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3.Draft Ordinance Nuisances DRAFT ORDINANCE NUISANCES ARTICLE I. - IN GENERAL Sec. 1. - Public nuisance defined. A public nuisance is a thing, act or use of private or public property which shall: (1) Annoy, injure or endanger the health, safety, comfort or repose of the public; or (2) Depreciate the value of the property of the inhabitants of the city or of a considerable number thereof; or (3) Unlawfully interfere with the use of or obstruct or tend to obstruct or render dangerous for passage, a public water, park, square, street, alley, road or highway; or (4) Offend public decency. Sec. 2. - Public nuisances affecting health, safety, comfort or repose. The following are hereby declared to be public nuisances affecting health, safety, comfort or repose: (1) All diseased animals running at large; (2) Carcasses of animals not buried or destroyed or otherwise disposed of within 48 hours after death; (3) The accumulation of garbage and rubbish not in containers, as required by ordinance of the city; (4) Garbage containers which are not fly tight, as required by ordinance of the city; (5) An accumulation of tin cans, bottles, glass, trash or debris of any nature or description; (6) The throwing, dumping, or disposing of any dead animals, animal feces, garbage, waste, decaying matter, ground, sand, stone, ashes, rubbish, tin cans, glass, nails, tacks, or debris of any nature on public or private property except at places authorized by law; (7) Dense smoke, noxious fumes, gas and soot, or cinders in unreasonable quantities; (8) The burning of garbage refuse, or building materials of any kind within city limits; (REPEAL ORDINANCE NO. 11 SECTION 3 HOUSEHOLD RUBBISH DISPOSAL) (9) Dumping or pumping the contents of any cesspool, privy vault, or garbage container except at places authorized by law; (10) Cesspools allowed to overflow on the surface of the ground or seep or flow in any manner on private or public property; (11) The pollution of any public well or cistern, stream or lake, canal or body of water by sewage, industrial waste, or other substances; (12) All other acts, omission of acts, occupations and uses of property which are deemed by the city council to be a menace to the health of inhabitants of the city; (13) Offensive trades or businesses, as defined by state statutes, not licensed by the state board of health, or other cognizant licensing body, as provided by law. Sec. 3. - Public nuisances affecting peace and safety. The following are declared to be nuisances affecting public peace and safety: (1) The piling, storing or keeping of wrecked or junked machines or vehicles and other junk or debris other than by persons involved in commercial business where the city council deems certain accumulations are necessary in the course of transacting business. (2) Placing entrance culverts, or doing any act which may alter or affect the drainage of public streets or alleys or the surface or grade of public streets, alleys, stormwater easements, or sidewalks without proper permit. (3) Making repairs to motor vehicles, or tires in public streets or alleys, excepting only emergency repairs when it will not unduly impede or interfere with traffic. (4) Obstructions and excavations affecting the ordinary use of the public of roads, streets, alleys, sidewalks or public grounds, except under such conditions as are provided by ordinance, and any other excavation left unprotected or uncovered indefinitely or allowed to exist in such manner as to endanger the safety of the public. (5) The use of property abutting on a public road or any use of a public road or street, which causes large crowds of people to gather, obstructing traffic and the free use of roads, without proper permit. (6) All hanging signs, billboards and other similar structures over public roads or streets or so situated as to endanger public safety, not constructed or maintained as provided by law or ordinance, or without proper permit. (7) All dangerous, unguarded machinery, equipment or other property in any public place, or so situated or operated on private property so as to attract minor children. (8) The ownership, possession or control of any unused refrigerator or other container, in violation of Minn. Stats. § 609.675. (9) All explosives, flammable liquids and other dangerous substances or materials stored or accumulated in any manner or in any amount other than that provided by law or ordinance. (10) All wires which are strung less than 15 feet above the surface of any public street, road or alley. (11) All trees, hedges, billboards or other obstructions which prevent persons from having a clear view of traffic approaching an intersection from cross streets. (12) Throwing, dropping or releasing printed matter, paper, or any other material or objects over and upon the city from an airplane, balloon or other aircraft or in such a manner as to cause such materials to fall on land or water in the city. (13) Erecting, painting or placing of unauthorized traffic signs or advertising signs on roads, streets or alleys. (14) Driving motorized scooters, bicycles, motorcycles or any type of motorized vehicle on any sidewalk, walkway or on private property of others, without the consent of the owner thereof obtained prior to any such operation, and the driving of said vehicles in a loud, noisy or unsafe manner, on public or private property. (15) The maintenance of any tree or shrub, the roots of which are causing damage to any public sewer, sidewalk, pavement or other public property, or setting out or planting any tree or bush in the public street or any portion thereof, city easements or rights-of-way. (16) Junk vehicles, or parts thereof, parked or stored on any public or private property that are not housed in a building shall be declared a public nuisance. For the purpose of this section "junk vehicle" shall mean any motor vehicle which is not in operable condition, partially dismantled, used for a source of repair or replacement parts for other vehicles, kept for scrapping, dismantling, or salvage of any kind, or which is not properly licensed for operation within the state. a. Property meeting any of the following criteria shall be allowed no more than two junk vehicles parked or stored on the property provided that the junk vehicle is screened from adjacent properties and is not parked on the grass in the front yard: i. Property that is zoned Rural Residential, Future Urban Service, Agricultural, or Long Term Agricultural and includes an inhabited dwelling, or ii. Property in any urban residential zoning district that is ten acres or more and includes an inhabited dwelling. (17) All buildings, walls, and other structures which have been damaged by fire, decay or otherwise to an extent exceeding one half of their original value or which are situated so as to endanger the safety of the public. (18) All other conditions, acts or things which are liable to cause injury to the person or property of another. Sec. 4. - Enforcement—Responsibility and powers. It shall be the duty of the city council to enforce the provisions of this chapter, and the council may, by resolution, delegate to other officers or agencies the power to enforce particular provisions of this chapter, including the power to inspect private premises, and the officers charged with enforcement of this chapter shall take all reasonable precautions to prevent the commission and maintenance of public nuisances. Sec. 5. - Enforcement—Procedure. (a) Complaint filed. Whenever in the judgment of the city council charged with enforcement, it is determined upon the preliminary investigation or complaint filed with the city clerk that a public nuisance may be maintained or exist within the city, the city clerk shall notify in writing the person committing or maintaining such public nuisance requiring him to appear before the city council at a specific time and place after service upon him to discuss and explain said public nuisance and its abatement or removal. (b) Judgment by council. Upon the failure of said persons to appear or after said preliminary hearing if in the judgment of the city council it is determined by its investigation that a public nuisance is being maintained or exists within the city, the city clerk shall notify in writing the person committing or maintaining such public nuisance to remove such conditions or remedy such defects. (c) Notification to abate. Said preliminary and final written notice shall be served on the person committing or maintaining said nuisance in person or by certified return receipt requested mail. If the premises are not occupied and the address of the owner is unknown, service on the owner may be had by posting a copy of the preliminary or final notice on the premises, or both, to take reasonable steps within a reasonable time to be designated in said notice, but the maximum time for the removal of said nuisance after service of said notice may be proved by filing an affidavit of service in the office of the city clerk setting forth the manner and time thereof. (d) Noncompliance. When an order so given is not complied with, such noncompliance shall be reported forthwith to the council for such action as may be necessary and deemed advisable in the name of the city to abate and enjoin further continuation of said nuisance. Sec. 6. - Abatement of nuisance by council. If, after such service of notice, the person served fails to abate the nuisance or make the necessary repairs, alterations or changes in accordance with the direction of the council, the council may cause such nuisance to be abated at the expense of the city and recover such expenditure by civil action against the person served; or, if service, as herein defined, has been had upon the owner or occupant, by ordering the clerk to extend such sum as a special assessment against the property upon which the nuisance existed and to certify the same to the county auditor for collection in the same manner as taxes and special assessments are certified and collected. Sec. 7. - Penalties. Every person who violates any provision of this ordinance is guilty of a misdemeanor and shall, upon conviction, be subject to a fine of not more than $500.00 or imprisonment for a term of not to exceed 90 days, or both plus, in either case, the costs of prosecution. Each act of violation and each day a violation occurs or continues constitutes a separate offense.