CHAPTER 92: HEALTH AND SAFETY; NUISANCES part 1
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CHAPTER 92: HEALTH AND SAFETY; NUISANCES
Section
General Provisions
92.01 Assessable current services
92.02 Tree diseases
Nuisances
92.15 Public nuisance
92.16 Public nuisances affecting health
92.17 Public nuisances affecting morals and decency
92.18 Public nuisances affecting peace and safety
92.19 Duties of city officers
92.20 Abatement
92.21 Recovery of cost
Weeds
92.35 Short title
92.36 Jurisdiction
92.37 Definitions; exclusions
92.38 Owners responsible for trimming, removal and the like
92.39 Filing complaint
92.40 Notice of violations
92.41 Appeals
92.42 Abatement by city
92.43 Liability
Open Burning
92.60 Definitions
92.61 Prohibited materials
92.62 Permit required for open burning
92.63 Purposes allowed for open burning
92.64 Permit application for open burning; permit fees
92.65 Permit process for open burning
92.66 Permit holder responsibility
92.67 Revocation of open burning permit
92.68 Denial of open burning permit
92.69 Burning ban or air quality alert
92.70 Rules and laws adopted by reference
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GENERAL PROVISIONS
§ 92.01 ASSESSABLE CURRENT SERVICES.
(A) Definition. For the purpose of this section, the following definition shall apply unless the
context clearly indicates or requires a different meaning.
CURRENT SERVICE. Shall mean one or more of the following: snow, ice, or rubbish
removal from sidewalks; weed elimination from street grass plots adjacent to sidewalks or from
private property; removal or elimination of public health or safety hazards from private property,
excluding any hazardous building included in M.S. § 463.15 through 463.26 as they may amended
from time to time; installation or repair of water service lines; street sprinkling, street flushing,
light street oiling, or other dust treatment of streets; repair of sidewalks and alleys; trimming and
care of trees and removal of unsound and insect-infected trees from the public streets or private
property; and the operation of a street lighting system.
(B) Snow, ice, dirt and rubbish.
(1) Duty of owners and occupants. The owner and the occupant of any property adjacent
to a public sidewalk shall use diligence to keep the walk safe for pedestrians. No owner or
occupant shall allow snow, ice, dirt or rubbish to remain on the walk longer than 24 hours after its
deposit thereon. Failure to comply with this section shall constitute a violation.
(2) Removal by city. The City Clerk or other person designated by the City Council may
cause removal from all public sidewalks all snow, ice, dirt and rubbish as soon as possible
beginning 24 hours after any matter has been deposited thereon or after the snow has ceased to fall.
The City Clerk or other designated person shall keep a record showing the cost of removal
adjacent to each separate lot and parcel.
(C) Public health and safety hazards. When the city removes or eliminates public health or
safety hazards from private property under the following provisions of this chapter, the
administrative officer responsible for doing the work shall keep a record of the cost of the removal
or elimination against each parcel of property affected and annually deliver that information to the
City Clerk.
(D) Installation and repair of water service lines. Whenever the city installs or repairs water
service lines serving private property under Chapter 52 of this code, the City Clerk shall keep a
record of the total cost of the installation or repair against the property.
(E) Repair of sidewalks and alleys.
(1) Duty of owner. The owner of any property within the city abutting a public sidewalk
or alley shall keep the sidewalk or alley in repair and safe for pedestrians. Repairs shall be made
in accordance with the standard specifications approved by the City Council and on file in the
office of the City Clerk.
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(2) Inspections; notice. The City Council or its designee shall make inspections as are
necessary to determine that public sidewalks and alleys within the city are kept in repair and safe
for pedestrians or vehicles. If it is found that any sidewalk or alley abutting on private property is
unsafe and in need of repairs, the City Council shall cause a notice to be served, by registered or
certified mail or by personal service, upon the record owner of the property, ordering the owner to
have the sidewalk or alley repaired and made safe within 30 days and stating that if the owner fails
to do so, the city will do so and that the expense thereof must be paid by the owner, and if unpaid it
will be made a special assessment against the property concerned.
(3) Repair by city. If the sidewalk or alley is not repaired within 30 days after receipt of
the notice, the City Clerk shall report the facts to the City Council and the City Council shall by
resolution order the work done by contract in accordance with law. The City Clerk shall keep a
record of the total cost of the repair attributable to each lot or parcel of property.
(F) Personal liability. The owner of property on which or adjacent to which a current service
has been performed shall be personally liable for the cost of the service. As soon as the service
has been completed and the cost determined, the City Clerk, or other designated official, shall
prepare a bill and mail it to the owner and thereupon the amount shall be immediately due and
payable at the office of the City Clerk.
(G) Damage to public property. Any person driving any vehicle, equipment, object or
contrivance upon any street, road, highway or structure shall be liable for all damages which the
surface or structure thereof may sustain as a result of any illegal operation, or driving or moving of
the vehicle, equipment or object or contrivance; or as a result of operating, driving or moving any
vehicle, equipment, object or contrivance weighing in excess of the maximum weight permitted by
statute or this code. When the driver is not the owner of the vehicle, equipment, object or
contrivance, but is operating, driving or moving it with the express or implied permission of the
owner, then the owner and the driver shall be jointly and severally liable for any such damage.
Any person who willfully acts or fails to exercise due care and by that act damages any public
property shall be liable for the amount thereof, which amount shall be collectable by action or as a
lien under M.S. § 514.67, as it may be amended from time to time.
(H) Assessment. On or before September 1 of each year, the City Clerk shall list the total
unpaid charges for each type of current service and charges under this section against each
separate lot or parcel to which they are attributable under this section. The City Council may then
spread the charges against property benefitted as a special assessment under the authority of M.S. §
429.101 as it may be amended from time to time and other pertinent statutes for certification to the
County Auditor and collection along with current taxes the following year or in annual
installments, not exceeding ten, as the City Council may determine in each case. Penalty, see §
10.99
§ 92.02 TREE DISEASES.
(A) Trees constituting nuisance declared. The following are public nuisances whenever
they may be found within the city:
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(1) Any living or standing elm tree or part thereof infected to any degree with the Dutch
Elm disease fungus Ceratocystis Ulmi (Buisman) Moreau or which harbors any of the elm bark
beetles Scolytus Multistriatus (Eichh) or Hylungopinus Rufipes (Marsh);
(2) Any dead elm tree or part thereof, including branches, stumps, firewood or other elm
material from which the bark has not been removed and burned or sprayed with an effective elm
bark beetle insecticide;
(3) Any living or standing oak tree or part thereof infected to any degree with the Oak Wilt
fungus Ceratocystis fagacearum;
(4) Any dead oak tree or part thereof which in the opinion of the designated officer
constitutes a hazard, including but not limited to logs, branches, stumps, roots, firewood or other
oak material which has not been stripped of its bark and burned or sprayed with an effective
fungicide;
(5) Any other shade tree with an epidemic disease.
(B) Abatement of nuisance. It is unlawful for any person to permit any public nuisance as
defined in division (A) of this section to remain on any premises the person owns or controls
within the city. The City Council may by resolution order the nuisance abated. Before action is
taken on that resolution, the City Council shall publish notice of its intention to meet to consider
taking action to abate the nuisance. This notice shall be mailed to the affected property owner and
published once no less than one week prior to the meeting. The notice shall state the time and place
of the meeting, the street affected, action proposed, the estimated cost of the abatement, and the
proposed basis of assessment, if any, of costs. At such hearing or adjournment thereof, the City
Council shall hear any property owner with reference to the scope and desirability of the proposed
project. The City Council shall thereafter adopt a resolution confirming the original resolution with
modifications as it considers desirable and provide for the doing of the work by day labor or by
contract.
(C) Record of costs. The City Clerk shall keep a record of the costs of abatement done under
this section for all work done for which assessments are to be made, stating and certifying the
description of the land, lots, parcels involved, and the amount chargeable to each.
(D) Unpaid charges. On or before September 1 of each year, the City Clerk shall list the total
unpaid charges for each abatement against each separate lot or parcel to which they are
attributable under this section. The City Council may then spread the charges or any portion thereof
against the property involved as a special assessment as authorized by M.S. § 429.101 as it may be
amended from time to time and other pertinent statutes for certification to the County Auditor and
collection the following year along with the current taxes. Penalty, see § 10.99
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NUISANCES
§ 92.15 PUBLIC NUISANCE.
Whoever by his or her act or failure to perform a legal duty intentionally does any of the
following is guilty of maintaining a public nuisance, which is a misdemeanor:
(A) Maintains or permits a condition which unreasonably annoys, injures or endangers the
safety, health, morals, comfort or repose of any considerable number of members of the public;
(B) Interferes with, obstructs or renders dangerous for passage any public highway or right-of-way,
or waters used by the public; or
(C) Is guilty of any other act or omission declared by law or § 92.16, 92.17 or 92.18, or any
other part of this code to be a public nuisance and for which no sentence is specifically provided.
Penalty, see § 10.99
§ 92.16 PUBLIC NUISANCES AFFECTING HEALTH.
The following are hereby declared to be nuisances affecting health:
(A) Exposed accumulation of decayed or unwholesome food or vegetable matter;
(B) All diseased animals running at large;
(C) All ponds or pools of stagnant water;
(D) Carcasses of animals not buried or destroyed within 24 hours after death;
(E) Accumulations of manure, refuse or other debris;
(F) Privy vaults and garbage cans which are not rodent-free or fly-tight or which are so
maintained as to constitute a health hazard or to emit foul and disagreeable odors;
(G) The pollution of any public well or cistern, stream or lake, canal or body of water by
sewage, industrial waste or other substances;
(H) All noxious weeds and other rank growths of vegetation upon public or private property;
(I) Dense smoke, noxious fumes, gas and soot, or cinders, in unreasonable quantities;
(J) All public exposure of people having a contagious disease; and
(K) Any offensive trade or business as defined by statute not operating under local license.
Penalty, see § 10.99
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§ 92.17 PUBLIC NUISANCES AFFECTING MORALS AND DECENCY.
The following are hereby declared to be nuisances affecting public morals and decency:
(A) All gambling devices, slot machines and punch boards, except as otherwise authorized by
federal, state or local law;
(B) Betting, bookmaking and all apparatus used in those occupations;
(C) All houses kept for the purpose of prostitution or promiscuous sexual intercourse,
gambling houses, houses of ill fame and bawdy houses;
(D) All places where intoxicating liquor is manufactured or disposed of in violation of law or
where, in violation of law, people are permitted to resort for the purpose of drinking intoxicating
liquor, or where intoxicating liquor is kept for sale or other disposition in violation of law, and all
liquor and other property used for maintaining that place;
(E) Any vehicle used for the unlawful transportation of intoxicating liquor, or for promiscuous
sexual intercourse, or any other immoral or illegal purpose. Penalty, see § 10.99
§ 92.18 PUBLIC NUISANCES AFFECTING PEACE AND SAFETY.
The following are declared to be nuisances affecting public peace and safety:
(A) All snow and ice not removed from public sidewalks 24 hours after the snow or other
precipitation causing the condition has ceased to fall;
(B) All trees, hedges, billboards or other obstructions which prevent people from having a
clear view of all traffic approaching an intersection.
(C) All wires and limbs of trees which are so close to the surface of a sidewalk or street as to
constitute a danger to pedestrians or vehicles;
(D) All obnoxious noises in violation of Minn. Rules Ch. 7030, as they may be amended from
time to time which are hereby incorporated by reference into this code.
(E) The discharging of the exhaust or permitting the discharging of the exhaust of any stationary
internal combustion engine, motor boat, motor vehicle, motorcycle, all terrain vehicle,
snowmobile or any recreational device except through a muffler or other device that effectively
prevents loud or explosive noises therefrom and complies with all applicable state laws and
regulations.
(F) The using or operation or permitting the using or operation of any radio receiving set,
musical instrument, phonograph, paging system, machine or other device for producing or
reproduction of sound in a distinctly and loudly audible manner so as to disturb the peace, quiet
and comfort of any person nearby. Operation of any device referred to above between the hours
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of 10:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. in a manner so as to be plainly audible at the property line of the
structure or building in which it is located, or at a distance of 50 feet if the source is located
outside a structure or building shall be prima facie evidence of violation of this section.
(G) The participation in a party or gathering of people giving rise to noise which disturbs the
peace, quiet or repose of the occupants of adjoining or other property.
(H) Obstructions and excavations affecting the ordinary public use of streets, alleys, sidewalks
or public grounds except under conditions as are permitted by this code or other applicable law;
(I) Radio aerials or television antennae erected or maintained in a dangerous manner;
(J) Any use of property abutting on a public street or sidewalk or any use of a public street or
sidewalk which causes large crowds of people to gather, obstructing traffic and the free use of the
street or sidewalk;
(K) All hanging signs, awnings and other similar structures over streets and sidewalks, so
situated so as to endanger public safety, or not constructed and maintained as provided by
ordinance;
(L) The allowing of rain water, ice or snow to fall from any building or structure upon any
street or sidewalk or to flow across any sidewalk;
(M) Any barbed wire fence less than six feet above the ground and within three feet of a public
sidewalk or way;
(N) All dangerous, unguarded machinery in any public place, or so situated or operated on
private property as to attract the public;
(O) Waste water cast upon or permitted to flow upon streets or other public properties;
(P) Accumulations in the open of discarded or disused machinery, household appliances,
automobile bodies or other material in a manner conducive to the harboring of rats, mice, snakes
or vermin, or the rank growth of vegetation among the items so accumulated, or in a manner
creating fire, health or safety hazards from accumulation;
(Q) Any well, hole or similar excavation which is left uncovered or in another condition as to
constitute a hazard to any child or other person coming on the premises where it is located;
(R) Obstruction to the free flow of water in a natural waterway or a public street drain, gutter
or ditch with trash of other materials;
(S) The placing or throwing on any street, sidewalk or other public property of any glass,
tacks, nails, bottles or other substance which may injure any person or animal or damage any
pneumatic tire when passing over the substance;
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(T) The depositing of garbage or refuse on a public right-of-way or on adjacent private
property;
(U) All other conditions or things which are likely to cause injury to the person or property of
anyone. Penalty, see § 10.99
§ 92.19 DUTIES OF CITY OFFICERS.
The Police Department or Sheriff, if the city has at the time no Police Department, shall
enforce the provisions relating to nuisances. Any peace officer shall have the power to inspect
private premises and take all reasonable precautions to prevent the commission and maintenance
of public nuisances.
§ 92.20 ABATEMENT.
(A) Notice. Written notice of violation; notice of the time, date, place and subject of any
hearing before the City Council; notice of City Council order; and notice of motion for summary
enforcement hearing shall be given as set forth in this section.
(1) Notice of violation. Written notice of violation shall be served by a peace officer on
the owner of record or occupant of the premises either in person or by certified or registered mail.
If the premises is not occupied, the owner of record is unknown, or the owner of record or
occupant refuses to accept notice of violation, notice of violation shall be served by posting it on
the premises.
(2) Notice of City Council hearing. Written notice of any City Council hearing to
determine or abate a nuisance shall be served on the owner of record and occupant of the premises
either in person or by certified or registered mail. If the premises is not occupied, the owner of
record is unknown, or the owner of record or occupant refuses to accept notice of the City Council
hearing, notice of City Council hearing shall be served by posting it on the premises.
(3) Notice of City Council order. Except for those cases determined by the city to require
summary enforcement, written notice of any City Council order shall be made as provided in M.S.
§ 463.17 (Hazardous and Substandard Building Act), as it may be amended from time to time.
(4) Notice of motion for summary enforcement. Written notice of any motion for summary
enforcement shall be made as provided for in M.S. § 463.17 (Hazardous and Substandard Building
Act), as it may be amended from time to time.
(B) Procedure. Whenever a peace officer determines that a public nuisance is being
maintained or exists on the premises in the city, the officer shall notify in writing the owner of
record or occupant of the premises of such fact and order that the nuisance be terminated or abated.
The notice of violation shall specify the steps to be taken to abate the nuisance and the time within
which the nuisance is to be abated. If the notice of violation is not complied with
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within the time specified, the officer shall report that fact forthwith to the City Council. Thereafter,
the City Council may, after notice to the owner or occupant and an opportunity to be heard,
determine that the condition identified in the notice of violation is a nuisance and further order that
if the nuisance is not abated within the time prescribed by the City Council, the city may seek
injunctive relief by serving a copy of the City Council order and notice of motion for summary
enforcement.
(C) Emergency procedure; summary enforcement. In cases of emergency, where delay in
abatement required to complete the notice and procedure requirements set forth in divisions (A)
and (B) of this section will permit a continuing nuisance to unreasonably endanger public health
safety or welfare, the City Council may order summary enforcement and abate the nuisance. To
proceed with summary enforcement, the officer shall determine that a public nuisance exists or is
being maintained on premises in the city and that delay in abatement of the nuisance will
unreasonably endanger public health, safety or welfare. The officer shall notify in writing the
occupant or owner of the premises of the nature of the nuisance and of the city*s intention to seek
summary enforcement and the time and place of the City Council meeting to consider the question
of summary enforcement. The City Council shall determine whether or not the condition identified
in the notice to the owner or occupant is a nuisance, whether public health, safety or welfare will
be unreasonably endangered by delay in abatement required to complete the procedure set forth in
division (A) of this section, and may order that the nuisance be immediately terminated or abated.
If the nuisance is not immediately terminated or abated, the City Council may order summary
enforcement and abate the nuisance.
(D) Immediate abatement. Nothing in this section shall prevent the city, without notice or
other process, from immediately abating any condition which poses an imminent and serious
hazard to human life or safety. Penalty, see § 10.99
§ 92.21 RECOVERY OF COST.
(A) Personal liability. The owner of premises on which a nuisance has been abated by the city
shall be personally liable for the cost to the city of the abatement, including administrative costs.
As soon as the work has been completed and the cost determined, the City Clerk or other official
shall prepare a bill for the cost and mail it to the owner. Thereupon the amount shall be
immediately due and payable at the office of the City Clerk.
(B) Assessment. If the nuisance is a public health or safety hazard on private property, the
accumulation of snow and ice on public sidewalks, the growth of weeds on private property or
outside the traveled portion of streets, or unsound or insect-infected trees, the City Clerk shall, on
or before September 1 next following abatement of the nuisance, list the total unpaid charges along
with all other the charges as well as other charges for current services to be assessed under M.S. §
429.101 against each separate lot or parcel to which the charges are attributable. The City Council
may then spread the charges against the property under that statute and other pertinent statutes for
certification to the County Auditor and collection along with current taxes the following year or in
annual installments, not exceeding ten, as the City Council may determine in each case. Penalty,
see § 10.99