[HISTORY: Adopted by the City Council of
the City of Fairfax 5-7-1991 by Ord. No. 606. Amendments noted where
applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Adult entertainment — See Ch. 64.
Alcoholic beverages — See Ch. 71.
Building construction — See Ch. 92.
Open burning — See Ch. 99.
Noise — See Ch. 141.
Nudity — See Ch. 148.
Parking — See Ch. 162.
Solid waste — See Ch. 190.
Streets and sidewalks — See Ch. 204.
Vehicles, storage of — See Ch. 246.
Whoever by his act or failure to perform a legal
duty does any of the following is guilty of maintaining a public nuisance,
which is a misdemeanor:
A.
Maintains or permits a condition which unreasonably
annoys, injures, or endangers the safety, health, morals, comfort,
or repose of any considerable number of members of the public; or
B.
Interferes with, obstructs, or renders dangerous for
passage any public highway or right-of-way; or
C.
Is guilty of any other act or omission declared by
law or this code to be a public nuisance and for which no sentence
is specifically provided.
The following are hereby declared to be nuisances
affecting health:
A.
Exposed accumulation of decayed or unwholesome food
or vegetable matter.
B.
All diseased animals running at large.
C.
Pools of stagnant water.
D.
Carcasses of animals not buried or destroyed within
24 hours after death.
E.
Accumulation of manure, tin cans, bottles, trash,
ashes, refuse or debris of any nature or description.
F.
Privy vaults and garbage cans which are not rodent-free
or fly-tight or which are so maintained as to constitute a health
hazard or to emit foul and disagreeable odors.
G.
The pollution of any public well or cistern, stream
or body of water by sewage, industrial waste, or other substances.
H.
Dense smoke, noxious fumes or odors, gas and soot,
or cinders in unreasonable quantities.
I.
All public exposure of persons having a contagious
disease.
J.
The placing of the contents of any cesspool, septic
tank, privy vault, or garbage can upon the surface of public or private
property.
K.
Any offensive trade or business as defined by statute
not licensed by the City.
The following are declared to be nuisances affecting
public peace and safety.
A.
No person shall make or cause to be made distinctly
and loudly audible noise that unreasonably annoys, disturbs, injures,
or endangers the comfort, repose, health, peace, safety, or welfare
of any persons or precludes their enjoyment of property or affects
their property's value.
B.
Obstructions and excavations affecting the ordinary
use by the public of streets, alleys, sidewalks, or public grounds
except under such conditions as are permitted by this code or other
applicable law.
C.
Any use of property abutting on a public street or
sidewalk or any use of a public street or sidewalk which causes large
crowds of people to gather, obstructing traffic and the free use of
the street or sidewalk.
D.
All hanging signs, awnings, and other similar structures
over streets and sidewalks that are not constructed and maintained
in a sound condition as to endanger public safety.
E.
The allowing of excessive rainwater, ice, or snow
fall from any building or structure upon any street or sidewalk or
to flow across any sidewalk.
F.
All dangerous, unguarded machinery in any public place,
or so situated or operated on private property as to attract the public.
G.
Wastewater cast upon or permitted to flow upon streets
or other public property.
H.
Accumulations in the open of discarded or disused
machinery, household appliances, automobile bodies, lumber, wood,
or other material, or the rank growth of vegetation among the items
so accumulated, in a manner conducive to the harboring of rats, mice,
snakes or vermin, or in a manner creating fire, health, or safety
hazards from such accumulation.
I.
Any well, hole, or similar excavation which is left
uncovered or in such other condition as to constitute a hazard to
any child or other person coming on the premises where it is located.
J.
Obstruction to the free flow of water in a natural
waterway or a public street drain, gutter, or ditch through accumulation
of trash or other materials.
K.
The placing or throwing on any street, sidewalk, or
other public property of any glass, tacks, nails, bottles, or other
substances which may injure any person or animal or damage pneumatic
tire when passing over such substances.
L.
The depositing of paper, litter, debris, garbage or
refuse on a public right-of-way or on adjacent private property, or
the throwing of any such matter from a motor vehicle.
M.
Building or alterations to buildings made or erected
in violation of the State Building Code, the State Plumbing Code,
or the State Fire Code.
N.
Placing driveway entrances or culverts, or doing any
other act which alters or affects the drainage, surface, or grade
of a public street or alley.
O.
A property owner is not allowed to have a partially
dismantled, inoperable, junked, discarded, or unlicensed motor vehicle
or trailer on public or private property within the City limits that
is zoned residential unless the motor vehicle or trailer is stored
within a building. Inoperable or abandoned vehicles and trailers are
motor vehicles that cannot run under their own power for at least
14 days, motor vehicles or trailers that have expired tabs, or motor
vehicles or trailers that are without the necessary equipment and
registration to operate legally on the public streets, including but
not limited to motor vehicles with missing windows, flat tires, inoperable
lights, and other similar conditions.
[Amended 6-14-2011 by Ord. No. 155]
P.
All other conditions or things which are likely to
cause injury to the person or property of anyone.
[Amended 2-13-2007 by Ord. No. 414]
The Police Department shall enforce the provisions
of this chapter with reference to nuisances affecting public health
and the provisions relating to nuisances affecting public safety and
shall assist the other designated officers in the enforcement of other
provisions of this chapter. Such officers shall have the power to
inspect private premises and take all reasonable precautions to prevent
the commission and maintenance of public nuisances.
A.
General. Whenever the officer charged with enforcement
determines that a public nuisance is being maintained or exists on
premises in the City, the officer shall have the City Clerk-Treasurer
notify in writing the owner or occupant of the premises of such fact
and order that such nuisance be terminated and abated as follows:
(1)
The notice shall be served in person or by certified
or registered mail. If the premises are not occupied and the owner
is unknown, the notice may be served by posting it on the premises.
(2)
The notice shall specify the steps to be taken to
abate the nuisance and the time, not exceeding 30 days, within which
the nuisance is to be abated; provided the time for abatement shall
not exceed 10 days in the case of noxious weeds.
(3)
If the notice is not complied with and there is no
appeal within the time specified, the enforcing officer shall report
that fact forthwith to the City Administrator.
[Amended 3-13-2012]
(4)
Thereafter, the City Administrator may cause the nuisance
to be abated by the City.
[Amended 3-13-2012]
B.
Emergency abatement. When the officer charged with
enforcement determines that a nuisance constitutes a serious and imminent
danger to the public safety or health, the officer may summarily abate
the nuisance after a reasonable attempt to notify the owner or occupant
of the property. The City Clerk-Treasurer shall immediately thereafter
notify in writing the owner or occupant of the premises of the action
taken. The notice shall be served in person or by registered or certified
mail.
C.
Costs of abatement. The cost of the abatement may
be assessed as a current service against the property upon which the
nuisance was created.
