§ 8.20.010. Public nuisance defined.

(a)

Every act unlawfully done and every omission to perform a duty, which act or omission does any of the following, shall constitute a public nuisance:

(1)

Annoys, injures, or endangers the safety, health, comfort, repose, or life of the citizens of the city; or

(2)

Offends public decency; or

(3)

Unlawfully interferes with, obstructs, or tends to obstruct, or renders dangerous for passage, a public park, street, alley, highway, or other public area; or

(4)

In any way renders any citizens of the city insecure in life or use of property.

(b)

The following acts, in addition to any others in violation of subsection A of this section, shall constitute a public nuisance:

(1)

Erecting, continuing, or using any building, room, property, or other place in the city for the exercise of any trade, employment, or manufacture which results in offensive odors or other annoyances being released, and which annoys, injures, or is offensive or detrimental to the health of the individuals there employed or residing, or to the public;

(2)

Burning of refuse or other material in such a manner as to cause or permit the smoke, ashes, soot, or gases arising from such burning to become discomforting or annoying, or to injure or endanger the health of any person or neighborhood;

(3)

Any building, house, room, or other structure, vehicle, or place maintained or used for the purpose of lewdness, assignation, or prostitution;

(4)

All houses, rooms, booths, or other structures used as a place or resort where disorderly persons are allowed to congregate, or in which drunkenness, or the unlawful use or sale of drugs, is carried on or permitted;

(5)

Any pit, basin, hole, or other excavation which is unguarded and dangerous to life, or which has been abandoned, or is no longer used for the purpose for which it was constructed, or is maintained contrary to law;

(6)

All obstructions to streets, rights-of-way, or other public ways of the city, and all excavations in or under the same, which are by ordinance prohibited, or which may be made without lawful permission, or which, having been made by lawful permission, are kept and maintained after the purpose thereof has been accomplished, or for an unreasonable length of time;

(7)

Erecting, maintaining, using, placing, depositing, leaving, or permitting to be or remain in or upon, any private lot, building, structure, or premises, or in or upon any street, alley, sidewalk, park, parkway, or other public or private place in the city, any one or more of, but not limited to, the following conditions or things:

(a)

Any unsound, putrid, or unwholesome bone, meat, hides, skin, or the whole or parts of any dead animal or fish, or any unsound, putrid, or unwholesome substance; or the offal, garbage, or other offensive parts of any animals; or any noxious, offensive, dangerous or otherwise injurious chemicals or other materials such as oil, grease, poisons, explosives, radioactive materials, and other similar substances in such a manner as to be offensive or injurious to public health, or unpleasant or disagreeable to the adjacent residences or persons,

(b)

Any cellar, vault, drain, sewer, or septic tank to become, from any cause, noxious, foul, offensive, or injurious to public health, or unpleasant or disagreeable to the adjacent residences or persons,

(c)

Any noxious, foul, or putrid liquid or substances, including but not limited to any privy contents, drainage from buildings, the effluent from any sewerage treatment device, or any kitchen or laundry waste water, or any liquid or substance likely to become noxious, foul, offensive, or putrid, to be discharged, placed, or thrown upon, or to flow from or out of, any premises into, or upon, any adjacent premises, or any public street or alley, or to stand, remain, or be upon any premises.

(8)

All premises, buildings and vehicles whereon or wherein intoxicating liquor or drugs are manufactured, sold, bartered, exchanged, given away, furnished, disposed of, consumed, or permitted to be consumed, in violation of the laws of the state and the ordinances of the city;

(9)

All vacant, unused, or unoccupied buildings and structures within the city, which are allowed to become or remain open to entrance by unauthorized persons, or the general public, because of broken, missing, or open doors, windows, or other openings, so that the same may be used by vagrants or other persons in a manner detrimental to the health and welfare of the inhabitants of the city;

(10)

Any refrigerator, icebox or deep-freeze locker, or any other container manufactured, custom-made or homemade designed for storage which is discarded, abandoned or left in any place accessible to children and which has not had the door or latching mechanism removed to prevent the latching or locking of the door;

(11)

All buildings, or parts thereof, or other structures, wherein any gambling, as defined by RCW 9.46.020, may be found, and any gambling device, as defined by RCW 9.46.020, may be found, except as licensed and within the scope of the license required under state law, and which complies with local law;

(12)

Spitting upon the floors or walls of a public building or buildings used for public assemblage, or of a building used for manufacturing or industrial purposes;

(13)

The depositing or allowing of irrigation or other water to run by any street, alley, or other public place, in such manner as to cause settling or damage to the street, alley, or other public place, or to cause annoyance, damage, or hazard to any user of the street, alley, or other public place;

(14)

Any privy, cesspool, septic tank, or other receptacle for human excrement which shall be constructed, maintained or used so that flies have or may have access to the excrementitious matter contained therein;

(15)

The allowing of the contents of privies, cesspools, septic tanks, or other receptacles for human excrement to be placed upon the surface of the ground or be used for fertilizing purposes for crops, gardens, or for other reasons;

16.

Any privy, urinal, toilet, or other receptacle for human excrement allowed to be constructed, maintained or used in any room, or have direct connection with any room, wherein any kind of exposed foods or foodstuffs are prepared, stored or handled for sale;

(17)

Any violation of Section 8.16.010 relating to posting bills on public property;

(18)

Throwing, depositing, exposing, or causing to be disposed of, in any street or other public place within the city, any garbage, waste, refuse, litter, debris, or other offensive material, unless the disposal of such items in such place is specifically authorized by law, or causing or allowing garbage, waste, refuse, litter, debris, or other offensive materials, to be collected, deposited, remain, or unreasonably accumulate in any place in the city, to the annoyance of any person, unless otherwise permitted by law. For purposes of this section, garbage, waste, refuse, litter, debris, or other offensive materials may include, but not be limited to, bottles, cans, glass, ashes, pieces of scrap iron, wire, metal articles, used aluminum or plastic containers, broken stone or cement, broken crockery, broken glass, broken plaster or sheet rock, barrels, boxes, rags, crates, packing cases, mattresses, bedding, packing material, lumber not neatly piled, automobile parts, tires, wheels, broken or unused furniture, appliances, and plumbing fixtures;

(19)

Weedy Lots. Any property, parcel, or lot within the city where weeds, brush or uncultivated vegetation are growing or which has grown generally in an area to a height of twelve (12) inches or more above the ground is declared a public nuisance. It is the duty of the owner, occupant or person having control of property wherein or whereon any public nuisance described by this section exists to abate the nuisance by destroying, removing or trimming the growth. Weeds, brush or uncultivated vegetation creating a nuisance must be cut as close to the ground as practicable. Cut weeds, brush, vegetation, or dead weeds that have accumulated in such a manner that they can be readily scattered or blown about by customary winds as to menace the public health, safety, welfare or order is also declared a public nuisance. It is the duty of the owner, occupant or person having control of property wherein or whereon cut weeds, brush, vegetation, or dead weeds are accumulated to abate the nuisance by removing and properly disposing of the accumulation.

(Ord. 2519 § 1, 2007; Ord. 1273 § 1, 1989)