[R.O. 2004 § 215.010]
No person shall permit, cause, keep, maintain or do any nuisance
or contribute to any nuisance as defined by the laws of this State,
the provisions of this Code or the ordinances of the City or cause
or permit to be committed, caused, kept, maintained or done or contribute
to the committing, causing, keeping or maintaining of any such nuisance
within the corporate limits of the City or within one-half (1/2) mile
of the corporate limits of the City.
[R.O. 2004 § 215.020]
In all cases where no provisions are made in this Article defining
what are nuisances and how the nuisances may be removed, abated or
prevented, in addition to what may be declared such in this Article,
those offenses which are known to the common law of the land and the
Statutes of the State as nuisances may, in case such offenses exist
within the City limits, be treated as such, and proceeded against
as provided in this Code, or in accordance with any other provisions
of law.
[R.O. 2004 § 215.030]
A.
For the purposes of this Article, the word "nuisance" is defined
as any person doing an unlawful act, or omitting to perform a duty,
or suffering or permitting any condition or thing to be or exist,
which act, omission, condition or thing either:
1.
Injures or endangers the comfort, repose, health or safety of
others;
2.
Unlawfully interferes with, obstructs or tends to obstruct or
renders dangerous for passage any public or private street, highway,
sidewalk, stream, ditch or drainage;
3.
Is an offensive annoyance which is discomforting or detrimental
to the health or public welfare of individuals or the public;
4.
Essentially interferes with the comfortable enjoyment of life
and property, or tends to depreciate the value of the property of
others.
[R.O. 2004 § 215.040]
A.
The maintaining, using, placing, depositing, leaving or permitting
to be or remain on, or discharged from, any public or private property
of any of the following items, conditions or actions is hereby declared
to be and constitute a nuisance; provided, however, this enumeration
shall not be deemed or construed to be exclusive, limiting or restrictive:
1.
Substances Emitting Foul Odors. All substances which emit or
cause any foul, noxious, unhealthful or disagreeable odor or effluvia.
2.
Foul Liquids Generally. All slop, foul or dirty water, and all
filth, refuse or offal discharged through drains or spouts or otherwise
thrown, swept or deposited in or upon any street, avenue, sidewalk,
alley, lot, park, or public or private enclosure.
3.
Refuse, Garbage And Ashes Generally. All ashes, cinders, slops,
filth, excrement, sawdust, stones, rocks, dirt, straw, soot, sticks,
shavings, cans, dust, paper, trash, rubbish, manure, refuse and offal,
wastewater, fish, putrid meat, entrails, decayed fruit and vegetables,
broken ware, rags, old iron or other metal, or old wearing apparel,
all animal or vegetable matter, or any other offensive or disagreeable
substance or thing thrown, left or deposited or caused to be thrown,
left or deposited by anyone in or upon any street, avenue, alley,
sidewalk, park, public or private enclosure, or lot, vacant or occupied,
or pond or pool of water.
4.
Burning materials creating noxious odor. The burning within
the City limits of any animal, vegetable or other substance, the burning
of which creates or generates any disagreeable, noxious or unwholesome
smell or odor.
5.
Unwholesome Or Offensive Standing Water. Any lot or piece of
ground within the limits of the City on which there is a pond or pool
of unwholesome, stagnant, impure or offensive water.
6.
Airborne Matter. Sieving, agitating, handling or exposing lime,
ashes, coal, dry sand, hair, feathers, dust or other substances liable
to be blown by the wind to the injury, annoyance or inconvenience
of the public or of any neighborhood.
7.
Dumping Of Rubbish, Garbage Or Trash. Placing, leaving, dumping
or permitting to accumulate any rubbish, garbage or trash in any building
or on any premises, improved or vacant, or on any open lot, alley
or public right-of-way in the City.
8.
Unwholesome Food. All decayed or unwholesome food offered for
sale to the public, or offered to the public at no charge.
9.
Carcasses Of Dead Animals. Carcasses of dead animals not buried
or destroyed within twenty-four (24) hours after death.
10.
Accumulations Of Trash. Accumulations, wheresoever they may
occur, of manure, rubbish, trash and human and industrial, noxious
or offensive waste, except the normal storage on a farm of manure
for agricultural purposes.
11.
Pollution Of Water. The pollution of any well, cistern, spring,
underground water, stream, lake, canal or body of water by sewage
or industrial wastes, or other substances harmful to human beings.
12.
Leaking Garbage Trucks. Any vehicle used for garbage or rubbish
disposal which is not equipped with a watertight metal body and provided
with a tight metal cover or covers and so constructed as to prevent
any of the contents from leaking, spilling, falling or blowing out
of such vehicle at any time, except while being loaded or not completely
secured and covered so as to prevent offensive odors from escaping
therefrom or exposing any part of the contents at any time.
13.
Infestations. Any and all infestations of flies, fleas, roaches,
lice, ticks, rats, mice, fly maggots, mosquito larvae and hookworm
larvae.
14.
Improper Discharge Into Stormwater Systems. Discharging or causing
to be discharged into a stormwater system any waste materials, liquids,
vapor, fat, gasoline, benzene, naptha, oil or petroleum product, mud,
straw, lawn clippings, tree limbs or branches, metal or plastic objects,
rags, garbage or any other substance which is capable of causing an
obstruction to the flow of the storm system or interfere with the
property operation of the system or which will pollute the natural
creeks or waterways.
15.
Signs Or Other Devices Hanging Over Street Or Sidewalk. All
hanging signs, ropes, networks or other devices stretched over or
across any street, avenue, alley or sidewalk, unless such devices
are permitted by ordinance or any trees, vines and bushes extending
into or over any street, alley, avenue or sidewalk, unless such devices
are permitted by ordinance.
16.
Obstructing Watercourse. The placing or maintaining of any obstruction
of any kind in any natural or living watercourse of the City so as
to impede the natural flow of water therein.
17.
Open Storage Of Furniture Or Appliances. All furniture, bedding,
refrigerators, freezers, heating stoves, kitchen ranges, laundry and
dish-washing equipment, air-conditioning units, plumbing fixtures
such as sinks, tubs or toilets, or any other such appliances, articles
or equipment designed for use inside a dwelling unit if stored, placed
or set upon the ground, on any open porch, in any attached carport,
in any freestanding carport, or in any garage or shed that is without
doors to conceal such articles.
18.
Unsanitary Buildings. Any building or part thereof which, by
reason of its unsanitary condition or of its being infected with disease,
is unfit for human habitation, or which from any other cause is a
source of sickness among the inhabitants of the City, or which otherwise
endangers the public health.
19.
Buildings With Harmful Activities. The erection, continuance
or use of any building, room or other place in the City for the exercise
of any trade, employment or manufacture, which by occasioning noxious
exhalations, offensive odors, discomforting, offensive or detrimental
to the health of individuals or of the public.
20.
Abandoned Shafts Or Excavations. Any open abandoned shaft or
excavation.
21.
Noxious Weeds. Any growth or accumulation of poisonous or harmful
vegetation, including, but not limited to, poison ivy, ragweed or
other poisonous or harmful weeds that extends upon, overhangs or borders
any public place or adjoining property, or any growth of such vegetation
that allows seed, pollen or other poisonous particles or emanations
therefrom to be carried through the air into any public place or adjoining
property.
[R.O. 2004 § 215.060; Ord. No.
180 § 1, 9-26-2011]
It shall be the duty of the owner or occupant of the premises
or his/her agent, or the person causing or maintaining any nuisance
thereon, to abate the same after a written order of the Chief of Police
in accordance with the terms prescribed in such order.
[R.O. 2004 § 215.070; Ord. No.
180 § 1, 9-26-2011]
Any person who shall be notified to abate a nuisance as provided in Section 215.050, and who shall fail, neglect or refuse to obey and comply with the provisions of such notice within the time therein specified, shall be deemed guilty of an ordinance violation.
[Ord. No. 180 § 1, 9-26-2011]
If the Mayor or his/her designee shall first find and declare
that the abatement of any nuisance which exists in or upon any house,
building, lot or premises within the City, or within one half (1/2)
mile of the corporate limits of the City, is required for the immediate
protection and preservation of the public health, safety and welfare,
and that an emergency exists for the abatement of such nuisance, the
City may abate such nuisance without notice, and may use any suitable
means or assistance for that purpose, whether employees of the City
or day laborers especially employed for that purpose, or any other
help or assistance necessary therefor. The City Clerk shall certify
the cost of abating such nuisance to the Board, and the Board may,
by ordinance, levy the cost thereto as a special tax bill against
the property on which such nuisance was located, if within the City
limits, which tax shall be collected like other special tax bills
and shall be a first lien on the property until paid.
[R.O. 2004 § 215.090; Ord. No.
180 § 1, 9-26-2011]
A.
In addition to prosecution of violations of Section 215.060 for failure to comply with a notice to abate a nuisance, and in addition to the abatement procedures provided for the specific nuisances identified in Articles II and III of this Chapter, the City may initiate abatement proceedings when the abatement of a nuisance is not immediately necessary for the protection of the health of the inhabitants of the City, by holding a public hearing to determine the same to be a nuisance and ordering its abatement. Not less than seven (7) days' notice of such hearing shall be given to the owner or occupant of the premises upon which such alleged nuisance exists, or to his/her agent, or to the person causing or maintaining such alleged nuisance, which notice shall state the time and place of such hearing.
B.
In the event that the owner or occupant of the premises where such
alleged nuisance exists cannot be located, notice of the nuisance
violation may be effectuated by publication in the local newspaper
giving not less than seven (7) days' notice of the public hearing
on the nuisance violation, and notice shall also be affixed to the
property where such alleged nuisance exists not less than seven (7)
days before such hearing. All interested parties may appear at such
hearing either in person or by attorney and present evidence concerning
the matters at issue.
C.
If, upon such hearing, the City finds that a nuisance exists, the
City shall order the owner, occupant or agent of such property, or
the person causing or maintaining such nuisance to abate the same
within a specific time which shall not be less than seven (7) days
of receiving notice that the nuisance has been ordered removed or
abated. Any person aggrieved by the decision of the City must file
a notice of appeal with the City within seven (7) days of the order
to abate.
D.
If the owner, occupant or agent of such property, or the person causing
or maintaining such nuisance, fails to pursue the removal or abatement
of the nuisance without unnecessary delay in the time specified in
the order, the Mayor or his/her designee shall cause the condition
which constitutes the nuisance to be removed or abated. In such event,
the cost of such removal or abatement shall be certified to the City
Clerk who shall cause the certified cost to be included in a special
tax bill. The costs and expenses incurred by the City for abating
a nuisance shall be a personal debt of the property owner and a first
lien on the real estate until paid. A tax bill shall be assessed against
the real estate.
[R.O. 2004 § 215.080; Ord. No.
180 § 1, 9-26-2011]
Members of the police force and such other officers of the City
designated by the Mayor are hereby authorized and required to go,
in the daytime, in and upon any house, building, lot or premises,
public or private, for the purpose of inspecting and examining the
sanitary condition thereof and for the discovery and abatement of
nuisances therein, subject to applicable constitutional limitations.
Any person or contractor employed or contracted with for the abatement
of a nuisance and any agent or employee of such contractor shall have
such right of entry for that purpose into and upon any premises, and
it shall be unlawful to interfere with any Police Officer or any officer,
agent or employee of the City, or with any representative of the Chief
of Police, for the purpose of sanitary inspection or the discovery
or abatement of any nuisance.
[R.O. 2004 § 215.100]
If any nuisance abated by the Chief of Police as provided in
this Article extended, before the abatement, over the property of
more than one (1) owner, the cost of abating same shall be assessed
in proportion to the amount of work and expense for each proportionate
part of the entire work, and the area and the special tax bills provided
for in this Article shall be levied and collected accordingly.
[R.O. 2004 § 215.110]
The owner of any premises, or his/her agent in charge thereof,
as well as the tenant or occupants of such premises, are hereby charged
with the duty of observing all the requirements and provisions of
this Article with reference to nuisances, and any or all of such persons,
together with the person causing or contributing to cause or bring
about any nuisance, may be charged with the violation thereof and
shall be equally liable.
[R.O. 2004 § 215.120]
Nothing in this Chapter shall be construed as abandoning or
limiting the City's right to bring suit for all expenses pending
the abatement of a nuisance when performed by the City, in any court
of competent jurisdiction in the name of the City against the person
maintaining, keeping, creating or refusing to abate the nuisance or
abatement.
[Ord. No. 174 § 1, 6-23-2011]
A.
Emergency Abatement. Pursuant to the authority of Sections 79.370
and 67.398, RSMo., and in light of the declared emergency in the City
of Duquesne as a result of the May 22, 2011, tornado, the City hereby
enacts an administrative abatement process due to the amount of debris
and waste throughout the City of Duquesne that constitutes a danger
to the public health, safety and welfare of the citizens of Duquesne.
The notice and hearing procedures in this Section shall supersede
the notice and hearing procedures as outlined elsewhere in this Code
until the Mayor of the City of Duquesne declares the nuisances resulting
from the May 22, 2011, tornado removed or abated. All other ordinances
relating to nuisance abatement shall apply, to the extent they are
not in conflict with the procedures outlined below.
B.
Notice Procedure. Notice of the nuisance violation shall be effectuated
by publication in the local newspaper giving not less than seven (7)
days' notice of a public hearing on the nuisance violation. Said
notice will identify the physical address of the property on which
the nuisance violation exists.
C.
Hearing. A hearing shall be held on the nuisance violation by the
Board of Aldermen of the City of Duquesne, Missouri. If, after a hearing,
the Board of Aldermen determines that a nuisance exists, the Board
of Aldermen shall order the nuisance removed or abated within seven
(7) days of receiving notice that the nuisance has been ordered removed
or abated. Any person aggrieved by the decision of the Board of Aldermen
must file a notice of appeal with the City within seven (7) days of
the Board's order.
D.
Abatement By The City. If the owner fails to pursue the removal or abatement of the nuisance without unnecessary delay in the time specified in the order, the Mayor or his/her designee shall cause the condition which constitutes the nuisance to be removed or abated. Notice by publication as described in Subsection (B) of this Section 215.125 shall be deemed sufficient notice of the order of removal or abatement due to the impracticality of providing actual service due to the tornado disaster.
E.
Costs. The costs and expenses incurred by the City for abating a
nuisance shall be a personal debt of the property owner and a first
lien on the real estate until paid. A tax bill shall be assessed against
the real estate.
