Saline Twp: Notice of nuisance ordinance

NUISANCE ORDINANCE

Saline Township, Washtenaw County

An ordinance to provide for the exercise of certain municipal powers of the Township of Saline to promote the health, safety, and welfare of persons and property in the Township by defining and prohibiting public nuisances and to provide penalties for the violation of the provisions thereof.

THE TOWNSHIP OF SALINE, WASHTENAW COUNTY, MICHIGAN, ORDAINS:

Title
Definitions
"Appliance" shall mean any mechanism which is operated by gas, electric current or motor, including, but not limited to, an ice box, refrigerator, or stove.
"Garbage" shall mean all putrescible wastes, except sewage and body wastes, including vegetable and animal offal and carcasses of dead animals, but excluding recognizable industrial by-products, and shall include all such substances from all public and private establishments and from all residences.
“Person” shall mean and include persons, corporations, partnerships associations, joint stock companies, societies and all other entities of any kind capable of being sued.
"Rubbish" shall mean dirt, leaves, grass trimming, tin cans, wastepaper, ashes, straw, shavings, junk and in general, non-putrescible wastes, normally incident to the lawful use of the premises on which accumulated.
Nuisance Defined and Prohibited
Littering and Accumulation of Garbage, Rubbish, and Other Material
Abandoned or Inoperable Appliances
Cutting and Removing of Grass, Weeds and Other Poisonous or Harmful Vegetation
1. No person owning and/or occupying any premises within the Township shall fail to keep cut down any grass, ragweed, Canada thistles, burdocks, crabgrass, quack grass, wild-growing bushes, wild carrots, purple loosestrife, or other noxious weeds growing on property occupied or owned by him or growing on the portion of a street which adjoins property occupied or owned by the person.
It shall be the duty of the owner and/or occupant of any premises in the Township to cut, remove, or destroy by lawful means, all such weeds and grass as often as may be necessary to comply with the provisions of subsection (a) of this section. Any such weeds or grass which attain a height of eight (8) inches are hereby declared to be a public nuisance.
It shall be the duty of the owner and/or occupant of any premises in the Township to keep the premises free from accumulations of brush or other vegetation. Brush or other vegetation that is permitted to accumulate on the premises for a period is excess of three (3) months is hereby declared to be a public nuisance.
If the provisions of this section are not complied with the Township may:
1. Cause such weeds, grass or other vegetation to be cut, removed or destroyed or
Remove any accumulations of brush and other vegetation.
Notice of the provisions of this section shall be published in a newspaper circulating within the Township once each month during the months of May through September of each year, which notice is deemed and declared to be adequate and sufficient notice to all persons affected hereby and the notice provisions of Section 8 of this ordinance shall not apply.
This Section 6 does not apply to properties within the Township that are actively being farmed.
Duty of Owner, Lessee or Occupant
Township to Do Work
Recovery of Costs by Township
Penalties and Remedies for Violations
1. Any person violating any provision of this ordinance shall be deemed responsible for a civil infraction. Penalties may be imposed as set forth in Saline Township Municipal Penalties and Civil Infractions Ordinance.
In addition to the foregoing, any violation of this ordinance shall be deemed a nuisance per se, permitting the Township Board, its officers, agents or any private citizen to take such action in any Court of competent jurisdiction to cause the abatement of such nuisance, including injunctive relief.
Authorized Enforcement Official
Severability
Repeal
Effective Date

This ordinance shall be known as the Saline Township Nuisance Ordinance.

Unless the context indicates otherwise, the meaning of terms used in this ordinance shall be as follows:

Whatever injuries or endangers the safety, health, comfort or repose of the public; offends public decency; interferes with, obstructs or renders dangerous any street, highway or stream; or in any way renders the public insecure in life and property is hereby declared to be a public nuisance. Public nuisances shall include, but not be limited to, whatever is forbidden by a provision by this ordinance. No person shall commit, create or maintaining any public nuisance.

No person shall place, deposit, throw, scatter or leave in any street, alley or public place, or on the private property of another, any refuse, waste, garbage, dead animal, rubbish, wash water or other noxious or unsightly material which interferes with the operation and use of motor vehicles in streets, alleys or public places. It shall be the duty of every owner and/or occupant of property to at all times maintain the premises, in a clean and orderly condition, permitting no deposit or accumulation of garbage or rubbish upon such premises, unless stored or accumulated as hereinafter provided. It shall be the duty of every owner and/or occupant of property to place any rubbish and/or garbage accumulated or stored outside of a dwelling or building of any premises in containers which shall be placed at the rear or side of buildings in a place which is reasonable inconspicuous and away from street and places occupied by other persons. Such containers, when used for the storage or accumulation of garbage or rubbish which is contaminated by garbage shall be constructed of nonabsorbent materials, shall be kept in a clean and sanitary condition and shall be covered. Such containers used for the accumulation and storage of rubbish shall be covered if there is a likelihood that rubbish will be carried therefrom by wind or other natural causes. Garbage and rubbish accumulated as aforesaid must be disposed of within a reasonable period of time in a manner not inconsistent with the provisions of this ordinance.

It shall be the duty of the owner and/or occupant of every premises to keep dismantled, partially dismantled or inoperative appliances which shall be stored, placed or permitted to be stored or placed on premises owned or occupied by him, in a wholly enclosed garage or other wholly enclosed structure. Provided further, that the owner and/or occupant of every premises shall not leave in any place accessible to children any abandoned, unattended or discarded icebox, refrigerator or any other container of any kind which has an air tight door, or lock which may not be released or opened from the inside of said icebox or refrigerator or container unless the said lock or door has been removed therefrom.

It shall be the duty of any owner and/or occupant of any land within the Township to abate any nuisance existing on property located within the Township under the owner’s, and/or occupant’s control. This includes the removal of all forbidden items as set forth above and the cutting and removing by lawful means all such brush, weeds, grass or other poisonous or harmful vegetation as often as may be necessary to comply with the provisions of this ordinance.

Unless otherwise provided for in this ordinance, if any owner and/or occupant of any land within the Township, fails to comply with the provisions of this ordinance, the Township Board shall, by its designated representative, serve either personally, or by certified or regular mail, written notice upon the owner and/or occupant or any person having the care or control of any such land to comply with the provisions of this ordinance. If the person upon whom the notice is served fails to abate the nuisance within seven (7) days after receipt of such notice, or if no owner can be found of such land, the Township Board shall cause the nuisance to be abated. and the amount assessed, together with all charges thereon, and charges shall become a lien on the land assessed of the same character and effect as the lien created by general law for taxes, until paid. The Township may cut the weeds and grass as many times as is necessary to achieve compliance with this Ordinance and charge the cost to the property owner.

If the Township incurs any costs in the process of abating any nuisance under this ordinance, the sum of one hundred sixty dollars ($160) or the actual cost incurred by the Township in doing so, whichever is greater, together with a twenty-five dollar ($25) administration fee, shall be charged against the owner and/or occupant of the premises where the nuisance existed.

The Supervisor is hereby authorized to enforce this ordinance, and he/she may delegate the enforcement to any elected official, administrative official or employee of the Township.

If any court of law of equity within the State of Michigan determines that any provision within this ordinance is unconstitutional, void, voidable, or unenforceable, the remaining provisions of the same section and other sections of this ordinance shall be deemed separate, distinct and valid in all respects from said provision.

All ordinances or parts of ordinances in conflict with this ordinance are hereby repealed.

This Ordinance shall become effective thirty (30) days after its publication (or publication of a summary thereof) in a newspaper in general circulation within Saline Township.

This Ordinance was offered for adoption by ________________________________ and was seconded by ________________________________, the vote being as follows:

YEAS: (__)

NAYS: (__)

ABSENT: (__)

Ordinance declared adopted on July 13, 2022.

James Marion

Supervisor for the Township of Saline

CERTIFICATE OF ADOPTION AND PUBLICATION

I, Kelly Marion, the duly elected Clerk of the Township of Saline certify that the foregoing ordinance is a true and correct copy of the ordinance enacted by the Township Board of the Township of Saline on July 13, 2022 and published in the Sun Times a newspaper circulated in Saline Township on ___________, 2022.