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Section 8.70

Subd 1. PUBLIC NUISANCE DEFINED. Within the City of Tracy, Minnesota (hereinafter referred to as "City"), whoever by his or her act or failure to perform a legal duty intentionally does any of the following is guilty of maintaining a public nuisance, which is a misdemeanor.

 

  1.     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
  2.     Interferes with, obstructs, or renders dangerous for passage, any public highway or right-of-way, or waters used by the public, or 
  3.     Is guilty of any other act or omission declared by law or this Ordinance to be a public nuisance and for which no sentence is specifically provided.

 


Subd 2. PUBLIC NUISANCES AFFECTING HEALTH. The following are hereby declared to be nuisances affecting health:

  1.  Exposed accumulation of decayed or unwholesome food or vegetable matter;
  2.  All diseased animals running at large;
  3.  All ponds or pools of stagnant water;
  4.  Carcasses of animals not buried or destroyed within twenty-four (24) hours after death;
  5.  Accumulations of manure, refuse, or other debris;
  6.  Privy vaults and garbage cans which are non rodent-free or fly-tight or which are so maintained as to constitute a health hazard or to emit foul and disagreeable odors;
  7.  The pollution of any public well or cistern, stream or lake, canal or body of water by sewage, industrial waste, or other substances;
  8.  Dense smoke, noxious fumes, gas, and soot, or cinders, in unreasonable quantities;
  9.  All public exposure or people having a contagious disease;
  10.  Any offensive trade or business as defined by statute not operating under local license.

 


Subd 3. PUBLIC NUISANCES AFFECTING MORALS AND DECENCY. The following are hereby declared to be nuisances affecting public morals and decency;

 

  1.   All gambling devices, slot machines, and punch boards, except as otherwise authorized by Ordinance or state statute;
  2.  Betting, bookmaking, and all apparatus used in such occupations;
  3.  All houses kept for the purposes of prostitution or promiscuous sexual intercourse, gambling houses, houses of ill fame, and bawdy houses;
  4.  All places where intoxicating liquor is manufactured or disposed of in violation of law or where, in violation of law, people are permitted to resort for the purpose of drinking intoxicating liquor, or where intoxicating liquor is kept for sale or other disposition in violation of law, and all liquor and other property used for maintaining such a place;
  5.  Any vehicle used for the transportation with the intent to sell intoxicating liquor, or for promiscuous sexual intercourse, or any other immoral or illegal purpose.

 


Subd 4. PUBLIC NUISANCES AFFECTING PEACE AND SAFETY. The following are declared to be nuisances affecting public peace and safety:

  1.  All trees, hedges, billboards or other obstructions which prevent people from having a clear view of all traffic approaching an intersection;
  2.  All wires and limbs of trees which are so close to the surface of a sidewalk or street as to constitute a danger to pedestrians or vehicles;
  3.  All unnecessary noises and annoying vibrations;
  4.  Obstructions and excavations affecting the ordinary public use of streets, alleys, sidewalks, or public grounds except under such conditions as are permitted by Ordinance or other applicable law;
  5.  Radio aerials or television antennae erected or maintained in a dangerous manner;
  6.  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;
  7.  All hanging signs, awnings, and other similar structures over streets and sidewalks, or so situated so as to endanger public safety, or not constructed and maintained as provided by Ordinance;
  8.  The allowing of rain water, ice, or snow to fall from any building or structure upon any street or sidewalk or to flow across any sidewalk;
  9.  Any barbed wire fence less than six (6) feet above the ground and within three (3) feet of a public sidewalk or way;
  10.  All dangerous, unguarded machinery in any public place, or so situated or operated on private property as to attract the public;
  11.  Waste water cast upon or permitted to flow upon streets or other public properties;
  12.  Parking or storing any unlicensed, unregistered or inoperable motor vehicle; household furnishings or appliances on private property, unless housed within a lawfully erected building;
  13.  Accumulations in the open of discarded or disused machinery, household appliances, automobile bodies, garbage, refuse or other material, in a manner conducive to the harboring of rats, mice, snakes, or vermin, or the rank growth of vegetation among the items so accumulated, or in a manner creating fire, health, or safety hazards from such accumulation;
  14.  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;
  15.  Obstruction to the free flow of water in a natural waterway or a public street drain, gutter, or ditch with trash or other materials;
  16.  The placing or throwing on any street, sidewalk, or other public property of any glass, tacks, nails, bottles, or other substance which may injure any person or animal or damage any pneumatic tire when passing over such substance;
  17.  The depositing of garbage or refuse on a public right-of-way or on adjacent private property;
  18.  All other conditions or things which are likely to cause injury to the person or property of anyone.

 


Subd 5. DUTIES OR CITY OFFICERS. The City Administrator and/or Tracy Police Department shall enforce the provisions of this Ordinance relating to nuisances affecting peace and public safety. The Police Department shall enforce provisions relating to other nuisances and shall assist the City Administrator in the enforcement of provisions relating to nuisances affecting peace and public safety. Such officers shall have the power to lawfully inspect private premises and take all reasonable precautions to prevent the commission and maintenance of public nuisances.


Subd 6. ABATEMENT.

 

     A. NOTICE. Written notice of violation; notice of the time, date, place and subject of any hearing before the Tracy City Council (hereinafter referred to as "City Council"); notice of City Council order; and notice of motion for summary enforcement hearing shall be given as set forth in this subdivision.

  1. Notice of Violation. Written notice of violation shall be served by the officer charged with enforcement on the owner of record or occupant of the premises either in person or by certified mail, return receipt requested. If the premises is not occupied, the owner of record is unknown, or the owner of record or occupant refuses to accept notice of violation, notice of violation shall be served by posting it on the premises.
  2. Notice of Council Hearing. Written notice of any City Council hearing to determine or abate a nuisance shall be served on the owner of record and occupant of the premises, either in person or by certified mail return receipt requested. If the premises is not occupied, the owner of record is unknown, or the owner of record or occupant refuses to accept notice of Council hearing, notice of City Council hearing shall be served by posting it on the premises.
  3. Notice of City Council Order. Except for those cases determined by the City Council to require summary enforcement, written notice of any City Council order shall be made as provided in Minn. Stat. 463.17.
  4. Notice of Motion for Summary Enforcement. Written notice or any motion for summary enforcement shall be made as provided for in Minn. Stat. 463.17.

 

 

     B. PROCEDURE. Whenever the officer charged with enforcement determines that a public nuisance is being maintained or exists on premises in the City, the said officer shall forthwith present such fact or facts to the City Council. The City Council shall set a time and date for hearing on the alleged nuisance contingent upon whether or not, in the opinion of said officer, the alleged nuisance has been abated no later than three (3) days prior to the date for hearing. The written Notice of Violation and Notice of Council Hearing may be consolidated either for personal or mailed service upon the owner of record or occupant of the premises or for posting the same on the premises. The officer shall notify in writing the owner of record or occupant of the premises of such fact and order that such nuisance be terminated or abated prior to the hearing. The notice of violation and hearing shall specify the steps to be taken to abate the nuisance, the time within which the nuisance is to be abated, which shall be no later than three (3) days prior to the hearing, and the time, date, place and subject of the hearing before the City Council. Thereafter, the City Council may, after the above described notice to the owner or occupant and an opportunity for the owner or occupant to be heard, determine that the condition identified in the notice of violation and hearing is a nuisance and further order that if the nuisance is not abated within the time prescribed by the City Council, the City may seek injunctive relief by serving a copy of the City Council order and, subsequently, a notice of motion for a summary enforcement hearing as provided for in Minn. Stat. 463.17.

 

     C. EMERGENCY PROCEDURE: SUMMARY ENFORCEMENT. In cases of emergency, where delay in abatement required to complete the notice and procedure requirements set forth in subdivisions 1 and 2 above will permit a continuing nuisance to unreasonably endanger public health, safety or welfare, the City Council may order summary enforcement and abate the nuisance.

 

     D. IMMEDIATE ABATEMENT. Nothing in Section 6 of this Ordinance shall prevent the City, without notice or other process, from immediately abating any condition which poses in imminent and serious hazard to human life or safety.

 


Subd 7. RECOVERY OF COST.

 

     A. PERSONAL LIABILITY. The owner of premises on which a nuisance has been abated by the City shall be personally liable for the cost to the City of the abatement, including administrative costs. As soon as the work has been completed and the cost determined, the City Administrator shall prepare a bill for the cost and mail it to the owner. Thereupon the amount shall be immediately due and payable at the office of the City Administrator.

 

     B. ASSESSMENT. If the nuisance is a public health or safety hazard on private property, the City Administrator shall, on or before September 1 next following abatement of the nuisance, list the total unpaid charges along with all other such charges as well as other charges for current services to be assessed under Minn. Stat. 429.101 against each separate lot or parcel to which the charges are attributable. The City Council may then spread the charges against such property under that statute and other pertinent statutes for certification to the Lyon County Auditor and collection along with current taxes the following year or in annual installments, not exceeding ten (10), as the Council may determine in each case.

 

     C. PENALTY. Any person convicted of violating any provision of this Ordinance is guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be punished by a fine not to exceed $700 or imprisonment for not more than 90 days, or both, plus the costs of prosecution in either case.

 

     D. REPEALER. All present Ordinances inconsistent with this Ordinance are hereby repealed.

 

ORDINANCE NO. 349 AN ORDINANCE AMENDING CITY CODE SECTION 8.70 SUBD 7C – PUBLIC NUISANCES

 

SECTION 8.70 PUBLIC NUISANCES

 

Subd 7. RECOVERY OF COST.

 

C. PENALTY. Any person convicted of violating any provision of this Ordinance is guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be punished by a fine not to exceed $700 an amount in accordance with the yearly rate set by an annual resolution or imprisonment for not more than 90 days, or both, plus the costs of prosecution in either case.

 

MAY 22, 2017