Mountain House Municipal Code Ch. 1 General Provisions

This Division is known as "Weed, Rubbish, and Debris Enforcement and Abatement Ordinance" and may so be cited.

(Ord. 2024-23, § 1(Exh. A), 2024)

The City Council of the City of Mountain House (hereinafter "Council") finds and declares that the uncontrolled growth and/or accumulation of Weeds, Rubbish, and Debris (as defined herein) on sidewalks, streets, and on lands or lots within the City is dangerous or injurious to neighboring property and the health or welfare of residents of the City and is a public nuisance in that it creates fire hazards, conditions that reduce the value of private property, promote blight and deterioration, invite plundering, constitute an unattractive nuisance creating a hazard to the health and safety of minors, and creates a harbor for rodents and insects and is injurious to the health, safety and general welfare.

The purpose of this Division is to establish procedures for the enforcement and abatement of Weeds, Rubbish, and Debris for all parcels within the City to protect the lives and property of the citizens of the City.

(Ord. 2024-23, § 1(Exh. A), 2024)

This Chapter shall be construed to assure consistency with the requirements of applicable state law and any amendment, revision, or reissue thereof.

(Ord. 2024-23, § 1(Exh. A), 2024)

For purposes of this Division, the following terms have the following meanings:

"Abate" means to bring entirely down, demolish, put an end to, do away with a nuisance.

"Brush" means branches from trees, orchard clippings in piles, tree trimmings or other combustible vegetation in a dry state of condition capable of sustaining combustion.

"Debris" means the remains of something broken down or destroyed, including, but not limited to, plant matter, paper, waste matter, litter, trash, refuse, rubbish, or any other substance, which by its accumulated presence may injuriously affect the health or safety of persons and property in the vicinity thereof.

"Fire hazard" means a thing or act which increases or could cause an increase of the hazard or menace of fire to a greater degree than customarily recognized as normal by persons in the public service regularly engaged in preventing, suppressing, or extinguishing fire or any act which could obstruct, delay, hinder, or interfere with the operations of the fire department or the egress of occupants in the even to fire.

"Lot" means any lot or parcel within the City.

"Public right-of-way" means any street, alley, or similar parcel of land essentially unobstructed from the ground to the sky that is deeded, dedicated, or otherwise permanently appropriated to the public for public use, including sidewalks, planters, drainage ditches or other strips of public land fronting or adjoin a private parcel of land.

"Rubbish" means useless, unused, unwanted, or discarded material or objects of any size, either compostable or noncompostable, which by its accumulated presence may injuriously affect the health or safety of persons and property in the vicinity thereof.

"Weeds" means, as specified in Government Code sections 39560(b) and 39561.5, weeds which when mature bear wingy or downy seeds, which will attain such a large growth as to become a fire menace when dry, or which are otherwise noxious or dangerous, and includes any of the following:

(a) Weeds that bear seeds of a downy or wingy nature.

(b) Sagebrush, chaparral, and any other brush or weeds which attain such large growth as to become, when dry, a fire menace to adjacent improved property.

(c) Weeds that are otherwise noxious or dangerous.

(d) Poison oak and poison ivy when the conditions of growth are such as to constitute a menace to the public health.

(e) Dry grass, stubble, brush, litter, or other flammable material which endangers the public safety by creating a fire hazard.

(Ord. 2024-23, § 1(Exh. A), 2024; Ord. 2025-02, § 22, 2025)

The City Manager, or the City Manager's designee, may implement, administer, and enforce this Division to be consistent and in compliance with current application of state and federal law, including the issuance of warnings and/or administrative citations and levying administrative fines.

(Ord. 2024-23, § 1(Exh. A), 2024)