion of a lot or tract of ground extending into, across or bordering on any hollow or ravine which constitutes a drain for surface water or watercourse of any kind, shall, without constructing a suitable drain, fill or grade the lot, portion of a lot or tract of ground so as to obstruct the flow of water through such watercourse and cause the water to accumulate on any street, alley, public place or private lot or ground, he shall be deemed guilty of maintaining a nuisance which may be abated by the city, and on conviction thereof he may also be punished as provided in the general penalty in section 1-3-1 of this code.
C. In addition to the penalties provided in the general penalty in section 1-3-1 of this code, in case the owner or lessee shall grade or fill any lot, part of a lot or tract of ground, extending into, across or bordering on, any hollow or ravine so as to obstruct the flow of water, the city council shall have power, by resolution, to order the owner or lessee to construct such a drain as the city council shall order, and within the time to be designated by the city council; and upon such an order being made, it shall be the duty of the street commissioner to so notify the owner or lessee in writing, and if the owner or lessee shall fail or refuse to construct the drain within the time and manner required, the street commissioner shall at once proceed to build the drain, and report the expense thereof, with all costs arising therefrom, to the city council, whereupon the city council may, by resolution, levy and assess the expenses as a special tax upon the property so drained as provided for the assessment and collection of special assessments. (Rev. Ord. 1129, Comp. 1941, p. D-4)
If judgment is entered against any person for erecting, causing, maintaining, or continuing a nuisance as defined in this chapter, the person shall be deemed to have committed a municipal infraction and upon conviction thereof shall be punished as provided in the general penalty in section 1-3-2 of this code and any amendments thereto, and the court, in addition to the civil penalty may order any alternative relief to abate the nuisance.
The provisions of Iowa Code chapter 657A shall apply to all property within the jurisdiction of the city. (Ord. 4572, 9-9-2002; amd. Ord. 5595, 4-19-2021)
A. The city council may at any time, by resolution, order any piece of land or lot upon which water at any time becomes stagnant to be filled to such a height, or to be drained in such a manner, and within such time, as the city council in the resolution shall direct.
B. It shall be the duty of the owner of a piece of land or lot, subject to subsection A of this section, or his agent, after service on him of a copy of the resolution, or after a publication of the resolution once a week for two (2) consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in the city, to comply with the directions of the notice within the time therein specified, and in case of failure to do the work, by the owner or agent, it may be done at the expense of the city and the amount of money expended therefor shall be a debt due the city from the owner of the property and shall also be a lien on the piece of land or lot from the time of the adoption of the resolution.
C. The expense of filling or draining such piece of land or lot pursuant to subsection B of this section may be levied as a tax thereon. The levy shall be by resolution, and the tax shall be levied and collected in the manner provided for in the collection of other special taxes.
D. Any person who shall fail to comply with the resolution of the city council requiring the drainage or filling of land within ten (10) days after notice of the resolution has been served on him or his agent, or within ten (10) days after the last publication of the notice in a newspaper of general circulation in the city, shall be deemed guilty of an offense, and upon conviction thereof shall be punished as provided in section 1-3-1 of this code. (Ord. 4292, 4-27-1998)
A. Costs Of Abating Nuisance: When any person is found guilty of erecting, causing or continuing a nuisance, the court, before whom the trial is had, may, in addition to the penalty imposed, if any, order that the nuisance be abated or removed at the expense of the defendant, and after inquiring into and estimating, as nearly as may be, the sum necessary to defray the expenses of the abatement, the court may issue a warrant therefor.
B. Executing Warrant: The expense of abating a nuisance by means of a warrant issued pursuant to this chapter can be collected by the officer executing the warrant in the same manner as damages and costs are collected on execution, except that the materials of any buildings, fences or other things that may be removed as a nuisance may be first levied upon and sold by the officer, and if any of the proceeds remain after satisfying the expense of the removal, the balance must be paid by the officer to the defendant, or to the owner of the property levied upon, and if said proceeds are not sufficient to pay such expenses, the officer must collect the residue thereof.
C. Bond Given: Instead of issuing a warrant as provided by this chapter, the court may order the warrant to be stayed upon motion of the defendant and upon his entering into an undertaking to the city in such sum and with said surety as the court may direct, conditioned upon the defendant discontinuing said nuisance within a time fixed by the court, not to exceed six (6) months, or that the defendant causing the nuisance to be abated and removed as is directed by the court; and upon the defendant's failure to perform the conditions of his undertaking, the bond shall be forfeited and the court, upon being satisfied as to the default, may order the warrant forthwith to issue, and action may be brought on the bond. (Rev. Ord. 1541, Comp. 1941, p. N-3)
Loading...