Debris in and around the home can lead to complaints from neighbors and a code enforcement violation for 'nuisance items' at the home.
(City Photo)
In just three months of 2016, the City's Code Enforcement Division has initiated 128 actions regarding 'nuisances' at home residences, compared to 292 such actions in all of 2015. The 128 actions this year have led to a dozen abatements, costing residents $2,520 in assessed cleanup costs.
Nuisance items are defined as debris, waste, appliances, home furnishings and various other items that are stored, collected, piled or kept on private or public property and are in view of adjacent properties or public right-of-ways. The list of such items are lengthy:
*Waste items: paper, rags, trash, garbage, discarded clothing, shoes, curtains, linen and other apparel, tin cans, aluminum cans, boxes, bales or baled items, plastic containers, glass containers, plastic wrap, cleaning utensils, cooking utensils, and discarded household fixtures that are stored, collected, piled or kept on private or public property, and in view of adjacent properties or public right-of-ways.
*Nuisance items: used building materials such as lumber, lath, gypsum board, pallets, plaster, old iron or other metal, concrete, brick and tile, piles of rock, sand, dirt or gravel when not used for landscaping purposes.
*Appliances: Fixtures and furniture including stoves, refrigerators, freezers, sinks, cabinets and other kitchen appliances, bedroom furniture, mattresses, tables, chairs, clothes washing and drying machines, bathroom appliances and fixtures, light fixtures, washtubs, lawn mowers, tillers, chainsaws, snowblowers and garden equipment when such items are not stored inside a building, except patio furniture and other furniture designed for outdoor use.
*Other items: Dismantled motor vehicles, motor vehicle bodies and disassembled parts, disassembled bicycles and bicycle parts and other mechanical machines or motors or parts when the items are not stored inside a building.