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RELEVANT LINKS: <br />3. Affecting morals <br /> <br />Some are categorized due to the detrimental impact on community morals: <br />Minn. Stat. § 609.755. <br />Use of illegal gambling devices. <br /> <br />Minn. Stat. § 609.322. <br />Houses of prostitution. <br /> <br /> Illegal sale or production of alcoholic beverages. <br />Minn. Stat. ch. 340A. <br />4. Affecting public health <br />Some activities are nuisances because they impact public health: <br /> <br /> Accumulation of rotting food, household wastes, and other refuse. <br /> <br /> <br /> Animals running at large. <br />Minn. Stat. §§ 18.76-.91. <br /> Noxious weeds. <br /> <br />IV. Public vs. private nuisances <br /> <br />In evaluating how it will respond to nuisances a city must first decide <br />whether something is a public or private nuisance. <br />Handbook, City Regulatory <br />Public nuisances affect a considerable number of people; they violate <br />Functions. <br />public rights and produce a common or general injury, or they injure or <br />Excelsior Baking Co. v. City <br />of Northfield, 247 Minn. 387, <br />annoy the portion of the public that comes into contact with them.Because <br />77 N.W.2d 188 (Minn. <br />they harm the general public, they can be addressed through city action. <br />1956). <br />Hill v. Stokely-Van Camp, <br />A private nuisance, on the other hand, produces damages or injuries to <br />Inc., 260 Minn. 315, 109 <br />only one person or a few people. As such, the prevention or abatement of a <br />N.W.2d 749 (Minn. 1961). <br />private nuisance is generally the responsibility of the individual injured, <br />not the city. <br />Aldrich v. Wetmore, 52 <br />Nuisances can be both public and private. For example, a tree on private <br />Minn. 164, 53 N.W. 1072 <br />property could overhang both the public right of way and the adjoining <br />(Minn. 1893). <br />Minn. Stat. § 609.74. <br />private property. Public nuisances are generally remedied by criminal <br />See Part VII – Remedies. <br />prosecution or injunction or abatement actions. Private nuisances are <br />typically remedied by a private civil action. <br /> <br />When the city receives a nuisance complaint, alleging some harmful or <br />inappropriate conduct, city officials should consider the following <br />questions: <br /> <br /> Is the activity actually a nuisance (as provided in state law or as <br />defined in the city ordinances)? <br /> If it is a nuisance, is it a public or private nuisance? <br /> If it is a public nuisance, what enforcement actions should be used? <br />League of Minnesota Cities Information Memo: 4/16/2020 <br />Public Nuisances Page 4 <br /> <br />