Merced Municipal Code Art. III Rules and Obligations

Every owner, tenant, occupant, agent, person having charge or possession of any premises or property, lessee or holder of any possessory interest in real property within the city is required to maintain such property so as not to violate the provisions of this chapter. The owner of the property shall remain liable for violations hereof regardless of any contract or agreement with any third party regarding such property or the occupation of the property by any third party. Every successive owner of property who neglects to abate a continuing nuisance upon, or in the use of, such property, created by the former owner, is liable therefore in the same manner as the one who first created it.

The occupant or tenant, or in the absence of occupant or tenant, the owner, lessee, or proprietor of any real property in the city in front of which there is a paved sidewalk shall maintain the sidewalk free of accumulating dirt, sand, soil (including eroding dirt, sand, or soil), leaf, vegetation, waste paper, hay, grass, straw, weeds, litter, sawdust, building materials, paint, chemical, combustible materials, trash, or other debris, and shall promptly remove such materials from the sidewalk, gutter, and storm drains located under or next to the sidewalks. Sweepings from the sidewalk shall not be swept, blown by mechanical means, or otherwise made or allowed to go into the gutter or roadway, but shall be disposed of in receptacles maintained on such real property as required for the disposal of garbage or green waste, as appropriate.

A. It is unlawful and a misdemeanor subject to punishment in accordance with Chapter 1.12 of this code, for any person to repair or dismantle in the open in any residential district of the city, any automobile, boat, or other vehicle or conveyance without having first obtained a permit to do so.

B. Application for a permit shall be made to the fire department on forms provided for such purpose. The applicant shall furnish all of the following information:

1. Name and address of applicant;

2. Address at which proposed work is to be done;

3. Written consent of owner of premises if other than applicant;

4. Description of the type of conveyance to be dismantled or repaired and a statement of work to be done;

5. Estimated time necessary to complete the work; and

6. Such other information as may be required by the fire department.

C. All applications shall be referred to the fire chief for review prior to the granting of any permit. Where such work can be done without creating a police problem or a fire hazard, a permit shall be granted for the doing of the work described in such application.

D. The permit shall specify the time period in which the work shall be accomplished, which time period shall not be more than fifteen (15) days. Work shall be completed within the time limit specified, or any extension granted for reasonable cause shown.

E. Upon completion of the work authorized, the applicant shall clear the work site of all debris, oil, grease, gasoline, paints, lacquer, or other combustible material, and leave it in such a condition that no hazard to persons or property shall remain.

F. As a condition to the granting of the permit, applicants shall be required to authorize the fire department to remove and store at applicant's expense, any conveyance and/or parts thereof where dismantling or repair is not completed within the time granted.

G. The term "repair" as used in this section shall not include minor adjustments or the replacement of parts where such adjustments or replacement may reasonably be expected to be accomplished within a seventy-two-hour period. No permit shall be required for such minor adjustments or replacement.

(Ord. No. 2349, § 1, 3-1-2010)

It is declared a public nuisance for any person owning, leasing, occupying, or having charge of any premises in this city to maintain such premises in such manner that any of the following conditions are found to exist thereon including, but not limited to, those stated in this section:

A. Land, topography, geology, or configuration of which, whether in a natural state or as a result of grading operations, excavation, fill, or landscaping, causes erosion, subsidence or surface water drainage problems of such magnitude as to be injurious or potentially injurious to the public health, safety and welfare, or to adjacent properties;

B. Buildings which are abandoned, partially destroyed, or permitted to remain for an unreasonable period of time in a state of partial construction;

C. The failure to close, by such means as shall be acceptable to the city manager or his/her designated representative, all doorways, windows, and other openings into vacant structures;

D. Unpainted buildings causing dry rot, warping and lack of adequate weather protection;

E. Broken windows, doors, fences or gates; or walls constituting potentially hazardous conditions or inviting trespassers and malicious mischief;

F. The existence of any fence or other structure or thing on private property abutting or fronting upon any public street, sidewalk or place, which is in a sagging, leaning, fallen, decayed or other dilapidated or unsafe condition;

G. Overgrown vegetation likely to harbor rats, vermin, and other nuisances or having a tendency to depreciate the aesthetic and property values of surrounding properties;

H. Dead, decayed, diseased, or hazardous trees, weeds, and other vegetation potentially dangerous to the public safety and welfare or having a tendency to depreciate the aesthetic and property values of surrounding properties;

I. The existence of any accumulation of waste paper, hay, grass, dirt, straw, weeds, litter or combustible trash upon the premises or public sidewalks, streets or areas in front of said premises or upon any roof or in any building, entranceway, court or yard thereof;

J. The existence of mistletoe (Phoradendron flavescens) on any property within the city;

K. The existence of any accumulation of dirt, sand, soil (including eroding dirt, sand, or soil), leaf, vegetation, waste paper, hay, grass, straw, weeds, litter, sawdust, building materials, paint, chemical, combustible materials, trash, or other debris emanating from any real property in the city onto the city's streets and/or sidewalks. Any accumulation of the above at or near storm drains shall be immediately cleared and removed by the developer, property owner, construction contractor, lessee, renter, or occupant of the property, and replaced with appropriate prevention devices pursuant to the city-approved storm water pollution prevention plan and by use of maintained best management practices;

L. The existence of any branches or foliage which interferes with visibility on, or free use of, or access to, any portion of any street improved for vehicular or pedestrian travel or which interferes with access to any hydrant, alarm box, standpipe, sprinkler system, connection or any other appliance or facility provided for fire protection purposes;

M. The substantial lack of maintenance of grounds within the city on which structures exist, where said grounds are visible from the public right-of-way or from the sites of neighboring properties where such conditions would have a tendency to depreciate the aesthetic and property values of surrounding properties;

N. The existence of any garbage or rubbish upon the premises contrary to the provisions of Chapter 8.04 of this code, or any amendments thereto or replacements thereof;

O. The parking or storing of any motor vehicle, motorcycle, tractor, trailer, camper, or other mode of transportation, whether or not motorized or operational, on a required front yard, side yard, lawn, grass, or landscaped area other than a permanent driveway or parking place specifically and properly designed for the purpose of parking vehicles and constructed of asphalt blacktop, concrete, cement, paver blocks or other paved surface. Any motor vehicle, motorcycle, tractor, trailer, camper, or other mode of transportation, whether or not motorized or operational, parked on a street or public way in a manner such that one (1) or more wheels rest in a yard, lot or lawn more than twelve (12) inches from the curb or pavement edge shall be deemed to be in violation of this section;

P. The accumulation and storage for unreasonable periods of time of abandoned, wrecked, dismantled, unlicensed, or inoperative automobiles, or trailers, campers, boats, and other mobile equipment in any yard or parts thereof;

Q. The accumulation and storage of vehicles in violation of Chapter 8.34, and/or the repair or dismantling of any vehicle on any premises not in compliance with Section 8.40.060;

R. Attractive nuisances potentially dangerous to children or the general public in the form of abandoned, discarded, or broken equipment, unprotected and/or hazardous pools, ponds, and excavations, neglected machinery, icebox, refrigerator, deep-freeze locker, clothes dryer, washing machine, or any other enclosed container of any kind with a closable door, or any other attractive nuisance visible to the public or surrounding properties;

S. Broken or discarded furniture and household items on the premises for unreasonable periods of time and visible from the street or from neighboring properties and having a tendency to depreciate the aesthetic and property values of surrounding properties;

T. Packing boxes, unused building materials, lumber, trash, dirt, litter, and other debris either inside or outside buildings, in vestibules, doorways, or along the adjoining sidewalks of residential, commercial, or industrial buildings and visible from the public right-of-way, or from the site of neighboring properties for unreasonable periods of time and having a tendency to depreciate the aesthetic and property values of surrounding properties. Nothing in this section shall prevent the storage of packing boxes, unused building materials and lumber when done in conjunction with a construction project for which a building permit has been issued and which is being prosecuted diligently until completion;

U. The existence on any premises of any unused and abandoned open pipe, well or excavation, building foundation or buildings which are abandoned, or boarded up, partially destroyed or unfinished and not properly secured;

V. The maintenance of any premises, building, dwelling, or dwelling unit in such condition as to be detrimental to the public health, safety, or general welfare or in such a manner as to constitute a public nuisance, substandard building, or dangerous building as these terms are defined in Health and Safety Code Section 17920.3, 1997 Uniform Code for the Abatement of Dangerous Buildings, or Title 17 of this code, as amended from time to time;

W. The operation and maintenance of any premises or property within the city in a manner that has resulted in repeated disruptive activities including, but not limited to, disturbances of the peace, public drunkenness, drinking in public, harassment of passers-by, sale of stolen goods, public urination, theft, assaults, batteries, acts of vandalism, excessive littering, illegal parking, loud noises which violate any of the city's Municipal Code regulations, traffic violations, curfew violations, or police detentions and arrests;

X. The maintenance of any premises or property within the city which fails to comply with any condition imposed on any entitlement, permit, contract, or environmental document issued by or approved by the city in connection with said premises or property or improvement located thereon;

Y. To cause or permit on any premises or property within the city any matter or substance from a private vault, cesspool, septic tank, water closet, privy vault, urinal, pipe, sewer line or any sewage, effluent, slop water or any other filthy water, matter or substance to flow or discharge upon the ground or upon any private property, public sidewalk, street, or other public place;

Z. For any person owning, leasing, occupying, or having charge or possession of any premises or property in the city to permit or maintain on such premises or property stagnant water, refuse, rubbish, garbage, dead animal carcasses, offal, animal excrement or other waste materials which emit odors that are unreasonably offensive to the physical senses of a reasonable person of normal sensitivity or which may cause or attract insects;

AA. The city may:

1. Declare that a public nuisance exists whenever any member of the public creates, causes, commits, permits, or maintains any condition or performs or causes to be performed any activity that falls within the scope of the definition of 'public nuisance' as set forth in California Health and Safety Code Section 11570; and

2. Commence any action or proceeding pursuant to the California Drug Abatement Act to abate the public nuisance, to pursue all other remedies against the violator, to seek the imposition of all penalties against the violator and to recover any and all costs from the violator.

BB. Maintenance of premises in such condition as to be detrimental to the public health, safety, or general welfare or in such a manner as to constitute a public nuisance as defined by Civil Code Section 3480;

CC. The existence of graffiti on the exterior portions of any buildings or structures located upon the property. For the purpose of this chapter, graffiti has the same meaning as defined in Chapter 8.36;

DD. Any other condition on or use of property which constitutes a public nuisance as defined by state law or which may be declared such by other ordinances of the city.

(Ord. No. 2349, § 1, 3-1-2010)