For the purpose of this chapter, certain terms are defined in this section. When not inconsistent with the context, words used in the present tense include the future, words used in the singular number include the plural, and words in the plural number include the singular: the word "persons" may be taken for a person, firm, partnership or corporation. Other words and terms shall have their customary dictionary definitions.
"Barbed wire"means two or more strands of wire twisted together with sharp vertical barbs, most frequently used in agriculture to keep animals in an enclosure.
"Blight"means to cause to deteriorate, a condition resulting in withering, crumbling, decay or to descend to a less than adequate level. To decompose, something that impairs or destroys, to suffer from or become lower in quality, character or condition.
"Building"means any structure designed for occupancy or any structure used or intended for supporting or sheltering any use or occupancy.
"Building materials"means and includes lumber, plumbing materials, wall board, sheet metal, plaster, brick, cement, asphalt, concrete block, roofing material, cans of paint and similar materials.
"Compost pile"means the accumulation of vegetative matter piled in such a manner as to encourage decomposition, decay or rotting of the materials which are used as fertilizer for gardens and landscaping.
"Debris"means substances of little or no apparent economic value, including, but not limited to, recycled lumber, scrap newspaper, furniture parts, stoves, sinks, cabinets, household fixtures, refrigerators, vehicles or parts thereof, abandoned, broken or neglected equipment, or the scattered remains of items.
"Deterioration"means a lowering in quality of the condition or appearance of a building, structure or parts thereof characterized by holes, breaks, rot, crumbling, or other evidence of physical decay or neglect or excessive use or lack of maintenance.
"Dump"means to throw out, dump or discard unwanted articles on property other than your own, including, but not limited to, household trash, vehicles or vehicle parts, furniture, appliances, cut brush, grass, glass, papers, cans, bottles, or other items on any property that is not disposed of in an officially designated disposal site.
"Dwelling"means any building or a portion thereof which is intended or designated to be built, used, rented, leased, or hired out for human occupancy, or which is occupied by a human being.
"Exterior property"means the open space on the premises and on adjoining property under the control of owners or operators of such premises.
"Extermination"means the control and elimination of insects, rats or other pests by eliminating their harborage places; by removing or making inaccessible materials that serve as their food; by poison spraying, fumigating, trapping or by any other approved pest elimination methods.
"Fences," "walls," and "hedges"mean a self-standing structure including landscape planting, designed and intended to serve as a barrier or a means of enclosing a yard or other area, or other structure; or to serve as a boundary feature separating two or more properties.
"Front yard"means the open space extending the full width of a lot between a building and the front property line.
"Garbage"means the animal or vegetable waste resulting from the handling, preparation, cooking and consumption of food.
"Graffiti"means a drawing, message, slogan, name or inscription written on some surface that can be viewed by an individual or by the public, not including utility locate markings. Often, but not always, written with spray paint, indelible marker, crayon, pen or ink.
"Infestation"means the presence, within or contiguous to, a structure or premises of insects, rats, vermin or other pests.
"Inoperable motor vehicle"means a vehicle which cannot be driven upon the public streets for reason including but not limited to being unlicensed, wrecked, abandoned or in a state of disrepair.
"Junk vehicle"means a vehicle meeting at least three of the following requirements:
(a) Is three years old or older;
Is extensively damaged, such damage including but not limited to any of the following:
(i) A shattered or missing window or windshield;
Missing motor or transmission;
Is apparently inoperable;
Has an approximate fair market value equal only to the approximate value of the scrap in it.
"Litter"means all waste material, including, but not limited to, cans, bottles, glass, paper, cut brush or grass, tires and other vehicle parts, or any other items tossed, thrown, or discarded in a place other than a legally designated disposal site.
"Motor vehicle"means and includes every device capable of being moved upon a public highway and in, upon, or by which any persons or property is or may be transported or drawn upon a public highway.
"Obstructions"means tables, chairs, signs, sandwich boards, barricades, sand, dirt, gravel, bark dust, brick or concrete block, cut brush, trash bags or garbage cans left more than 24 hours, basketball hoops, lumber and other construction supplies, or any material or thing placed in the public way from the ground to the sky without a valid encroachment permit.
"Open and abandoned ground cavities"means and includes, but is not limited to, unfilled wells, pits, vaults, basements, foundations, cesspools, basins, etc., which have been abandoned or are no longer used for the purpose for which they were constructed or which are maintained contrary to law.
"Owner"means any person, persons, agent, firm or corporation having a legal or equitable interest in the property, or legal entity listed as current title holder as recorded in the official records of Clark County, the state of Washington, or other legal entities, including the executor or administrator of the estate of such person if ordered to take possession of real property by a court.
"Person"means an individual, corporation, partnership, or any other group acting as a unit.
"Premises"means any building, lot, parcel, real estate, land or portion of land whether improved or unimproved including adjacent sidewalks and parking strips.
"Public nuisance"means a thing, act, omission to act, occupation, or use of property which annoys, injures or endangers the safety, health, comfort or repose of the public, offends public decency, is offensive to the senses, unlawfully interferes with, obstructs or renders dangerous any portion of the city, or in any way renders other persons insecure in life or use of property, or obstructs the free use of property so as to essentially interfere with the comfort and enjoyment of life and property.
"Public way"means any street, alley or similar parcel of land which is deeded, dedicated or otherwise permanently conveyed to the public for public use.
"Razor wire"means a single strand of flattened wire which has been shaped, sharpened and barbed.
"Recreational vehicle"means and shall include, but not be limited to, motor homes, travel trailers, camper vans, pickups and campers, motorcycles, snowmobiles, dune/sand buggies, boats and trailers, etc.
"Rubbish"means combustible and noncombustible waste materials, except garbage; the term shall include the residue from the burning of wood, coal, coke and other combustible materials, paper, rags, cartons, boxes, wood, excelsior, rubber, leather, tree branches, yard trimmings, tin cans, metals, mineral matter, glass, crockery and dust and other similar materials.
"Rubble"means broken solid surface fragments usually resulting from decay or deterioration of a building; miscellaneous mass of broken or apparently worthless materials.
"Side yard"means the open space extending from the front yard to the rear yard between a building and the nearest side property line.
"Trash-covered premises"means and shall include, but not be limited to, debris in the form of cans, bottles, glass, crockery, ashes, boxes, crates, packing material, waste paper, junk vehicles or the parts thereof, metal or plastic articles, broken stone or cement, lumber not neatly piled, lumber stored in front yards, broken or discarded building materials, discarded appliances or furniture, mattresses, bedding, clothing, rags, tree and vegetation trimmings, and all other trash and debris which may harbor insects, rodents or other harmful pest infestations or may become a fire hazard.
"Weeds" and "trees"means all noxious weeds and other rank growths upon public or private property to include, but not be limited to, non-native blackberry vines, Russian thistle, tansy, poison oak/ivy, deadly nightshade, or any toxic weed, or uncultivated plant (whether growing or otherwise) weeds, or uncultivated shrubs or growth, the existence of any dead, diseased, infested or dying tree that may constitute a danger to humans, homes, streets, sidewalks or any portion thereof.
(Ord. 1622 § 1, 2009)