CHAPTER 3

NUISANCES

SECTION:

5-3-1:		Public Nuisance Defined
5-3-2:		Nuisances Prohibited
5-3-3:		Administration And Enforcement
5-3-4:		Penalty !2R!

5-3-1:		PUBLIC NUISANCE DEFINED:

A.	A public nuisance is a crime against the order and economy of the city and consists in unlawfully doing any act or omitting to perform any duty, which act or omission either:

1.	Annoys, injures or endangers the comfort, repose, health or safety of three (3) or more persons; or

2.	Offends public decency; or

3.	Unlawfully interferes with, obstructs or tends to obstruct, or renders dangerous for passage, any lake, stream, canal or basin, or any public park, square, street or highway; or

4.	In any way renders three (3) or more persons insecure in life or the use of property.

B.	An act which affects three (3) or more persons in any of the ways specified in this section is still a nuisance regardless of whether the extent of annoyance or damage inflicted on individuals is unequal. (1987 Code § 12-1-2)

5-3-2:		NUISANCES PROHIBITED:

A.	Public Nuisances: It shall be unlawful for any person to maintain or commit any public nuisance, or to permit any public nuisance to exist upon his property or property under his control, the punishment for which is not otherwise prescribed, or to wilfully omit to perform any legal duty relating to the removal of a public nuisance. (1987 Code § 12-1-1)

B.	Attractive Nuisances: It shall be unlawful to cause, create, maintain or be the author of an attractive nuisance within the city. Any vacant lot or open area of ground into which the public, and particularly children, has access within which any of the following conditions occur is an attractive nuisance:

1.	Ponding or impounding of water;

2.	Open pits, shafts, caves, or dilapidated unoccupied buildings;

3.	Noxious weeds or vegetation;

4.	Trash, debris or machinery. (1987 Code § 12-1-3)

5-3-3:		ADMINISTRATION AND ENFORCEMENT:

A.	Duty Of Health Department: It shall be the duty of the city health department, and the right of other person(s) so authorized by the city council, to cause all nuisances declared to be such in this chapter to be abated, and said health department shall have authority in the daytime to enter any house, stable, store or building, in order to make a thorough examination of cellars, vaults, sinks or drains; to enter upon all lots and grounds and cause all stagnant water to be drained off, and pools, sinks, vaults, drains, holes, or low grounds to be cleaned, filled up, or otherwise purified, and to cause all noisome substances to be abated or removed. Whenever, in the opinion of the health department, any building or dwelling has, because of its unsanitary condition, become a menace to life or health, or unfit for human habitation, the health department shall have the power to close to occupancy said building or dwelling and cause the same to be vacated until the same is put in a clean and sanitary condition as required by the regulations of the health department. It shall be the duty of the health department to notify the owner, agent or lessee in writing of the action and post a conspicuous sign on said building that the same has been closed by order of the health department. It shall be unlawful for any person to occupy, lodge or sleep in any building or dwelling or other place closed to occupancy by order of the health department. For purposes of this chapter, the southeastern Utah health district is hereby appointed as the city health department.

B.	Notice To Abate Nuisance: In order to carry out the provisions of this chapter, the health department or other designated enforcement agent may serve a notice in writing upon the owner, occupant or their agent of any lot, building or premises in or upon which any nuisance may be found, or upon him who may be the cause of such nuisance, requiring him to abate the same in such manner as the notice directs and within a reasonable time to be fixed in the notice, and failure to give a notice as provided herein shall not relieve the author of any nuisance from the obligation to abate such nuisance or from the penalty provided for the maintenance thereof. (1987 Code § 12-1-4; amd. 2004 Code)

C.	Refusal To Abate Nuisance: In case of neglect or refusal of any person to abate any "nuisance", as defined in section 5-3-1 of this chapter, after notice in writing has been served upon him as provided in subsection B of this section and within the time specified in said notice, the health department shall, with the assistance of a law enforcement officer if necessary, abate or procure the abatement of said nuisance, and the expenses of such abatement shall be collected from the person so offending. (1987 Code § 12-1-4)

5-3-4:		PENALTY:

Any person who shall create a nuisance or maintain a nuisance, or who shall fail to immediately abate any nuisance upon notice thereof, shall be guilty of a class B misdemeanor and, upon conviction, subject to penalty as provided in section 1-4-1 of this code. A separate offense shall be deemed committed upon each day that a nuisance is maintained or continues to exist. (1987 Code § 12-1-4; amd. 2004 Code)