Selma Municipal Code Ch. 5 Nuisances; Abatement

A "nuisance" is a thing, act, occupation or use of property which:

(A) Shall annoy, injure or endanger the safety, health, comfort or repose of the public.

(B) Shall unlawfully interfere with, obstruct or tend to obstruct or render dangerous for passage a public park, square, street, alley or highway.

(C) Shall offend public decency.

(D) Shall in any way render the public insecure in life or in use of property. (1963 Code)

The following are hereby declared to be nuisances affecting health:

(A) All decayed or unwholesome food offered for sale to the public.

(B) All diseased animals running at large.

(C) All ponds or pools of stagnant water.

(D) Carcasses of animals not buried or destroyed within twenty four (24) hours after death.

(E) Accumulations of manure or rubbish.

(F) Privy vaults and garbage cans which are not flytight.

(G) The pollution of any public or private well or cistern, stream, lake, canal or body of water by sewage, creamery or industrial wastes or other substances. (1963 Code)

(H) (Rep. by Ord. 849, 12-20-1982)

(I) All public exposure of persons having a contagious disease.

(J) The use of a common public drinking cup or roller towel.

(K) The distribution of samples of medicine or drugs unless such samples are placed in the hands of an adult person.

(L) All other acts, omissions of acts, occupations and uses of property which are deemed by the board of health to be a nuisance to the health of the inhabitants of this city or any considerable number thereof.

(M) Dense smoke, noxious fumes, gas and soot or cinders in unreasonable quantities. (1963 Code)

The following are hereby declared to be nuisances affecting public morals and decency:

(A) All houses kept for the purpose of prostitution or promiscuous intercourse, gambling houses, houses of ill fame and bawdyhouses.

(B) All domestic animals in the act of copulation exposed to public view.

(C) All places where intoxicating liquor is manufactured, sold, bartered or given away in violation of law.

(D) All indecent or obscene pictures, books, pamphlets, magazines and newspapers.

(E) Betting, bookmaking, prizefighting and all apparatus used in such occupations in violation of law. (1963 Code)

The following are declared to be nuisances affecting public peace and safety:

(A) All trees, hedges, billboards or other obstructions which prevent persons from having a clear view of traffic approaching an intersection from cross streets in sufficient time to bring a motor vehicle driven at a reasonable speed to a full stop before the intersection is reached.

(B) All limbs of trees which are less than eight feet (8') above the surface of any street or sidewalk.

(C) All wires which are strung less than fifteen feet (15') above the surface of the ground, except clotheslines.

(D) All explosives, inflammable liquids and other dangerous substances stored in any manner or in any amount in violation of any law.

(E) All use or display of fireworks in violation of law.

(F) All unnecessary noise and annoying vibrations.

(G) All buildings and alterations to buildings made or erected within the fire limits as established in this code in violation of the regulations concerning manner and materials of construction.

(H) Obstructions and excavations affecting the ordinary use by the public of streets, alleys, sidewalks or public grounds except under such conditions as are provided by law.

(I) Radio aerials strung in any manner in violation of any law.

(J) Any use of property abutting upon 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 streets and sidewalks.

(K) 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.

(L) All dangerous unguarded machinery in any public place or so situated or operated on private property as to attract the public.

(M) All use of stationary loudspeakers in any part of the city in such manner as to annoy any of the inhabitants of the city.

(N) All irrigation water permitted to run in the streets or alleys of the city except such as is confined in irrigation ditches or flumes.

(O) All other conditions or things which are liable to cause injury to the person or property of anyone. (1963 Code)

(A) Upon determination by the council that a "nuisance", as defined in this chapter, exists, the council shall forthwith cause a notice to be posted on the premises liable for the nuisance directing the removal or abatement of such nuisance.

(B) At the time of posting, the council shall cause a copy of such notice to be forwarded by registered or certified mail, postage prepaid, to the owner or agent in charge of the property at the last known address of such owner or agent.

(C) The notice to abate shall contain:

1. A description of the real property, by street address or otherwise, on which or adjacent to which the nuisance exists.

2. A direction to remove the nuisance within fifteen (15) days from the date of the notice.

3. A description of the nuisance.

4. A statement that unless such nuisance is removed or abated the city will do so and the cost thereof shall be a lien against the property.

5. A statement that the owner or agent in charge of the property may protest the action by giving notice to the recorder within fifteen (15) days from the date of mailing of the notice.

(D) The person posting and mailing the notice as provided herein shall, upon completion of the posting and mailing, execute and file in the office of the recorder a certificate stating the date and place of such mailing and posting.

(E) An error in the name or address of the owner or agent in charge of the property or the use of a name other than that of the owner or agent shall not make the notice void and in such a case the posted notice shall be deemed sufficient. (1963 Code)

(A) Within the time allowed by the notice as provided in section 8-5-6 of this chapter, the owner or agent in charge of the property shall remove and abate the nuisance or show that no nuisance exists.

(B) The owner or agent in charge protesting that no nuisance in fact exists shall file with the council a written statement which shall specify the basis for contending that no nuisance exists.

(C) The statement of protest shall be a part of the council's regular agenda at its next succeeding meeting. At the time set for the consideration of the abatement, the owner or agent may appear and be heard by the council and the council shall thereupon determine whether a nuisance in fact exists and such determination shall be entered in the official minutes of the council. Council determination shall be required only in those cases where a written protest has been filed as provided herein.

(D) Upon council determination that a nuisance does in fact exist, the owner or agent in charge shall within a reasonable time as determined by the council and within a period of not more than fifteen (15) days, remove or abate such nuisance. (1963 Code)

(A) If within the time fixed, as provided in this chapter, the nuisance has not been abated by the owner or agent in charge of the property, the council shall cause the nuisance to be abated.

(B) The council (or official in charge) shall maintain an accurate record of the expense incurred by the city in abating the nuisance and shall include therein an overhead charge of ten percent (10%) of the total cost for administration.

(C) The total cost, including the administrative overhead, shall thereupon be assessed to the property as hereinafter provided. (1963 Code)

(A) A notice of the assessment shall be forwarded by registered or certified mail, postage prepaid, to the owner or agent in charge of the property by the recorder. The notice shall contain:

1. The total cost, including the administrative overhead, of the abatement.

2. A statement that the cost as indicated will become a lien against the property unless paid within sixty (60) days.

3. A statement that if the owner or agent in charge of the property objects to the cost of the abatement as indicated, he may file a notice of objection with the recorder within thirty (30) days from the date of the notice.

(B) Objections to the proposed assessment shall be heard and determined by the council in the regular course of its business.

(C) An assessment for the cost of the abatement as determined by the council shall be made by resolution of the council and shall thereupon be entered in the docket of city liens, and upon such entry being made, it shall constitute a lien against the property from which the nuisance was removed or abated.

(D) The lien shall be collected in the same manner as liens for street improvements are collected, and shall bear interest at the rate of six percent (6%) per annum. Such interest shall commence to run thirty (30) days after entry in the lien docket.

(E) An error in the name of the owner or agent in charge of the property shall not void the assessment nor will a failure to receive the notice of the assessment render the assessment void, but it shall remain a valid lien against the property. (1963 Code)

The procedure provided by this chapter is not exclusive, but in addition to procedure provided by other provisions of this code, and furthermore, the health officer and the police officers of this city may proceed summarily to abate a sanitary or other nuisance which unmistakably exists and from which there is imminent danger to human life or property. (1963 Code)