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Whoever by his or her act or failure to perform a legal duty intentionally does any of the following is guilty of maintaining a public nuisance, which is a misdemeanor:
(A) Maintains or permits a condition which unreasonably annoys, injures, or endangers the safety, health, morals, comfort, or repose of any considerable number of members of the public;
(B) Interferes with, obstructs, or renders dangerous for passage any public highway or right-of-way, or waters used by the public; or
(C) Is guilty of any other act or omission declared by law or §§ 92.16, 92.17, or 92.18, or any other part of this code to be a public nuisance and for which no sentence is specifically provided.
The following are hereby declared to be nuisances affecting health:
(A) Exposed accumulation of decayed or unwholesome food or vegetable matter;
(B) All diseased animals running at large;
(C) All ponds or pools of stagnant water;
(D) Carcasses of animals not buried or destroyed within 24 hours after death;
(E) Accumulations of manure, refuse, or other debris;
(F) Privy vaults and garbage cans which are not rodent-free or fly-tight or which are so maintained as to constitute a health hazard or to emit foul and disagreeable odors;
(G) The pollution of any public well or cistern, stream or lake, canal or body of water by sewage, industrial waste, or other substances;
(H) All noxious weeds and other rank growths of vegetation upon public or private property;
(I) Dense smoke, noxious fumes, gas and soot, or cinders, in unreasonable quantities;
(J) All public exposure of people having a contagious disease;
(K) Any offensive trade or business as defined by statute not operating under local license; and
(L) Accumulation in the open of discarded or disused machinery, household appliances, automobile parts or bodies, logs, tree trunks and branches, construction materials, unusable toys, other plastics, wood, metals or other materials in a manner conducive to harboring of rats, mice, snakes, or vermin or growth of vegetation so accumulated, or in a manner creating fire, health, or safety hazards of the accumulation.
(Ord. 228, passed 11-19-1996; Am. Ord. passed 10-9-2000) Penalty, see § 10.99
The following are hereby declared to be nuisances affecting public morals and decency:
(A) All gambling devices, slot machines, and punch boards, except as otherwise authorized by federal, state, or local law;
(B) Betting, bookmaking, and all apparatus used in those occupations;
(C) All houses kept for the purpose of prostitution or promiscuous sexual intercourse, gambling houses, houses of ill fame, and bawdy houses;
(D) All places where intoxicating liquor is manufactured or disposed of in violation of law or where, in violation of law, people are permitted to resort for the purpose of drinking intoxicating liquor, or where intoxicating liquor is kept for sale or other disposition in violation of law, and all liquor and other property used for maintaining that place; and
(E) Any vehicle used for the unlawful transportation of intoxicating liquor, or for promiscuous sexual intercourse, or any other immoral or illegal purpose.
The following are declared to be nuisances affecting public peace and safety:
(A) All snow and ice not removed from public sidewalks 24 hours after the snow or other precipitation causing the condition has ceased to fall;
(B) All trees, hedges, billboards, or other obstructions which prevent people from having a clear view of all traffic approaching an intersection;
(C) All wires and limbs of trees which are so close to the surface of a sidewalk or street as to constitute a danger to pedestrians or vehicles;
(D) All obnoxious noises in violation of Minn. Rules, Ch. 7030, as they may be amended from time to time, which are hereby incorporated by reference into this code;
(E) The discharging of the exhaust or permitting the discharging of the exhaust of any stationary internal combustion engine, motor boat, motor vehicle, motorcycle, all terrain vehicle, snowmobile, or any recreational device except through a muffler or other device that effectively prevents loud or explosive noises therefrom and complies with all applicable state laws and regulations;
(F) (1) The using or operation or permitting the using or operation of any radio receiving set, musical instrument, phonograph, paging system, machine, or other device for producing or reproduction of sound in a distinctly and loudly audible manner so as to disturb the peace, quiet, and comfort of any person nearby.
(2) Operation of any device referred to above between the hours of 10:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. in a manner so as to be plainly audible at the property line of the structure or building in which it is located, or at a distance of 50 feet if the source is located outside a structure or building shall be prima facie evidence of violation of this section.
(G) The participation in a party or gathering of people giving rise to noise which disturbs the peace, quiet, or repose of the occupants of adjoining or other property;
(H) Obstructions and excavations affecting the ordinary public use of streets, alleys, sidewalks, or public grounds except under conditions as are permitted by this code or other applicable law;
(I) Radio aerials or television antennae erected or maintained in a dangerous manner;
(J) Any use of property abutting on a public street or sidewalk or any use of a public street or sidewalk which causes large crowds of people to gather, obstructing traffic, and the free use of the street or sidewalk;
(K) All hanging signs, awnings, and other similar structures over streets and sidewalks, so situated so as to endanger public safety, or not constructed and maintained as provided by ordinance;
(L) The allowing of rain water, ice, or snow to fall from any building or structure upon any street or sidewalk or to flow across any sidewalk;
(M) Any barbed wire fence less than 6 feet above the ground and within 3 feet of a public sidewalk or way;
(N) All dangerous, unguarded machinery in any public place, or so situated or operated on private property as to attract the public;
(O) Waste water cast upon or permitted to flow upon streets or other public properties;
(P) Accumulations in the open of discarded or disused machinery, household appliances, automobile bodies, or other material in a manner conducive to the harboring of rats, mice, snakes, or vermin, or the rank growth of vegetation among the items so accumulated, or in a manner creating fire, health, or safety hazards from accumulation;
(Q) Any well, hole, or similar excavation which is left uncovered or in another condition as to constitute a hazard to any child or other person coming on the premises where it is located;
(R) Obstruction to the free flow of water in a natural waterway or a public street drain, gutter, or ditch with trash of other materials;
(S) The placing or throwing on any street, sidewalk, or other public property of any glass, tacks, nails, bottles, or other substance which may injure any person or animal or damage any pneumatic tire when passing over the substance;
(T) The depositing of garbage or refuse on a public right-of-way or on adjacent private property; and
(U) All other conditions or things which are likely to cause injury to the person or property of anyone.
The Police Department or Sheriff, if the city has at the time no Police Department, shall enforce the provisions relating to nuisances. Any peace officer shall have the power to inspect private premises and take all reasonable precautions to prevent the commission and maintenance of public nuisances.
(A) Notice. Written notice of violation; notice of the time, date, place, and subject of any hearing before the City Council; notice of City Council order; and notice of motion for summary enforcement hearing shall be given as set forth in this section.
(1) Notice of violation. Written notice of violation shall be served by a peace officer on the owner of record or occupant of the premises either in person or by certified or registered mail. If the premises is not occupied, the owner of record is unknown, or the owner of record or occupant refuses to accept notice of violation, notice of violation shall be served by posting it on the premises.
(2) Notice of City Council hearing. Written notice of any City Council hearing to determine or abate a nuisance shall be served on the owner of record and occupant of the premises either in person or by certified or registered mail. If the premises is not occupied, the owner of record is unknown, or the owner of record or occupant refuses to accept notice of the City Council hearing, notice of City Council hearing shall be served by posting it on the premises.
(3) Notice of City Council order. Except for those cases determined by the city to require summary enforcement, written notice of any City Council order shall be made as provided in M.S. § 463.17 (Hazardous and Substandard Building Act), as it may be amended from time to time.
(4) Notice of motion for summary enforcement. Written notice of any motion for summary enforcement shall be made as provided for in M.S. § 463.17 (Hazardous and Substandard Building Act), as it may be amended from time to time.
(B) Procedure. Whenever a peace officer determines that a public nuisance is being maintained or exists on the premises in the city, the officer shall notify in writing the owner of record or occupant of the premises of the fact and order that the nuisance be terminated or abated. The notice of violation shall specify the steps to be taken to abate the nuisance and the time within which the nuisance is to be abated. If the notice of violation is not complied with within the time specified, the officer shall report that fact forthwith to the City Council. Thereafter, the City Council may, after notice to the owner or occupant and an opportunity to be heard, determine that the condition identified in the notice of violation is a nuisance and further order that if the nuisance is not abated within the time prescribed by the City Council, the city may seek injunctive relief by serving a copy of the City Council order and notice of motion for summary enforcement.
(C) Emergency procedure; summary enforcement. In cases of emergency, where delay in abatement required to complete the notice and procedure requirements set forth in divisions (A) and (B) of this section will permit a continuing nuisance to unreasonably endanger public health safety or welfare, the City Council may order summary enforcement and abate the nuisance. To proceed with summary enforcement, the officer shall determine that a public nuisance exists or is being maintained on premises in the city and that delay in abatement of the nuisance will unreasonably endanger public health, safety or welfare. The officer shall notify in writing the occupant or owner of the premises of the nature of the nuisance and of the city's intention to seek summary enforcement and the time and place of the City Council meeting to consider the question of summary enforcement. The City Council shall determine whether or not the condition identified in the notice to the owner or occupant is a nuisance, whether public health, safety or welfare will be unreasonably endangered by delay in abatement required to complete the procedure set forth in division (A) of this section, and may order that the nuisance be immediately terminated or abated. If the nuisance is not immediately terminated or abated, the City Council may order summary enforcement and abate the nuisance.
(D) Immediate abatement. Nothing in this section shall prevent the city, without notice or other process, from immediately abating any condition which poses an imminent and serious hazard to human life or safety.
(A) Personal liability. The owner of premises on which a nuisance has been abated by the city shall be personally liable for the cost to the city of the abatement, including administrative costs. As soon as the work has been completed and the cost determined, the City Administrator-Clerk-Treasurer or other official shall prepare a bill for the cost and mail it to the owner. Thereupon the amount shall be immediately due and payable at the office of the City Administrator-Clerk-Treasurer.
(B) Assessment. If the nuisance is a public health or safety hazard on private property, the accumulation of snow and ice on public sidewalks, the growth of weeds on private property or outside the traveled portion of streets, or unsound or insect-infected trees, the City Administrator-Clerk-Treasurer shall, on or before September 1 next following abatement of the nuisance, list the total unpaid charges along with all other the charges as well as other charges for current services to be assessed under M.S § 429.101, as it may be amended from time to time, against each separate lot or parcel to which the charges are attributable. The City Council may then spread the charges against the property under that statute and other pertinent statutes for certification to the County Auditor and collection along with current taxes the following year or in annual installments, not exceeding 10, as the City Council may determine in each case.
WEEDS
(A) Definitions. For the purposes of this section, the following definitions shall apply unless the context clearly indicates or requires a different meaning.
GRASS LAWN. A lawn composed mostly of grasses commonly used in regularly cut lawns or play areas, including but not limited to bluegrass, fescue, and ryegrass blends, intended to be maintained at a height of no more than 8 inches.
MANAGED NATURAL LANDSCAPE. A planned, intentional, and maintained planting of native or nonnative grasses, wildflowers, forbs, ferns, shrubs, or trees, including but not limited to rain gardens, meadow vegetation, and ornamental plants. MANAGED NATURAL LANDSCAPES does not include turf-grass lawns left unattended for the purpose of returning to a natural state.
MEADOW VEGETATION. Grasses and flowering broad-leaf plants that are native to, or adapted to, the State of Minnesota, and that are commonly found in meadow and prairie plant communities but does not include noxious weeds as that term is defined by M.S. § 18.77, Subd. 8.
ORNAMENTAL PLANTS. Grasses, perennials, annuals, and groundcovers purposely planted for aesthetic reasons.
RAIN GARDEN. A native plant garden that is designed not only to aesthetically improve properties, but also to reduce the amount of stormwater and accompanying pollutants from entering streams, lakes, and rivers.
(B) Maintenance. Every owner or occupant of real property in the city shall keep grass, weeds, and brush maintained and be responsible for the removal and disposal of dead or diseased trees thereon the property, abutting boulevard, and/or portion of the street reserved for sidewalk abutting the property. Except as part of a managed natural landscape as defined in this section, any weeds or grasses growing upon any lot or parcel of land in the city to a greater height than 8 inches or that have gone to seed or about to go to seed are prohibited.
(C) Managed natural landscapes allowed. With the conditions set forth herein, the city shall allow an owner, authorized agent, or authorized occupant of any privately owned lands or premises to install and maintain a managed natural landscape, as defined in this section, which may include certain plants and grasses in excess of 8 inches in height and which may have gone to seed but which shall not include any noxious weeds. The managed natural landscape must be at least 5 feet from the property line and must not be located in a city right-of-way or city-owned or controlled easement. The managed natural landscape must be identified as a managed natural landscape by a sign posted on the property in a location likely to be seen by the public. This sign is required only if the managed natural landscape is in an area likely to be seen by the public. This sign must be in addition to any sign permitted by the sign ordinance but must be no smaller than 10 square inches, no larger than 1 square foot, and no higher than 3 feet tall.
(D) Violations. Violation of this section are subject to proper enforcement of §§ 92.35 et seq. as well as other applicable statute, laws or code provisions, including representing public nuisances subject to abatement under this section. Violations include, but may not be limited to, allowing: i. noxious weeds; ii. vegetation that does not meet the maintenance standard specified in division (B) above; and iii. managed natural landscaped areas that do not comply with division (C) above.
(Ord. 235, passed 8-9-1999; Am. Ord. 23-05, passed 10-10-2023) Penalty, see § 10.99
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