A. General. A public nuisance is a thing, act, occupation, condition or use of property which shall continue for such length of time as to:
1. Substantially annoy, injure or endanger the comfort, health, repose or safety of the public; or
2. In any way render the public insecure in life or in the use of property; or
3. Greatly offend the public morals or decency; or
4. Unlawfully and substantially interfere with, obstruct or tend to obstruct or render dangerous for passage any street, alley, highway, navigable body of water or other public way.
B. Public Nuisances Affecting Health. The following acts, omissions, places, conditions and things are specifically declared to be public health nuisances, but shall not be construed to exclude other health nuisances coming within the definition of subsection A of this section:
1. All decayed, harmfully adulterated or unwholesome food or drink sold or offered for sale to the public;
2. Carcasses of animals not buried or otherwise disposed of in a sanitary manner within twenty-four (24) hours after death;
3. Accumulations of decayed animal or vegetable matter, trash, rubbish, rotting lumber, bedding, packing material, abandoned vehicles or machinery, scrap metal or any material in which flies, mosquitoes, disease-carrying insects, rats or other vermin may breed or which create a fire hazard;
4. All stagnant water in which mosquitoes, flies or other insects can multiply;
5. Garbage cans which are not fly-tight;
6. The escape of smoke, soot, cinders, noxious acids, fumes, gases, fly ash or industrial dust within the Village limits in such quantities as to endanger the health of persons of ordinary sensibilities, or any act in violation of the Illinois Environmental Protection Act (415 ILCS 5/1, et seq.);
7. The pollution of any public well or cistern, stream, lake, canal or body of water by sewage, industrial wastes or other substances; or any act in violation of the Illinois Environmental Protection Act;
8. Any use of property, substances or things within the Village emitting or causing any foul, offensive, noisome, nauseous, noxious or disagreeable odors, effluvia or stenches repulsive to the physical senses of ordinary persons which annoy, discomfort, injure or inconvenience the health of persons within the Village;
9. All abandoned wells not securely covered or secured from public use;
10. Any barn, stable or shed used for keeping animals;
11. Any obstruction in or across any watercourse, drainage ditch or ravine;
12. The deposit of garbage, rubbish, or any offensive substance on any street, sidewalk or public place, or on any private property, except as may be permitted by ordinance;
13. Any noxious weeds (as defined by the Illinois Noxious Weed Law) on private property (505 ILCS 100/1, et seq.).
14. Any elm tree, ash tree or other tree, shrub or plant, whether on public or private property, that is declared to be a public nuisance pursuant to Chapter 8.20 of this code.
15. Any breeding place of elm bark beetles and emerald ash borers, as provided in Chapter 8.20 of this code.
16. The transportation into the Village of any non-coniferous cut wood other than lumber to be used in building construction.
17. The application after August 19, 2014, being the effective date of this paragraph, of pavement or pavement sealing products that contain coal tar, coal tar derivatives, or coal tar mixtures ("coal tar products") to any public or private property within the Village. Abatement of this nuisance shall consist, at a minimum, of sealing over the coal tar products with an asphalt-based product free of coal tar. (MC-7-2014, § 3, Added ¶17, 08/19/14; MC-6-2007, Added ¶¶14,15,16, 05/01/07)
C. Public Nuisances Offending Morals and Decency. The following acts, omissions, places, conditions and things are specifically declared to be public nuisances offending public morals and decency, but such enumeration shall not be construed to exclude other nuisances offending public morals and decency coming within the definition of subsection A of this section:
1. All gambling houses and buildings or structures kept or resorted to for the purpose of prostitution, promiscuous sexual intercourse or gambling, except the state authorized lottery;
2. All gambling devices and slot machines;
3. All places where intoxicating liquor or fermented malt beverages are sold, possessed, stored, brewed, bottled, manufactured or rectified without a permit or license as provided for by this code;
4. Any place or premises within the Village where ordinances or state laws relating to public health, safety, peace, morals or welfare are openly, continuously, repeatedly and intentionally violated.
D. Public Nuisances Affecting Peace and Safety. The following acts, omissions, places, conditions and things are declared to be public nuisances affecting peace and safety, but such enumeration shall not be construed to exclude other nuisances affecting public peace or safety coming within the provisions of subsection A of this section:
1. All buildings erected, repaired or altered in violation of the provisions of the ordinances of the Village relating to materials and manner of construction of buildings and structures;
2. All unauthorized signs, signals, markings or devices which purport to be or may be mistaken as official traffic control devices placed or maintained upon or in view of any public highway or railway crossing;
3. All trees, hedges or other obstructions which prevent persons driving vehicles on public streets, alleys or highways from obtaining a clear view of traffic when approaching an intersection or pedestrian crosswalk;
4. All limbs of trees which project over a public sidewalk less than eight feet above the surface or less than ten (10) feet above the surface of a public street;
5. All use or display of fireworks except as provided by the laws of the state and ordinances of the Village;
6. All buildings or structures so old, dilapidated or out of repair as to be dangerous, unsafe, unsanitary or otherwise unfit for human use;
7. All wires over streets, alleys or public grounds which are strung less than fifteen (15) feet above the surface of the street or ground;
8. Any sound or noise which because of its volume level, duration and character annoys, disturbs, injures or endangers the comfort, health, peace, repose or safety of reasonable persons of ordinary sensibilities within the Village;
9. All obstructions of streets, alleys, sidewalks or crosswalks and all excavations in or under the same, except as permitted by the ordinances of the Village, or which, although made in accordance with such ordinances, are kept or maintained for an unreasonable length of time after the purpose of such obstruction has been accomplished;
10. All open and unguarded pits, wells, excavations or unused basements freely accessible from any public street, alley or sidewalk;
11. All abandoned refrigerators or iceboxes from which the doors and other covers have not been removed or which are not equipped with a device for opening from the inside by pushing only with the strength of a small child;
12. Any unauthorized or unlawful use of property abutting on a public street, alley or sidewalk or of a public street, alley or sidewalk which causes large crowds of people to gather, obstructing traffic and free use of the streets or sidewalks;
13. Any advertisements or signs affixed to any building, wall, fence, sidewalk, street or other private or public property without permission of the owner;
14. The operation in any building or on any premises of any radio device or mechanical musical instrument or device of any kind where the sound is projected or cast directly upon the public streets or public places, or such device is maintained and operated for advertising purposes or for the purpose of attracting the attention of the passing public, or such device is so placed and operated that the sounds coming from such device can be heard to the annoyance, inconvenience or discomfort of travelers upon any street or public place or of any persons occupying or being upon neighboring premises;
15. Any sign which is in an unsafe condition, or which overhangs any roadway, or which overhangs any sidewalk less than eight feet above the sidewalk surface;
16. Any awning which is in an unsafe condition, or which overhangs any roadway, or which overhangs any sidewalk and is elevated less than six and one-half feet at the lowest part above the tope of the sidewalk surface;
17. Any barbed wire fence or barbed wire railing fronting on any street;
18. Any structure, material or condition which constitutes a fire hazard or will impair the extinguishing of any fire;
19. Any nuisance so defined by state statutes;
21. a. The use of any internal combustion leaf blower powered by the burning of gasoline or another type of flammable fuel, whether backpack-mounted, wheel-mounted or hand held, including electric leaf blowers connected to portable gasoline-powered electric generators, at any of the following times:
i. at any time of day during the months of January, February, March, May, June, July, August, September, and December;
ii. before 8:00 a.m. and after 7:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, during the months of April, October, and November; and
iii. before 9:00 a.m. and after 6:00 p.m. on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays during the months of April, October, and November; provided that, in the event of a storm or other emergency, the Village Manager may waive the enforcement of the foregoing restrictions, upon determining that it is in the best interests of the safety and welfare of the Village to use such leaf blowers in clean-up or restoration activities; and provided, further, that the Village Manager may, in their sole and absolute discretion, postpone or extend these limited permitted usage periods during the months of May and September.
iv. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary, this subsection shall not apply to lawn maintenance activities conducted on golf courses and publicly-owned playfields until January 1, 2028.
b. The use of a leaf blower by a person or company providing landscaping services for compensation without a leaf blower license issued pursuant to section 5.78.020 of this code.
22. Any construction activity and related structures that do not comply with the provisions of Chapter 15.78 of this code.
E. Penalties. Any person found in violation of section 9.16.020 of this chapter shall be subject to a fine of not less than one hundred dollars ($100.00).
(MC-06-2023 § 2, Subparagraph D.21 amended, 6/20/2023; MC-05-2023 § 5, Subparagraph D.22 added, 3/21/2023; Ord. MC-1-2014, Subparagraph E added, 2/18/2014; Ord. MC-13-2004 § 2, Subparagraph D amended, 2004; Ord. MC-204-98 § 2, 1998; prior code § 12.02)