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<br />Model nuisance ordinance
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<br />AN ORDINANCE DEFINING AND PROHIBITING NUISANCES AND
<br />PROVIDING A PENALTY FOR VIOLATION
<br />
<br />The city council of
<br />
<br />ordains:
<br />
<br />Section 1. Public nuisance defined. Wboever by his
<br />or her act or failure to perfonn a legal duty intentionally
<br />does any of the following is guilty of maintaining a public
<br />nuisance, which is a misdemeanor:
<br />(1) Maintains or pennits a condition whicb unreasona-
<br />bly annoys, injures, or endangers the safety, bealth, morals,
<br />comfort, or repose of any considerable number of members
<br />of the public; or
<br />(2) Interferes with, obstructs, or renders dangerous for
<br />passage, any public highway or right-of-way, or waters used
<br />by the public, or
<br />(3) Is guilty of any other act or omission declared by
<br />law or this ordinance to be a public nuisance and for which
<br />no sentence is specifically provided.
<br />
<br />Comment: This section embodies the state law on the
<br />subject, Minn. Stat. 609.74, except in mentioning
<br />ordinance violations in clause (3). While the law is in
<br />force without tbe local ordinance, thcre may be some
<br />virtue in including it in the ordinance to show that
<br />nuisances are not confincd to the specific acts and
<br />omissions listed in the next sections of this chapter.
<br />
<br />Statutory cities have by statute (Minn. Stat. 412.221,
<br />subd. 23), and most other cities bave by cbarter, the
<br />authority to define nuisances and prevent or abate
<br />them. While a city may not by ordinance make a
<br />nuisance of an act or omission wbich is not a nuisance
<br />in fact, the council has considerable discretion in
<br />determining, subject to judicial review, what is locally
<br />prohibited as a nuisance. To provide more specific
<br />guidance for the public and enforcement officials,
<br />many city ordinances spell out in more detail than the
<br />general section above a long list of specific nuisances.
<br />The sections which follow are of this type and should
<br />be revised as necessary to meet local conditions.
<br />
<br />Section 2. Public nuisances affecting health. The
<br />following are hereby declared to be nuisances affecting
<br />health:
<br />(1) Exposed accW11ulation of decayed or unwholesome
<br />food or vegetable matter;
<br />(2) All diseased animals running at large;
<br />(3) All ponds or pools of stagnant water;
<br />(4) Carcasses of animals not buried or destroyed within
<br />24 hours after death;
<br />(5) AccW11ulations of manure, refuse, or other debris;
<br />t(~) Privy vaults and garbage cans which are not rodent-
<br />
<br />League of Minnesota Cities
<br />
<br />free or fly-tight or which are so maintained as to constitute
<br />a health hazard or to emit foul and disagreeable odors;
<br />(7) The pollution of any public well or cistern, stream
<br />or lake, canal or body of water by sewage, industrial waste,
<br />or other substances;
<br />(8) All noxious weeds and othcr rank growths of
<br />;tetation upon public or private property;
<br />9) Dense smoke, noxious fumes, gas and soot, or
<br />c'naers,.jn unreasonable quantities
<br />(10) All public exposure of people having a contagious
<br />disease;
<br />(11) Any offensive trade or business as defined by
<br />statute not operating under local license.
<br />
<br />Section 3. Public nuisances affecting morals and
<br />decency. The following are hereby declared to be nui-
<br />sances affecting public morals and decency:
<br />(1) All gambling devices, slot machines, and punch
<br />boards;
<br />(2) Betting, bookmaking, and all apparatus used in such
<br />occupations;
<br />(3) All houses kept for the purpose of prostitution or
<br />promiscuous sexual intercourse, gambling houses, houses of
<br />ill fame, and bawdy houses;
<br />(4) All places where intoxicating liquor is manufac-
<br />tured or disposed of in violation of law or where, in
<br />violation of law, people are pennilted to resort for the
<br />purpose of drinking intoxicating liquor, or where intoxicat-
<br />ing liquor is kept for sale or other disposition in violation of
<br />law, and all liquor and other property used for maintaining
<br />such a place;
<br />(5) Any vehicle used for the transportation of intoxicat.
<br />ing liquor, or for promiscuous sexual intercourse, or any
<br />other immoral or illegal purpose.
<br />
<br />Comment: It has been con~non in the past to includc in a
<br />section of this kind some such additional phrase as
<br />"Any indecent or obscene picture, publication, or othcr
<br />article;" however, under recent court dccisions a phrase
<br />of this kind has been considered to be too general and
<br />uncertain to be constitutional. Because of the difficulty
<br />of spelling out a prohibition of indecency in such a
<br />specific way that it would be both constitutional and
<br />enforceable by a small city, the ordinance code omits
<br />any provision on tbis subject. To tbe extent tbat state
<br />laws are still constitutional, reliance can be placed
<br />upon them rather than ordinance provisions.
<br />
<br />If the city licenses paddle wheels, tipboards, or lotterics
<br />as permitted under Minn. Stat. 349.26, itcm (1) in this
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