The Town Board of the Town of Fulton has the
specific statutory authority, powers and duties, pursuant to § 66.0415,
Wis. Stats., and Chs. 146, 254, 281 and 823, Wis. Stats., pursuant
to the specific statutory sections noted in this chapter and/or by
its adoption of village powers under § 60.10, Wis. Stats.,
to regulate, control, prevent and enforce against in the Town of Fulton
certain uses, activities, businesses and operations by persons that
may cause a public nuisance in the Town of Fulton.
The Town Board of the Town of Fulton has, by
adoption of this chapter, confirmed the specific statutory authority,
powers and duties noted in the specific sections of this chapter and
has established, by these sections and this chapter, regulations,
controls and enforcement against certain uses, activities, businesses
and operations by persons that may cause a public nuisance in the
Town of Fulton.
[Amended 10-9-1997]
No person shall cause, allow or permit any person
to create any public nuisance areas on the premises owned, leased
or controlled by that person in the Town of Fulton.
A. Public health nuisances. The following are specifically
declared by the Town of Fulton to be public health nuisances. This
declaration should not be construed to exclude other public nuisances
affecting public health in the Town of Fulton.
(1) A rat harborage area where rats or other vermin can
live and breed.
(2) A waste accumulation area where waste amounts in excess
of a normal and reasonable one-week accumulation are allowed to accumulate
without a proper waste management permit issued by the Town Board
of the Town of Fulton.
(3) An unburied animal carcass area where a dead animal
or dead animals are not buried in a sanitary manner within 12 hours
of death.
(4) A stagnant water area where mosquitoes, flies and
other insects are allowed harborage.
(5) A noxious weed area where these noxious weeds are
allowed to exceed one foot.
(6) A noxious odor area where emissions of any noxious
odors, foul odors, offensive odors, noisome odors, nauseous odors,
gases or stenches repulsive to the senses of ordinary persons are
allowed to continue to the substantial annoyance or substantial discomfort
of persons or are allowed to cause injury to persons or property in
the Town of Fulton.
(7) A well pollution area where pollution from the premises
entering the groundwater has caused a private or public drinking water
well on another property to become contaminated.
(8) A surface water pollution area where pollution from
the premises entering the surface water has caused a private or public
drinking water well on another property or any river, stream, lake,
ditch, canal or other body of water to become contaminated.
(9) An air pollution area where emissions of smoke, soot,
fumes, gases, ash, dust or other pollutants into the atmosphere repulsive
to the senses of ordinary persons are allowed to continue to the substantial
annoyance or substantial discomfort of persons or are allowed to cause
injury to persons or property in the Town of Fulton.
(10) A human burial area where a human body or bodies are
buried in the Town of Fulton outside of an established cemetery.
(11) An unwholesome food area where unwholesome, contaminated
or polluted food or drink is sold or served on the premises to persons
in the Town of Fulton.
(12) A dangerous building area where the building, structure,
or place or the electrical, heat or water supply is in a condition
and location to cause a menace or danger to the public health of persons
in the Town of Fulton.
(13) An improper sewage area where the effluent from the
sewer, septic tank, holding tank or cesspool on the premises is in
a condition and location to cause a menace or danger to public health
of persons in the Town of Fulton.
(14) A hazardous waste area where the discharge, disposal,
storage or treatment of hazardous, nuclear or toxic waste is allowed
to continue to the substantial annoyance or substantial discomfort
of persons or is allowed to cause injury to persons or property in
the Town of Fulton.
(15) A noxious material discharge area where the discharge,
disposal, storage or treatment of noxious, filthy, decaying or nauseous
materials repulsive to the senses of ordinary persons is allowed to
continue to the substantial annoyance or substantial discomfort of
persons or is allowed to cause injury to persons or property in the
Town of Fulton.
(16) A dog or dogs running at large.
B. Public safety nuisances. The following are specifically
declared by the Town Board of the Town of Fulton to be public safety
nuisances. This declaration should not be construed to exclude other
public nuisances affecting public safety in the Town of Fulton.
(1) An abandoned or wrecked motor vehicle area where motor
vehicles, tractors, house trailers, railroad cars and semitrailer
boxes are allowed to remain without a proper junkyard permit issued
by the Town Board of the Town of Fulton.
(2) A dilapidated building area where old or dilapidated
buildings, structures and equipment are allowed to stand while they
are dangerous, unsafe, unsanitary, uninhabitable or otherwise unfit
for human use and occupancy.
(3) A dangerous tree area where trees and limbs are in
a condition and location to cause a menace or danger to public safety
of persons in the Town of Fulton.
(4) An illegal building area where buildings were constructed,
repaired, expanded or altered illegally in violation of any Town of
Fulton or County of Rock ordinances or state and federal laws and
regulations in the Town of Fulton.
(5) An improper structure area where signs, billboards,
awnings and other structures are improperly, illegally or unsafely
installed or maintained near public highways, roads, streets, sidewalks,
parks, public buildings, public premises or other public places in
a condition and location to cause a menace or danger to public safety
of persons in the Town of Fulton.
(6) A loud noise area where loud, discordant and unnecessary
sounds, including but not limited to the sounds of motor vehicles,
animals, firearms or music repulsive to the senses of an ordinary
person, are allowed to continue to the substantial annoyance or substantial
discomfort of persons or injury to person or property in the Town
of Fulton.
(7) A low wire area where wires over public highways,
roads, streets, alleys, parks, public buildings, public premises or
other public places are installed or maintained in a condition or
location to cause a menace or danger to public safety of persons in
the Town of Fulton.
(8) An unauthorized traffic sign area where unauthorized
signs, signals, markings or other sign devices are installed or maintained
near a public highway, road, street, alley or railroad crossing and
which purport to be or can be mistaken for an official sign or other
traffic control device or which because of their location, color,
manner of operation or structure will interfere with any official
traffic control device in the Town of Fulton.
(9) An obstruction area where structures, hedges, trees,
weeds, signs, billboards, buildings or equipment is installed or maintained
near a public highway, road, street, alley or railroad crossing and
due to the condition and location block a clean view of traffic that
causes a menace or danger to public safety of persons in the Town
of Fulton.
(10) One or more semitrailer boxes, whether with wheels
off or on, not used regularly for hauling cargo over the road unless
the premises is zoned to allow such.
C. Keeping of deleterious material. To prevent a public
nuisance, no person in the Town of Fulton shall cause, allow or permit
any person to keep on premises owned, leased or controlled by that
person any deleterious or septic material, unless the material is
kept in proper containers which will prevent access to humans, flies,
insects, vermin and other animals.
[Added 7-6-2010]
No person owning property within the Town shall permit to grow
or pollinate upon his or her residential lot or that portion of a
lot on which a residential structure is located and in its immediate
vicinity any noxious weeds or weeds or grasses which cause or produce
hay fever in human beings, exhale unpleasant or noxious odors or conceal
filthy deposits. In order to prevent such growth and pollination,
it shall be the duty of every property owner to mow or cause to be
mowed upon his or her residential lot or that portion of a lot on
which a residential structure is located and in its immediate vicinity
all grasses or weeds exceeding one foot in height.
[Added 7-6-2010]
It shall be the duty of the Weed Commissioner to enforce §
318-5, and if any person shall fail to comply, the Commissioner shall send a certified letter with a fee of $25 for administration costs and, after five days' written notice to the owner, cause the premises to be mowed and report the cost thereof, in writing, to the Clerk in the manner provided in § 66.0517, Wis. Stats. Such charge shall be entered on the next tax roll, in a column headed "For the Destruction of Weeds," as a tax on the lands upon which the weeds were destroyed, unless such lands are exempt from taxation. The cost to be charged by the Weed Commissioner pursuant to this section shall be $100 per hour, with a minimum fee of $100. The hourly rate and minimum fee may be adjusted from time to time by resolution of the Town Board.
As used in this chapter, the following terms
shall have the meaning indicated:
FIREARM
A weapon that acts by force of gunpowder.
GROUNDWATER
Any of the waters of the State of Wisconsin occurring in
a saturated subsurface geological formation or permeable rock or soil.
JUNKYARD
Any place which is owned, maintained, operated or used for
storage, keeping, processing, buying or selling junk, including refuse
dumps, garbage dumps, automobile graveyards, scrap metal processors,
auto wrecking yards, salvage yards, auto recycling yards, used auto
parts yards and temporary storage of automobile bodies or parts awaiting
disposal as a normal part of a business operation when the business
will continually have like materials located on the premises, and
sanitary landfills. This definition does not include litter, trash
and other debris scattered along or upon the highway, or temporary
operations and outdoor storage of limited duration.
NOXIOUS WEEDS
The following weeds: Canada thistle, leafy spurge, field
bindweed (creeping Jenny), all weeds and grasses on a residential
lot exceeding one foot in height, which could constitute a fire hazard
and/or which, if allowed to pollinate, would cause and produce hay
fever in human beings, exhale unpleasant or noxious odors or cause
skin rash through contact with skin, and such other weeds as determined
by resolution of the Town Board for the Town of Fulton.
[Amended 11-9-2010]
SIGNS (OFFICIAL)
Those signs posted for official public notice in the Town
of Fulton.
SURFACE WATER
Waters following no defined course or channel and not gathering
into any definite body of water but that diffuse themselves over the
surface of the ground.
TOXIC
Any substance, other than a radioactive substance, which
has the capacity to produce personal injury or illness to persons
through ingestion, inhalation or absorption through any body surface.
[Amended 10-14-1999; 11-13-2007]
Any person or entity violating any provision of this chapter shall be subject to a forfeiture as provided in Chapter
1, §
1-4 and Chapter
20, Citations, of this Code. The Township may notify the Wisconsin Department of Transportation to suspend the driving privileges of the person obligated to pay said forfeiture for a period of up to five years or until such time as said forfeiture is paid, with a minimum period of suspension of 30 days. Each day's continuance of any violation shall constitute a separate violation. The imposition of one penalty for any violation of this chapter shall not excuse the violation or permit it to continue, and all persons on whom a penalty is imposed shall correct or remedy such violations or defects forthwith. The application of the above penalty shall not prevent the enforced removal of prohibited conditions and obtaining injunctive relief.