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*State law reference—Authority to define, prevent and abate nuisances, Minn. Stats. § 412.221, subd. 23.
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Sec. 42-1. Definitions.
The following words, terms and phrases, when used in this chapter, shall have the meanings ascribed to them in this section, except where the context clearly indicates a different meaning:
Public nuisance means whoever by his 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;
(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 chapter to be a public nuisance and for which no sentence is specifically provided.
(Code 1987, § 1000.01)
Sec. 42-2. Public nuisances—Affecting health.
The following are hereby declared to be public nuisances affecting health:
(1) Carcasses of animals not buried or destroyed within 24 hours after death;
(2) The keeping of any animal over six months of age which has not been vaccinated against rabies with an approved vaccine as determined by the official Comprehendium of Animal Rabies Vaccines published by the Conference of State Public Health Veterinarians and the Center for Disease Control of the Department of Health and Human Services;
(3) All public exposure of persons having a communicable disease as defined in Minn. Stats. § 144.4172 and any building, conveyance, or place where contagion, infection, filth or other source or cause of communicable disease exists;
(4) Accumulations of stagnant water, manure, or rubbish which are likely to become breeding places for flies, mosquitoes or vermin;
(5) Depositing manure upon any city street, city sidewalk, or city property.
(Code 1987, § 1000.05A)
Sec. 42-3. Same—Affecting morals and decency.
The following are hereby declared to be public nuisances affecting public morals and decency:
(1) All gambling devices, slot machines and punch boards, unless approved as a legal device by the state;
(2) Betting, bookmaking, and all apparatus used in such occupations;
(3) All houses kept for the purpose of prostitution or promiscuous sexual intercourse, gambling houses, houses of ill fame, and bawdy houses;
(4) All places where controlled substances, narcotics, or intoxicating liquor is manufactured or disposed of in violation of law or where, in violation of law, persons are permitted to resort for the purpose of drinking intoxicating liquor or use of controlled substances or narcotics, or where intoxicating liquor, controlled substances, or narcotics are kept for sale or other disposition in violation of law, and all liquor controlled substances, and narcotics and other property used for maintaining such a place;
(5) Any vehicle used for the transportation of intoxicating liquor, or for promiscuous sexual intercourse, or any other immoral or illegal purpose;
(6) The use of any fish house, warming house, or other similar structure for any activity listed in subsections (1) through (4) of this section.
(Code 1987, § 1000.10A)
Sec. 42-4. Same—Affecting peace and safety.
The following are declared to be public nuisances affecting public peace and safety:
(1) All snow and ice not removed from public sidewalks 12 hours after the snow or other precipitation causing the condition has ceased to fall;
(2) 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, and all limbs of trees closer to the street surface than 15 feet and all limbs of trees closer to the surface of a sidewalk than eight feet;
(3) Obstructions and excavations affecting the ordinary use by the public of streets, alleys, sidewalks, or public grounds except under such conditions as are permitted by this chapter or other applicable law;
(4) Radio aerials, radio towers, television antennas, television towers or satellite dishes erected or maintained in a dangerous manner;
(5) 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 uses of the streets or sidewalks;
(6) 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 this chapter;
(7) 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;
(8) Wastewater cast upon or permitted to flow upon streets or other public property;
(9) Accumulations in the open of discarded or disused machinery, household appliances, automobile bodies, or other materials, in a manner conducive to the harboring of rats, mice, snakes, or vermin, or to fire, health, or safety hazards from such accumulation or from the rank growth of vegetation among the items so accumulated;
(10) Noxious weeds, as that term is defined in Minn. Stats. § 18.77, and any excessive growth of other weeds; excessive growth of weeds means weeds or grass which are eight inches or more in height;
(11) Any wire, except clothes line wire, which is strung less than 15 feet above the surface of the ground;
(12) Any fence or other structure maliciously erected or maintained for the purpose of annoying the owners or occupants of adjoining property;
(13) All buildings, walls, and other structures which have been damaged by fire, decay, or otherwise, and which are so situated as to endanger the safety of the public;
(14) All dead standing trees which present a hazard to life or property, all elm or other trees found harboring the Dutch elm beetle, all dead standing elm wood, and all cut elm or other wood found harboring the Dutch elm beetle;
(15) All dangerous, unguarded machinery, including derelict autos, derelict boats, and derelict refrigerators and freezers, in any public place, or so situated or operated on private property as to attract the public;
(16) Swimming in a channel or jumping or diving from a channel bridge;
(17) Operating any watercraft, motor vehicle, or powered device, or propelled device, on the open water, or upon the ice of a body of water, in such a manner as to endanger life, limb, or property;
(18) Standing upon any street bridge or railroad bridge for purposes of fishing therefrom;
(19) Causing to be made any fire on any public beach area or park except in fireplaces designated for that purpose;
(20) Any well, hole, or similar excavation which is left uncovered or in such other condition as to constitute a hazard to any child coming on the premises where it is located;
(21) Obstruction to the free flow of water in a natural waterway or a public street drain, gutter, or ditch with trash or other materials;
(22) 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;
(23) The depositing of garbage or refuse on a public right-of-way or on adjacent private property;
(24) A structure, or portion of a structure, located in a residential zoning district, if the exterior is not completed in accordance with the city-approved construction plans within 180 days after the date that the city building permit was issued;
(25) Property that has been disturbed by construction, grading, or other activity and is not seeded, sodded, or otherwise planted with ground cover within 240 days, unless the 240 days expires between November 1 and May 15, in which case the ground cover must be established by the following July 15, unless the city approves a time extension;
(26) Construction materials, including piles of dirt, sand, and sod, left in the open on property more than 60 days after construction has been completed or a certificate of occupancy has been issued, whichever comes first;
(27) Private functions or special events that exceed normal levels of city public services, overwhelm city resources, are outside the realm of municipal permits, due to unforeseen circumstances or poor planning conditions exceed provisions set forth in issued or existing permits, and require special service from city departments and/or mutual-aid agreements.
(Code 1987, § 1000.15A; Ord. No. 29-1989, 6-26-1989; Ord. No. 11-2005, 8-7-2005; Ord. No. 17-2006, 9-3-2006)
Sec. 42-5. Duties of city officers.
The Police Department shall enforce the provisions relating to nuisances. Such officers shall have the power to inspect private premises and take all reasonable precautions to prevent the commission and maintenance of public nuisances.
(Code 1987, § 1000.20)
Sec. 42-6. Abatement.
(a) Nuisance subject to abatement. A person in violation of sections 42-2 and 42-4 shall be deemed to have created a public health hazard, or public nuisance affecting peace and safety in the city, which is subject to abatement by city staff members.
(b) Failure of owner to abate after notice from city. If the owner or occupant thereof fails within seven days after posting by first class mail of a notice to abate a public health hazard, or public nuisance affecting peace and safety on the property, the city by and through its authorized personnel may enter upon such property and abate the public health hazard, or nuisance affecting peace and safety by any reasonable means, including contracting with a private person to do so.
(c) Expenses incurred by city. Any expenses incurred by the city in the abatement of a public health hazard nuisance affecting peace, safety, or moral decency as defined in this chapter shall be the responsibility of the property owner, and if subsequently unpaid, may be assessed against the property as provided in Minn. Stats. § 429.101.
(d) Immediate abatement. Nothing in subsection (b) of 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 as determined by the city. Recovery of costs are as follows:
(1) Personal liability. The owner of the 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, but not limited to, administrative and legal costs. As soon as the work has been completed and the cost determined, the city 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. The city may recover by civil action against the owner and/or the person who committed or maintained the nuisance for all costs and expenditures, including attorney's fees and a civil penalty, incurred by the city in abating or enjoining the nuisance or the city may assess such costs against the property as provided in subsection (b) of this section and may also withhold issuance of any and/or all related city permits or licenses.
(2) Assessment. If the city is not fully reimbursed for all of its reasonable costs incurred in the abatement or enjoinment of the nuisance or enforcement of this article, all such unpaid costs, charges and fees may be assessed against each lot or parcel of property to which such costs, charges and fees are attributable. The City Council may direct that the costs, charges and fees be certified to the county auditor for collection along with the current real estate taxes for the following year or in annual installments, not exceeding five years, as the Council may determine in each case.
(Code 1987, § 1000.25; Ord. No. 11-2005, 8-7-2005; Ord. No. 08-2007, 8-28-2007)
Sec. 42-7. No election of remedies.
The notice and abatement as provided in section 42-6 shall not be deemed the exclusive method for the enforcement of this chapter. Without notice, a proceeding may be instituted in a proper tribunal for the prosecution of a misdemeanor; and the judge in such a criminal case may impose the fine or penalty authorized by law in such case made and provided, including that contained in Minn. Stats. § 347.04 for the disposition of dogs constituting a public nuisance. The civil remedies at law and equity shall be deemed available at all times, without notice. The City Manager or designee may, concurrently with any such procedures, or without such procedures, condemn such structures as unfit for habitation pursuant to chapter 105, article VII of this Code.
(Code 1987, § 1000.35)