CHAPTER 94
NUISANCES
Section
General Provisions
94.01 Health and sanitation nuisances prohibited; abatement procedure
Weeds
94.12 Notice to abate violations
94.14 Recovery of city’s expenses
Noise
94.27 Penalty; payment of fines
GENERAL PROVISIONS
94.01 HEALTH AND SANITATION NUISANCES PROHIBITED; ABATEMENT PROCEDURE.
(A) The following nuisance conditions are hereby prohibited:
(1) It shall be unlawful for any person to deposit upon the streets, alleys, lots, parts of lots or parcels of land within the city, the carcass of any dead animal or fowl, the offal of any animal or fowl or any vegetable matter calculated to be offensive to the public or detrimental to health. (’73 Code, § 14-1)
(2) It shall be unlawful for any person to maintain upon any street or alley contiguous to his premises or upon his lots, any ponds or pools of mud or stagnant water. (’73 Code, § 14-2)
(3) It shall be unlawful for any person to maintain on his premises within the city any sink, vault, drain, privy or cesspool or any portion of his premises in a filthy or offensive condition or detrimental to the public health. (’73 Code, § 14-3)
(4) It shall be unlawful for any person to suffer or permit to have upon his premises, whether owned or leased by him, any one or more of the following unsanitary, fly producing or disease causing conditions:
(a) Animal manure in any quantity which is not securely protected from flies.
(b) Privies, vaults, cesspools or like places, which are not securely protected from flies.
(c) Garbage in any quantity which is not securely protected from flies.
(d) Trash, litter, rags or anything whatsoever in which flies may breed or multiply.
(’73 Code, § 14-4)
(B) It shall be the duty of the Secretary of the Board of Health of the city, upon learning of the existence of one or more of the unlawful conditions described in this section to notify the offender in writing to remove or abate such unlawful condition within five days after receiving such notice.
(1) Such notice shall set forth all unlawful conditions, with a description of the premises where such unlawful conditions are allowed to exist.
(2) In the event of the refusal or neglect on the part of the notified offender to obey such order, the Secretary of the Board of Health shall inform the Chief of Police, and it shall then be the duty of the Chief of Police and he shall have the power and authority to go upon the premises described in the written notice to such offender and remove or abate the reported unlawful conditions, and he shall keep an accurate account of the costs and expenses thereof, which shall be paid from the City Treasury upon the sworn vouchers of the Chief of Police. Such costs and expenses shall be a lien upon the property and shall be collected by law as taxes are collected and duly paid into the City Treasury. (’73 Code, § 14-5)
(Ord. 131, passed - - ) Penalty, see § 34.94
WEEDS
94.10 WEEDS AS NUISANCE.
It shall be unlawful for the owner of any lot or tract of ground within the city to allow such lot or tract to become overgrown with grass, weeds or noxious plants to such an extent that such growth does, in the opinion of the Street Commissioner, constitute a hazard to the health, safety and comfort of the citizens of the city.
(’73 Code, § 11-7) (Ord. 6-69, passed - -69)
94.11 AUTHORITY TO INSPECT.
It shall be the duty of the Street Commissioner to make a careful examination from time to time, or upon request, of all lots, grounds and tracts of land situated within the corporate limits of the city for the purpose of determining whether or not the grass, weeds or noxious plants have been permitted to grow thereon of a character or to such an extent that they are about to become injurious to the health, safety and comfort of the citizens of the city.
(’73 Code, § 11-8) (Ord. 6-69, passed - -69)
94.12 NOTICE TO ABATE VIOLATIONS.
(A) Whenever the Street Commissioner discovers any lot, ground or tract of land within the city upon which weeds, grass or noxious plants have been permitted to grow of a character or to such an extent as to be or about to become injurious to public health and safety, he shall proceed to direct the Police Department to serve upon the owner of any lot or tract of ground, or upon the agent representing such owner, a written notice, directing that the grass, weeds, and noxious plants growing upon such lot or tract of ground be cut and burned or otherwise removed therefrom. Such directive shall in all cases be reduced to writing and kept of record by the Street Commissioner. Such record shall show the name of the owner of such lot or tract of ground and the location of such.
(B) The notice provided for shall be served either personally upon the owner or by leaving a copy thereof at his last and usual place of residence, and the original thereof, with the time and manner of service thereon, shall be returned to the Street Commissioner and preserved in his records. In case such owner is unknown, or is not a resident of the city, the Commissioner shall cause the notice to be published in a daily newspaper of general circulation printed and published in the city for one day each week for two consecutive weeks.
(’73 Code, § 11-9) (Ord. 6-69, passed - -69) Penalty, see § 34.94
94.13 REMOVAL BY CITY.
If the owner of any lot or tract of land or his agent upon whom the notice has been served fails to remove the weeds of noxious plants as required in such notice, within ten days from the time of its service or after the last day of its publication, as the case may be, the Street Commissioner shall proceed to cut and destroy or remove such grass, weeds and noxious plants as directed in the notice.
(’73 Code, § 11-10) (Ord. 6-69, passed - -69)
94.14 RECOVERY OF CITY’S EXPENSES.
(A) When the Street Commissioner cuts and destroys grass, weeds and noxious plants under the preceding section, he shall report the cost thereof to the Clerk-Treasurer. If the owner of the lot or tract of land shall refuse to pay for cutting and destroying such grass, weeds and noxious plants, within 30 days from the date of removal, then the Clerk-Treasurer shall certify all such costs as remain unpaid by the owner to the County Auditor who shall place the same upon the tax duplicates of the county for the year in which the costs have been incurred, as a charge against the owner of such lot or tract of ground. Said cost shall be a lien upon such lot or tract of ground, and shall be collected by the County Treasurer at the regular time for paying such taxes.
(B) The costs against the owner for the abatement of such grass, weeds and noxious plants shall include the cost of serving or publishing such notice, whichever the case may be, and a charge based upon time, material and equipment rental as the basis for compensation for the actual work done. Labor shall be charged out at the prevailing wage as per the most recent city salary ordinance. Materials shall include but not be limited to fuel, oils and lubricants and any maintenance that results from the removal of the grass, weeds or plants. Equipment rental shall be charged out at the most recent rate schedule on file with the Superintendent of Streets and Sanitation for the city. The city shall also be entitled to recover any and all legal costs incurred in the event that legal action is required to collect the aforementioned charges.
(’73 Code, § 11-11) (Ord. 6-69, passed - -69; Am. Ord. 10-81, passed 7-13-81)
NOISE
94.25 NOISE RESTRICTIONS.
(A) No person shall make or cause to be made any noise that unreasonably annoys, disturbs, injures or endangers the comfort, health, peace, safety or welfare of any person or precludes their enjoyment of property or affects their property value. This general prohibition is not limited by the specific restrictions listed in the following subsections.
(B) Specific restrictions. The following acts are declared to be prima facie evidence of a violation of this subchapter.
(1) Electronic devices (TV, radio, CD), motor vehicles (modified or unmodified), lawn mowers, or construction equipment (if such lawn mower or equipment contains a modified or defective exhaust system), either on public or private property, if the sound generated there from is clearly audible by another person at a distance of 50 feet or more from its source.
(2) Noisy parties or gatherings, giving rise to noise that is plainly audible by another person at a distance of 50 feet from its source between the hours of 10:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m.
(Ord. 22-06, passed 12-11-06)
94.26 EXCEPTIONS.
(A) The following are exempted from the provisions of this chapter:
(1) Sounds emitted from authorized emergency vehicles;
(2) Sounds emitted from lawn mowers, garden tractors, construction equipment, and power tools, when properly muffled, between the hours of 7:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m.;
(3) Sounds emitted from alarms and other warning devices when properly installed, providing the cause for sound emission is investigated and such alarm turned off within a reasonable time;
(4) Sounds emitted from parades, festivals, concerts, sporting events and/or other events authorized by Board of Works and Safety;
(5) Sounds emitted from normal conduct of established industry and businesses, when such sounds are customary; and
(6) Sounds emitted from motor vehicles, where the sound is the result of a defective or modified exhaust system, if the cause of the sound is remedied within seven calendar days, as verified by the Rensselaer Police Department.
(B) The Board of Works and Safety shall have the authority to issue permits for holidays, celebrations, parades, festivals and/or any other special events (public or private).
(Ord. 22-06, passed 12-11-06)
94.27 PENALTY; PAYMENT OF FINES.
(A) Any person who violates § 94.25 will be fined by citation or written notice: $50 for each violation.
(B) Payment of such fine will be paid to the Clerk of the Ordinance Violation Bureau within 30 days of the violation. The City Attorney may seek a judgment against the violator in the event the fine is not paid on time. The violator will be subject to awarding of reasonable attorney’s fees and other court costs of collection, in addition to the fine referenced.
(C) The parent or guardian of a child under the age of 18 will be responsible for any fines imposed for said violation.
(Ord. 22-06, passed 12-11-06)