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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FOLLOWS: Section 1: Sections 13-1 through 13-18, inclusive, of the Code of Laws of the City of Wheat Ridge are hereby repealed and reenacted as follows: ARTICLE I. IN GENERAL Sec. 13-1.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, 2 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. 3 (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 4 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 5 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. 6 (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. 7 (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 8 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 9 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 10 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 11 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, 12 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. 13 (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, 14 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, 15 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. 16 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. 17 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