As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
ABATE or ABATEMENT
The demolition, removal, repair, maintenance, construction,
reconstruction, replacement, and reconditioning of structures, appliances,
appurtenances or equipment as well as removal, transportation, purchase,
disposal and treatment of refuse or other substance or media capable
of causing a nuisance and the use of mechanical means to control,
eradicate, and eliminate the nuisance conditions.
BUILDING MATERIALS
Lumber, bricks, concrete or cinder blocks, plumbing materials,
electrical wiring or equipment, heating ducts or equipment, shingles,
mortar, concrete or cement, nails, screws, or any other materials
used in constructing any structure.
LITTER or JUNK
All rubbish, refuse, waste material, and garbage, including,
but not limited to: organic refuse; food wastes; drug paraphernalia;
ashes; dead animals; fish; animal bones; hides; rotten soap; parts
of machinery or motor vehicles; grease; tallow; offal; shell; food
containers or wrappings; cans; bottles; jars; crockery; garbage; discarded
or abandoned furniture or materials, including camping and picnic
gear and equipment; cartons; boxes; crates; rags; clothing; bedding;
floor covering; sweepings; waste paper; newspapers or magazines; discarded
appliances; excrement; construction debris and building materials;
yard debris or rubbish, including, but not limited to, grass clippings,
clippings from hedges or shrubs, or detached tree branches; industrial
waste; and unclean or noxious fluids or gases.
PUBLIC NUISANCE
Whatever annoys, injures, or endangers the safety, health,
welfare, comfort, or repose of the public; offends public decency
or aesthetic sensibilities; interferes with, obstructs, or renders
dangerous any street, highway, navigable lake, or stream; or in any
way renders the public insecure in life or property, and is hereby
declared to be a public nuisance. Public nuisances shall include,
but shall not be limited to, whatever is forbidden by any provision
of this chapter.
Public nuisances are prohibited in the Township. No person shall
commit, create, or maintain any public nuisance. The following acts,
apparatus, accumulations, violations, and activities within the Township
are hereby prohibited as public nuisances per se, unless otherwise
permitted by the Township Zoning Ordinance:
A. No person shall maintain or permit to remain on premises owned or
occupied by him or her; or throw, place, or leave; or permit the throwing,
placing, or leaving on the premises of another any of the following
substances: junk, garbage, discarded furniture, appliances and household
goods, building materials, construction debris, tires, or mobile home
components in any of the following locations:
(1) Any public street, highway, lane, road, alley, public place, square,
sidewalk, or any lands within the boundaries of the Township owned
by the Township or other municipal corporation.
(2) Any river, lake, stream, or other body of water.
(3) Any private place or premises where, in the opinion of the Township
Ordinance Enforcement Officer or his/her agent, the specified substances
constitute a dangerous condition or are detrimental to the public
health, safety, or welfare or offend aesthetic sensibilities or may
cause sickness or attract flies, insects, rodents, or vermin.
B. Leaving, keeping, storing or maintaining a junk motor vehicle on
any premises, unless such vehicle is completely enclosed within a
lawful building.
(1) For purposes of this chapter, a junk motor vehicle is any vehicle
that is self-propelled or intended to be self-propelled, or any portion
of such a vehicle, that:
(a)
Is subject to registration under the Michigan Vehicle Code,
MCLA § 257.1 et seq., and has not been registered or does
not display an unexpired and valid license plate for the vehicle;
or
(b)
Has remained on a premises for a period of 30 days or more,
and does not have an engine in running condition, four inflated tires
and a battery, or is incapable of safe operation on the streets and
highways as required by the Michigan Vehicle Code; or
(c)
For any reason, including dismantling, disrepair or otherwise,
is not operable, not repairable, cannot be started, or is unable to
be propelled under its own power.
(2) Junk motor vehicles, for purposes of this chapter, shall not include
vehicles lawfully kept as stock in trade by a state-licensed dealer
in motor vehicles.
C. Leaving, keeping, storing or maintaining an abandoned vehicle on
any private or public property within the Township.
(1) For purposes of this chapter, an abandoned vehicle is either:
(a)
A vehicle that has remained on private property without the
consent of the owner; or
(b)
A vehicle that has remained on public property for a period
of not less than 72 hours.
(2) In addition to the procedures allowed by this chapter for the abatement
and removal of public nuisances, an abandoned vehicle may be disposed
of as provided for in the Michigan Vehicle Code, MCLA § 257.252a
et seq.
D. Any structure or part thereof which because of fire, wind or other
natural disaster, or merely by virtue of physical deterioration, is
no longer habitable as a dwelling or useful for any other purposes
for which it may originally have been intended, within one year.
E. The making, continuing, or causing to be made, or knowingly assisting,
allowing, or encouraging any other person or persons to make, continue
or cause any loud noise which either disturbs, injures, or endangers
the comfort, repose, health, peace, or safety of others, within the
limits of the Township. Such noises deemed to be loud, disturbing
noises in violation of this chapter include, but are not limited to:
(1) The sounding of any horn or signaling device on any automobile, motorcycle,
or other vehicle on any street or public place of the Township except
as a danger warning; the creation by means of any such signaling device
of any unreasonable loud or harsh sound; and the sounding of any such
device for an unnecessary and unreasonable period of time.
(2) The discharge into the open air of the exhaust of any stationary
internal combustion engine, motor boat, or motor vehicle except through
a muffler or other device which will effectively prevent loud or explosive
noises therefrom.
(3) The use of any automobile, motorcycle, or vehicle so out of repair,
so loaded, or in such a manner as to create loud and unnecessary grating,
grinding, rattling, or other noise.
(4) Intentionally or by the immoderate operation of a motor vehicle to
cause tires to screak or screech.
(5) The using, operating, or permitting to be played of any radio receiving
set, musical instrument, phonograph, loudspeaker, or any other mechanical
or electrical device capable of producing or reproducing 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 or
vehicle 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 between the hours of 11:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. in
such a manner as to be plainly audible at a distance of 50 feet from
the building, structure, or vehicle in which it is located shall be
prima facie evidence of a violation of this section.
(6) The creation of any excessive noise on any street adjacent to any
school, institution of learning, or church, which unreasonably interferes
with the functions of such institution, or which disturbs or unduly
annoys, provided conspicuous signs are displayed in such streets indicating
that the same is a school.
(7) Barking dogs disturbing the quiet, comfort or repose of other persons.
F. None of the prohibitions enumerated above shall apply to the following:
(1) Any police vehicle, ambulance, fire engine or emergency vehicle while
engaged in necessary emergency activities.
(2) Warning devices emitting sound for warning purposes as authorized
by law.
(3) The storage of machines and agricultural equipment and the noises
of animals and machines as a result of farming operations, including
those operations protected by the Michigan Right to Farm Act (RTFA)
and conforming to generally accepted agricultural management practices
(GAAMPs) developed by the Michigan Department of Agriculture.
All expenses incurred by the Township, the Township Ordinance
Enforcement Officer or his/her agent in repairing, tearing down, abating,
or otherwise removing a public nuisance under this chapter shall be
charged to the person responsible therefor, the occupant of the land
in question, or the person who appears as owner or party in interest
upon the last local tax assessment records of the Township. If such
person fails to pay the expenses incurred by the Township in abating
a nuisance within 30 days after a statement for said charges is mailed
to him or her, the amount thereof shall be assessed against the lands
on which the expenditures were made on the next general tax assessment
roll of the Township and shall be collected in the same manner as
other taxes are collected. The Township shall have a lien upon such
lands for such expense, such lien to be enforced in the manner prescribed
by the general laws of the state providing for the enforcement of
tax liens.
The Township Ordinance Enforcement Officer may act to abate a public nuisance without giving notice as specified in §
214-3, if the public health, safety, or welfare requires immediate action to prevent an imminent threat to the public health, safety or welfare. The cost of abating such nuisance shall be charged as specified in §
214-4.