HomeMy WebLinkAboutOrdinance-1988-0760INTRODUCED BY COUNCILMEMBER
MERKL
Ordinance No. 760
Series of 1987
TITLE: AN ORDINANCE REPEALING AND REENACTING VARIOUS SECTIONS OF
CHAPTER 13 OF THE CODE OF LAWS OF THE CITY OF WHEAT
RIDGE, RELATING TO NUISANCES AND NUISANCE ABATEMENT.
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF WHEAT
RIDGE, COLORADO, AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1: Sections 13-1 through 13-18, inclusive, of the
Code of Laws of the City of Wheat Ridge are hereby repealed and
reenacted as follows:
ARTICLE I. IN GENERAL
Sec. 13-1. Purpose of Chapter. It shall be the
policy of the City of Wheat Ridge to promote the health,
safety, morals, convenience, order, prosperity and welfare
of the present and future inhabitants of the City and,
therefore, the City Council declares that every public
nuisance shall be unlawful, and shall be restrained,
prevented, abated and enjoined.
Sec. 13-2. Definitions. As used in the provisions
of this Chapter 13 of the Code of Laws of the City of Wheat
Ridge:
(a) "Person" means and includes any individual,
partnership, corporation, association; and the agent,
servant or employee of any individual, partnership,
corporation or association.
(b) References in masculine terminology shall include
the feminine, and vice-versa.
(c) References in singular terminology shall include
the plural, and vice-versa.
(d) "Statute" means a statute of the State of
Colorado, or an ordinance, or provision of the Code of Laws,
of the City of Wheat Ridge.
(e) "Proper authorization" means and includes the
written or verbal authorization of an officer, agency or
judge of the City of Wheat Ridge or the State of Colorado
authorizing or requiring an act which is done in pursuance
of such authorization; and, in the case of any provision
defining an offense against private property, the written or
verbal authorization or permission of the owner of such
property. A public officer or employee acting within the
scope of his authority or employment shall be deemed to have
proper authorization therefor.
(f) "Public place" means and includes:
(1) Any street, highway, public right-of-way,
sidewalk, driveway, alley, church, school building, school
grounds, public building, library, fire station, park,
parking lot or vacant land.
(2) The entire premises of any shopping center,
restaurant, bar, store, service establishment, service
station, theater, auditorium or place of amusement, except
any portion of the premises reserved for the use of the
owner or operator thereof or the employees of such owner or
operator, and except any portion of the premises from which
the general public is excluded.
(3) Any lobby, corridor, elevator, stairway,
public room, common room or recreation room in a hotel,
motel, office building or apartment building.
(g) "Owner" means and includes:
(1) Any owner or holder of any legal or equitable
estate in real property, including a dominant or servient
tenement, except a future or reversionary interest and
except the interest of a public trustee, lien holder,
mortgagee, or beneficiary of a deed of trust.
(2) The owner of record, as reflected by the
records of the office of the County Clerk and Recorder of
the County of Jefferson, State of Colorado.
(h) "Occupant" means and includes any person who
occupies the whole or a part of a building, premises, or
land, whether alone or with others.
(i) "Agent" means and includes any person acting on
behalf of or in place of the owner.
(j) "Litter" means and includes any and every rubbish,
waste material, refuse, garbage, trash, debris, excrement,
urine, offal composed of animal matter or vegetable matter
or both, or any noxious or offensive matter whatever,
including but not limited to, any discarded dead animal,
dead bird, dead fish, fishing line, bait, chemical, chemical
compound, petroleum product or compound, automobile part or
accessory, tire, wheel, junk, paper, cardboard, can, lid,
bottle, cap, carton, wrapper, box, wooden object, plastic
object, clothing, cloth, metal object, rubber object,
leather object, hide, feathers, grass clippings, leaves, cut
weeds, branches cut from trees or bushes, brick,
cinderblock, building material, paint, concrete, sand,
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gravel, stone, glass, asphalt, ashes, cigarette, cigar, food
or food product, solvent, dye, beverage, and liquid except
water.
(k) "Public or Private Property" includes, but is not
limited to, the real property, building or structure thereon
of any person, state, county, city, public or private
corporation, or the United States; the right-of-way of any
street, road, railroad, or highway; and any body of water,
irrigation ditch, or watercourse, including frozen areas
thereof and the shores and beaches thereof; any park,
playground building or recreation area; and any school
grounds, school building or property used for school
purposes.
(1) "Trees and Shrubs" include all trees, shrubs,
bushes and all other woody vegetation.
(m) "Public Nuisance" includes:
(1) The conducting or maintaining of any
business, occupation or activity prohibited by statute or by
this Chapter 13.
(2) The continuous or repeated conducting or
maintaining of any business, occupation, operation,
activity, building, land or premises in violation of statute
or this Chapter 13.
(3) Any building, structure or land open to or
used by the general public, the condition of which presents
a substantial danger or hazard to public health or safety.
(4) Any unlawful pollution or contamination of
any surface or subsurface waters in this city, or of the
air, or of any water, substance, or material intended for
human consumption.
(5) Any activity, operation or condition which,
after being ordered abated, corrected or discontinued by a
lawful order of an agency or officer of the City or the
County of Jefferson, continues to be conducted or continues
to exist in violation of statute or this Chapter 13 or in
violation of any regulation of the City of Wheat Ridge, the
County of Jefferson, or the State of Colorado.
(6) Any activity, operation, condition, building,
structure, place, premises or thing which is injurious to
the health or safety of the citizens of Wheat Ridge, or
which is indecent or offensive to the senses so as to
interfere with the comfortable enjoyment of life or
property.
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(7) Any nuisance defined or declared as such by
statute or this Chapter 13.
(n) "Mayor" and "City Administrator" refer to the
elected position of Mayor and the appointed position of City
Administrator for the City, or their designees.
Sec. 13-3. Enforcement Intent.
In furtherance of the City's policy of encouraging
voluntary compliance with all provisions of this Code of
Laws, any person deemed or alleged to be in violation of, or
not in compliance with, any of the provisions of this
Chapter 13 shall, to the extent possible or practical, be
notified of such alleged violation or lack of compliance
prior to the initiation either of abatement or enforcement
proceedings, and shall be offered a reasonable opportunity
to bring the property, or use of the property, into
compliance with the provisions of this Code of Laws.
Sec. 13-4. Inspection of Properties.
(a) Authorized Inspector. The Mayor and the City
Administrator shall have the power and authority to appoint
and authorize any police officer, building inspector, zoning
enforcement officer, or other officer of the City to inspect
and examine any public or private property in the City for
the purpose of ascertaining the nature and existence of any
nuisance.
(b) Right of Entry Generally. Whenever necessary
to make an inspection to enforce any of the provisions of
this chapter, or whenever an authorized inspector has
reasonable cause to believe that there exists in any
building or upon any premises any condition which
constitutes a nuisance hereunder, such inspector may enter
such building or premises at all reasonable times to inspect
the same or to perform any duty imposed on him; provided,
however, that if such building or premises is occupied, such
inspector shall first present proper credentials and request
entry; and if such building or premises is unoccupied, he
shall first make a reasonable effort to locate the owner or
occupant or other person or persons having charge or control
of the building or premises, and upon locating the owner,
occupant or other person or persons shall present proper
credentials and request entry. If entry is refused, such
person shall give the owner or occupant, or if the owner or
occupant cannot be located after a reasonable effort, he
shall leave at the building or premises, a written notice of
intention to inspect not sooner than twenty-four (24) hours
after the time specified in the notice. The notice given to
the owner or occupant or left on the premises shall state
that the property owner has the right to refuse entry and
that in the event such entry is refused, inspection may be
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made only upon issuance of a search warrant by a Municipal
Judge of the City, or by a judge of any other court having
jurisdiction. The requirements of this Section 13-4 shall
not apply to public places, including privately owned vacant
land, as defined in Section 13-2(f), which may be inspected
by an authorized inspector at any time without notice.
(c) Search Warrants. After the expiration of the
twenty-four hour period from the giving or leaving of such
notice, the authorized inspector may appear before any
Municipal Judge of the municipal court of the City and upon
a showing of probable cause by written affidavit shall
obtain a search warrant entitling him to enter the building
or upon the premises. Upon presentation of the search
warrant and proper credentials, or possession of same in the
case of an unoccupied building or premises, the authorized
inspector may enter into the building or upon the premises
using such reasonable force as may be necessary to gain
entry.
(d) Same Probable Cause. For purposes of this
Section 13-4, a determination of "probable cause" will be
based upon reasonableness, and if a valid public interest
and reasonable suspicion of violation justifies the
intrusion contemplated, then there is probable cause to
issue a search warrant. The person applying for such
warrant shall not be required to demonstrate specific
knowledge of the condition of the particular structure or
premises in issue in order to obtain a search warrant, but
must show some factual or practical circumstances that would
cause an ordinary prudent person to act. It is unlawful for
any owner or occupant of the building or premises to deny
entry to any authorized inspector or to resist reasonable
force used by an authorized inspector, acting pursuant to
this section.
(e) Right of Entry Emergencies. Whenever an
emergency situation exists in relation to the enforcement of
any of the provisions of this Chapter 13, an authorized
inspector upon a presentation of proper credentials or
identification, in the case of an occupied building or
premises, or possession of the credentials in the case of an
unoccupied building or premises, may enter into any building
or upon any premises within the jurisdiction of the City.
(1) In the emergency situation such person or his
authorized representative may use such reasonable force as
may be necessary to gain entry into the building or upon the
premises.
(2) For purposes of this subsection, an emergency
situation includes any situation where there is imminent
danger of loss of, or injury or damage to, life, limb or
property. It is unlawful for any owner or occupant of the
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building or premises to deny entry to any authorized
inspector or to resist reasonable force used by the
authorized official acting pursuant to this Section 13-3(e).
(f) Search Warrants Jurisdiction of the Municipal
Court. Any Municipal Judge of the municipal court of the
City shall have power to issue search warrants upon a
showing of probable cause as provided in subsections (c) and
(d) of this section.
Sec. 13-5. Abatement of Nuisances.
(a) Notice of Abatement. The authorized inspector as
provided by Section 13-4(a), upon the discovery of any
nuisance on public or private property in the City, shall
notify the owner or occupant of such property in writing,
requiring the owner or occupant of the property to remove
and abate from the property the thing or things therein
described as a nuisance within the time specified in the
notice.
(1) The time for abatement of a nuisance posing
an imminent danger of damage or injury to or loss of life,
limb, property or health shall not exceed one (1) day.
(2) As to other nuisances, the reasonable time
for abatement shall not exceed seven (7) days unless it
appears from the facts and circumstances that compliance
could not reasonably be made within seven (7) days or that a
good faith attempt at compliance is being made.
(3) In furtherance of the City's policy of
encouraging both the abatement of nuisances and compliance
with the provisions of this Code of Laws, any person served
with either a notice to abate or a summons and complaint for
a violation of any of the provisions of this Chapter 13
shall be notified in writing by the Mayor, the City
Administrator, or their designee, that in the event the
violation cited in the notice to abate and/or summons and
complaint is abated within seven (7) days from the date of
issuance of this notice to abate and/or summons and
complaint, cancellation of the notice to abate or dismissal
from the municipal court of the summons and complaint shall
occur.
(4) If the owner or occupant shall fail to comply
with the requirements for a period longer than that named in
the notice, then the Mayor or the City Administrator shall
proceed to have the nuisance described in the notice removed
or abated from the property described in the notice without
delay; and the Mayor or the City Administrator shall have
the authority to call for any necessary assistance. In no
event shall the notice described by this section be required
prior to issuance of a summons and complaint.
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(b) Service of Notice. The written notice to abate
shall be served by an authorized inspector of the City by:
(1) Personally delivering a copy of the notice to
the owner of the property described in the notice if the
owner also resides at the property; or
(2) Personally
the non-owner occupant or
in the notice and mailing
mail, return receipt requ
the owner as reflected in
records; or
delivering a copy of the notice to
resident of the property described
a copy of the notice by certified
asted, to the last known address of
the Jefferson County real estate
(3) mailing a copy of the notice by certified
mail, return receipt requested, to the last known address of
the owner of the property described in the notice as
reflected in the Jefferson County real estate records if the
property is unoccupied and by posting a copy of the notice
in a conspicuous place at the unoccupied premises.
(c) Contents of Notice. Any notice issued pursuant to
the provisions of this section to the owner, agent or
occupant of property in which a nuisance is discovered,
shall describe the condition that is a nuisance; the time in
which the condition is to be removed and abated from the
property; and contain a statement that the owner, agent or
occupant of the property, within the period of notice, may
protest the findings of the authorized inspector with
respect to any matters stated in the notice, by filing a
written notice of protest pursuant to Section 13-6 in the
office of the Wheat Ridge Director of Planning and
Development.
(d) Abatement After Notice. After issuance of a
notice as provided in this Section:
(1) If the owner of the premises refuses or fails
to comply with the directions of the written notice, the
Mayor, the City Administrator or his designated
representative may enter upon such property for the purposes
of abating the nuisance as provided in Section 13-6.
(2) Upon the filing of a protest as provided in
the notice, the period of notice shall be extended until
final disposition of the protest plus ten (10) days.
(e) Abatement Without Notice. Any nuisance located or
found in or upon any street, avenue, alley, sidewalk,
highway, public right-of-way, public grounds, park,
recreation facility, or public property in the City may be
abated by the Mayor, the City Administrator or the
designated representative of either without notice.
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(f) Abatement by Court Order. The City may bring and
maintain an action in any court of record for the
prevention, restraining, abatement or enjoining of any
public nuisance; or in the alternative the City may abate
any private or public nuisance after notice as provided by
this Section; or bring and maintain any other proceeding
provided by law. When judgment is rendered against any
person for creating, keeping, or maintaining any nuisance it
shall be the duty of the court before whom such judgment is
had, to order the defendant in such suit to forthwith abate
the nuisance. The order shall be entered upon the docket of
the court and be made a part of the judgment.
Sec. 13-6. Recovery of Expense of Abatement.
(a) Upon the expiration of the period of notice
provided in Section 13-5(a), or at any time thereafter, if
the nuisance has not been abated on the property described
in such notice, the Mayor or City Administrator may
authorize entry upon such property for abating the nuisance
pursuant to the provisions of this Chapter 13. The actual
costs of abatement, including five (5) percent of such
abatement costs for inspection, a minimum fee assessment of
twenty-five dollars ($25.00) and other incidental costs of
abatement, shall be assessed upon the lot, lots or tracts of
land in the City upon which such nuisance is abated.
(b) Such costs shall be paid to the City Treasurer
within thirty (30) days after the City Treasurer has mailed
notice of the assessment of such costs by registered or
certified mail to the owner of the property; provided,
however, that if the property is occupied by someone other
than the owner, the City Treasurer shall mail such notice of
assessment by registered or certified mail, return receipt
requested, to both the occupant and the owner. Service
shall be complete upon depositing the notice within the
United States Postal Service, postage prepaid for certified
mail, return receipt requested. Every such assessment shall
be a lien in the several amounts assessed against such lot,
lots or tract of land until paid, and shall have priority
over all other liens, except general taxes and prior special
assessments.
(c) In case any assessment is not paid within thirty
(30) days after the assessment has been certified to the
City Treasurer by the City Administrator, the City Treasurer
shall then be and is hereby authorized to certify to the
County Treasurer of the County of Jefferson, State of
Colorado, the list of all delinquent assessments, giving the
name of the owner as appears of record, the number of lot,
block and subdivision, or other legal descriptions
sufficient to identify such property upon the records of the
County Treasurer, and the amount of the assessment. The
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certification shall be the same in substance and in form as
is required for the certification of special assessment.
The County Treasurer, upon the receipt of a certified list
of assessments is hereby authorized to place those
assessments upon the tax list for the current year and to
collect those assessments in the same manner as other taxes
are collected with a ten percent (10%) penalty thereon; and
all the laws of the State for the assessment and collection
of general taxes, including the laws for the sale of
property for taxes and the redemption thereof, shall apply
to and have full force and effect for the collection of such
assessments.
Sec. 13-7. Protest of Notice of Abatement.
(a) The owner, agent or occupant of the property
subject to a notice of abatement, within the period of
notice, may protest the findings of the authorized inspector
with respect to any matters stated in the notice, by filing
a notice of protest in the office of the Wheat Ridge
Director of Planning. upon receipt of any notice of protest
the Planning Director shall forward the notice to the
Municipal Court referee who shall schedule a hearing on the
protest. Such hearing shall be conducted in accordance with
Section 13-7(b) and Chapter 12A of the Wheat Ridge Code of
Laws. During the pendency of the protest, the notice of
abatement shall be extended as provided in
Section 13-45d)(2) of this chapter.
(b) Within fifteen (15) days after the receipt of the
protest by the City, the Municipal Court referee shall
schedule and conduct a hearing on the protest. At the
hearing, the protesting party and representatives of the
City shall appear in person. Both parties may be
represented by any person or by legal counsel. The parties
shall have the right to present evidence and arguments, to
confront and cross-examine any witness, and to oppose any
testimony or statement relied upon by an adverse party. The
referee may receive and consider any evidence which has
probative value commonly accepted by reasonable and prudent
persons in the conduct of their affairs.
(c) Once the municipal court referee has scheduled a
hearing on the protest, written notice of such hearing shall
be given to the protesting party and the authorized
inspector which served the notice of abatement. Such notice
of hearing shall be served by personal service, by leaving a
copy of the notice at the party's usual place of abode with
some person over the age of eighteen years residing therein,
or by mailing a copy to the party's last known address by
certified mail, return receipt requested, not less than
forty-eight (48) hours prior to the time the party is to
appear. In addition, the protesting party shall
conspicuously post a notice of such hearing on the property
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subject to the notice of abatement not less than forty-eight
(48) hours prior to the time the party is to appear.
Sec. 13-8. Unlawful Acts.
(a) It shall be unlawful for any person:
(1) To create, operate, maintain or conduct any
nuisance as defined in this Chapter 13 of the Code of Laws
of the City of Wheat Ridge.
(2) To interfere with or prevent, or attempt to
interfere with or prevent, the abatement of any nuisance by
an officer of the City of Wheat Ridge pursuant to the
provisions of this Chapter 13.
(3) To allow any public or private property,
including any private residence, to deteriorate, either
through abandonment or neglect, to the extent that such
public or private property becomes an unsightly nuisance and
a detriment or danger to surrounding property or the general
public. Evidence of abandonment or neglect which could
render a property either an unsightly nuisance or a
detriment or a danger to surrounding property could include
a combination of some of the following occurrences or
conditions, or occurrences and conditions which are similar
to the following:
Substantial peeling or faded paint, broken shutters or
facia, bent, broken or rusted gutters, broken windows or
screens, detached doors or screens, broken or damaged
fencing, damaged or dead landscaping, cracked and/or
potholed cement or asphalt paving, presence of weeds in
gravel or paved parking areas; provided, however, that no
Summons or Complaint or Notice to Abate shall issue under
this Subsection 13-8(a)(3) unless and until it can be
established that the property has been abandoned in fact or
that the provisions of Section 13-3 have been complied
with.
(b) Any person who makes or causes any nuisance to
exist shall be deemed the author of the nuisance. Moreover,
any person who has possession or control of any private
ground or premises, whether he is owner of the property or
not, where any nuisance exists or is found, shall be deemed
the author of the nuisance. Each and every day during which
any nuisance continues shall be deemed a separate offense
and shall be prosecutable and punishable as a separate
offense.
Sec. 13-9. Nuisance violation Penalty.
(a) Violation of the provisions of this Chapter 13 of
the Wheat Ridge Code of Laws, shall be punishable by a fine
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of not more than nine hundred ninety-nine dollars ($999.00),
or by imprisonment in the Jefferson County jail for not more
than one hundred eighty (180) days, or by both fine and
imprisonment unless otherwise provided by statute; provided,
however, that no person under the age of eighteen (18) years
shall be subject to imprisonment for a violation of this
Chapter 13.
(b) All remedies set forth herein are cumulative, and
the exercise of one shall not be deemed to prevent the
exercise of another, nor to bar, nor negate, any prosecution
under other provisions of this Code of Laws or any petition
for injunction as provided by law.
ARTICLE II. SPECIFIED NUISANCES
Sec. 13-10. Offensive Trade or Business. Whenever
the pursuit of any trade, business or manufacture or the
maintenance of any substance or condition of things results
in a condition detrimental to the health, safety or general
welfare of the inhabitants of the city, such pursuit shall
be declared unlawful, shall be deemed a nuisance, and shall
be abated. By way of illustration, but not limitation, the
pursuit of the following trades or businesses within the
City of Wheat Ridge shall constitute unlawful nuisances:
(a) Junkyards and Dumping Grounds. All places used or
maintained, or permitted to be used or maintained, as
junkyards, or dumping grounds, or for the wrecking or
disassembling of automobiles, trucks, tractors or machinery
of any kind, or for the storing or leaving of worn out,
wrecked or abandoned automobiles, machinery of any kind, or
for any of the parts thereof, or for the storing or leaving
of any machinery or equipment used by contractors or
builders or by other persons, when such places are kept in
such manner as to interfere with the comfortable enjoyment
of life or property by others. Nothing in Section 13-9(a)
shall be deemed or construed to prevent the City from
acquiring, operating and maintaining a facility for the
storage of motor vehicles, vehicles, boats, machinery or
equipment pursuant to the Code of Laws of the City of Wheat
Ridge.
(b) Slaughterhouses and Rendering Plants. All places
used or maintained or permitted to be used or maintained for
slaughtering animals, for bone crushing, bone boiling, bone
rendering, bone burning, fat boiling, fat rendering, fat
drying, gut cleaning or the making of glue, or the
manufacture of fertilizing materials of any kind or
description from any dead animal or part thereof, or any
boiling of offal, swill, fat or grease of any description
when such places are operated in an unclean or offensive
manner, or when such places are operated so as to interfere
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with the comfortable enjoyment of life or property by
others.
(c) Construction Sites. All places at which
construction or excavation operations occur and from which
trucks or other vehicles emerge from the site and carry onto
or deposit in any street or other public place any mud,
dirt, sticky substance or other litter which causes a hazard
to automobile traffic or which otherwise causes a detriment
to the health, safety or welfare of the inhabitants of the
City or their property, or to any property of the City.
(d) Storage Operations. All places at which the owner
or occupant keeps, stores or permits to be kept or stored
any building materials, construction materials, paper,
trash, waste material or litter upon any property in such a
manner to cause a fire hazard or other detriment to the
health, safety or general welfare of the inhabitants of the
City, or in such a manner that the stored materials may be
blown or deposited upon any other public or private
property.
Sec. 13-11. Littering Public or Private Property.
(a) It shall be unlawful and deemed a nuisance for any
person to deposit, throw or place any litter upon any
street, alley, sidewalk, or public grounds in the City of
Wheat Ridge except in public receptacles or authorized
private receptacles.
(b) It shall be unlawful and deemed a nuisance for any
person, while an operator or passenger in any vehicle, to
deposit, throw or place any litter in or upon any street,
alley, sidewalk or public grounds in the City of Wheat Ridge
except in public receptacles and authorized private
receptacles.
(c) It shall be unlawful and deemed a nuisance to
operate any truck, trailer or vehicle in such a manner that
the load or any portion of the content of such vehicle is
blown or deposited in or upon any street, alley, sidewalk or
public grounds in the City of Wheat Ridge.
(d) It shall be unlawful and deemed a nuisance for any
person to deposit, throw or place any papers, newspapers,
handbills, letters, samples or political literature in or
upon any public street, alley, sidewalk or public grounds in
the City of Wheat Ridge.
(e) It shall be unlawful and deemed a nuisance for any
person, except an authorized public employee or officer, or
a person who has previously obtained a permit to do so from
the City of Wheat Ridge to post, place, glue, staple, nail,
affix, or attach any handbill, poster, placard, sign,
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announcement or other painted or printed material upon or to
any street, alley, sidewalk, lawful sign, telephone pole,
power pole, or any public or private dwelling, store, or
other building or fence within the City of Wheat Ridge
without the permission of the owner or occupant of such
property; provided, however, that any such sign, poster,
placard, announcement or other painted or printed material
so posted, placed, glued, stapled, nailed, affixed or
attached shall be removed no later than twenty-four (24)
hours after the event advertised has ended.
(f) It shall be unlawful and deemed a nuisance for any
person to deposit, throw or place any litter on any public
or private property or in any water in the City of Wheat
Ridge unless:
(1) Such property is an area designated by law,
ordinance or regulation for the disposal of such material
and such person is authorized by the proper public authority
to so use such property; or
(2) The litter is placed in a receptacle or
container installed on such property for such purpose; or
(3) Such person is the owner or occupant in
lawful possession of such property, or has first obtained
written consent of the owner or tenant in lawful possession,
or unless the act is done under the personal direction of
said owner or occupant and does not create a public nuisance
as that term is defined in Section 13-2(m).
(g) In no event shall a declaration and abatement of a
nuisance pursuant to this Section 13-11 negate or preempt
the issuance of summons and complaints for violations of
Sections 14-34 through 14-38, inclusive, or Chapter 9 of the
Wheat Ridge Code of Laws.
Sec. 13-12. Unclean stable or stall; manure fertilizer
offensive in odor; building or use offensive in odor or to
sight.
(a) Any animal or fowl enclosure in which any animal
or fowl shall be kept, or in any other place within the City
in which manure or liquid discharges of such animals or
fowls shall accumulate, and which is maintained in an
unsanitary condition, allowing an offensive odor to escape
therefrom, or providing an insect or rodent attractant,
shall be deemed a nuisance.
(b) Manure or any other organic material used on
premises within the City for fertilizing purposes shall not
be allowed to become offensive to sight, an attraction to
insects or rodents, or otherwise create an unsanitary
condition.
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(c) Whenever manure or any other organic material
shall accumulate and affect the health of the public, it may
be forbidden and designated a nuisance under the provisions
of this chapter.
(d) It shall be unlawful and constitute a nuisance for
any person in the City to allow any building or premise or
appurtenance thereof, or any use made or maintained on or
within property within the City, to become offensive in
odor, offensive to sight, or to create an unsanitary or
hazardous health condition.
Sec. 13-13. Blowing Dust.
(a) It shall be unlawful and deemed a nuisance for a
person to maintain any lot or lots or vacant land within the
City of Wheat Ridge so as to allow the blowing of dust, soil
or sand from such property to the detriment of the health,
safety and general welfare of the inhabitants of the City or
to cause damage to the real or personal property of any
person or of the City.
(b) It shall be unlawful and deemed a nuisance for the
owner or occupant of any lot or lots or vacant land within
the City of Wheat Ridge to maintain lots or vacant land in
such a manner that permits dust or blowing soil or blowing
sand to be deposited on other property, or to be deposited
upon or within any public street, public highway or public
way.
Sec. 13-14. Offensive Locations.
(a) Stagnant Ponds. Any cellar, vault, drain, sewer,
pond of water, or other place in the City of Wheat Ridge,
that shall be noxious or offensive to others, or injurious
to public health, through an accumulation or deposition of
noxious, offensive or foul water, or other substances, or be
conducive to the breeding of mosquitoes, shall be unlawful
and deemed a nuisance.
(b) Open Wells, Cisterns or Excavations. It is hereby
declared that excavations exceeding five (5) feet in depth,
cisterns and wells or an excavation used for storage of
water within the City of Wheat Ridge are public nuisances
unless the same are adequately covered with a locked lid, or
other covering weighing at least sixty (60) pounds or are
securely fenced with a solid fence to a height of at least
five (5) feet and it shall be unlawful for any person to
permit such nuisance to remain on premises owned or occupied
by him.
(c) Stale Matter. It shall be unlawful and deemed a
nuisance to keep, collect, or use or cause to be kept,
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collected, or used in the City of Wheat Ridge, or permit to
be kept or used, any stale, putrid, or stinking fat or
grease or other matter.
(d) Sewer Inlet. It shall be unlawful and deemed a
nuisance to deposit in or throw into, or permit to be
deposited in or thrown into, any sewer, sewer inlet, or
privy vault that shall have a sewer connection, any article
whatsoever that might cause such sewer, sewer inlet, or
privy vault, to overflow, backup or otherwise become noxious
or offensive to others, or to become injurious to public
health, safety or general welfare of the residents of the
City of Wheat Ridge.
Sec. 13-15. Offensive Discharges.
(a) Noxious Liquids. It
a nuisance to discharge out of
from any house or place in the
or noxious liquid or substance
or upon any adjacent ground or
alley or public place in the C
shall be unlawful and deemed
or from, or permit to flow
City of Wheat Ridge, any foul
of any kind whatsoever, into
lot, or into any street,
ity.
(b) Liquid Fuel Products. The City Council hereby
finds and declares that the leakage of 25 gallons or more of
liquid fuel products into the environment of the City of
Wheat Ridge from any tank, line, or delivery vehicle,
constitutes a danger to the health, safety and welfare of
the general public and the citizens of Wheat Ridge and is
therefore a public nuisance.
(1) To aid in preventing the leakage of liquid
fuel products, the owner, station manager, or leaseholder,
as operator of each underground liquid fuel installation
located in the City of Wheat Ridge shall cause to be posted
in a conspicuous place at said installation a true copy of
the Colorado Oil Inspection Regulations concerning
Instruction Requirements for Leak Detection.
(2) Such owner, station manager, or leaseholder,
as operator, shall also maintain and reconcile accurate
daily inventory records on all underground liquid fuel tanks
for indication of possible leakage from tanks or piping.
(c) Leaking Receptacles, Offensive Channels. Any
unclean, leaking, foul, unsafe, or dangerous, defective or
filthy drain, ditch, trail, or gutter, or any leaking or
broken slop, garbage, or manure box or receptacle of like
character, whenever and wherever found in the City, shall be
deemed a nuisance.
(d) Harmful Chemicals. It shall be unlawful and
deemed a nuisance for any property owner to apply or use any
herbicide, pesticide, insecticide, rodenticide,
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disinfectant, fumigant or other harmful chemical, gas or
vapor upon his property in such a manner that the harmful
chemical, gas or vapor leaches, escapes, migrates, or flows
from his property and deposits in or on any other public or
private property.
(e) Diesel Emissions. It shall be unlawful for any
owner or operator of any diesel powered engine to cause or
permit the same to be idled for a period in excess of
fifteen (15) consecutive minutes, or for a period in excess
of forty-five (45) minutes in any one hundred-twenty (120)
minute period, (it being the intent of this provision that
an owner or operator may not circumvent the provisions of
this Section by the repeated turning on and off of a diesel
engine) at any time that the outside temperature is
twenty-two degrees Fahrenheit (22°) or above; provided,
however, that unattended vehicles operated by diesel powered
engines shall not be allowed to idle at any time; and
provided further, however, that the provisions of this
Section shall not apply to ambulances or other emergency
vehicles.
Sec. 13-16. Weed Control.
(a) All owners and occupants of land in the City of
Wheat Ridge shall prevent property owned or occupied by them
from becoming overgrown in weeds as that term is defined in
Section 9-7 of the Wheat Ridge Code of Laws.
(b) It shall be unlawful and shall be deemed a
nuisance for the owner or occupant of any property, except
property zoned as agricultural or open space, to permit
weeds to grow on such property to a height of more than
twelve (12) inches.
(c) It shall be unlawful for the owner or occupant of
any property zoned as agricultural or open space, including
public right-of-way, to permit weeds to grow on such
property to a height of more than twelve (12) inches, within
a distance of one hundred (100) feet from any public street,
highway or park, or within a distance of one hundred (100)
feet from property lines adjoining any residential,
commercial, industrial or open zone or use.
(d) Weeds shall be controlled by cutting, spraying or
other lawful and suitable method of weed control.
(e) It shall be unlawful and shall be deemed a
nuisance for the owner or occupant of any property within
the City, regardless of its zoning, to allow weeds to grow
on the adjacent street or right of way to a height of more
than twelve (12} inches.
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Sec. 13-17. Trees and Shrubs.
(a) Trees, shrubs and other vegetation which are dead,
broken, diseased, or infested by insects so as to endanger
the well-being of other trees, shrubs or vegetation or
constitute a potential threat or hazard to people or
property within the City of Wheat Ridge, or otherwise
violate the provisions of Chapter 22 of the Wheat Ridge Code
of Laws are hereby declared a nuisance.
(b) The City arborist as authorized by the arborist
board in Section 22-3 of the Wheat Ridge Code of Laws shall
give written notice to the owner or occupant of any property
abutting City rights-of-way or other public property of any
condition deemed unsafe caused by trees and other vegetation
overhanging or projecting from such abutting property and
onto or over such right-of-way or other public property with
such unsafe condition. It shall be the duty of the City
arborist to correct any such unsafe condition immediately
upon the expiration of the notice periods specified in the
notice of abatement. The City arborist may elect to use the
notice and abatement provisions of either this Chapter 13 or
Chapter 22 of the Wheat Ridge Code of Laws and the election
to use the provisions of one chapter will not negate or
preempt the concurrent or subsequent use of the provisions
of the other chapter.
(c) It shall be unlawful and deemed a nuisance for any
person, firm or corporation to cut, trim, spray, remove,
treat or plant any tree, vine, shrub, hedge or other woody
plants upon access controlled arterials or other public
parks and greenbelts within the City of Wheat Ridge, unless
authorized or directed by the City arborist.
(d) It shall be unlawful and deemed a nuisance for any
person to injure, damage or destroy any tree, shrub, vine,
hedge, or other vegetation in or upon public rights-of-way
or other public property within the City of Wheat Ridge,
except any person who notifies the City arborist of such
injury, damage or destruction and makes arrangements to
repair or replace such vegetation or pay for the cost of
such repair or replacement.
(e) It shall be unlawful and deemed a nuisance to sell
or import into the City of Wheat Ridge or plant or cause to
be planted any female cottonwood trees (Populus spices),
Boxelder (Acer negundo) or Siberian elm (Ulmus pumila) or
other undesirable plants as designated by ordinance upon any
property within the City and the planting or setting out of
these certain plants is declared to be a menace to public
health, safety and welfare and a public nuisance.
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Sec. 13-18. Offensive or Unhealthy Uses.
(a) No building, vehicle, structure, receptacle or
other thing used, or to be used, for any purpose whatever,
shall be used, made kept, maintained or operated in or
retained within the City of Wheat Ridge, if the use,
keeping, maintaining or operation of the same shall be the
occasion of any nuisance or danger or detriment to the
public health.
(b) Every other act or thing done or made, committed
or allowed, or continued on any public or private property
by any person, which is detrimental to health, offensive to
sight, smell or hearing, or causes damage or injury to any
of the inhabitants of the City of Wheat Ridge, and not
otherwise specified in this Chapter 13, shall be deemed a
nuisance.
Section 2: Severability. If any clause, sentence,
paragraph, or part of this ordinance or the application thereof
to any person or circumstances shall for any reason be adjudged
by a court of competent jurisdiction invalid, such judgment shall
not affect application to other persons or circumstances.
Section 3: Safety Clause. The City Council hereby finds,
determines, and declares that this ordinance is promulgated under
the general police power of the City of Wheat Ridge and under the
laws of the State of Colorado, that it is promulgated for the
health, safety, and welfare of the public, and that this
ordinance is necessary for the preservation of health and safety
and for the protection of public convenience and welfare. The
City Council further determines that the ordinance bears a
rational relation to the proper legislative object sought to be
attained.
Section 5: This ordinance shall take effect one (1) day
after final publication.
INTRODUCED, READ, AND ADOPTED on first reading by a vote of
6 to 2 on this 2nd day of May ,
1988, ordered published in full in a newspaper of general
circulation in the City of Wheat Ridge and Public Hearing and
consideration on final passage set for Monday, June 13 ,
1988, at 7:30 o'clock p.m., in the Council Chambers, 7500 West
29th Avenue, Wheat Ridge, Colorado.
READ, ADOPTED, AND ORDERED PUBLISHED on second and final
reading by a vote of 7 to 1 this 13th day of
June , 1988.
198 8.
SIGNED by the Mayor on this 14th day of June
18
Dan Wilde, Mayor
1
ATTEST:
a '
_1Y
WancTa 'Sang, City Cle
1st Publication: May 5, 1988
2nd Publication: June 23, 1988
Wheat Ridge Sentinel:
Effective Date: June 24, 1988
APPROVED AS TO FORM BY
OFFICE OF CITY ATTORNEY
n E. Hayes
19