Chapter 8.05
NUISANCES
Sections:
8.05.020 Nuisances affecting public health.
8.05.040 Attractive nuisances.
8.05.060 Trees and noxious vegetation.
8.05.080 Surface waters – Drainage.
8.05.090 Radio and television interference.
8.05.120 Obstructing a water meter.
8.05.130 Unenumerated nuisances.
8.05.140 Abatement procedure – Notice.
8.05.150 Abatement by the property owner.
8.05.160 Joint responsibility.
8.05.170 Abatement by the City.
8.05.010 Definitions.
“City Administrator” means the City Administrator of the City of Harrisburg or his/her designee.
“Noxious vegetation” means grass over 10 inches high, berry vines that cross a property boundary or are not grown for produce, poison oak, or other weeds or vegetation prohibited by the Harrisburg Municipal Code, including vegetation interfering with pedestrian and vehicular traffic.
“Person” means a natural person, firm, partnership, association or corporation.
“Person in charge of property” means an agent, occupant, lessee, contract purchaser, or other person having possession or control of property or supervision of a construction project.
“Person responsible” means the person responsible for abating a nuisance, and includes:
a. The owner.
b. The person in charge of property, as defined in this section.
c. The person who caused a nuisance, as defined in this chapter or another ordinance of the City, to come into or continue in existence.
“Public place” means a building, way, place or accommodation, publicly or privately owned, open and available to the general public.
“Responsible person” means the same as “person responsible.”
“Trash” shall include garbage, rubbish, debris and recyclable materials that need to be removed from real property and properly disposed of or recycled so that it does not mar the appearance of the property, create a stench, attract rodents or other animals, create an unhealthy or unsanitary situation, or cause a fire hazard. [Ord. 967 § 1 (Exh. A), 2018; Ord. 935 § 1, 2015; Ord. 906 § 1, 2012; Ord. 686 § 1, 1995.]
8.05.020 Nuisances affecting public health.
No person shall cause or permit a nuisance affecting public health on property owned or controlled by the person. The following are nuisances affecting public health and may be abated as provided in this chapter:
1. Open vaults or privies constructed and maintained within the City, except those constructed or maintained in connection with construction projects in accordance with DEQ regulation.
2. Accumulations of debris, rubbish, manure and other refuse that are not removed within a reasonable time and that affect the health of the City.
3. Stagnant water that affords a breeding place for mosquitoes and other insect pests.
4. Pollution of a body of water, well, spring, stream or drainage ditch by sewage, industrial wastes or other substances placed in or near the water in a manner that will cause harmful material to pollute the water.
5. Decayed or unwholesome food offered for human consumption.
6. Drainage of liquid wastes from private premises.
7. Cesspools or septic tanks that are in an unsanitary condition or that cause an offensive odor. [Ord. 686 § 11, 1995.]
8.05.030 Creating a hazard.
No person shall create a hazard by:
1. Maintaining or leaving, in a place accessible to children, a container with a compartment of more than one and one-half cubic feet capacity and a door or lid that locks or fastens automatically when closed and that cannot be easily opened from the inside.
2. Being the owner or otherwise having possession of property on which there is a well, cistern, cesspool, excavation, or other hole of a depth of four feet or more, and a top width of 12 inches or more, and failing to cover or fence it with a suitable protective construction. [Ord. 686 § 15, 1995.]
8.05.040 Attractive nuisances.
1. No owner or person in charge of property shall permit on the property:
a. Unguarded machinery, equipment or other devices that are attractive, dangerous and accessible to children.
b. Lumber, logs or piling placed or stored in a manner so as to be attractive, dangerous and accessible to children.
c. Any excavation to remain open for an unreasonable length of time without erecting proper safeguards or barriers to prevent such excavation from being visited by children.
2. This section does not apply to authorized construction projects with reasonable safeguards to prevent injury or death to playing children.
3. Any nuisance as described in this section may be abated as provided in HMC 8.05.150 through 8.05.180. [Ord. 686 § 16, 1995.]
8.05.050 Snow and ice.
No owner or person in charge of property, improved or unimproved, abutting on a public sidewalk shall permit:
1. Snow to remain on the sidewalk for a period longer than the first 24 hours after the snow has fallen.
2. Ice to remain on the sidewalk for more than two hours of daylight after the ice has formed, unless the ice is covered with sand, ashes, or other suitable material to assure reasonably safe travel. [Ord. 686 § 17, 1995.]
8.05.060 Trees and noxious vegetation.
1. No person responsible shall allow a dead or decaying tree to stand if it is a hazard to the public or to persons or property on or near the property of the dead or decaying tree.
2. No person responsible shall allow noxious vegetation to remain on property less than one acre in size, or permit noxious vegetation to encroach onto a public right-of-way.
a. In the event a property owner fails to remove noxious vegetation, the City Administrator will cause written notice to be mailed to the property owner that s/he is in violation of this section and the property owner will be given 10 days within which to bring the property into compliance with this chapter.
b. In the event that it becomes necessary for the City to undertake the cutting and removal of the noxious vegetation from any private property without consent from the property owner, the City may do so following the process as required in Chapter 1.10 HMC, and the issuance of a warrant.
c. Upon completion of the removal of noxious vegetation from private property under the provisions of this section, the City Administrator shall file with the City Recorder an itemized statement of the cost as herein specified. The City Recorder shall notify the person responsible that the costs as indicated will become a lien against the property if not paid within 10 days from the date of the notice.
d. In the event the person responsible does not pay the costs of removing the vegetation, the City Council shall thereafter by ordinance determine the reasonableness of the statement of costs and adjust the same if need be and thereupon the amount of the statement as approved by the City Council shall be an obligation owed to the City by the owner of real property involved, and the City shall have a lien upon the real property for such sum and the lien shall be entered in the lien docket and enforced against the property in the manner provided for enforcement of City liens.
e. The procedure provided for in this section is not exclusive, but is in addition to the abatement procedure provided by other ordinances.
3. Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit lawns containing grass of less than 10 inches in height, or bushes, trees and other shrubbery grown or maintained for ornamental purposes; nor shall it prohibit the growth or maintenance of any vegetation designed for food or fuel purposes, except that the owner, occupant or agent in charge of any real property shall not permit the limbs of any shrub, tree or other vegetation projecting into or extending over a public right-of-way to interfere with the use of a sidewalk or roadway, or to obstruct a driver’s view of an intersection or traffic upon streets approaching an intersection or otherwise to constitute a hazard to the public. Trees shall be trimmed so that the minimum clearance of any overhanging portion thereof shall be eight feet above a walkway area and 14 feet above the roadway. Hedges and other shrubbery shall not overhang the sidewalk or roadway areas. [Ord. 1004 § 1 (Exh. A), 2024; Ord. 967 § 1 (Exh. A), 2018; Ord. 935 § 1, 2015; Ord. 906 § 1, 2012; Ord. 686 § 18, 1995.]
8.05.070 Trash removal.
1. No person shall allow trash for which the person is responsible for to be on private property that the person owns or controls, for longer than one week for putrescible trash or two weeks for other trash, except that trash shall immediately be disposed of if it is not contained to keep it from blowing around and to keep it from attracting rodents or other animals.
2. No person shall allow trash for which the person is responsible for to be on public property, or on private property that the person does not own or control.
3. No person shall discard or dispose of any trash on public property, except in a receptacle provided for such trash and other refuse.
a. No person shall take any household or commercially generated trash or other refuse onto public property for the purpose of discarding or disposing of such trash or other refuse.
4. This chapter shall not apply to a business that deals with trash or recycling and that is operating in conformance with city regulations. [Ord. 960 § 1 (Exh. A), 2018; Ord. 906 § 1, 2012; Ord. 686 § 19, 1995.]
8.05.080 Surface waters – Drainage.
1. No owner or person in charge of a building or structure shall permit rainwater, ice or snow to fall from the building or structure onto a street or public sidewalk or to flow across the sidewalk.
2. The owner or person in charge of property shall install, and maintain in a proper state of repair, adequate drainpipes or a drainage system, so that overflow water accumulating on the roof or about the building is not carried across or on the sidewalk. [Ord. 686 § 20, 1995.]
8.05.090 Radio and television interference.
1. No person shall operate or use an electrical, mechanical or other device, apparatus, instrument or machine that causes reasonably preventable interference with radio or television reception by a radio or television receiver of good engineering design.
2. This section does not apply to devices licensed, approved and operated under the rules and regulations of the Federal Communications Commission. [Ord. 686 § 31, 1995.]
8.05.100 Junk.
1. No person shall keep junk outdoors on a street, lot, or premises or in a building that is not wholly or entirely enclosed except for doors used for ingress and egress.
2. The term “junk,” as used in this section, includes all old motor vehicles, old motor vehicle parts, abandoned automobiles, old machinery, old machinery parts, old appliances or appliance parts, old iron or other metal, glass, paper, lumber, wood or other waste or discarded material.
3. This section does not apply to junk kept in a licensed junkyard or automobile wrecking house. [Ord. 686 § 32, 1995.]
8.05.110 Fences.
1. No person shall construct or maintain any barbed wire fence or allow barbed-wire to remain as part of any fence along a sidewalk or public way, unless such wire is placed not less than six inches above the top of a board or picket fence which is not less than six feet high.
2. No person shall install, maintain, or operate any electric fence along a street or sidewalk, or along adjoining property of another person. [Ord. 686 § 33, 1995.]
8.05.120 Obstructing a water meter.
Access to water meters is necessary to read, maintain and repair the meters and no person shall allow a water meter from which they receive water service to have anything on it or within two feet of it, or in any other way prevent reasonable access to it. If a water meter is located within a driveway, any obstructing vehicle shall be moved to allow access within 24 hours of notification by the City. [Ord. 841, 2006; Ord. 686 § 34, 1995.]
8.05.130 Unenumerated nuisances.
1. The acts, conditions, or objects specifically enumerated and defined in HMC 8.05.020 through 8.05.120 are declared public nuisances and may be abated by the procedures set forth in HMC 8.05.140 through 8.05.190.
2. In addition to the nuisances specifically enumerated in this chapter, every other thing, substance or act that is determined by the Council to be injurious or detrimental to the public health, safety or welfare of the City is declared a nuisance and may be abated as provided in this chapter. [Ord. 686 § 45, 1995.]
8.05.140 Abatement procedure – Notice.
1. On determination by the City that a nuisance exists, a notice shall be posted on the premises or at the site of the nuisance, directing the responsible person to abate the nuisance.
2. At the time of posting, the City Recorder shall cause a copy of the notice to be mailed or delivered to the responsible person at the person’s last known address.
3. The notice to abate shall contain:
a. A description of the real property, by street address or otherwise, on which the nuisance exists.
b. A direction to abate the nuisance within 10 days from the date of the notice.
c. A description of the nuisance.
d. A statement that, unless the nuisance is removed, the City may abate the nuisance and the cost of abatement will be charged to the property owner.
e. A statement that failure to abate a nuisance may warrant imposition of a fine.
f. A statement that the property owner may protest the order to abate by giving notice to the City Recorder within 10 days from the date of the notice.
4. Upon completion of the posting and mailing, the person posting and mailing shall execute and file certificates stating the date and place of the mailing and posting. [Ord. 906 § 1, 2012; Ord. 686 § 46, 1995.]
8.05.150 Abatement by the property owner.
1. Within 10 days after the posting and mailing of notice as provided in HMC 8.05.140, the property owner shall remove the nuisance or show that no nuisance exists.
2. The property owner protesting that no nuisance exists shall file a written statement that specifies the basis for the protest with the City Recorder.
3. The statement shall be referred to the Council as a part of its regular agenda at its next succeeding meeting. At the time set for consideration of the abatement, the person protesting may appear and be heard by the Council. The Council shall determine whether a nuisance in fact exists, and the determination shall be entered in the official minutes of the Council. Council determination shall be required only in cases where a written statement has been filed as provided.
4. If the Council determines that a nuisance in fact exists, the property owner shall abate the nuisance within 10 days after the Council determination. [Ord. 686 § 47, 1995.]
8.05.160 Joint responsibility.
If more than one person is a person responsible, they shall be jointly and severally liable for abating the nuisance or for the costs incurred by the City in abating the nuisance. [Ord. 686 § 48, 1995.]
8.05.170 Abatement by the City.
1. If the nuisance has not been abated by the person responsible within the time allowed, the City Administrator may request a warrant from a court of competent jurisdiction to allow access to the property by City staff, or a contractor hired by the City, for the purpose of abating the nuisance.
2. The City Recorder shall keep an accurate record of the expense incurred by the City in physically abating the nuisance and shall charge the costs of abatement, including an administrative fee, as set by Council resolution, to the person responsible. [Ord. 946 § 2, 2016; Ord. 906 § 1, 2012; Ord. 686 § 49, 1995.]
8.05.180 Assessment of costs.
1. The City Recorder shall forward to the owner, by registered or certified mail, a notice stating:
a. The total cost of abatement, including the administrative costs.
b. That the costs as indicated will be assessed to and become a lien against the property unless paid within 30 days from the date of the notice.
c. That if the owner objects to the cost of the abatement as indicated, a notice of objection may be filed with the City Recorder not more than 10 days from the date of the notice.
2. No sooner than 30 days after the date of the notice, the Council, in the regular course of business, shall hear and make a decision on the objections to the costs assessed.
3. If the costs of the abatement are not paid within 30 days from the date of the notice, an assessment of the costs, as stated or as decided by the Council, shall be made by resolution and shall be entered in the docket of City liens. When the entry is made, it shall constitute a lien on the property from which the nuisance was removed or abated.
4. The lien shall be enforced in the same manner as liens for street improvements are enforced and shall bear interest to be established by resolution. The interest shall begin to run from the date of entry of the lien in the lien docket. [Ord. 906 § 1, 2012; Ord. 686 § 50, 1995.]
8.05.190 Summary abatement.
The procedure provided by this chapter is not exclusive, but is in addition to procedure provided by other ordinances. Any City official may proceed summarily to abate a health or other nuisance which unmistakably exists and which imminently endangers human life or property. [Ord. 686 § 51, 1995.]
8.05.200 Penalty.
A violation of this chapter, or an order issued under authority of this chapter, is punishable by a fine not to exceed $500.00. [Ord. 686 § 52, 1995.]
8.05.210 Separate violations.
1. Each day’s violation of a provision of this chapter constitutes a separate offense.
2. The abatement of a nuisance is not a penalty for violating this chapter, but is an additional remedy. The imposition of a penalty does not relieve a person of the duty to abate the nuisance. However, abatement of a nuisance within 10 days of the date of notice to abate, or if a written protest has been filed, then abatement within 10 days of Council determination that a nuisance exists, will relieve the person responsible from the imposition of a fine under HMC 8.05.200. [Ord. 686 § 53, 1995.]
8.05.220 Severability.
The sections and subsections of this chapter are severable. The invalidity of any section or subsection shall not affect the validity of the remaining sections or subsections. [Ord. 686 § 54, 1995.]