It is unlawful and constitutes a nuisance for any person to maintain or permit any of the conditions as described in this Section 8-301:

(a)   Filth, manure, lumber, rocks, dirt, metal, or any other offensive or disagreeable thing or substance thrown or left or deposited upon any property, premises, street, alley, or park;

(b)   Dead animals not removed within 24 hours after death;

(c)   Wastewater discharged or allowed to accumulate in such a manner that it does or may allow direct human contact with human excrete, animal excrete or manure; organic or inorganic pollution of ground or surface water; breeding, harboring, or attraction of rodents; or the emission of offensive odors;

(d)   Open basement structures, excavations, swimming pools, storm cellars, or other excavations that create hazards to any persons, collect water or produce mosquitoes except those excavations authorized by a current building permit and those excavations in use as part of occupied premises if maintained with adequate drainage and fencing consisting of material recognized for the purpose and having openings not larger than two inches in the least dimension;

(e)   Weeds;

(f)    Water impoundments;

(g)   Refuse not stored or properly confined and regularly disposed of as required. Proper storage of refuse consists of watertight, fly tight containers with watertight and fly tight covers. The refuse in containers may be left at the curb for pickup for a not-to-exceed 24-hour period which includes the time the refuse company will be in the area for pick up; at all other times, the refuse container will be stored in a garage or an area away from the curb and screened from view from the streets that are adjacent. Disposal of refuse will be on a weekly basis or more often as required to prevent the creation of a nuisance;

(h)   Sanitary sewage or wastewater, including septic tank cleaning, which is not managed or disposed of in a sanitary and healthy manner as required by the city sanitary sewer ordinance or as approved by the city code enforcement officer;

(i)    All buildings and structures within the city limits will be free of rodent harborage and rodents and maintained in rodent-stopped and rodent free conditions at all times;

(j)    Dense smoke, noxious fumes, gas, soot, or cinders in unreasonable quantities;

(k)   Animal excrement not stored or disposed of as provided in the city animal ordinance;

(l)    Minor auxiliary or accessory buildings or structures such as privies, sheds, barns, garages, tool houses and vacant houses and commercial structures which have become dilapidated and deteriorated as to be a potential accident hazard, rat harborage, attractive nuisance to children, or to be offensive to the senses;

(m)  Interior furniture stored, maintained, or used on the exterior of a dwelling or dwelling unit which is so dilapidated or deteriorated as to be a potential accident hazard; a harborage for insects, rodents, or vermin; or which emits odors.

(n)   Abandoned iceboxes or refrigerators kept on the premises under the control of any person, or deposited on the sanitary landfill, or any icebox or refrigerator not in actual use, unless the door, opening, or lid thereof is unhinged or unfastened and removed therefrom.

(o)   All premises in the city shall be maintained free of conditions that encourage or permit any unnecessary breeding of insects that are annoying or dangerous to residents of the city. Exterior windows and doors of all buildings used for human habitation or for the storage, preparation, or serving of food shall be screened in a manner prescribed by the code enforcement officer. Whenever the code enforcement officer finds that it is impossible or impractical for owners or occupants to individually control populations of dangerous or annoying insects, the code enforcement officer shall institute measures on a community-wide basis for a practical program for control, including chemical and other suppressive means.

(Ord. 534, Sec. 1; Code 2003; Ord. 993)

No owner or occupant of any premises shall store salvage material within the city unless authorized by the provisions of the city’s zoning regulations. A salvage yard shall be maintained free of litter, refuse, and lumber. All rackable salvage materials shall be stored on racks or in bins with at least 18 inches of clearance between the bottom of the rack or bin and the ground and a width of 48 inches or less. No rack or bin shall be closer than 48 inches to a wall, fence, or adjacent bin or rack. Nonrackable materials shall be stored with an exposed perimeter or in a manner specified by the code enforcement officer to prevent rodent harborage and breeding. All ground surfaces except lawn areas shall be kept free of all grasses and weeds using soil sterilants, herbicides, and/or other effective methods. An effective, continuous rodent poisoning using anticoagulant rodenticides or other effective methods shall be maintained at all salvage yards. Salvage yards that initiate operations after passage of this article shall submit a site screening plan to the code enforcement officer for approval and shall implement the approved plan prior to occupancy. Any person not complying with the provisions of this section shall be ineligible to receive an occupancy permit to conduct or carry on his or her business. A violation of this section 8-302 is unlawful and constitutes a nuisance.

(Ord. 534, Sec. 2; Code 2003; Ord. 993)

(a)   The purpose of this section 8-303 is to protect, preserve, upgrade, and regulate the environmental quality of industrial, commercial, and residential neighborhoods in the city, by making conditions which are injurious to the health, safety, and welfare of neighborhoods unlawful as described below. In addition, conditions described below constitute a nuisance.

(b)   The words and phrases listed below, when used in this article, have the following meanings:

“Accessory Structure” means a secondary structure detached from the principal structure but on the same premises, including, but not limited to, garages, sheds, barns, or outbuildings.

“Commercial or Industrial” means used or intended to be used primarily for other than residential purposes.

“Deteriorated”, “dilapidated” or “unsightly” means any condition characterized by, but not limited to: holes; breaks; rot; decay; crumbling; cracking, peeling, or flaking paint; rusting; or other evidence of physical damage, neglect, lack of maintenance, excessive use, or weathering.

“Exterior” means those parts of a structure which are exposed to the weather or subject to contact with the elements, including, but not limited to: sidings, facings, veneers, masonry, roofs, foundations, porches, screens, shutters, windows, doors, or signs.

“Structure” means anything constructed or erected which requires location on the ground or is attached to something having a location on the ground including any appurtenances belonging thereto.

“Weathered” means deterioration caused by exposure to the elements.

“Yard” means the area of the premises not occupied by any structure.

(c)   It is unlawful, and it constitutes a nuisance, for any person to allow to exist on any residential, commercial, or industrial premises, conditions which are injurious to health, safety, or general welfare of the residents of the community or conditions which are detrimental to adjoining property, the neighborhood, or the city. For the purpose of this Section 8-303, unlawful conditions will be classified as follows:

(1)   Exterior conditions (yard) and open exterior structures shall include, but not be limited to, the scattering over or the parking, leaving, depositing, or accumulation on the yard of any of the following:

(A)  lumber, wire, metal, tires, concrete, masonry products, plastic products, supplies, equipment, machinery, auto parts, junk, or refuse;

(B)  furniture, stoves, refrigerators, televisions, sinks, bicycles, lawn mowers, or other such items of personal property; or

(C)  carcasses of dead animals or places where animals are kept in an offensive manner.

(d)   Exterior conditions (structure) shall include, but not be limited to, deteriorated, dilapidated, weathered, or unsightly:

(1)   exteriors of any structure;

(2)   exteriors of any accessory structure; or

(3)   fences, walls, or retaining walls.

(e)   Minor auxiliary or accessory building or structures such as privies, sheds, barns, garages, tool houses; vacant houses; and commercial structures, which have become so dilapidated, deteriorated, or weathered as to be a potential accident hazard, rate harborage, attractive nuisance to children, or offensive to the senses.

(Ord. 534, Sec. 3; Code 2003; Ord. 993)

In addition to or in lieu of issuing a notice of violation under Section 8-204, the code enforcement officer may pursue the abatement of any nuisance declared to be a nuisance under the city health code, except the abatement of inoperable and abandoned vehicles and abatement of weeds, which abatements are addressed elsewhere in the city health code.

The procedure and process the code enforcement officer must follow to abate a nuisance is set forth at Kansas Statutes Annotated 12-1617e. In taking action to abate a nuisance, the city must also follow and comply with the procedure and process set forth in Kansas Statutes Annotated 12-1617e.

For the purpose of conducting a hearing required to be held pursuant to terms set forth at Kansas Statutes Annotated 12-1617e, the governing body of the city designates the city administrator or the city administrator’s designee to be the governing body’s representative.

The hearing conducted by the City Administrator or designee is a final decision by the city and is appealable to State District Court pursuant to Kansas Statues Annotated 60-2101(d).

The city may recover its costs of abating a nuisance, including costs of providing notice, and may pursue the collection of its costs by following and complying with procedures set forth at Kansas Statutes Annotated 12-1617e.

(Ord. 531, Sec. 1; Code 2003; Ord. 993)