[Amended 12-6-2004 by Ord. No. 1879]
As used in this article, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
GROUNDWATER
All water found beneath the surface of the Village located in sand, gravel, lime rock, or sandstone geological formations or any combination of these formations.
HEALTH OFFICER
The Shorewood Health Officer as defined in § 44-9 of the Village Code.
HUMAN HEALTH HAZARD
A substance, activity, or condition that is known to have potential to cause acute or chronic illness or death if exposure to the substance, activity, or condition is not abated, or the condition of a dwelling or dwelling unit that renders it unsafe for human habitation.
IMMEDIATE HEALTH HAZARD
A condition which exists or has the potential to exist which should, in the opinion of the Health Officer or designee, be abated or corrected immediately, or at least with a twenty-four-hour period, to prevent possible severe damage to human health and/or the environment.
OWNER
A person who has legal title or possession, charge, care or control of property (including but not limited to a structure, building, dwelling, dwelling unit or vacant land) or as executor, administrator, trustee, or guardian of the estate of a person or property under this definition.
PERSON
An individual, owner, operator, corporation, limited liability company, partnership, association, municipality, interstate agency, state agency or federal agency or any instrumentality, agent or combination of the foregoing entities.
PLACARD
To affix a written notice to the main entrance of a dwelling stating that the dwelling has been declared unfit for human habitation.
POLLUTION
The contaminating or rendering unclean or impure of the air, land, or waters of the Village, or making the same injurious to public health, harmful for commercial or recreational use or deleterious to fish, bird, animal, or plant life.
PUBLIC HEALTH NUISANCE
A thing, act, occupation, condition or use of property which shall continue for such length of time as to substantially injure or endanger the comfort, health, repose or safety of the public or in any way render the public insecure in life or in the use of property.
SOLID WASTE
Garbage, refuse, and all other discarded or salvageable solid materials, including solid waste materials resulting from industrial, commercial, and agricultural operations and from domestic use and public service activities, but not including solids or dissolved material in wastewater effluent or other common water pollutants.
STATE
State of Wisconsin.
STRUCTURE or BUILDING
A building or structure having walls and a roof erected or set upon an individual foundation or slab constructed, designed or used for the housing, shelter, enclosure, or support of persons, animals or property of any kind, including but not limited to houses, apartments, condominiums, commercial and manufacturing buildings, mobile homes and structures accessory to the foregoing uses.
TOXIC AND HAZARDOUS MATERIALS
Any chemical and/or biological material that is or has the potential to create a human health hazard.
A. 
Title. This article shall be referred to as the "Village Human Health Hazard and Public Health Nuisance Ordinance."
B. 
Administration. This article shall be administered by the Health Officer or the Health Officer's designee. The Health Officer or designee shall have the power to ensure compliance with the intent and purpose of this article by any means possible under the law, including authority to request that the Police Department issue citations for violations of this article pursuant to § 800.02(2), Wis. Stats.
C. 
Interpretation. The provisions of this article shall be interpreted to be minimum requirements and shall be liberally construed in favor of the Village and shall not be deemed a limitation of any power granted by the Wisconsin Statutes or a repeal of any other Village ordinance that imposes a stricter or greater requirement.
The purpose and intent of this article are to protect the public health, safety, and general welfare and to maintain and protect the environment for the people of the Village and to:
A. 
Prevent communicable diseases.
B. 
Prevent the continuance of human health hazards or public health nuisances.
C. 
Assure that Village and state air quality standards are complied with.
D. 
Assure that insects and rodents do not create human health hazards.
E. 
Assure that surface water and groundwater meet Village and state standards and regulations.
F. 
Assure that solid waste is handled, stored, and disposed of according to Village and state standards and regulations.
G. 
Assure that persons are protected from hazards and unhealthy or unsafe substances.
The jurisdiction of this article shall include all air, land and water (both surface and ground) within the Village.
A. 
Written orders. Compliance with this article shall include compliance with written orders issued under this article or state health laws by the Health Officer to abate and/or correct a human health hazard or bring any other situation or condition in noncompliance with this article into compliance.
B. 
Noncompliance. Noncompliance with this article and/or with a written order from the Health Officer shall be cause for enforcement action under Article V of this chapter.
A. 
General provisions. This article shall be interpreted, administered, and enforced by the Health Officer.
B. 
Powers. The Health Officer or designee shall have all the powers necessary to enforce the provisions of this article, without limitation by reason of enumeration, including the following:
(1) 
To apply for and secure search warrants to obtain access to any property or structure on or in which he or she has probable cause to believe that a violation of Shorewood ordinances or state statutes exists
(2) 
To order abatement and/or corrections of any human health hazard/public nuisance in violation of this article or state statutes.
(3) 
To delegate the responsibilities of administration and enforcement of this article to a registered environmental health sanitarian or other person qualified in the field of public health.
(4) 
To initiate any other action authorized under the law or this article to ensure compliance with the purpose and intent of this article and requirements of this article.
A. 
Human health hazard/public health nuisances prohibited. No person shall erect, construct, cause, continue, maintain, or permit any human health hazard/public health nuisance within the Village. Any person who shall in any way aid or contribute to the causing, creating, or maintenance thereof shall be guilty of a violation of this article and shall be liable for all costs and expenses attendant upon the removal and correction of such human hazard/public nuisance and to the penalty provided in Article V of this chapter.
B. 
Responsibility of property owner. It shall be the responsibility of the property owner to maintain such owner's property in a hazard-free manner and also to be responsible for the abatement and/or correction of any human health hazard/public nuisance that has been determined to exist on his or her property.
C. 
Human health hazards enumerated. Specifically, but not limited by enumeration, the following are human health hazards if determined to meet the "human health hazard" definition:
(1) 
Unburied carcasses. Carcasses of animals, birds, or fowl not buried or otherwise disposed of in a sanitary manner within 24 hours after death.
(2) 
Manure. Accumulations of the bodily waste of all domestic animals and fowl that are handled, stored, or disposed of in a manner that creates a human health hazard.
(3) 
Air pollution. The escape of smoke, soot, cinders, noxious acids, fumes, gases, fly ash, or industrial dust within the Village or within one mile therefrom in such quantities as to endanger the health of persons of ordinary sensibilities or to threaten or cause substantial injury to property within the Village.
(4) 
Noxious odors. Any use of property, substances, or things within the Village emitting or causing any foul, offensive, noisome, nauseous, noxious, or disagreeable odors, effluvia, or stenches extremely repulsive to the physical senses of ordinary persons that annoy, discomfort, injure, or inconvenience the health of persons within the Village.
(5) 
Solid waste. Any solid waste which is stored or disposed of in a manner which may pose a human health hazard.
(6) 
Vermin/insects. Accumulations of decayed animal or vegetable matter, trash, rubbish, rotting lumber, bedding, packing material, scrap metal or any material whatsoever in which flies, mosquitoes, disease-carrying insects, rats, or other vermin may breed. Also, all stagnant water in which mosquitoes, flies, or other insects can multiply as well as garbage cans that are not flytight.
(7) 
Toxic and hazardous material. Any chemical and/or biological material that is stored, used, or disposed of in such quantity or manner that it is or has the potential to create a human health hazard.
(8) 
Wastewater. The presence of wastewater or sewage effluent from buildings on the ground surface, backing up into the building and/or running into a surface water body, caused by a damaged, malfunctioning, improperly constructed, or inadequately maintained private sewage system or private sewage lateral. Also, any wastewater or sewage effluent that is not handled and disposed of in compliance with all applicable Village and state codes.
(9) 
Holes or openings. All abandoned wells or openings in the ground not securely covered or secured from public access and use.
(10) 
Nonfunctional public building fixtures. Nonfunctioning water supply systems, toilets, urinals, lavatories, or other fixtures considered necessary to ensure a sanitary condition in a public building.
(11) 
Food conditions. All decayed, harmfully adulterated or unwholesome food or drink sold or offered for sale to the public.
(12) 
Animals. Wild animals or wild animal hybrids kept as domestic pets within the Village limits.
(13) 
Other. Any other substance, activity or condition determined to meet the definition of a "human health hazard."
D. 
Public health nuisances enumerated. The following acts, omissions, places, conditions, and things are hereby specifically declared to be public health nuisances, but such enumeration shall not be construed to exclude other nuisances from within the definition of "public health nuisance" in this article:
(1) 
Privy vaults. No privy vaults or cesspools shall be constructed or maintained.
(2) 
Bird feeding. Feed for birds shall not be placed where it would attract rodents or other animals.
(3) 
Animal waste. Every animal owner shall dispose of the animal's fecal matter and other waste in a sanitary manner as often as may be necessary to prevent any unhealthy or unsanitary accumulation of such matter and/or waste.
(4) 
Noxious weeds. All noxious weeds and other rank growth of vegetation.
(5) 
Miscellaneous. Failure to comply with any law or rule regarding sanitation and health, including but not limited to:
(a) 
Plumbing.
(b) 
Water supplies, including wells, and surface water.
(c) 
Waste disposal.
(d) 
Storage or use of chemicals, pesticides, and herbicides or any other toxic substance.
A. 
The Health Officer or designee may declare any dwelling or dwelling unit found to have any of the following defects a human health hazard. It shall be condemned as unfit for human habitation and shall be placarded by the Health Officer or designee.
(1) 
A dwelling which is so damaged, decayed, dilapidated, unsanitary, and unsafe or vermin infested that it creates a serious hazard to the health or safety of the occupants or public.
(2) 
A dwelling which lacks a potable water supply, a properly functioning public or private sanitary sewer system, or a functioning heating system adequate to protect the health or safety of the occupants or public.
(3) 
All or portions of a dwelling to the extent that they are proven to be uninhabitable by virtue of a serious and imminent threat to human health from exposure to lead or asbestos.
B. 
No person shall continue to occupy, rent or lease quarters for human habitation which are declared unfit for human habitation by the Health Officer or designee.
C. 
Any dwelling or dwelling unit condemned as unfit for human habitation and so designated and placarded by the Health Officer or designee shall be vacated within a time specified by the Health Officer or designee.
D. 
No dwelling or dwelling unit which has been condemned and placarded as unfit for human habitation shall again be used for human habitation until written approval is secured from, and the placard is removed by, the Health Officer or designee. The Health Officer or designee shall remove such placard whenever the defect or defects upon which the condemnation and placarding were based have been eliminated.
E. 
No person shall deface or remove the placard from any dwelling or dwelling unit which has been condemned as unfit for human habitation.
F. 
Any person affected by any notice or order relating to the condemning or placarding of a dwelling or dwelling unit for human habitation may request and shall be granted a hearing in the matter before the Shorewood Board of Appeals.
[1]
Editor's Note: See also Ch. 326, Housing Standards, § 326-11.