Chapter 12 - Public Nuisances

CHAPTER TWELVE - PUBLIC NUISANCES

ARTICLE 1 - Noxious Weeds

12.0101 Definition

Whenever used in this ordinance, the term "noxious weeds" shall mean and include all weeds of the kind known as Canada Thistle, sow thistle, quack grass, leafy spurge (Euphorbia esula or Euphrobia virgata), field bindweed, Russian knapweed (Centaurea picris), hoary cress (Lapidium draba, Lepidium repens, and Humenophysa pubescens), dodder, or any similar unwanted vegetation over eight inches in height. All grasses over eight inches in height within the city limits of the City of Lakota shall be considered unhealthful vegetation and a public nuisance.

12.0102 Weeds and Unhealthful Vegetation Prohibited

No owner of any lot, place or area within the city or the agent of such owner shall permit on such lot, place or area and the one-half of any road or street lying next to the lands or boulevards abutting thereon noxious weeds, unhealthful vegetation over eight inches in height, or other deleterious unhealthful growths.

12.0103 Notice To Destroy

The city superintendent of streets and utilities is hereby authorized and empowered to notify, in writing, the owner of any such lot, place or area within the city or the agent of such owner, to cut, destroy, and/or remove any such noxious weeds or unhealthful vegetation found growing, lying or located on such owner's property, or upon the one-half of any road or street lying next to the lands or boulevards abutting thereon. Such notice shall be by registered or certified mail addressed to said owner or agent of said owner at his last known address and shall give such owner or his agent a minimum of five days to cut or destroy said noxious weeds or unhealthful vegetation.

12.0104 Action Upon Non-compliance

Upon the failure, neglect or refusal of any owner or agent so notified to cut, destroy, and/or remove noxious weeds or unhealthful vegetation growing, lying or located upon the owner's property or upon the one-half of any road or street lying next to the lands or boulevards abutting thereon after receipts of the written notice provided for in 12.0103 above, or within five days after the date of such notice in the event the same is returned to the city post office department because of inability to make delivery thereof provided the same was properly addressed to the last known address of such owner or agent, the superintendent of streets and utilities is hereby authorized and empowered to pay for the cutting, destroying, and/or removal of such noxious weeds or unhealthful vegetation or to order their removal by the city.

12.0105 Cost Assessed to Property

When the city has effected the removal of such noxious weeds or unhealthful vegetation or has paid for their removal, the actual cost thereof, if not paid by said owner prior thereto, shall be charged and assessed against the property upon which the noxious weeds or unhealthful vegetation were cut or destroyed. An assessment list showing the lots or tracts to be assessed with the cost against each lot or tract shall be prepared as are other special assessment lists and shall be approved by the governing body and shall bear interest at seven percent. Such assessments shall be subject to the same procedure for certification to the county auditor, payment and collection as are other special assessments under state law.

ARTICLE 2 - Sanitary Nuisances

12.0201 Residences - When Sewer and Water Required

It shall be unlawful for any person to use or occupy or permit to be used or occupied for residence purposes, any premises or building within the corporate limits of this City where the lot upon which said building is constructed is located 200 feet or less from any water main or sanitary sewer within the City without first making or causing to be made proper connections with said sewer and water facilities and mains and, in determining the distance for the purpose of determining when any building or premises is included herein the measurement shall be taken between the nearest point on said lot and the nearest point on any water main or sewer line.

The term "Property Connections" when used in this section shall be construed to mean connections with such water mains and sanitary sewers which are equipped and furnished with proper valves and fittings so, as to enable such water connections to be used at all times and sanitary toilets and drains and such equipment shall at all times be kept in repair and in a manner so as to make them available for household use and in condition to be used at all seasons of the year.

12.0202 Outhouses - Cesspools - A Nuisance

The use, construction, maintenance, building or erection of any outhouse, privy, vault or cesspool within this City is hereby declared to be a nuisance and a menace to public health, when in violation of Section 12.0201.

12.0203 Outhouses - Cesspools, Exceptions

a. Private sewage system and private water supplies may be constructed to serve new buildings to be built in areas not included in Section 12.0201, providing such lot area complies with the requirements of any zoning requirements.

b. Private sewer systems and private water systems may be installed in existing buildings in areas not included in Section 12.0201.

c. Each private sewage system or private water supply hereafter altered or constructed shall conform to the State Health Department Standards.

12.0204 Outhouses - Cesspools, Offensive Odors

It shall be unlawful for the owner or occupant of any lot or piece of ground within the corporate limits of this City to suffer or permit any private sewer system to emit any offensive odors or to become dangerous or injurious to public health or offensive to sense of smell of the people of the City, and any private sewer system emitting such odor is hereby declared to be a nuisance and menace to public health of the City.

12.0205 Outhouses - Cesspools, Cleaning of

In the cleaning of private septic tanks and sewage systems the contents thereof shall be removed in containers fitted so as to prevent the escape of odors or materials therefrom and disposed in a manner approved by the City Superintendent of Streets and Utilities.

12.0206 Dead Animals

Any person who owned or had possession or control of a animal prior to its death shall remove or cause the same to be removed within five (5) hours from the time the animal dies and have the same buried or disposed of in some other sanitary way approved by the City Health Officer. Any dead animal remaining in any street, alley, or other public place in this City, or any private premises within this City, for more than five (5) hours after the animal shall have died, is hereby declared to be a nuisance; and any person permitting any dead animal in the street, alley or public place of the city or allowing any animal which he owned or which was in his possession or under his control prior to its death, to remain in any street, alley, or public place, or on any private premises within the city for more than five (5) hours after its death shall be guilty of a violation of this article.

12.0207 Water Pools - Putrid Substances

It shall be unlawful for the owner or occupant of any parcel of ground in this City to suffer or permit water or putrid substance whether animal or vegetable to accumulate or stand so as to cause an offensive odor to be emitted therefrom or to become injurious or dangerous to the health of the neighborhood, and any pool or water and any putrid substance permitted to become offensive or injurious to the public health is hereby declared to be a nuisance.

12.0208 Dirt, Filth, etc., in Streets and Property

It shall be unlawful for any person, firm or corporation to throw, place, deposit, leave or cause to be thrown, placed, deposited or left in any of the public streets, highways, alleys, parks or thoroughfares, or on any private premises in this City any dirt, filth, sewage, sweepings, rags, dung, garbage, compost, wastepaper, excelsior, straw, hay, leaves, brush, weeds, dry grass, shavings, barrels, boxes, wooden crates, lumber, stable manure, ashes, vegetables, slops or litter of any kind, and any place or property having left or deposited thereon any of the things or substances aforesaid is hereby declared to be a nuisance.

12.0209 Stables, Barns, Sheds

It shall be the duty of all persons having stables, barns, or sheds, whether as owners or tenants or as agents having control thereof, to remove or cause to be removed therefrom all manure and refuse of every kind at least once each week between the 15th day of March and the 15th day of December of each and every year.

12.0210 Spitting

No person shall spit upon any sidewalk or upon the stairs, hallways, floor, carpet, furniture or walls of any public or office buildings in the City.

ARTICLE 3 - Smoke - Gases

12.0301 Smoke, Dust, Ashes, Gases, Cinders, A Nuisance

The emission of dense smoke, ash, dust, soot, cinders or noxious gases from any machine, contrivance, or from the smoke stack or chimney of any building or premises in such quantities as to cause injury or detriment, to any person or persons, or to the public, or to endanger the comfort, health or safety of any person or persons, or in such manner as to cause damage or safety of any person or persons, or in such manner as to cause damage or injury to property, is hereby declared to be a nuisance.

12.0302 Smoke, Dust, Ashes, Cinders, Gases, Prohibited

No person, persons, association or corporation shall cause, permit, or allow the escape from any smoke stack or chimney into the open air, of such quantities of dense smoke, ash, dust, soot, cinders, acid or other fumes, dirt, or other material, or noxious gases, in such place or manner as to cause injury, detriment or nuisance to any person or persons, or to the public, or to endanger the comfort, health, or safety of any such person or persons, or the public or in such manner as to cause or have a natural tendency to cause injury or damage to business or property.

ARTICLE 4 - Radio Interference and Noise Control

12.0401 Radio Interference Prohibited

It shall be unlawful for an person knowingly to maintain, use, operate or cause to be operated within this City, any machine, device, appliance, equipment or apparatus of any kind whatsoever, the operation of which shall cause reasonably preventable electrical interference with radio reception within said municipal limits, and the maintenance, use or operation within said city of any machine, device, appliance, equipment or apparatus of any kind so as to interfere with radio reception in violation hereof, is hereby declared a common nuisance.

12.0402 Loud, Disturbing, Unnecessary Noises Prohibited

The making, creating, or maintenance of loud, unnatural or unusual and disturbing noises are a detriment to public health, comfort, convenience, safety and welfare are hereby declared to be unlawful and a public nuisance. The following acts, among others, are declared to be prohibited noises in violation of this section, but such enumeration is not exclusive:

1. The sounding of horns or signaling devices on any motor vehicle or motorcycle on any street or public place except as a danger warning or their sounding for an unnecessary and unreasonable period of time.

2. Radios, Phonographs, etc. The using operating, or permitting to be played, used or operated, any radio receiving set, musical instrument, phonograph, or other machine or device for the producing or reproducing of sound in such manner as to disturb the peace, quiet and comfort of the neighboring inhabitants, or at any time with louder volume than is necessary for convenient hearing for the person or persons who are in the room, vehicle or chamber in which such machine or device is operated, and who are voluntary listeners thereto. The operation of any such set, instrument, phonograph, machine or device in such a manner as to be plainly audible at a distance of fifty (50) feet from the building, structure or vehicle in which it is located shall be prima facie evidence of a violation of this section.

3. Loudspeakers, Amplifiers for Advertising. The use, operating, or permitting to be played, used or operation of any radio receiving set, musical instrument, phonograph, loudspeaker, amplifier, or other machine or device for the producing or reproducing of sound which is cast upon the public streets for the purpose of commercial advertising or attracting the attention of the public to any building or structure.

4. Yelling, Shouting, etc. Yelling, Shouting, hooting, whistling, or singing on the public streets, particularly between the hours of 11 p.m. and 7 a.m. or at any time or place so as to annoy or disturb the quiet, comfort, or repose of persons in any office, or in any dwelling, hotel or other type of residence, or of any persons in the vicinity.

5. Schools, Courts, Churches, Hospitals. The creation of any excessive noise on any street adjacent to any school, institution of learning, church or court while the same are in use, or adjacent to any hospital, which unreasonably interferes with the workings of such institution, or which disturbs or unduly annoys patients in the hospital, provided conspicuous signs are displayed in such streets indicating that the same is a school, hospital or court street.

12.0403 Firing of Arms

No person shall fire any cannon, gun, rifle, pistol, toy pistol, or firearms of any kind, or fire or explode any squib, rocket, cracker or Roman candle, or other combustible fireworks, or make use of any slingshot or other like device, within the city limits of the City of Lakota, North Dakota, except that combustible fireworks may be exploded within the city limits, excluding the city park, only during the period beginning June 27th and ending July 5th, both dates inclusive, except as provided by state law.

12.0404 Fireworks Display, Permission

The Mayor and City Superintendent shall have authority to grant permission to any civic organization or citizens committee to give display of fireworks within said city limits upon holidays, days of general celebration or other like occasions.

12-0404A Fireworks Discharge

Fireworks or other such related devices shall only be discharged within the City of Lakota from 12:00pm-1am each day starting on June 27^th through July 5^th.

2. A person who violates this ordinance shall be subject to a fine of $50.00 for each occurrence.

12.0405 Compression Brakes Prohibited

1. No person shall use motor vehicle brakes within the city limits that are in any way activated or operated by the compression of the engine of that motor vehicle or any unit or part thereof. It shall be an affirmative defense to prosecution under this section that the compression brakes were applied in an emergency and were necessary for the protection of person and/or property.

2. This section shall not apply to motorcycles or vehicles of a municipal fire department, whether or not responding to an emergency.

3. As used in this section the term “compression brakes” means the use of the engine to retard the forward motion of a motor vehicle by compression of the engine.

4. A person who violates this ordinance shall be subject to a fine of $50.00.

ARTICLE 5 - Automobiles - Personal Property

12.0501 Automobiles - Personal Property - When a Nuisance

Unsheltered storage of old, used, stripped, junked and other automobiles not in good, safe operating condition, and of any other vehicles, machinery implements and/or equipment and personal property of any kind which is no longer safely usable for the purposes with which it was manufactured for a period of thirty days or more (except in a licensed junk yard) within the city, and any motor, animal and article or personal property which constitutes an obstruction to, hazard or detriment to public traffic, snow removal operations, public saftey and public health and morals or which may be abandoned or unclaimed within this City is hereby declared to be a nuisance and dangerous to public safety and shall be abated in the manner prescribed in this article. Junk is a nuisance. Junk includes, without limitations, parts of machinery or motor vehicles, unused furniture, stoves, refrigerators or other appliances, remnants of wood, metal or any other castoff material of any kind whether or not the same could be put to any resonable use.

12.0502 Abatement Required by Owners

The owner, owners, tenants, lessees and/or occupants of any lot within the corporate limits of this city upon which such storage is made, and also the owner, owners, and/or lessees of said property involved in such storage (all of whom are hereinafter referred to collectively as "owners"), shall jointly and severally abate said nuisance by the prompt removal of said personal property into completely enclosed buildings authorized to be sued for stage purposes, if within the corporate limits of the city, or otherwise to remove it to a location outside of corporate limits.

12.0503 Removal and Impoundment by City

The police department may remove or cause to be removed to the city hall, or any other place within the city, selected for the purpose any personal property described in 12.0501 and may impound and retain the same until the expense of removal, storage and impounding is paid, together with the amount of any fine, costs, bail or other claims of the city against the owner, or any other person lawfully entitled to the possession thereof, within a period of thirty (30) days after impounding, any article of personal property.

12.0504 Removal and Impoundment, When Sold

If not reclaimed and redeemed by the true owner or the person lawfully entitled to the possession thereof within a period of thirty (30) days after impounding, any article or personal property described in 12.0501 may be sold and disposed of by the police department in the manner hereafter provided. Notice that such property will be sold shall be published once, at least six (6) days prior to the sale, in a newspaper published in the City or if none in the official newspaper of the county. Such notice shall specify a description of the property to be sold, the time and place of sale, and hours of 9:00 o'clock in the morning and 5:00 o'clock in the afternoon of the day specified in the notice. Such sale shall be held at the front door of the City Hall, or at the location of the property to be sold. Any sale may be postponed or discontinued by public announcement at the time of the sale where there are no bidders or when the amount offered is grossly inadequate, or for other reasonable cause. The city may become a purchaser of any or all property at such sale. The chief of police shall give the purchaser at such sale a certificate of purchase of such property.

12.0505 Removal and Impoundment Proceeds

Within thirty (30) days after such sale, the person making the sale shall make out, in writing, and file with the city a full report of such sale specifying the property sold, the amount received therefor, the amount of costs and expense, and disposition made by him of the proceeds of the sale. The proceeds arising from such sale shall be delivered over to the city auditor and credited to the general fund.

12.0506 Snowmobiles

In addition to regulations pertaining to the operation of snowmobiles contained in Title 39 of the North Dakota Century Code, the use and operation of snowmobiles is further regulated as hereinafter set forth:

a. No snowmobile shall be driven or operated within the city except for ingress or egress using the most direct and practical route to the operation's destination with a maximum speed of 15 miles per hour.

b. Snowmobiles shall not be driven or operated on the following streets and avenues: Main Street from the Burlington Northern Railroad crossing to the intersection of "C" Avenue. Notwithstanding any other provisions of this section, snowmobiles may be driven and operated in the City of Lakota on Second Street between US Highway 2 and East Avenue B for the purposes of ingress and egress to and from East Avenue B only.

12.0507 Parking-Storage of Use of Major Recreational Equipment

For purposes of these regulations, major recreational equipment is defined as including boats and boat trailers, travel trailers, pickup campers or coaches designed to be mounted on automobile vehicles, motorized dwellings, tent trailers, and the like, and cases or boxes used for transporting recreational equipment, whether occupied by such equipment or not. No major recreational equipment shall be parked on any residential street for a period exceeding seven (7) days during loading or unloading. no such equipment shall be used for living or housekeeping purposes when parked or stored on a residential lot, or in any location not approved for such use, unless connected to water, sewer and electricity provided by Lakota Municipal Utilities.

12.0508 Violation of Ordinance

Any person violating any provision of this article shall be guilty of an infraction and shall be punished by a fine of $50 per day after the 7 day period expires.

ARTICLE 7. – PUBLIC NUISANCE—TALL GRASS AND WEEDS

Nuisance.
A public nuisance is a thing, act, failure to act, occupation or use of property which shall:
(1) Annoy, injure or endanger the safety, health, comfort or repose of any considerable

number of persons;

(2) Offend the public decency;
(3) Unlawfully interfere with, obstruct, or tend to obstruct, or render dangerous for passage, a lake, navigable river, bay, stream, canal or basin, or public park, square, street, alley or highway; or
(4) In any way render any considerable number of persons insecure in life or in use of property

10-0701. - Definitions.

As used in this article, the following words and terms, unless the context clearly requires otherwise, shall have the following meanings:

Garden shall mean a cultivated and maintained area, not located within a public right-of-way, berm or boulevard, dedicated to growing vegetables, fruits, flowers, ornamental grass, shrubs and similar plants that are planted in a well defined location.

Ornamental grass shall mean grass that is not indigenous to the state, that is intended to add beauty to a garden or natural area. The term shall not include turf grass or weeds.

Tall grass shall mean grass predominantly in excess of eight (8) inches in height and shall include all weeds not contained within the North Dakota Administrative Code Section 7-06-01-02 predominantly in excess of eight (8) inches in height. The term shall not include tall grass that exists as part of a cultivated and maintained vegetable garden, flower garden or landscaping display.

Turf grass shall mean grass commercially available and commonly used in regularly cut and maintained lawn or play areas, including but not limited to, blue grass, fescue and rye grass blends. The term shall not include ornamental grass.

Weeds shall mean volunteer plants that grow or reproduce aggressively or is invasive outside of its native habitat and which tend to overgrow or choke out more desirable plants, crop or lawn.

The term shall include "noxious weeds" as defined by the North Dakota Administrative Code Section 7-06-01-02. The term shall also include all plants classified or described as a weed by the United States Department of Agriculture. The term shall also include other plants capable of causing skin reactions upon contact, producing allergic respiratory reactions or posing a fire danger.

Purpose.

The city hereby finds that tall grass and weeds can have an adverse effect on neighborhoods by providing a refuge for vermin and insects; creating fire hazards; harborage of mosquitoes; production and transmission of spores, pollens and molds; transmission of weeds; retention of litter and debris; creating an appearance of abandoned property; adversely affecting property values; and impairing neighborhood and community aesthetics; among other adverse or blighting effects. The purpose of this article is to secure the public health, safety and general welfare of the city residents, property owners, and visitors by regulating tall grass and weeds.

Declaration of public nuisance.

All tall grass and weeds predominantly exceeding eight (8) inches in height growing within the limits of the city are hereby declared to be a public nuisance, except as otherwise provided herein. It shall be the duty of every person owning, occupying, or in charge of any premises, lot or parcel of land in the city to keep that premise, parcel or lot, including the adjacent right-of-ways, berms and boulevards free from all tall grass and weeds by cutting or destroying them as required herein between April 1 and November 1 of each year. Tall grass that exists as part of a cultivated vegetable, flower garden or landscaping display shall not be included in the requirements of this article.

Unlawful to accumulate junk, junk vehicles, trash or rubbish.

(a) Nuisance declared.

(1)It is declared a nuisance and it is unlawful for any person in charge or control of any property within the city, whether as owner, tenant, occupant, lessee, or otherwise to store, or permit the storage or accumulation in or upon any private property within the city or upon the one half of any street or alley lying next to the property or upon the sidewalks, boulevards or berms abutting thereon of any of the following items:

a. Junked, wrecked, partially dismantled, inoperative, discarded or abandoned vehicles.

Iron, steel and other salvage materials.

c. Tires, dilapidated or defunct machinery and equipment of any kind.

d. Building and construction materials of any kind.

e. Trash, rubbish or junk of any kind.

(2) Further, it is unlawful for any person to store or cause the storage, to deposit or cause to be deposited any of the items in subsection (a)(1) of this section in or upon any publicly owned property, or upon any street, alley, sidewalk, boulevard or berm.

(b) Definitions. The following words, terms and phrases, when used in this section, shall have the meanings ascribed to them in this subsection, except where the context clearly indicates a different meaning:

Building and construction materials means litter, refuse, salvage material, inert waste, loose lumber and construction materials, provided that building and construction materials to be used within six months for construction on the premises, where properly authorized by a building permit, may be kept if stored at least 18 inches off the ground and not closer than 48 inches to any wall or fence.

Inoperable means a condition of being junked, wrecked, wholly or partially, dismantled, discarded, abandoned or unable to perform the functions or purposes for which a vehicle was originally constructed.

Salvage material means material which is obtained from construction and building jobs, including blocks of lumber, splinters, planks, stakes, bits of brick, inert waste, rocks and cement blocks, which are the residue and residuals of a construction project.

Vehicle means any automobile, truck, tractor or motorcycle which as originally designed contained an engine, regardless of whether it now or at any time contained an engine.

(1) Absence of a legally sufficient and valid registration tab or plate upon such vehicle.

(2) Placement of the vehicle or parts thereof upon jacks, blocks, chairs or other supports.

(3) Absence for more than 30 days of any one or more parts of the vehicle necessary for the lawful operation of the vehicle upon the streets and highways of the city and state.

(d) Exceptions.

(1) The provisions of this section shall not apply to:

a. A vehicle in an enclosed building;

b. A vehicle on the premises of a business enterprise operated in a lawful place and manner and in compliance with the zoning regulations of the city, when such vehicle is necessary to the operation of such business enterprise; or

c. Any vehicle in an appropriate storage place on a depository maintained by the city.

(2) A vehicle necessary to the operation of such business does not include a vehicle owned by said business which is junked, wrecked, dismantled, inoperative or which does not have affixed thereto a legally sufficient current registration tab or plate, unless such vehicle is part of a junk or salvage yard which is operated in compliance with the zoning regulations of the city.

(e) Violation. Any person, owner, agent or occupant of any private property which is in violation of this section must remove the vehicle within 10 days of notice by the city. Failure to remove vehicle within 10 days will result in the vehicle being removed by law enforcement. Owner of vehicle will be responsible for towing and storage fees.