[Effective 10-7-2015]
Under the authority of MGL c. 111, §§ 31 and
31B, 122 through 127A, and 143, and pursuant to 310 CMR 7.00, Air
Pollution Control, the Board of Health may investigate, at its discretion,
specific conditions or nuisances that may be injurious to the public
health and may order the abatement of any threat to the public health
or nuisance found to exist in the Town of Sharon.
As used in this article, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
To repair, replace, remove, destroy, or otherwise remedy
a condition.
Animal and food waste.
An act or failure to perform a legal duty which causes or
permits a condition to exist which injures or endangers the public
health, safety, or welfare of the inhabitants of the Town of Sharon.
Any tenant, with or without a legally binding lease, who
resides in a dwelling or has possession of a space or operates a business
out of a space in the Town of Sharon.
Any person or group of persons, whether individuals, a business
entity, or organization, whether incorporated or not, who owns, possesses,
manages, or controls any property and shall be sufficiently identified
by the name and/or address appearing in the records of the Town Assessor.
Any land, building, structure or real property, including
any fixtures attached thereto, or any personal property located within
the Town.
Combustible and noncombustible waste materials, except garbage
and approved compost containers, and includes but is not limited to
such material as paper, rags, cartons, boxes, wood, excelsior, rubber,
leather, tree branches, yard trimmings, grass clippings, tin cans,
metals, glass, crockery, plastics, mineral matter, dust and the residue
from the burning of wood, coal, coke or other combustibles.
Any invertebrate or vertebrate animals which may act as carriers
or agents of infection and disease transmission.
A.
The owner
or occupant of any parcel of land, vacant or otherwise, shall be responsible
for maintaining such parcel of land in clean and sanitary conditions
and free from garbage, rubbish, or other refuse. The owner or occupant
of such parcel of land shall correct any condition caused by or on
such parcel or its appurtenance which affects the health or safety
and well-being of the occupants of any dwelling or of the public.
B.
Any person
or persons owning, occupying, or having control of any property shall
keep the same in a clean and sanitary condition and free of garbage,
rubbish, or other filth or causes of sickness. Any such person having
control of any property, in or upon which there is any substance or
material, or any condition which is or may become a source of danger
to the public health or a nuisance, shall, when ordered by the Board
of Health as set out below, remove or abate the same within the time
specified in said order.
Any person or persons owning, occupying, or having control of
any premises abutting and/or adjoining a private way, and having the
right to use such private way, shall, when ordered by the Board of
Health in writing, remove or abate from that part of said private
way adjoining such premises any substance, material or condition which
is or may become a menace to the public health or a nuisance, and
such removal or abatement shall take place within the time specified
in said order. The owner or occupant of any dwelling abutting a private
passageway, private road, drive, or right-of-way owned or used in
common with other dwellings or which the owner or occupants under
his/her control have the right to use or are in fact using shall be
responsible for maintaining in a clean and sanitary condition free
of garbage, rubbish, other filth or causes of sickness that part of
the passageway or right-of-way which abuts his/her property and which
he/she or the occupants under his/her control have the right to use,
or are in fact using, or which he/she owns.
A.
No person
shall place, throw, or deposit any trash, bottles, cans, refuse, scraps,
furniture or appliances or other waste material of any kind on or
in any public way or place within the Town or within 20 yards thereof.
B.
No owner,
occupant, or agent of any parcel of land or property shall permit
any sewage, garbage, contents or drainage of a privy vault, cesspool
or water closet, sink drain, any other filth or graywater to empty
on the surface of the ground or enter into any ditch, brook, stream,
or body of water.
C.
No person
or persons shall place or cause to be placed or left in or upon any
public or private street or way, enclosure or grounds, or in any body
or stream of water within the limits of this Town, the body of any
dead animal, fowl, or any other substance or material that is or may
become offensive or cause a nuisance, or may tend to obstruct the
flow of any stream or body of water.
D.
There
shall be no discharge of any liquids onto any public ways or streets.
E.
No person
shall allow the accumulation of material on a property, including,
but not limited to, animal feces, offal, brine, bones, decayed fruit
and vegetables or other rubbish that is liable to produce offensive
odors or attract vermin, excluding properly contained compost piles.
F.
Yard
waste or landscaping waste must be disposed of only at a licensed
facility, such as a composting site, or in a compost bin or device
constructed for the decomposition of such matter.
G.
No person
shall maintain or allow to be maintained upon his/her premises or
property, or upon property or premises under his/her control, any
excessive amount of litter, paper, cans, bottles, discarded materials
or other waste and refuse. An excessive amount of said materials shall
be considered in existence when the same is carried by wind or otherwise
migrates from its source to the land or property of another or to
a public way or a way upon which the public has a right of access
or lies dormant on the property more than 24 hours without being stored
in a proper receptacle.
H.
No person
shall allow the accumulation of rubbish, disused furniture, mattresses,
appliances, machinery on a lot, yard, or other property which may
become a harborage to mice, rats, snakes, vermin or which may become
conductive to fire. Rubbish, disused furniture, mattresses, appliance
machinery or similar property should be disposed of in accordance
with local requirements.
J.
All tires,
new or used, on residential or commercial property, must be stored
so that they are completely covered and cannot collect water that
would become a mosquito breeding site.
K.
Medical
waste, including needles, bandages, and other materials, must be disposed
of in an appropriate sharps container or biohazard container and delivered
to an approved vendor licensed under 105 CMR 480, State Sanitary Code,
Chapter VIII, Minimum Requirements for the Management of Medical or
Biological Waste.
L.
Hazardous
materials including household hazardous waste must be disposed of
through Sharon household hazardous waste collections, or through an
approved hazardous materials vendor. Hazardous materials should not
be disposed of in household or industrial trash.
No person shall keep or maintain dogs, cats, fowl, hogs, goats,
cows, chickens, horses, or other animals in a manner that creates
a nuisance. However, the odor from normal maintenance of livestock
or the spreading of manure upon agricultural, horticultural or farming
lands, or noise from livestock or farm equipment used in normal, generally
acceptable farming procedures or from plowing or cultivation operations
upon agricultural, horticultural or farming lands shall not be deemed
to constitute a nuisance.
MGL c. 111, § 31C, Atmospheric pollution, and 310
CMR 7.00, Air Pollution Control, Section 7.10, Noise, Section 7.52,
Enforcement Provisions, as most recently amended, are hereby adopted
as local regulations for the Town of Sharon.
The Board of Health may require property owners or occupants
to take measures to control mosquitoes or other insects in the Town
of Sharon, where they are a public nuisance, or where mosquito-borne
or insect-borne disease, such as Eastern Equine Encephalitis or West
Nile Encephalitis, pose a threat to the public health. The Board may
also advise the East Norfolk Mosquito Control Commission to act on
its behalf to carry out measures to control mosquito populations in
the Town of Sharon under MGL c. 252, § 5B.
A.
Garbage
or mixed garbage and rubbish shall be stored in watertight receptacles
with tight-fitting covers. Said receptacles and covers shall be of
metal or other durable, rodent-proof material. Rubbish shall be stored
in receptacles of metal or other durable, rodent-proof material. Garbage
and rubbish shall be put out for collection no earlier than the day
before collection.
B.
No individual
or group of persons, whether individuals, business entities, or organization,
whether incorporated or not, that charges a fee shall collect rubbish
from any dwelling or business establishment in the Town of Sharon
without obtaining a permit. All trucks or vehicles for transporting
rubbish or trash shall be constructed and maintained as to prevent
the escape of all matter while being conveyed to the disposal area.
Nothing in this section shall be so construed as to prevent a householder
from disposing of such material from his or her own household without
a permit, provided he or she shall remove, transport or dispose of
such material in a manner satisfactory to the Board of Health and
in compliance with all applicable state and federal regulations pertaining
to the waste involved.
A.
The
Board of Health, its agents, officers and employees shall have the
authority to enter upon privately owned land for the purpose of performing
their duties for the administration and review of this regulation
and may make or cause to be made such examinations, survey or samples
as the Board of Health deems necessary.
B.
The
Board or its agents shall have the authority to enforce these regulations
by violation notices, administrative orders, and civil and criminal
court actions.
A.
It shall
be unlawful for the owner or occupant of any property to violate any
one or number of the standards contained in this regulation. The Board
of Health shall give an order to the owner or occupant of any private
premises, as provided under MGL c. 111, § 123, at his or
her own expense, to remove any nuisance, source of filth or cause
of sickness found thereon within 24 hours, or within such other time
as it considers reasonable after notice.
B.
In accordance
with MGL c. 111, § 124, such order shall be in writing,
and may be served personally on the owner, occupant or his/her authorized
agent by any person authorized to serve civil process; or a copy of
the order may be left at the last and usual place of abode of the
owner, occupant or agent, if he is known and within or without the
commonwealth; or a copy of the order may be sent to the owner, occupant
or agent by registered mail, return receipt requested, if he is known
and within the commonwealth. If the order is directed against the
owner and if the residence and whereabouts of the owner or his/her
agent are unknown or without the commonwealth, the Board may direct
the order to be served by posting a copy thereof in a conspicuous
place on the premises and by advertising it for at least three out
of five consecutive days in one or more newspapers of general circulation
within the municipality wherein the building affected is situated.
A.
If the
owner or occupant fails to remove such nuisance with the time frame
provided for in the order to correct, the Board may cause the nuisance,
source of filth or cause of sickness to be removed, and all expenses
incurred thereby shall constitute a debt due to the Town. The sum
so expended may be recovered by the Town of Sharon as provided in
MGL c. 111, § 125 or in an action of contract by the Town
against the owner.
B.
Enforcement
may also be sought by civil process, criminal process or by noncriminal
disposition as provided in MGL c. 40, § 21D, MGL c. 111,
§ 187, and MGL c. 139, Common Nuisances.
C.
Continued
violation of any provision of these regulations may be penalized by
indictment or on complaint brought in the District Court. Each day
or portion thereof during which a violation of any provision of this
regulation occurs or continues shall constitute a separate offense.
If more than one, each condition violated shall constitute a separate
offense.
Each provision of this regulation shall be construed as separate
to the end that if any provision, sentence, clause, or phrase thereof
shall be held invalid for any reason, the remainder of that section
and all other sections shall continue in full force and effect.
