[HISTORY: Adopted by the Common Council of the City of Rice Lake
as Title 15, Chapter 5 of the Code of Ordinances. Amendments noted where applicable.]
A.
The initial building construction or development in a
community is usually accomplished after a great deal of planning, designing
and implementation. The time and attention to detail given to the initial
construction is often the last concentrated effort regarding the total visual
effect of the building and building lot or site. Attractive and well-maintained
property enhances the neighborhood and city and provides a suitable environment
for increasing property values. While most property owners establish a periodic
maintenance program to keep their property in pleasing and physically safe
and sanitary condition, many properties are unkept and are let to visual or
physical decay. Due primarily to this circumstance, it has been determined
that there is a need to set forth guidelines as well as regulations to ensure
the continuing maintenance of property within the City of Rice Lake.
B.
It is the intent and purpose of this chapter to encourage,
establish minimum standards for and provide for the enforcement of a minimum
level of care and maintenance to buildings and properties throughout the city.
It is not the intent of this chapter to discourage or inhibit owners of older
residences from the upgrading of such residences over an extended period.
This chapter shall apply uniformly to the maintenance and use of all
premises within the City of Rice Lake and the owners, occupants and operators
thereof.
Whenever the following words or terms are used in this chapter, they
shall be construed to have the following meanings:
A condition having an adverse effect on the surrounding properties.
Includes heating and air-conditioning equipment, chimneys and vents,
signs, antennas, gutters and downspouts, fences, steps, shutters, lights,
garages, sheds, birdhouses, doghouses and small storage structures.
Broken concrete, bricks, blocks or other mineral matter; bottles,
porcelain and other glass or crockery; boxes, lumber (new or used), posts,
sticks or other wood; paper, rags, cardboard, excelsior, rubber, plastic,
wire, tin and metal items; discarded household goods or appliances, junk lawn
mowers; tar paper; residues from burning; or any similar materials which constitute
health, fire or safety hazards or a serious blighting influence upon the neighborhood
or the city in general.
Also means dirt- or mud-free. The intent is to have no dust, dirt
and mud generated by traffic on the driveway or by winds.
Includes lawn mowers, snowblowers, tractors, wheelbarrows, ladders,
scaffolding, cultivators, rototillers, seed and fertilizer spreaders, mechanical
lawn rakes, lawn rollers, snowmobilers, all-terrain vehicles, campers, truck-camper
units, boats and recreational trailers.
Material that cannot be burned.
Combustible and noncombustible waste materials, except garbage, and
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, tin cans, metals, mineral matter, glass, crockery and dust
and other similar materials.
A.
Any junk, including but not limited to wood, bricks,
broken concrete, cinder block, inoperable vehicles or machinery or parts thereof,
refrigerators, furnaces, washing machines or dryers, stoves or other unsightly
debris, such as may tend to depreciate property values in the area or create
a nuisance or hazard shall not be allowed on any property by the owner or
occupant thereof, except when such materials are properly housed inside and
out of public view.
B.
Lots in residentially developed areas shall be kept free
by the owner and/or person authorized to use the same of dirt piles, rubble
and any other material or conditions which might hinder maintenance of the
property, except that dirt piles used for landscaping shall be leveled and
such areas seeded for grass within 30 days of the date of delivery of the
dirt.
No person shall store outdoors, nor shall any person permit or allow
the outside storage of, firewood on any property used or zoned for residential
use, except as is permitted in this section. Firewood shall not be stored
in the front yard of such property or within the front yard setback, except
that firewood may be temporarily stored for a period not to exceed 14 days
from the date of delivery to the property. All firewood shall be stacked neatly
and in stable condition above grade to provide drainage and no closer than
one foot to any lot line and no higher than five feet above grade, except
when adjacent to a fence, where firewood shall be stacked no higher than the
uppermost horizontal portion of the fence, or when stacked under a roof. No
person shall permit the infestation of mice, rats or other rodents or insects
in, under or near the stack. No person shall allow any brush, debris or refuse
from the processing of firewood to remain anywhere on the property.
A.
The Inspection Department is authorized to prepare and
distribute procedural rules as it deems necessary to administer the purpose
of this chapter.
B.
If any two households within the immediate affected area
or neighbors have reason to believe that they have a complaint or that a violation
of this chapter exists, they should put the complaint in writing and refer
it to their elected representative (the Mayor and/or an Alderperson) or the
Inspection Department. Upon receipt of a written complaint, the Inspection
Department shall investigate the complaint to ascertain its seriousness and
validity.
(1)
Valid complaints. When it has been determined that a
complaint is valid, the Inspection Department shall cause notice to be served
upon the owner or occupant of the offending property stating the nature of
the complaint and the corrective action required. The notice shall also contain
a time limit by which the complaint must be resolved. The time limit shall
not exceed 30 days. Copies of all correspondence regarding complaints shall
be provided to the Mayor, appropriate Alderperson and the City Administrator.
(2)
Complaint not valid. If in the opinion of the Inspection
Department the complaint is not valid, it shall respond to the persons who
registered the complaint, with copies to the Mayor, Alderman for that district
and the City Administrator, with the reasons why it is felt that the complaint
is not valid. Should the complainees still feel that violations of this chapter
exist, they have the right to appear before the Common Council to state their
case.
(3)
If violation has not been corrected within the time limits
allowed by the Inspection Department (not to be less than five days from issuance
of the notice), the Inspection Department shall issue a citation on the property
owner regarding such violation. For noxious weed violations, the Inspection
Department shall have the alternative option to instruct the Weed Commissioner
to correct said violation and charge the actual cost incurred against the
property owner. If such charges are not paid by November 15 of the year in
which they are billed, such charges plus interest shall be extended on the
next succeeding tax roll as a special assessment charged against the property
affected, collected in the same manner as are other taxes, pursuant to W.S.A.
s. 66.98.
(4)
Within 10 working days following the date of issuance
of any notice by the Inspection Department, the recipient of the notice may
apply to the Common Council for a hearing for consideration of the alleged
violation(s) enumerated in the notice. The applicant for such appeal shall
be advised of the time and place of the hearing at least seven working days
prior to the hearing and shall be given an opportunity to be heard and to
show cause why such notice should be modified or withdrawn or a variance granted.
A.
Owner and occupant responsibilities. Every owner and
occupant of property within the corporate limits of the City of Rice Lake
has a responsibility to maintain such property in a visually clean, sanitary,
safe and groomed condition. More specifically, it is every property owner's
and occupant's responsibility to:
(1)
Keep any building(s) and building-related equipment located
on the property in good, safe repair and maintained in a good condition and
related to exterior appearance.
(2)
Keep and maintain all nonsurfaced yard areas as grass
or other ground cover in keeping with the other properties in the neighborhood
and, in addition, install and maintain trees, shrubs and other landscape materials
in a manner to be an attractive setting for the building(s) and the neighborhood
and keep landscaping in a neat and groomed manner.
(3)
Keep all yards free of the long-term storage of vehicles,
equipment and materials which are not specifically accessory to and compatible
with the principal use of the property, except where approved by the Plan
Commission.
(4)
Keep and maintain all fences and walls, whether designed
to be functional or only decorative, in a safe and good condition and appearance.
(5)
Keep all signs and lighting on the site in good repair
in order to be both safe and visually pleasing.
B.
Minimum property maintenance standards. Following are
the minimum standards to be met by a property owner or occupant regarding
property maintenance in the City of Rice Lake. Violation of these standards
may result in the issuance of a citation by the Inspection Department or Police
Department.
(1)
All buildings located on property within the City of
Rice Lake shall be maintained in condition to be safe to both occupants and
passersby.
(2)
All nonpaved yard areas, as set forth in Chapter 260, Zoning, shall be graded to alleviate standing water and shall be maintained in grass, other vegetative ground cover or trees and shrubs compatible with similar uses within the neighborhood. Such ground cover, trees and shrubs shall be kept maintained, except where a land management plan has been filed and approved by the Plan Commission. Plantings shall be maintained so as not to present hazards to adjoining properties or to persons or to vehicles traveling on public ways.
(3)
All yard and landscaped areas shall be kept free of trash,
debris, rubbish, garbage, physical hazards, rodent harborage and infestation,
animal feces, noxious weeds, old building materials, junk, unlicensed or inoperative
vehicles and other such material and equipment which by its appearance, location
or use make it incompatible with the principal use or other predominate principal
uses in the immediate neighborhood.
(4)
All outside storage shall be screened from view of the
general public by use of such measures as earth berming, vegetative planting,
decorative fencing or building positioning.
(5)
All fences, walls, lighting, signs, storage structures,
walks, driveways, parking areas and similar paved areas and other visual physical
improvements, construction or appurtenances shall be maintained in a safe,
sanitary working order and in good appearance.
(6)
Every foundation, exterior wall and floor and roof shall
be reasonably weathertight, watertight and rodentproof and shall be kept in
proper repair and shall be capable of affording privacy. Any sagging or bulging
shall be properly repaired to a level or plumb position. All chimneys and
breaching shall be so constructed and maintained as to ensure that it safely
and properly removes the products of combustion from the building.
(7)
Every window, exterior door, interior door and basement
hatchway shall be reasonably weathertight and rodentproof and kept in proper
repair.
(8)
Every inside and outside stair, every porch and every
appurtenance thereto shall be so constructed as to be safe to use and capable
of supporting the load that normal use may cause to be placed thereon and
shall be kept in proper condition and repair and up to all applicable codes.
(9)
Exterior surfaces of buildings and structures not inherently
resistant to deterioration shall be treated with a protective coating of paint
or other suitable preservative which will provide adequate resistance to weathering
and maintain an attractive appearance. Any exterior surface treated with paint
or other preservative shall be maintained so as to prevent chipping, cracking
or other deterioration of the exterior surface or the surface treatment and
to present an attractive appearance. All paint or other preservative shall
be applied in a workmanlike fashion.
(10)
No person shall dispose of rocks, trees, stumps, waste
building material or other debris from land development, building construction,
street grading or installation of underground utilities upon the surface of
any land in the City of Rice Lake except at approved disposal sites.
