Ord 1616COUNCIL BILL N0. 445
ORDINANCE N0. 1616
AN ORDINANCE DEFINING NUISANCES; PROVIDING FOR THEIR ABATEMENT;
PROVIDING PENALTIES; AND REPEALING ORDINANCE N0. 1159, 1229,
AND 1441.
THE PEOPLE OF THE CITY OF WOODBURN DO ORDAIN:
Section 1. Definitions.
(1) Person. A natural person, firm, partnership, association
or corporation.
(2) Person in charge of property. An agent, occupant, lessee,
contract purchaser or other person having possession or control of
property or the supervision of any construction project.
(3) Person responsible. The person responsible for abating
a nuisance shall include:
(a) The owner.
(b) The person in charge of property, as defined in
subsection (2).
(c} The person who caused to come into or continue
in existence a nuisance as defined in this ordinance or
another ordinance of this city.
(4} Public place. A building, way, place or accommodation,
whether publicly or privately owned, open and available to the
general public.
ANIMALS
Section 2. Dangerous Animals. No owner or person
in charge of an animal shall permit an animal which is dangerous
to the public health or safety to be exposed in public. If the
animal is exposed in public, it may be taken into custody by the
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City and disposed of in accordance with the procedures provided
by ordinance for the impoundment of dogs; except that before
the animal is released by the City, the municipal judge must find
that proper precautions will be taken to insure the public
health and safety.
Section 3. Removal of Carcasses. No person shall
permit an animal carcass owned or controlled by him to remain
upon public property, or to be exposed on private property, for
a period of time longer than is reasonably necessary to remove
or disposed of the carcass.
Section 4. Animals at Large. Except for household
pets, no owner or person in charge of an animal shall permit the
animal to be at large. Animals at large may be taken into
custody by the City and disposed of in accordance with the pro-
cedures provided by ordinance for the impoundment of dogs.
(Sections 5 to 10 reserved for expansiony
Nuisances Affecting Public Health
Section 11. Nuisances Affecting Public Health. No
person shall cause or permit on property owned or controlled by
him a nuisance affecting public health. The following are nuisances
affecting public health and may be abated as provided in this
ordinance.
(l~ Privies. Open vaults or privies constructed and maintained
within the City, except those constructed or maintained in connection
with construction projects in accordance with the State Health
Division regulations.
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(2) Debris. Accumulations of debris, rubbish, manure and
other refuse that are not removed within a reasonable time and
that affect the health of the City.
(3) Stagnant water. Stagnant water which affords a breeding
place for mosquitoes and other insect pests.
(4} Water pollution. Pollution of a body of water, well,
spring, stream or drainage ditch by sewage, industrial wastes or
other substances placed in or near the water in a manner that
will cause harmful material to pollute the water.
(5} Food. Decayed or unwholesome food which is offered
for human consumption.
(6} Odor. Premises which are in such a state or condition
as to cause an offensive odor or which are in an unsanitary
condition.
(7} Surface drainage. Drainage of liquid wastes from
private premises.
(8) Cesspools. Cesspools or septic tanks which are in
an unsanitary condition or which cause an offensive odor.
(Sections 12 to 14 reserved for expansion.)
Nuisances Affecting Public Safety
Section 15. Creating a Hazard. No person shall create
a hazard by:
(1} Maintaining or leaving in a place accessible to children
a container with a compartment of more than one and one-half cubic
feet capacity and a door or lid which locks or fastens automatically
when closed and which cannot be easily opened from the inside; or
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(2) Being the owner or otherwise having possession of
property upon which there is a well, cistern, cesspool, excavation
or other hole of a depth of four feet or more and a top width
of 12 inches or more, fail or refuse to cover or fence it with
a suitable protective construction.
Section 16. Attractive Nuisances.
(1} No owner or person in charge of property shall permit
thereon:
(a) Unguarded machinery, equipment or other devices
which are attractive, dangerous and accessible to children.
(b} Lumber, logs or piling placed or stored in a
manner so as to be attractive, dangerous and accessible to
children.
(c} An open pit, quarry, cistern or other excavation
without safeguards or barriers to prevent such places from
being used by children.
(2} This section shall not apply to authorized construction
projects with reasonable safeguards to prevent injury or death
to playing children.
Section 17. Snow and Ice. No owner or person in charge
of property, improved or unimproved, abutting on a public sidewalk
shall permit:
(1) Snow to remain on the sidewalk for a period longer than
the first two hours of daylight after the snow has fallen.
(2} Ice to remain on the sidewalk for more than two hours
of daylight after the ice has formed unless the ice is covered
with sand, ashes or other suitable material to assure safe travel.
Section 18. Noxious Vegetation.
(1} The term "noxious vegetation" does not include vegetation
that constitutes an agricultural crop, unless that vegetation is
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a health hazard or afire or traffic hazard within the meaning
of Subsection (2) of this section.
(2} The term "noxious vegetation" does include _ at any
time between June 15 and September 30 of any year:
(a) Weeds more than 10 inches high.
(b) Grass more than 10 inches high and not within the
exception stated in Sebsection (1) of this section.
(c} Poison oak.
(d} Poison ivy.
(e) Blackberry bushes that extend into a public
thoroughfare or across a property line.
(f) Vegetation that is:
(i) A health hazard;
(ii) Afire hazard because it is near other
combustibles; or
(iii) A traffic hazard because it impairs the .
view of a public thoroughfare or otherwise
makes use of the thoroughfare hazardous.
(3) Between June 15 and September 30 of any year, no owner
or person in charge of property may allow noxious vegetation to
be on the property or in the right-of-way of a public thoroughfare
abutting on the property. It shall be the duty of an owner or
person in charge of property to cut down or to destroy grass,
shrubbery, brush, bushes, weeds or other noxious vegetation as often
as needed to prevent them from becoming unsightly, from becoming
a fire hazard, or, in the case of weeds or other noxious vegetation,
from maturing or from going to seed.
(4} Between May 1 and June 15 of each year, the City
Administrator may cause to be published three times in a newspaper
of general circulation in the City a copy of Subsection (3) of
this section as a notice to all owners and persons in charge of
property of their duty to keep their property free from noxious
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vegetation. The notice shall state that the City is willing to
abate such a nuisance on any particular parcel of property at the
request of the owner or person in charge of the property for a
fee sufficient to cover the City's costs of the abatement. The
notice shall also state that, even in the absence of such requests,
the City intends to abate all such nuisances 10 or more days after
the final publication of the notice and to charge the cost of
doing so on any particular parcel of property to the owner thereof,
the person in charge thereof or the property itself.
(5} If the notice provided for in Subsection {4} of this
section is used, it shall be in lieu of the notice required by
Section 46 of this ordinance.
Section 19. Scattering Rubbish. No person shall deposit
upon public or private property any kind of rubbish, trash, debris,
refuse or any substance that would mar the appearance, create a
stench or fire hazard, detract from the cleanliness or safety of
the property or would be likely to injure a person, animal or
vehicle traveling upon a public way
Section 20. Trees.
{1} No owner or person in charge of property that abuts upon
a street or public sidewalk shall permit trees or bushes on his
property to interfere with street or sidewalk traffic. It shall
be the duty of an owner or person in charge of property that abuts
upon a street or public sidewalk to keep all trees and bushes on
his premises, including the adjoining parking strip, trimmed to
a height of not less than 15 feet above the sidewalk and not less
than 15 feet above the roadway.
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(2} No owner or person in charge of property shall allow to
stand a dead or decaying tree that is a hazard to the public or to
persons or property on or near the property.
Section 21. Fences.
(1) No owner or person in charge of property shall construct
or maintain a barbed-wire fence thereon, or permit barbed-wire to
remain as part of a fence along a sidewalk or public way; except
such wire may be placed above the top of other fencing not less
than six feet, six inches high.
(2} No owner or person in charge of property shall construct,
maintain or operate an electric fence along a sidewalk or public
way or along the adjoining property line of another person.
Section 22. Surface Waters, Drainage.
(1) No owner or person in charge of a building or structure
shall suffer or permit rainwater, ice or snow to fall from the
building or structure onto a street or public sidewalk or to flow
across the sidewalk.
(2} The owner or person in charge of property shall install
and maintain in proper state of repair adequate drainpipes or a
drainage system, so that any overflow water accumulating on the
roof or about the building is not carried across or upon the sidewalk.
(Sections 23 to 30 reserved for expansion.)
Nuisances Affecting Public Peace
Section 31. Radio and Television Interference.
(1) No person shall operate or use an electrical, mechanical
or other device, apparatus, instrument or machine that causes
reasonably preventable interference with radio or television
-- reception by a radio or television receiver of good engineering
design.
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(2} This section does not apply to devices licensed, approved
and operated under the rules and regulations of the Federal
Communications Commission.
Section 32. Junk.
(1} No person shall keep any junk outdoors on any street,
lot or premises, or in a building that is not wholly or entirely
enclosed, except doors used for ingress and egress.
(2} The term '°junk", as used in this section, includes all
old motor vehicles, old motor vehicle parts, abandoned automobiles,
old machinery, old machinery parts, old appliances or parts thereof,
old iron or other metal, glall, paper, lumber, wood or other waste
or discarded material.
(3} This section shall not apply to junk kept in a duly
licensed junk yard or automobile wrecking house.
(Sections 33 to 44 reserved for expansion.}
Unenumerated Nuisances
Section 45. Unenumerated Nuisances.
(1} The acts, conditions or objects specifically enumerated
and defined in Section 2 to 44 are declared public nuisances;
and such acts, conditions or objects may be abated by any of the
procedures set forth in Sections 46 to 51 of this ordinance.
(2} In addition to the nuisances specifically enumerated
within this ordinance, every other thing, substance or act which
is determined by the Council to be injurious or detrimental to
the public health, safety or welfare of the City is declared
a nuisance and may be abated as provided in this ordinance.
.--
ABATEMENT PROCEDURE
Section 46. Notice.
(1} Upon determination by the Council that a nuisance
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exists, the Council shall cause a notice to be posted on the
premises or at the site of the nuisance, directing the person
responsible to abate the nuisance.
(2) At the time of posting, the City Administrator shall
cause a copy of the notice to be forwarded by registered or
certified mail, postage prepaid, to the person responsible at his
last known address.
(3} The notice to abate shall contain:
(a} A description of the real property, by street
address or otherwise, on which the nuisance exists.
(b) A direction to abate the nuisance within 1Q days
from the date of the notice.
(c) A description of the nuisance.
(d) A statement that, unless the nuisance is removed,
the City may abate the nuisance; and the cost of abatement
will be charged to the person responsible.
(e) A statement that failure to abate a nuisance may
warrant imposition of a fine or jail sentence.
(f~ A statement that the person responsible may protest
the order to abate by giving notice to the City Administrator
within 10 days from the date of notice.
(4) Upon completion of the posting and mailing, the persons
posting and mailing shall execute and file certificates stating
the date and place of the mailing and posting, respectively.
(5) An error in the name or address~of the person responsible
shall not make the notice void, and in such case the posted notice
shall be sufficient.
Section 47. Abatement by the Person Responsible.
(1) Within 10 days after the posting and mailing of such
notice, as provided in Section 46, the person responsible shall
remove the nuisance or show that no nuisance exists.
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(2) A person responsible, protesting that no nuisance exists,
shall file with the City Administrator a written statement which
shall specify the basis for so protesting.
(3} The statement shall be referred to the City Council as
a part of its regular agenda at its next succeeding meeting. At
the time set for consideration of the abatement, the person protesting
may appear and be heard by the Council; and the Council shall
determine whether or not a nuisance in fact exists; and the deter-
mination shall be entered in the official minutes of the Council.
Council determination shall be required only in those cases where
a written statement has been filed as provided
(4) If the Council determines that a nuisance does in fact
exist, the person responsible shall, within 10 days after the
Council determination, abate the nuisance.
Section 48. Joint Responsibility. If more than one
person is a person responsible, they shall be jointly and severally
liable for abating the nuisance or for the costs incurred by the
City in abating the nuisance.
Section 49. Abatement by the City.
(l~ If, within the time allowed, the nuisance has not been
abated by the person responsible, the Council may cause the nuisance
to be abated.
(2} The officer charged with abatement of the nuisance shall
have the right at reasonable times to enter into or upon property
to investigate or cause the removal of a nuisance.
(3) The City Administrator shall keep an accurate record of
the expense incurred by the City in physically abating the nuisance
and shall include therein a charge of $10.00 or 10 per cent of
those expenses (whichever is the greater) for administrative overhead.
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Section 50. Assessment of Costs.
(1) The City Administrator by registered or certified mail,
postage prepaid, shall forward to the person responsible a notice
stating:
(a) The total cost of abatement, including the
administrative overhead.
(b) That the cost as indicated will be assessed to
and become a lien against the property unless paid within
30 days from the date of the notice.
(c) That if the person responsible objects to the
cost of the abatement as indicated, he may file a notice
of objection with the City Administrator not more than 10
days from the date of the notice.
(2) Upon the expiration of 10 days after the date of the
notice, the Council, in the regular course of business, shall
hear and determine the objections to the costs assessed.
(3) If the costs of the abatement are not paid within
30 days from the date of the notice, an assessment of the costs,
as stated or as determined by the Council, shall be made by
resol#~t ion and shall thereupon be entered in the docket of
city liens; and, upon such entry being made, shall constitute
a lien upon the property from which the nuisance was removed or
abated.
(4) The lien shall be enforced in the same manner as liens
for street improvements are enforced and shall bear interest at
the rate of 7 per cent per annum. The interest shall commence
to run from the date of the entry of the lien in the lien docket.
{5) An error in the name of the person responsible shall
not void the assessment, nor will a failure to receive the notice
of the proposed assessment render the assessment void; but it
shall remain a valid lien against the property.
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General
Section 51. Summary Abatement. The procedure provided
by this ordinance is not exclusive but is in addition to procedure
provided by other ordinances; and the chief of the fire department,
the chief of police, or any other city official may proceed summarily
to abate a health or other nuisance which unmistakably exists
and which imminently endangers human life or property.
Section 52. Civil Infraction Assessment. A violation
of any section of this ordinance shall constitute a Class I
City infraction and shall be handled according to the procedures
established by Ordinance No. 1610, relating to civil infractions.
An assessment for a forfeiture for a Class I
Section 53. Separate Violations.
~1} Each day's violation of a provision of this ordinance
constitutes a separate infraction.
(2} The abatement of a nuisance is not a penalty for
vilating this ordinance, but is an additional remedy. The impos-
ition of an assessment does not relieve a person of the duty to
abate the nuisance; however, abatement of a nuisance within 10 days
of the date of notice to abate, or if a written protest has been
filed, then abatement within 10 days of Council determination
that a nuisance exists, will relieve the person responsible from
the imposition of an infraction assessment under Section 52 of
this ordinance.
Section 54. Severability. The sections and subsections
of this ordinance are severable. The invalidity of any section
or subsection shall not affect the validity of the remaining sections
and subsections.
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Section 55. Re eal. Ordinance No. 1159, enacted
March 21, 1967; Ordinance No. 1229, enacted January 27, 1970
and Ordinance No. 1441, enacted August 13, 1974, are repealed.
Section 56. Saving Clause. Notwithstanding Section 55,
ordinances repealed thereby shall remain in force for the purpose
of authorizing the arrest, prosecution, conviction and punishment
of a person who violated those ordinances prior to the effective
date of this ordinance.
~~~ ~+
APPROVED
S LEY C. ISS, Mayor
.,~
Passed by the Council
Submitted to the Mayor
Approved by the Mayor
Filed in the office of the Recorder
June 13, 1978
June 13, 1978
June 14, 1978
June 14, 1978
ATTEST : ,~ ~ e. ~"' ,~° .c..-~. ,F
BARNEY 0. URRIS, Recorder
City of Woodburn, Oregon
~~
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Ordinance No. 1616
I, BARNEY 0. BURRIS, Recorder of the City of Woodburn, do
hereby certify that I caused to be posted three copies of
Ordinance No. 1616, one of which said copies posted in the
City Hall on the bulletin board adjacent to the entrance to
the Recorder's Office, in full view of the traveling public;
a second one of said copies posted on the Woodburn Public
Library bulletin board at 280 Garfield Street, in full view
of the traveling public; a third one of said copies posted
on the Community Center bulletin board at 491 N. Third St.,
in full view of the traveling public; that all of said places
are public places within the corporate limits of the City
of Woodburn and all of said copies were posted on the
day of
June 1978.
.,
Barney 0. Burrs , Recorder
City of Woodburn, Oregon