The purpose of this chapter is to protect the general health,
safety and welfare of the citizens of the Town of Eureka by prohibiting
the occurrence and maintenance of public nuisances and eliminating
junk and blight within the Town. This chapter allows for the abatement
of public nuisances and provides penalties for and remedies against
those causing or maintaining a public nuisance.
A public nuisance is a thing, act or use of property which:
A. Maintains or permits a condition which unreasonably annoys, injures,
or endangers the safety, health, morals, comfort, or repose of any
resident; or
B. Interferes with, obstructs, or renders dangerous for passage, any
public highway or right-of-way, or waters used by the public; or
C. Any other act or omission declared by law or this chapter to be a
public nuisance.
The following are hereby declared nuisances affecting health:
A. Exposed accumulation of decayed or unwholesome food or vegetable
matter, except those occurring in the normal course of agriculture
or composting;
B. All animals running at large;
C. Carcasses of animals not buried or destroyed within 72 hours after
death or composted according to accepted agriculture practices;
D. Accumulations of refuse, or other debris;
E. The discharge, disposal, accumulation, or collection of sewage or
industrial waste without proper permit or approval;
F. Garbage cans or other refuse containers which are not rodent-free
or fly-tight or which are so maintained as to constitute a health
hazard or to emit foul and disagreeable odors and which waste is not
removed at least once per week;
G. The pollution of any public well or cistern, stream or lake, canal
or other body of water by sewage, industrial waste, or any other substances;
H. All noxious weeds, as defined in Minnesota Rules 1505.0730, and other
rank growths of vegetation, upon public or private property;
I. Dense smoke, noxious fumes, gas and soot, or cinders, in unreasonable
quantities;
J. All public exposure of persons having a contagious disease;
K. Any offensive trade or business as defined by either ordinance or
state statute which is not operating under local license, or such
trade or business whose operation constitutes a clear and present
danger to the health of the public in general;
L. Depositing garbage, rubbish, litter or refuse on any public property,
including streets or road, sidewalks, and parks, except in public
receptacles and in such a manner that the garbage, rubbish or litter
will be prevented from being carried or deposited by the elements
upon any part of the park or upon any street or road or other public
place.
The following are hereby declared to be nuisances affecting
public morals and decency:
A. Any gambling device not authorized by state law and not properly
permitted by the appropriate jurisdiction, including, but not limited
to, slot machines and punch boards;
B. Betting, or bookmaking, not allowed by state law, and all apparatus
used in such operations;
C. All houses kept for the purpose of prostitution or promiscuous sexual
intercourse, gambling houses, houses of ill fame, and bawdy houses;
D. All places where intoxicating liquor or illegal drugs are manufactured,
dispensed or disposed of in violation of law or where, in violation
of law, persons are permitted for the purpose of drinking intoxicating
liquor or ingesting or otherwise using illegal drugs, or where intoxicating
liquor or illegal drugs are kept for sale of other disposition in
violation of law, and all liquor, illegal drugs, and other property
used for maintaining such places;
E. Any vehicle used for the illegal transportation of intoxicating liquor
and/or illegal drugs, or for prostitution and/or other immoral or
illegal purpose.
The following are declared to be nuisances affecting public
peace and safety:
A. Depositing, or causing to be deposited, any snow or ice on or against
any fire hydrant or on any sidewalk or roadway;
B. All trees, hedges, billboards, or other obstructions which prevent
persons from having a clear view of all traffic approaching an intersection;
C. All wires and limbs of trees which are so close to the surface of
a sidewalk or street or road as to constitute a danger to pedestrians
or vehicles;
D. Obstructions and excavations affecting the ordinary use by the public
of streets or road, alleys, sidewalks, or public grounds except under
such conditions as are permitted by Town ordinances or other applicable
law;
E. Placing or storing on any street or road, sidewalk, alley or public
right-of-way any boxes, goods, wares, merchandise, building materials,
machinery, business or trade article except for the purpose of immediately
transferring the same to some other proper place;
F. Any tree, shrub, bush, or other vegetation located on private property
which obstructs use or travel on any public right-of-way;
G. Radio aerials or television antennae erected or maintained in a dangerous
manner;
H. Any use of property abutting a public street or road or sidewalk
or any use of a public street or road or sidewalk which causes large
crowds of people to gather, obstructing traffic and the free use of
the street or road or sidewalk and which activity is conducted without
a permit, license or other permission duly granted by the Town;
I. All hanging signs, awnings, and other similar structures over streets
or roads and sidewalks, or so situated so as to endanger public safety,
or not constructed and maintained as provided by ordinance;
J. The allowing of rainwater, ice or snow to fall from any building
or structure upon any street or road or sidewalk, or to flow across
any sidewalk and allow to accumulate;
K. Any electric or barbed wire fencing strung lower than six feet in
height and within three feet of a public sidewalk or way, except when
used in conjunction with agricultural uses in an area zoned for such
use;
L. All dangerous, unguarded machinery in any public place, or so situated
or operated on private property as to attract the public;
M. Wastewater cast upon or permitted to flow upon streets or roads or
other public property;
N. Accumulations in the open of broken or unused metal, wood, lumber,
cement, electrical fixtures, plumbing fixtures, building materials
(but excluding building materials awaiting use and stored for a reasonable
period of time for an improvement presently in progress on the same
premises), discarded or unused machinery, household appliances, automobile
bodies, trash, debris, rubbish or other material, in a manner conducive
to the harboring of rats, mice, snakes, or vermin, or the rank growth
of vegetation among the items so accumulated, or items accumulated
in a manner creating fire, health, or safety hazards;
O. Any well, hole, or similar excavation which is left open or uncovered
or in such other condition as to constitute a danger to any child
or other person coming on the premises where it is located;
P. Obstruction of the free flow of water in a natural waterway, a public
street or road drain, storm sewer, gutter, or ditch with trash or
other materials;
Q. Digging excavations, placing culverts, placing dams, or doing any
act which may later affect the drainage of public property, streets
or roads, alleys or sidewalks; or affect flows of any public storm
sewer or drainage ditch system, without authorization by the Town;
R. The placing or throwing on any street or road, sidewalk, or other
public property of any glass, tacks, nails, bottles, or other substance
which may injure any person or animal or damage any pneumatic tire
when passing over such substance;
S. The depositing of garbage or refuse on a public right-of-way or on
adjacent private property;
T. Throwing, placing, or depositing dirt, rocks, sand, leaves, trash,
lawn clippings, weeds, grass, or other materials in the streets or
roads, sidewalks, ditches or other public ways and the gutters thereof;
U. Permitting dirt, rocks or mud from construction or landscaping activities
to be carried or deposited onto nearby streets or roads, storm sewers,
sidewalks, ditches or other public ways and the gutters thereof;
V. All other conditions or things which are likely to cause injury to
the person or property of anyone;
W. The keeping of any used refrigerator, ice box, or freezer in a location
or manner accessible to children which is not in service, and which
has the door latch intact;
X. The owner or keeper of any dog that allows the dog to bark, whine,
or howl for 15 minutes or longer during any half hour of time if the
noise can be heard outside the owner's property;
Y. In all districts, any lighting used to illuminate a lot or structure
(including signs) thereon shall be arranged so as to deflect light
away from adjacent lots and streets or roads. The source of light
shall be hooded or shielded so as to prevent beams or rays of light
from being directed on any portion of adjoining properties or streets
or roads.
"Hazardous Building Law," Minn. Stat. §§ 463.15
through 463.261, is adopted by reference. Any hazardous building or
dangerous excavation may be abated in accordance with the provisions
of that law.
The owner and tenant of any premises on which a violation of
this chapter occurs shall make every reasonable effort to see that
the violation ceases. Violations of this chapter shall be deemed the
act of both the person committing the act and the person in possession,
control, custody, or having charge of the premises who allows or permits
the violation to take place. Violations of this chapter shall also
be deemed the act of a nonresident landlord, provided he or she has
received written notice from the Town of the violation and has failed
to make every reasonable effort to see that the violation ceases.
The Township may recover all costs incurred in enforcing this
chapter by any or all of the following methods:
A. Personal liability. The owner of the premises on which a nuisance
has been abated by the Town shall be personally liable for the cost
to the Town of the abatement, including legal and administrative costs.
As soon as the work has been completed and the costs determined, the
Clerk or other official designated by the Town Board, shall prepare
a bill for the cost and mail it to the owner. Thereupon, the amount
shall be immediately due and payable at the Office of the Clerk.
B. Certification to property taxes. The Town Board may certify any unpaid
charges resulting from the enforcement of this chapter, including
attorneys' fees and court costs, costs of disposal and all other
costs incurred by the Township, to the property against which this
chapter was enforced pursuant to Minn. Stat. § 366.012 and
any other applicable law.
C. Any other method authorized under Minnesota law.
Any person violating any provision of this chapter shall, upon
conviction, be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be punished pursuant
to applicable state statute regarding misdemeanor penalties, as amended,
plus the costs of prosecution. Each day a nuisance continues to exist
is deemed a separate punishable offense under this chapter. The Town
may, in its discretion, seek any civil remedies available to it as
well, including but not limited to injunctive relief or abatement.
Each right or remedy accruing to the Town under this chapter or at
law is separate and distinct and may, in the Town's discretion,
be exercised independently or simultaneously with any other right
or remedy.
Every section, provision or part of this chapter is declared
separable from every other section, provision or part; and if any
section, provision or part thereof shall be held invalid by a court
of competent jurisdiction, it shall not affect any other section,
provision or part.
This chapter is effective upon its passage and publication according
to law.
Any previous ordinance adopted by the Town of Eureka that is
inconsistent with this chapter is hereby repealed to the extent of
such inconsistency.