[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.
[Amended 5-9-2023 by Ord. No. 437]
A.
General. Whenever a public nuisance is reported, an officer charged
with enforcement will investigate the report to determine that a public
nuisance is being maintained or exists on premises in the City. An
incident report, including photos of the public nuisance, will be
completed by the officer. Upon receipt of the incident report, the
City Clerk-Treasurer will 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 14 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. The notice shall also state that
a hearing before the City Council will occur at the next scheduled
City Council meeting should the violation not be abated within 14
days of receipt of the notice.
(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. Upon completion of a hearing before the
City Council, the City Council will decide whether or not to approve
a finding of fact and order authorizing the City to abate the nuisance.
(4)
After the finding of fact and order is approved and issued by the
City Council, the City Administrator shall schedule City staff to
abate the nuisance at the earliest convenience. City staff and the
enforcing officer are authorized to enter the nuisance property and
abate the nuisances described in the incident report.
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 owner or occupier of a property shall be
liable to the City for all expenses incurred in the removal and abatement
of the nuisance cited in the incident report. The City shall have
the right to recover all such costs, including certifying the costs
to the property's real estate taxes.
