City of Moose Lake

Ordinance 131

#131 - An Ordinance Defining and Prohibiting Nuisances and Providing for a Penalty for Violations

131

AN ORDINANCE DEFINING AND PROHIBITING NUISANCES AND PROVIDING A PENALTY FOR VIOLATION

The city Council of the city of Moose Lake, hereby ordains:

section 1. Public nuisance defined. 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:

(1) 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; or

(2) Interferes with, obstructs, or renders dangerous for passage, any public highway or right of way, or waters used by the public, or

(3) Is guilty of any other act or omission declared by law or this ordinance to be a public nuisance and for which no sentence is specifically provided.

section 2. Public nuisances affecting health. The following are hereby declared to be nuisances affecting health:

(1) Exposed accumulation of decayed or unwholesome food or vegetable matter;

(2) All diseased animals running at large;

(3) All ponds or pools of stagnant water;

(4) Carcasses of animals not buried or destroyed within twenty-four (24) hours after death;

(5) Accumulation of manure, refuse, or other debris;

(6) Privy vaults and garbage cans which are not rodentfree or fly-tight or which are so maintained as to constitute a health hazard or to emit foul and disagreeable odors;

(7) The pollution of any public well or cistern, stream or lake, canal or body of water by sewage, industrial waste, or other substances;

(8) All noxious weeds and other rank growths of vegetation upon public or private property;

(9) Dense smoke, noxious fumes, gas or soot, or cinders, in unreasonable quantities;

(10) All public exposure of people having a contagious

disease;

(11) Any offensive trade or business as defined by statute not operating under local license.

section 3. Public nuisances affecting peace and safety. The following are declared to be nuisances affecting public peace and safety:

(1) All snow and ice not removed from public sidewalks twelve (12) hours after the snow or other precipitation causing the condition has ceased to fall;

(2) All trees, hedges, billboards, or other obstructions which prevent people from having a clear view of all traffic approaching an intersection;

(3) 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;

(4) All unnecessary noises and annoying vibrations;

(5) Obstructions and excavations affecting the ordinary public use of streets, alleys, sidewalks, or public grounds except under such conditions as are permitted by city ordinances or other applicable law;

(6) Radio aerials or television antennae erected or maintained in a dangerous manner;

(7) 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;

(8) All hanging signs, awnings, and other similar structures over streets and sidewalks,or so situated so as to endanger public safety, or not constructed and maintained as provided by City ordinances;

(9) 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;

(10) Any barbed wire fence less than six (6) feet above the ground and within three (3) feet of a public sidewalk or way;

(11) All dangerous unguarded machinery in any public place, or so situated or operated on private property as to attract

(12) Waste water cast upon or permitted to flow upon streets or other public properties;

(13) 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 such accumulation;

(14) Any well, hole, or similar excavation which is left uncovered or in such other condition as to constitute a hazard to any child or other person coming on the premises where it is located;

(15) Obstruction to the free flow of water in a natural waterway or a public street drain, gutter, or ditch with trash or other materials;

(16) 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 such substance;

(17) The depositing of garbage or refuse on a public right of way or on adjacent private property;

(18) All other conditions or things which are likely to cause injury to the person or property of anyone.

Section 4. Public nuisances relating to the storage of inorperable motor vehicles. The storage of inoperable or motor vehicles in following manner is declared to be a public nuisance:

(1) No motor vehicles designed to operate on public highways which are either inoperable or unlicensed, or which are both inoperable and unlicensed shall be stored on any private property within the city of Moose Lake for a period of more than thirty (30) days, unless stored in a building, or surrounded by a fence or other enclosure as approved by the city Council to keep said vehicle from public view.

(2) No motor vehicle, regardless of condition, shall be parked or stored at any time on front lawns in residential areas.

(3) No motor vehicle, regardless of condition, shall be parked or stored at any time on back lawns in residential areas, with the exception of seasonal use motor vehicles such as recreational vehicles, motor homes and boat trailers, which may be

stored on back yard areas in a neat and orderly fashion in cases where the owner does not have sufficient garage or driveway space to store such recreational vehicle.

Section 5. Duties of city officers. The Police Department of the city of Moose Lake shall enforce provisions of this ordinance. Such officer shall have the power to inspect private premises and take all reasonable precautions to prevent the commission and maintenance of public nuisances.

Section 6. Abatement.

Subd. 1. Notices. 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 subdivision.

(1) Notice of violation. Written notice of

violation shall be served by the officer charged with enforcement 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 Council hearing. Notice of any city council hearing to determine or abate 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 Council hearing, notice of 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 Minnesota Statutes §463.17 (Hazardous and Substandard Building Act) •

(4) Notice of motion for summary enforcement.

Written notice of any motion for summary enforcement shall be made as provided in Minnesota Statutes §463.17.

Subd. 2. Procedure. Whenever the officer charged with enforcement determines that a public nuisance is being maintained or exists on in the city, the officer shall notify in writing the owner of record or occupant of the premises of such fact and order that such 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 enforcing officer shall report that fact forthwith to the council. Thereafter, the 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 Council the City may seek injunctive relief by serving a copy of the City Council order and notice of motion for summary enforcement.

Subd. 3. Emergency procedure; summary enforcement. In cases of emergency, where delay in abatement required to complete the notice and procedure requirements set forth in Subdivisions 1 and 2 above will permit a continuing nuisance to unreasonable endanger public health safety or welfare, the City Council may order summary enforcement and abate the nuisance. To proceed with summary enforcement, the officer charged with enforcement 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 enforcement 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 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 subdivision 1 above, and may order that such 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.

Subd. 4. Immediate abatement. Nothing in section 6 of this ordinance 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.

section 7. Recovery of cost.

Subd. 1. 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 Clerk or other official designated by the Council 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 Clerk.

Subd. 2. 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 Clerk shall, on or before September 1 next following abatement of the nuisance, list the total unpaid charges along with all other such charges as well as other charges for current services to be assessed under Minnesota Statutes §429.101 against each separate lot or parcel to which the charges are attributable. The Council may then spread the charges against such 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 ten (10), as the Council may determine in each case.

section 8. Penalty. Any person convicted of violating any provision of this ordinance is guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be punishable by fine not to exceed $500.00 or imprisonment for not more than ninety (90) days, or both, plus the costs of prosecution in either case.

section 9. Effective date. This ordinance shall be effective from and after its passage and publication according to law.

Adopted by the City Council of the City of Moose Lake, Minnesota, this 14 day of November, 1994

ATTEST:

City Clerk

Published in the Star Gazette, on 3/30/05