[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Council of
the Town of Coventry 11-12-1991 by Ord. No. 9-91-0181 as Ch. 11, §§ 11-1,
11-2, 11-5, 11-6, 11-8 and 11-10, of the 1991 Code. Amendments noted
where applicable.]
Every person who shall revel, commit any nuisance
or mischief, quarrel or otherwise behave in an indecent or disorderly
manner in any of the public buildings or places to which the public
is admitted, halls, railroad stations, places of amusement, churches,
schools, streets, highways, public bridges, public lands, burial grounds,
public parks, or grounds set apart for public purpose, to the disturbance
or annoyance of the peaceable inhabitants of the Town or any portion
of them, or who shall aid, assist, encourage or promote such actions
to be done by any other person, shall be guilty of an offense.
It shall be unlawful for any person to be intoxicated
to such an extent as to amount to a violation of decency in any highway,
street, square or other public place in this Town.
It shall be unlawful for any person to willfully,
maliciously or mischievously injure or destroy the property of another,
obstruct the use of the property of another, or obstruct another in
the lawful prosecution of his business or pursuits in any manner.
A.
It shall be unlawful for any person to discard or
leave unattended or abandoned in any place any icebox, refrigerator
or other like container, without first removing therefrom the doors
and locks.
B.
It shall be unlawful for any person to discard or
leave lying about any container which is equipped with an airtight
snap lock which cannot be released from the inside, unless such locks
are first removed from the container.
In order to preserve the public health, entombment
and burial of the dead are hereby forbidden in any of the compact
or thickly populated parts of the Town, except in such places as may
be designated by the Town Council. The erection of any tomb, and the
use and maintenance of any land for the purpose of a cemetery in the
compact parts of the Town, without the consent of the Town Council,
is hereby forbidden.
[Added 9-9-2013 by Ord. No. 09-13-293]
A.
Purpose. It shall be the duty of any person owning or leasing property
in all zoning districts to maintain such premises in reasonably clean
and orderly manner and to a standard conforming to other orderly premises
in the neighborhood.
B.
Grass and weeds. Grass and weeds, excepting ornamental grasses, hedges,
bushes, shrubs, or similar plantings shall be maintained at a height
of 12 inches or less in all zoning districts.
C.
Open space and recreation properties exempt. All properties in Town
that are held in public trust for open space or active and/or passive
recreation purposes, either owned or held pursuant to a conservation
easement by the Town, the State of Rhode Island, the Audubon Society,
the Nature Conservancy, or other private entity whose function is
the preservation of natural resources are exempt from the provisions
of this section. All wetlands (as defined by the following governmental
departments or agencies) on properties or portions thereof within
the Town which are subject to the laws, rules and regulations of the
Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management, the United States
Department of the Interior and/or the United States Department of
Agriculture and all subordinate agencies of said institutions are
exempt from the provisions of this section.
D.
Private properties exempt. All properties in all zoning districts
are exempt for that portion of the property to include drainage swales,
rain gardens and similar low-impact design techniques, wherever located.
E.
Agricultural operations exempt. All agricultural operations as defined
in R.I.G.L. § 2-23-1 et seq.,"The Rhode Island Right to
Farm Act," so-called, are exempt from the provisions of this section.
F.
Violation and penalty. Failure to adhere to the provisions of this section shall constitute a violation thereof and shall be punishable pursuant to the provisions of Article I, § 1-2, of the Code of Ordinances of the Town of Coventry, State of Rhode Island, as amended.
G.
Corrective action. Whenever the owner, agent or tenant shall fail
or refuse to maintain the property in the conditions heretofore set
forth in this section, the Building Official or his designee shall
provide written notice to said owner, his agent or tenant of said
violation and order said owner, agent or tenant to correct said action
within 10 calendar days of said notice. Said notice shall be served
upon the owner, agent or tenant personally or by leaving a copy of
the order or notice at the owner, agent or tenant's last and
usual place of abode or by certified mail, return receipt requested
to the last known residence or office of the owner, agent or tenant.
In the event that said owner, agent or tenant shall fail to correct
said violation within 10 days of said written notice, the Building
Official or his designee shall cause the violation to be corrected
and place a lien against the real property for the reasonable costs
incurred thereby unless the Town's action be otherwise paid by
the property owner. Services performed with respect to said corrective
work shall be performed by the Town's Department of Public Works.
Upon payment of said costs, the Building Official or his designee
shall cause the lien to be discharged in the land evidence records.
H.
In the event that the owner, agent or tenant shall be financially
unable to take corrective action to the satisfaction of the Building
Official and shall be unable to obtain financial assistance from any
governmental agency or charitable organization, said official or his
designee shall cause said corrective action to be performed by a landscaper
or duly qualified individual(s), firm or organization, and the official
shall place a lien against the real property for the reasonable costs
incurred thereby. Said lien for the cost of said corrective work shall
bear interest at zero (0%) and shall become due and payable upon the
death of the owner(s) or upon transfer of the real property which
event shall first occur.
I.
Extension of time for compliance. Upon cause shown to the Building
Official, the owner, agent or tenant may be granted additional time
within which to comply with the terms of this section.
J.
Appeal. Any person(s), firm or corporation aggrieved by a decision
of the Building Official may appeal the matter to the Zoning Board
of Review pursuant to the provisions of Article 4 of the Zoning Ordinance
of the Town of Coventry, Rhode Island.
