1630 - Ordinance - Definitions of NuisancesORDINANCE NO. 1630
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF PORT ORCHARD, WASHINGTON
REPEALING ORDINANCE 1592 AND 1620 ADOPTING DEFINITIONS
OF NUISANCES AND ESTABLISHING RULES, REGULATIONS AND
PROCEDURES FOR THE ABATEMENT OF SUCH NUISANCES.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF
PORT ORCHARD, WASHINGTON, AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION I. NUISANCES
A. Definitions - The words and phrases used in this chapter, unless the
context otherwise indicates, shall have the following meanings:
1. "Abate" means to repair, remove, replace or destroy or
otherwise remedy the condition in question by such means and
in such a manner and to such an extent as the enforcement
officer in his/her judgement, determines is necessary in the
interest of the general health, safety and welfare of the
community.
2. "Enforcement Officer" means an individual or group of
individuals appointed by the City Council for the purpose of
enforcing this chapter.
3. "Premises" means any building, lot, parcel, real estate or
land or portion of land whether improved or unimproved,
including adjacent sidewalks and parking strips.
4. "Responsible person" means any agent, lessee or other person
occupying or having charge or control of any premises, except
the owner.
B. Types of Nuisances - Each of the following conditions, unless otherwise
permitted by law is declared to constitute a public nuisance and whenever the
enforcement officer determines that any of these conditions exist upon any
premises or in any lake, river, stream drainage way, or wetlands, the officer may
require or provide for the abatement thereof pursuant to this ordinance:
1. The existence or any weeds, trash, dirt, filth, the carcass of
any animal, waste shrubs, accumulation of lawn or yard
trimmings or other offensive matter;
2. The existence of any dead, diseased, infested or dying tree
that may constitute a danger to street trees, streets or
portions thereof;
3. The existence of any tree, shrub or foliage, unless by consent
of the City, which is apt to destroy, impair, interfere or
restrict:
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a. Streets, sidewalks, sewer, utilities or the public
improvements,
b. Visibility on, or free use of, or access to such
improvements;
4. The existence of any vines or climbing plants growing into or
over any street tree, or any public hydrant, pole or
el ectrol i er, or the existence of any shrub, vine or plant
growing on, around or in front of any hydrant, standpipe,
sprinkler system connection or any other appliance of facility
provided for fire protection purposes in such a way as to
obscure the view thereof or impair the access thereto;
5. The existence of any accumulation of materials or objects in
a location when the same endangers property, safety or
constitutes a fire hazard;
6. The existence of a sidewalk or a portion of a sidewalk
adjacent to any premises which is out of repair, and in a
condition to endanger persons or property, or in a condition
to interfere with the public convenience in the use of such
sidewalk;
7. The existence of caterpillar infestation;
8. The burning or disposal of refuse, sawdust or any other
material without a permit;
The existence of any obstruction to a street, alley, crossing
or sidewalk, and any excavation in or under any street, alley,
crossing or sidewalk, which is by ordinance prohibited, or
which is made without lawful permission or which, having been
made by lawful permission is kept and maintained after the
purpose thereof has been accomplished, or for an unreasonable
length of time;
10. The erecting, maintaining, using, placing, depositing, leaving
or permitting to be or remain in or upon any private lot,
building, structure or premises, or in or upon any street,
alley, sidewalk, park, parkway or other public or private
place in the City, and one or more of the following
disorderly, disease -causing places, conditions or things:
a. Any putrid, unhealthy or unwholesome bones, meat, hides,
skins, the whole or any part of any dead animal, fish or
fowl, or waste parts of fish, vegetable or animal matter
in any quantity; but nothing herein shall prevent the
temporary retention of waste in approved covered
receptacles,
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b. Any privies, vaults, cesspools, sumps, pits or like
places which are not securely protected from flies and
rats, or which are foul or malodorous,
C. Any filthy, littered or trash -covered dwellings,
cellars, house yards, barnyards, stable yards, factory
yards, vacant areas in the rear of stores, vacant lots,
houses, buildings or premises,
d. Any animal manure in any quantity which is not securely
protected from flies or weather conditions, or which is
kept or handled in violation of any ordinance of the
City,
e. Any poison oak or poison ivy, russian thistle, tansy
ragwort or other noxious weeds, whether growing or
otherwise; but nothing herein shall prevent the
temporary retention of such weeds in approved covered
receptacles,
f. Any bottles, cans, glass, ashes, small pieces of scrap
iron, wire, metal articles, bric-a-brac, broken stone or
cement, broken crockery, broken glass, broken plaster
and all such trash, or abandoned material, unless it is
kept in approved covered bins or galvanized iron
receptacles,
g. Any trash litter, rags, accumulations of empty barrels,
barrels, boxes, crates, packing cases, mattresses,
bedding, excelsior, packing hay, straw or other packing
material, lumber not neatly piled, scrap iron, tin or
other metal not neatly piled, or anything whatsoever in
which flies or rats may breed or multiply or which may
be a fire hazard;
11. The depositing or burning or causing to be deposited or burned
in any street, alley, sidewalk, park, parkway or other public
place which is open to travel, of any hay, straw, paper, wood,
boards, boxes, leaves, manure or other rubbish or material;
12. The existence of any fence or other structure or thing on
private property abutting or fronts upon any public street,
sidewalk or place which is in a sagging, leaning, fallen,
decayed or other dilapidated or unsafe condition;
13. The existence on any premises of any unused or abandoned
trailer, housetrailer, automobile, boat or other vehicle which
is not currently registered with the State of Washington and
does not have a current registration tab on the vehicle's
license plate which is attached to that vehicle, with the
following three exceptions:
.9
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a. An unregistered vehicle or trailer may be stored in a
garage if that garage is secured with a door which can
be closed,
b. One unregistered vehicle or trailer per residential lot
can be stored under a tarp if the tarp is well
maintained and secured to that vehicle;
C. Any of the above listed items which are useable but not
required to be registered by the State of Washington or
the state of residence of the legal owner(s).
14. The existence on any premises of any major parts of a trailer,
housetrailer, automobile, boat or other vehicle, to include
batteries, tires, and wheels;
15. The storage or placement of household garbage, litter,
construction debris or other trash in any trailer,
housetrailer, automobile, boat or other vehicle for more than
24 hours;
16. The existence on any premises of any abandoned or unused well,
cistern or storage tank without first demolishing or removing
from the City such storage tank or securely closing and
barring any entrance or trapdoor thereto or without filling
any well or cistern or capping the same with sufficient
security to prevent access thereto by children;
17. The existence on any premises in a place accessible to
children, of any unattended and/or discarded icebox,
refrigerator or other large appliance;
18. The existence of any drainage onto or over any sidewalk or
public pedestrian way;
19. The existence of any goods, merchandise or property of any
kind on any streets, alleys or sidewalk of the City which
unreasonably obstructs pedestrian or vehicular traffic.
Prohibited Conduct
1. It is unlawful for any responsible person or owner to permit,
maintain, suffer, carry on or allow, upon any premises or in
lake, river, stream, drainage way or wetlands, any of the acts
of things declared by this chapter to be a public nuisance;
2. It is unlawful for any person to create, maintain, carry on or
do any of the acts or things declared by this chapter to be a
public nuisance.
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Page 5 of 7
D. Disposal of diseased animal carcass - Violation, a misdemeanor. -
Every person owning or having charge of any animal that has died or been killed
on account of disease shall immediately bury the carcass thereof at least three
feet underground at a place approved by the (city or county) health officer. No
person shall sell or offer to sell or give away the carcass of any animal which
died or was killed on account of disease. Every violation of any provision of
this section is a misdemeanor.
E. Enforcement - Notice - Any enforcement officer appointed by the City
Council, having knowledge of any public nuisance, shall cause any owner or other
responsible person to be notified of the existence of a public nuisance on any
premises and shall direct the owner or other responsible person to abate the
condition within 10 days after notice. (The notice shall be substantially in the
following form):
NOTICE TO ABATE UNSAFE OR UNLAWFUL CONDITION
TO
(name and address of person notified)
As owner, agent, leasee or other person occupying or having
charge or control of the building, lot or premises at
you are hereby notified that the undersigned pursuant to Ordinance
of the City of Port Orchard has determined that there
exists upon or adjoining said premises the following condition
contrary to the provisions of subsection of City
Ordinance
You are hereby notified to abate said condition to the satisfaction
of the undersigned within ten (10) days of the date of this notice.
If you do not abate such condition within ten (10) days, the City
will abate the condition at your expense.
Abatement is to be accomplished in the following manner:
You may appeal this decision by filing a written notice of appeal
with the City Council of the City of Port Orchard within five (5)
days after the date of this notice.
DATED
F. Abatement by the City
Name of Officer
In all cases where the enforcement officer has determined to proceed
with abatement ten (10) days after notice the City shall acquire
jurisdiction to abate the condition at the person's expense as
herein provided. Upon the abatement of the condition or any portion
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Page 6 of 7
thereof by the City, all expenses thereof shall constitute civil
debt owing to the City jointly and severally by such of the persons
who have been given notice as herein provided. The debt shall be
collectable in the same manner as any other civil debt owing to the
City.
G. Abatement by owner or other responsible person.
If and when an owner or other responsible person shall undertake to
abate any condition described in this chapter, whether by order of
the enforcement officer or otherwise, all needful and legal
conditions pertinent to the abatement may be imposed by the
enforcement officer. It is unlawful for the owner or other
responsible person to fail to comply with such conditions. Nothing
in this chapter shall relieve any owner or other responsible person
of the obligation of obtaining any required permit to do any work
incidental to the abatement.
Appeal
Any person who has received a notice to abate a condition as
determined by the code enforcement officer under Section E of this
chapter may appeal said determination by filing written notice of
appeal within five (5) days after the date of said notice to abate,
with the City Council. Said notice shall set forth the grounds upon
which the appeal is based. Upon receipt of notice of appeal the
City Council shall hold a hearing not more than thirty (30) days
after said appeal was filed. It shall be the duty of the code
enforcement officer to present proof relating to the grounds for the
issuance of the notice to abate. If the City Council finds that a
nuisance exists based on the criteria of this ordinance the Council
shall order that such nuisance be abated pursuant to this ordinance
and shall set forth reasonable time limits for such abatement. If
the Council finds that a nuisance does not exist under this
ordinance, the Council shall cancel the notice to abate. Upon the
filing of a proper notice of appeal under Section G, the time limits
specified in section E & F shall be stayed during the pendency of
the appeal.
I. Immediate Danger - Summary Abatement
Whenever any condition on or use of property causes or constitutes
or reasonably appears to cause or constitute an imminent danger to
the health or safety of the public or a significant portion thereof,
the enforcement officer shall have the authority to summarily and
without notice abate the same. The expenses of such abatement shall
become a civil debt against the owner or other responsible party and
be collected as provided in Section F.
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J. Additional Remedies - In addition to any other remedy provided in
this chapter, any owner, responsible person, firm, corporation or
agent which violates, disobeys, omits, neglects or refuses to comply
with any of the provisions of this chapter shall be deemed guilty of
a civil infraction. Each five calendar day period that a violation
exists constitutes a separate offense.
K. Repeal of Ordinance No. 1592 and 1620 - The City of Port does here
by repeal Ordinance No. 1592 and 1620.
SECTION II. - SEVERABILITY CLAUSE
Should any portion of this ordinance be declared unconstitutional or
invalid by any court of competent jurisdiction, it shall be conclusively presumed
that this ordinance would have been enacted without that provision so held
unconstitutional or invalid and the remainder of this ordinance shall not be
affected as a result of said part being held unconstitutional or invalid.
PASSED by the City Council of the City of Port Orchard, APPROVED by the
Mayor and attested by the Clerk in authentication of such passage this 13th day
of March, 1995.
ATTEST:
(/ l2�/�J
Pa ricia Parks, City Clerk
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
City Attorney
IE J. WEATHERILL,
SPONSORED BY:
Councilman Van Zee
1 � RMD NOTICE OF CITY OF PORT ORCHARD
ORDINANCE
The following is a summary of an Ordinance approved by the Port Orchard City Council at their
regular Council meeting held March 13, 1995.
ORDINANCE NO. 1630
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF PORT ORCHARD, WASHINGTON REPEALING
Y� r ORDINANCE NO. 1592 AND ORDINANCE NO. 1620 ADOPTING DEFINITIONS OF
NUISANCES AND ESTABLISHING RULES, REGULATIONS AND PROCEDURES
FOR THE ABATEMENT OF SUCH NUISANCES. /7w Vj_
nl _ Copies of Ordinance No. 1630 are available for review at the office of the City Clerk of the City
of Port Orchard. Upon written request a statement of the full text of the Ordinance will be mailed
to any interested person without charge. Thirty days after publication, copies of Ordinance No.
1630 will be provided at a nominal charge.
City of Port Orchard
Michelle Hager
Deputy City Clerk
Publish: - Port Orchard Independent
March 22, 1995