The following words, terms and phrases, when used in this article, shall have the meanings ascribed to them in this section, except where the context clearly indicates a different meaning:
Nuisance
means, generally, whatever is injurious to health, or indecent, or offensive to the senses; any obstruction to the free use of property so as to interfere with the comfortable enjoyment of the same; or any obstruction that may endanger life. Further, a nuisance is hereby declared to include the following:
(1) 
All dead, decaying or putrid flesh, fish, fowl or vegetables left or strewn in any highway, public road or in any street or alley or in or upon any enclosure within the city.
(2) 
All deposits of manure or other unwholesome substance or flesh of any kind or description, and all offensive and filthy water or slops thrown or conducted into or upon any street or alley, drain, gutter or public ground, or into or upon any enclosure, either public or private, so as to become offensive or unwholesome.
(3) 
All markets, cellars, stores or other buildings that are not kept clean and free from unwholesome substances or offensive smells.
(4) 
Any box, barrel, or other receptacle containing water or slops, which has become offensive or stagnant.
(5) 
The intentional throwing or depositing of any unwholesome or filthy substance into any public or private well or cistern.
(6) 
The keeping or leaving open of any cellar or trap door or the grating of any cellar or vault in or upon any sidewalk, street, alley or public thoroughfare or passway.
(7) 
The making, keeping or permitting any opening, hole or ditch in or across any sidewalk, street, alley, public thoroughfare or passway.
(8) 
Defecating or urinating in any street, alley, thoroughfare, public grounds or in any place that may be seen from any private house, or by persons passing along any street, alley or thoroughfare.
(9) 
All cesspools or wells or other excavations into which any sewage, filth or other unwholesome substances or deposits are conducted and permitted to remain, unless such place is provided with some approved disposal or septic tank system.
(Ordinance 04102018, art. I, sec. 1, adopted 4/10/18)
It shall be unlawful for any person who shall own or occupy any lot in the city to permit or allow the accumulation of stagnant water thereon, or to permit same to remain thereon.
(Ordinance 04102018, art. I, sec. 2, adopted 4/10/18)
It shall be unlawful for any person who shall own or occupy any house, building, establishment, lot or yard in the city to permit or allow any carrion, filth or other impure or unwholesome matter to accumulate or remain thereon.
(Ordinance 04102018, art. I, sec. 3, adopted 4/10/18)
(a) 
It is unlawful for any person, owner, agent, occupant, or anyone having supervision or control of any lot, tract, parcel of land or portion thereof, occupied or unoccupied, improved or unimproved, within the city to allow uncultivated vegetation to grow to a height greater than 18 inches on such tract. However, these restrictions shall not apply to natural or nature park areas so designated by the city council. Uncultivated vegetation means weeds, grass or other vegetation, excluding trees, flowers, or shrubs, that is not regularly or systematically cut, mowed, pruned, fertilized, or otherwise attended or nurtured so as to induce or maintain a controlled pattern of growth.
(b) 
It is unlawful for any owner, occupant, agent, or other person in control of premises to allow fallen trees, fallen tree limbs or fallen branches, brush, or underbrush growth to accumulate upon such premises. However, these restrictions shall not apply to natural or nature parks so designated by the city council.
(c) 
It is unlawful for any owner, occupant, agent, or other person in control of premises to allow rubbish, including newspapers, refrigerators, stoves, furniture, tires, cans and appliances, trash, garbage, refuse, junk, or debris, to collect upon such premises.
(d) 
Any prohibited accumulation or collection of vegetation or debris in violation of subsection (a), (b), or (c) of this section is a public nuisance.
(e) 
Allegation and evidence of a culpable mental state is not required for proof of an offense defined by this article.
(Ordinance 04102018, art. I, sec. 4, adopted 4/10/18)
(a) 
If the owner of property in the city does not comply within ten days of notice of a violation, the city may:
(1) 
Do the work or make the improvements required; and
(2) 
Pay for the work done or improvements made and charge the expenses to the owner of the property.
(b) 
The notice must be given:
(1) 
Personally to the owner in writing;
(2) 
By letter addressed to the owner at the owner’s address as recorded in the appraisal district records of the appraisal district in which the property is located; or
(3) 
If personal service cannot be obtained:
(A) 
By publication at least once;
(B) 
By posting the notice on or near the front door of each building on the property to which the violation relates; or
(C) 
By posting the notice on a placard attached to a stake driven into the ground on the property to which the violation relates.
(c) 
The notice hereunder shall inform the owner of the property that:
(1) 
The property is to be maintained so as to keep weeds, grass and other specified vegetation at a height of less than 18 inches, or is to be kept free from rubbish or other specified matter;
(2) 
The owner has ten days from the date of notice to correct the violation; and
(3) 
If the owner does not comply with the notice, the city will enter upon the property and will mow or do the work or make improvements required, or will pay for the mowing or work done or improvements made.
(d) 
If a notice is mailed to a property owner in accordance with subsection (b) of this section, and the United States Postal Service returns the notice as refused or unclaimed, the validity of the notice is not affected, and the notice is considered as delivered.
(e) 
In a notice provided under this section, the city may inform the owner by regular mail and a posting on the property, or by personally delivering the notice, that if the owner commits another violation of the same kind or nature that poses a danger to the public health and safety on or before the first anniversary of the date of the notice, the city without further notice may correct the violation at the owner’s expense and assess the expense against the property. If a violation covered by a notice under this subsection occurs within the one-year period, and the city has not been informed in writing by the owner of an ownership change, then the city without notice may take any action permitted by subsections (a)(1) and (2) of this section and assess its expense as provided by section 7.04.006 herein.
(Ordinance 04102018, art. I, sec. 5, adopted 4/10/18)
(a) 
The city may recover its expenses incurred against the real estate on which the work is done or improvements made.
(b) 
To obtain a lien against the property, the mayor or municipal official designated by the mayor must file a statement of expenses with the county clerk. The lien statement must state the name of the owner, if known, and the legal description of the property. The lien attaches upon the filing of the lien statement with the county clerk.
(c) 
The lien is security for the expenditures made and interest accruing at the rate of ten percent on the amount due from the date of payment by the city.
(d) 
The lien is inferior only to:
(1) 
Tax liens; and
(2) 
Liens for street improvements.
(e) 
The city may bring a suit for foreclosure in the name of the city to recover the expenditures and interest due.
(f) 
The statement of expenses or a certified copy of the statement is prima facie proof of the expenses incurred by the city doing the work or making the improvements.
(g) 
The remedy provided by this section is in addition to and cumulative of any and all other remedies available to the city by ordinances and/or state law.
(h) 
The city may foreclose on its lien on property the subject of this article.
(Ordinance 04102018, art. I, sec. 6, adopted 4/10/18)
(a) 
The city may abate, without notice, weeds that:
(1) 
Have grown higher than 48 inches; and
(2) 
Are an immediate danger to the health, life, or safety of any person.
(b) 
Not later than the tenth day after the date the city abates weeds under this section, the city shall give notice to the property owner in the manner required by section 7.04.005 of this article.
(c) 
The notice shall contain:
(1) 
An identification, which is not required to be a legal description, of the property;
(2) 
A description of the violations of this article that occurred on the property;
(3) 
A statement that the city abated the weeds; and
(4) 
An explanation of the property owner’s right to request an administrative hearing about the city’s abatement of the weeds.
(d) 
The city shall conduct an administrative hearing on the abatement of weeds under this section if, not later than the 30th day after the date of the abatement of the weeds, the property owner files with the city a written request for a hearing.
(e) 
An administrative hearing conducted under this section shall be conducted not later than the 20th day after the date a request for a hearing is filed. The owner may testify or present any witnesses or written information relating to the city’s abatement of the weeds.
(f) 
The city may assess expenses and create liens under this section as it assesses expenses and creates liens under section 7.04.006.
(g) 
The remedy provided by this section is in addition to and cumulative of any and all other remedies by city ordinances and/or state law.
(Ordinance 04102018, art. I, sec. 7, adopted 4/10/18)
A citation may be issued should there be a violation of this article, and upon conviction, and upon a finding of guilt, a fine may be assessed in an amount in accordance with the general penalty provided in section 1.01.009 of this code. Each day a violation occurs shall be treated as a separate offense.
(Ordinance 04102018, art. III, adopted 4/10/18; Ordinance adopting 2023 Code)