As used in this chapter, the following terms
shall have the meanings indicated:
COMMISSIONER
The Commissioner of Environmental Services or his or her
designee.
[Added 4-11-2006 by Ord. No. 2006-70]
IMMEDIATE ENVIRONMENTAL HAZARD
A nuisance condition deemed by the Manager of the Division
of Environmental Quality of the Department of Environmental Services
to be dangerous to life or health unless immediately removed or otherwise
abated. Such determination may be made where there is an imminent
danger from known substances, waste or materials or where the condition
of the storage containers, the method of storage, the danger of the
location or any other potentially dangerous conditions related to
unknown substances, waste or materials creates a reasonable expectation
of imminent danger.
[Added 4-11-2006 by Ord. No. 2006-70]
NUISANCE
Any act or acts dangerous to health, rendering soil, air,
water or food impure or unwholesome, or which tend to endanger public
comfort or repose.
[Admended 4-11-2006 by Ord. No. 2006-70]
No person, firm or corporation shall cause or
suffer to cause the creation, existence or continuance of any nuisance
or immediate environmental hazard as herein defined.
[Amended 8-22-1958; 1-27-1970 by Ord. No. 70-36; 5-28-1974 by Ord. No. 74-180; 2-14-2006 by Ord. No. 2006-22; 4-11-2006 by Ord. No. 2006-70]
A. It shall be the duty of the Chief of Police, Fire
Chief or Commissioner to serve notice in writing upon the owner, occupant,
agent or person in possession or control of any lot, building or premises
in or upon which any nuisance may be found, or who may be the owner
or cause of any such nuisance, requiring him or her to abate the same
in such manner as it shall prescribe within a reasonable time. It
shall not be necessary in any case for the Chief of Police, Fire Chief
or Commissioner to specify in his or her notice the manner in which
any nuisance shall be abated, unless he or she shall deem advisable
so to do. Such notice may be given or served by any officer who is
so directed and authorized. If the person so notified shall neglect
or refuse to comply with the requirements of such order by abating
such nuisance within the time specified, such person shall be prosecuted
by the Corporation Counsel of the City of Rochester upon receipt of
notice by the Chief of Police, Fire Chief or Commissioner that said
person has failed to comply with the requirements of such order.
B. It shall be the duty of the Chief of Police, Fire
Chief or Commissioner to proceed at once upon the expiration of the
time specified in said notice to cause such nuisance to be abated;
provided, however, that whenever the owner, occupant, agent or person
in possession or control of any premises in or upon which any nuisance
may be found is unknown or cannot be found, the Chief of Police, Fire
Chief or Commissioner shall proceed to abate such nuisance after mailing
notice to the owner appearing on the last assessment rolls of the
City of Rochester at his or her last known address.
[Amended 8-22-1958; 1-27-1970 by Ord. No. 70-36; 5-28-1974 by Ord. No. 74-180; 4-11-2006 by Ord. No. 2006-70]
A. Whenever any nuisance which is an immediate danger
to life or health shall be found on any premises within the City,
the Chief of Police, Fire Chief or Commissioner is hereby authorized
to cause the same to be summarily abated in such manner as he or she
may direct. Abatement of immediate nuisances will be performed without
prior notice to the owner.
B. Upon a determination of immediate environmental hazard,
it shall be the duty of the Chief of Police, the Fire Chief or the
Commissioner to remove or otherwise abate an immediate environmental
hazard caused or permitted to be caused by the owner, tenant or agent
of any property in or upon which an immediate environmental hazard
is found. Abatement of immediate environmental hazards will be performed
without prior notice to the owner.
C. The costs of abatement of an immediate nuisance or an immediate environmental hazard shall be at the property owner’s expense. Such costs shall be billed to the property owner in accordance with §
6-92 of the City Charter and, if not paid, shall be subject to late-payment charges and added to taxes for the subject property in accordance with §§
6-93 and
6-94 of the Charter. If the property owner challenges his or her responsibility for the costs, the burden shall be upon the property owner to prove that the immediate nuisance or immediate environmental hazard was not caused or permitted by the property owner, or the owner’s tenant or agent, and that the property owner made every reasonable effort to prevent the immediate nuisance or immediate environmental hazard from occurring on the property.
A. No person shall use for drinking purposes, or in the
preparation of food intended for human consumption, any water except
the potable water supply authorized for public use by the City of
Rochester.
B. Other water supplies, wells or springs used for cooling
and washing purposes only, where food is prepared or sold for human
consumption, shall be tested and approved by the Monroe County Health
Director. All auxiliary water supplies used for commercial or industrial
use shall have all hydrants and faucets conspicuously posted indicating
that such water is not for drinking use, and such water supplies shall
not be cross-connected or interconnected with the public water supply.
No person, firm or corporation shall furnish,
keep, maintain or use a common cup, container or utensil, arranged
or intended to be used in common, in any public place or public institution
or in any hotel, lodging house, theater, factory, store, school or
public hall or in any railway or trolley car, boat or bus or in any
bus, trolley or railway stations or in any place of public resort,
public accommodation or public trade.
No person, firm, corporation or authorities
owning, in charge of or in control of any lavatory or washroom in
any hotel, lodging house, restaurant, factory, school, store, office
building, railway or trolley station or public conveyance by land
or water shall provide in or about such lavatory or washroom any towel
for common use.
Spitting upon the floor of public buildings
or buildings used for public assemblage or upon the floors or platforms
or any part of any railroad or trolley car or ferry boat or any other
public conveyance is forbidden.
Every owner, occupant or lessee of any lands
used as a gasoline station or for parking of automobiles shall so
treat, prepare and maintain the surface of the grounds so used to
prevent dust being blown from such lands.
[Amended 8-22-1958; 1-27-1970 by Ord. No. 70-36; 5-28-1974 by Ord. No. 74-180; 11-12-1985 by Ord. No.
85-480]
No person shall operate any stone crushers,
concrete mixer or batching machine for more than three weeks in any
one year in any one place without permission from the Mayor, which
permission must be registered with the Chief of Police and which permission
shall specify the length of time for which the same is granted, but
all permits to operate stone crushers shall be given upon the condition
that the operator of such crusher shall provide and furnish a continuous
sprinkling of the stone during the process of crushing so as to prevent
any dust nuisance arising therefrom.
[Amended 6-27-1961]
No vehicle for carrying offal, swill, garbage
or rubbish, the contents of any cesspool or sink or any manure or
other nauseous substances, except when actually engaged in collecting
such materials, shall stand before any residence, building or place
of business; nor shall any such vehicle occupy an unreasonable length
of time in loading or unloading or in passing along any street or
inhabited place. When not in use, all such vehicles and all implements
used in connection therewith shall be stored and kept in some place
where no needless offense shall be given to the public. All such vehicles
and all receptacles thereon, and also all vehicles transporting stone,
gravel, sand, dirt and other similar materials, shall be strong and
tight, and the sides shall be so high above the load that no part
thereof shall leak or spill.
A. No person shall deposit any slops, liquid of any offensive
kind, garbage, contents of a sink, privy, septic tanks or cesspool,
manure, offal or anything which can become offensive to human beings
or detrimental to public health upon any street, lot or vacant place,
nor deposit in any vault, privy, sink or cesspool any offal, meat,
fish or garbage; nor shall any slops or kitchen waste be permitted
to run into any privy or cesspool; provided, however, that manure
may be placed on private lands for the purpose of fertilizing in those
parts of the City that are not built up, if no nuisance results therefrom.
B. Every person, firm or corporation owning, leasing
or occupying any place where any cattle or swine have been or hereafter
shall be killed or dressed shall cause such place and their yards
and appurtenances to be thoroughly cleansed and purified and all offal,
blood, fat, garbage, refuse or offensive matter to be removed therefrom
at least once in every 24 hours after the use thereof for any of the
purposes herein referred to.
[Amended 8-22-1958]
A. No person shall allow or cause any sewer, cesspool,
septic tank or drain to become obstructed so that it is offensive
or detrimental to health. The cleaning and repairing of any sewer,
cesspool, septic tank or drain and the removal of any putrid or offensive
contents shall be done in an offensive manner. Any contents so removed
shall be conveyed in such a manner and to such places as may be approved
by the authorized inspector of the Examining Board of Plumbers.
B. All putrid and offensive matter, night soil and the
contents of sinks, privies, septic tanks or cesspools, before their
removal or exposure, when so demanded by an authorized inspector of
the Examining Board of Plumbers, shall be disinfected and rendered
inoffensive by the owner, lessee or occupant of the premises where
situated.
[Added 1-22-1963; amended 11-10-1992 by Ord. No. 92-403]
The Commissioner of Environmental Services shall,
upon request of a lawful applicant, undertake the handling of the
disposal of cleanings from privately owned septic tanks.
[Added 1-22-1963]
The following amounts shall constitute the rates
to be charged against the applicant: $5 per one-thousand-gallon truck
or any part thereof; and an additional $2.50 for every 500 gallons
over and above the original 1,000 gallons or any part thereof.
No person shall burn any wood or casing from
storage batteries or storage battery boxes, tar paper, rubber, insulating
material from wire, button nuts or other material which shall give
rise to noxious, nauseous or offensive odors.
[Amended 8-22-1958; 1-27-1970 by Ord. No. 70-36; 5-28-1974 by Ord. No. 74-180]
A. No person, firm or corporation shall drain into or
place so that the same shall enter the sewers of the City of Rochester
any of the products or waste of any asphalt factory, slaughterhouse,
cattle yard, phosphate or fertilizing works or storehouse, rendering
establishment or soap factory, until so much of the organic solids
of the said product or waste has been removed or the remainder has
been so treated by chlorination or other proper process that all odors
from any such material which may enter the sewers shall be prevented
and eliminated.
B. No person, firm or corporation shall build or use
any asphalt factory, slaughterhouse, cattle yard, phosphate or fertilizing
works or storehouse, rendering establishment or works for the reduction
of garbage, dead animals or night soil or any soap factory, tannery
or other place or establishment that shall give rise to nauseous or
offensive odors, without permission from the Council, which permission
must be registered with the Chief of Police, but nothing herein contained
shall apply to the reduction of garbage or dead animals by the City
of Rochester, its agents or contractors.
[Amended 8-22-1958; 1-27-1970 by Ord. No. 70-36; 5-28-1974 by Ord. No. 74-180]
No person shall keep or operate any place for
the storage, drying, cleaning or sorting of rags within the built-up
portions of the City of Rochester, without a permit from the Chief
of Police and unless the said premises is at least 200 feet from any
house, factory or building occupied by human beings.
[Amended 8-22-1958]
No person, firm or corporation shall cause or
suffer to cause the creation of any nuisance or condition that shall
give rise to other nuisances occasioned by rodents, insect pests or
other vermin detrimental to health. Every owner, lessee or occupant
of premises on which such nuisances exist shall comply with the orders
of authorized inspectors of the Monroe County Health Director and
shall take such steps as may be necessary to prevent any nuisance
arising or cause the removal of existing nuisances.
When any lot or excavation shall from any cause
whatsoever become the repository of stagnant water or of any decaying
or offensive substance, liquid or solid, it shall be the duty of the
owner or occupant, within a specified time given in a written notice
from the Bureau, to cause such lot or excavation to be drained or
to be filled with clean earth or other inoffensive substance.
[Added 4-9-1963; amended 1-23-1968 by Ord. No. 68-18; 2-10-1981 by Ord. No. 81-45; 2-14-2006 by Ord. No. 2006-22]
A. Notwithstanding the powers of enforcement of this chapter by the officials and employees of the City of Rochester, the Monroe County Health Director shall have the power to enter, examine and inspect, or cause to be entered, examined and inspected, and enforce the provisions of this chapter upon any lot, dwelling, building, structure, excavation or business pursuit in which any violation of the provisions of this chapter or Chapter
90 is found which he or she deems to be dangerous to life and health.
B. Whenever any violation of Chapter
59 or Chapter
90 of the Municipal Code is found by the Monroe County Health Director to be dangerous to life or health, he or she may order that the violation be discontinued, removed or abated as his or her order shall specify. If such an order of the Director of the Monroe County Health Department is not complied with within 30 days after the service thereof or within such shorter time as he or she may designate therein as necessary under the circumstances, then such order may be executed by said Director through his or her officers, agents, employees or the Commissioner of Neighborhood and Business Development, and the expenses incurred incident to said order shall be assessed against said real property as provided in the City Charter, or he or she may order the premises vacated; provided, however, that when in the opinion of the Monroe County Health Director such matter, condition or thing is in a state of nuisance which constitutes an actual menace to health, he or she shall proceed forthwith to cause such nuisance to be abated.
[Amended 6-16-2009 by Ord. No. 2009-179]
C. Before proceeding to execute such order, the Monroe
County Health Director shall post a notice on the front of the building,
stating that since such order was not complied with within the time
mentioned in said notice, the Monroe County Health Director will proceed
to execute the same at the expiration of an additional five days and
assess the cost thereof against said real property as provided in
the City Charter. A copy of such notice shall be sent to the owner
of the property, or his or her agent, if names and addresses, on reasonable
search, can be ascertained; and such notice shall be posted on said
premises at least five days before the Monroe County Health Director
proceeds to incur expenses, unless the condition is of such a character
requiring immediate action, in which case the time of the notice shall
be such as, in the judgment of the Monroe County Health Director,
is reasonable and proper.
D. Whenever it shall be found by the Monroe County Health Director that a dwelling is dangerous to life or health by reason of want of repair, of defects in the drainage, plumbing, lighting, ventilation or the construction of the same, or by reason of the existence on the premises of any condition likely to cause sickness or injury among the occupants of said dwelling, or for any other causes affecting the public health, the Monroe County Health Director may issue an order requiring such dwelling to be vacated. A copy of such order shall be posted on the front of the dwelling at least 10 days before it shall be effective unless the situation is of a character requiring immediate action, in which case the effective time of the order shall be such as in the judgment of the Monroe County Health Director is reasonable and proper. A copy of such order shall be sent to the owner of the property, or his or her agent, and to the tenant or tenants, if names and addresses, on reasonable search, can be ascertained. The dwelling so ordered to be vacated shall not again be occupied until a written statement shall have been secured from the Monroe County Health Director showing that the dwelling or its occupation has been made to comply with his or her order, and a certificate of occupancy, pursuant to §
90-16 of the Municipal Code, shall have been secured.
[Amended 12-15-2009 by Ord. No. 2009-409]