ORD 19-017law.
ORDINANCE NO. 19-017
AN ORDINANCE amending Section 8.06.040 ofthe Camas
Municipal Code, relating to obstructions within the public right-of-
way.
THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF CAMAS DO ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS:
Section I.
Section 8.06.040 C ofthe Camas Municipal Code is amended to provide as
follows:
8.06.040 C-Public nuisances-Public health, safety and welfare for
nmsances
C. Sports and Recreation Equipment. The erection, maintenance or allowing of
any sport or recreational equipment within the right-of-way of any public street
that is so situated such that persons using the equipment are playing within the
improved portion of the public right-of-way is declared to be a public nuisance.
Section II.
This ordinance shall take force and be in effect five days from and after its publication according to
PASSED BY the Council and APPROVED by the Mayor this \g~d~y of Move.m'Pte 2019.
Mayor
Clerk
APPROVED as to form:
City Attorney
8.06.040-Public nuisances-Public health, safety and welfare nuisances.
The following provisions are declared public nuisances due to presence of a threat to public health,
safety and welfare. These nuisances also have been found to adversely affect property values in the city.
A. Animals. The keeping or confining of any animals, insects, reptiles, birds or fowl on any
premises which would pose a threat of injury to persons, damage to property or excessive or
annoying noise or odor or would otherwise cause detriment to the health, safety and welfare of
neighboring persons and properties is a public nuisance. This chapter shall not apply to:
1. Properly licensed public or private zoos, or museums;
2. School classroom displays;
3. Laboratories and research facilities maintained by scientific or educational institutions are
otherwise regulated by law;
4. Private or commercial activities such as circuses, fairs or zoological parks which institutions
are otherwise regulated by law;
5. Any animal which is allowed by the zoning code.
B. Barbed and Razor Wire. No person or individual shall install, attach or permit to be installed or
attached any barbed or razor wire upon any portion of their property within the city limits. To do
so is declared to be a public nuisance. Exceptions include:
1. Agricultural property where barbed wire fences are used to contain livestock,
2. Commercial, industrial, military, civic or institutional property which has a solid material or
chain link fence no less than six feet in height may be topped with barbed wire.
C. Basketball Hoops. Sports and Recreational Equipment. The erection, maintenance or allowing
of any basketball hoop sport or recreational equipment within the right-of-way of any public
street that is so situated such that persons using the basketball hoop equipment are playing
within the improved portion of the public right-of-way is declared to be a public nuisance.
D. Building and Structure. A building or structure is a public nuisance when it becomes
deteriorated, damaged, in need of repair, left vacant, unsecured, or any portion of a building or
structure remaining on a site after the demolition or destruction of a building, or whenever the
building or structure has been damaged by any natural or man-made disaster, or has become
dilapidated or deteriorated so as to become an attractive nuisance to children, a harbor for
vagrants, criminals, or to enable persons to resort to commit unlawful acts, which present a
threat to the health, safety and welfare of the community. All buildings and structures are to be
maintained in a condition that does not pose a threat to the health and safety of any person.
E. Foul or Annoying Animal Quarters. The keeping, using or maintaining of any pen, stable, lot,
place or premises in which any animals, livestock or fowl may be confined or kept in such
manner as to be nauseous, foul or offensive is a public nuisance.
F. Graffiti. All sidewalks, walls, buildings, fences, signs, and their structures or surfaces shall be
kept free from graffiti when the graffiti is visible from the street or other public or private
property. The allowing of graffiti to remain is declared to be a public nuisance.
G. Littering. It shall be considered a public nuisance for any person to throw, dump, drop, deposit,
discard or otherwise dispose of any litter upon any public or private property, including but not
limited to, any street, sidewalk, alley, vacant land, recreational area, school, shoreline or waters
in the city, except at a legally designated litter disposal site.
H. Maintenance of Swimming and Landscape Pools. All swimming pools, landscape pools/ponds
and spas shall be properly maintained so as not to create a safety hazard or harbor insect
infestation, or create visibly deteriorated or blighted appearance. All landscape pools/ponds
shall be maintained at a depth not to exceed two feet. All landscape pools/ponds of a depth
greater than two feet shall be secured by a barrier as provided in this subsection. All swimming
pools and spas shall provide protection against potential drownings and near drownings by
restricting access in compliance with the 2006 International Residential Code, Appendix G, as
adopted pursuant to CMC Section 15.04.010, as amended. Failure to properly maintain or
provide appropriate barriers of any swimming pool, landscape pool/pond subject to the
provisions of this subsection, and/or spa, is declared to be a public nuisance.
All water utilized in any landscape pool/pond shall be confined on site and barriers shall be
erected sufficient to prevent any off site flow to present substantial damage to adjoining
properties.
I. Obstructions-Public Rights-of-Way. Obstructing, blocking, barricading or placing any item on
the sidewalk, parking strip or street in such a manner as to restrict the free and full use of the
public rights-of-way without first obtaining an encroachment permit from the city is declared to
be a public nuisance.
J. Open and Abandoned Ground Cavities. With the exception of facilities that have been permitted
for the detention/storage of storm water, open holes which may endanger public safety shall be
abated, filled or sealed. Holes wider than twelve inches and deeper than twenty-four inches,
with a slope of two (horizontal) is to one (vertical) or greater and that have the capability of
retaining water, are presumptively dangerous to public safety. Holes which may endanger the
public safety include, but are not limited to, wells, cisterns, open cesspools, septic tanks,
excavations, in-ground swimming pools no longer in use, or open foundations. Failure to abate
an open hole pursuant to this subsection is deemed to be a public nuisance.
K. Unfinished or Partially Destroyed Structures. The causing or permitting of any abandoned or
partially destroyed building, billboard or structure, or any building or structure partially torn down
or demolished or commenced and left unfinished, or that has been in part or as a whole moved
from its original location to a new location within the city and not completed or readied for the
use or occupancy for which it was originally built, is declared to be a public nuisance.
L. Unsound, Putrid or Unwholesome Substances. The keeping or allowing to be kept in any
building, yard, enclosure, public place or private property of any unsound, putrid or
unwholesome substances, swill, offal, and any accumulation of spoiled, partially or fully
decomposed rotting or discarded animal, vegetable or other matter that attends the preparation,
handling, consumption, storage or decay of plant and animal matter including meats, fish, fowl,
fruits, vegetable or dairy products and their waste wrappers or containers is a public nuisance.
This does not include, however, properly maintained vegetative compost bins or piles.
M. Vegetation Obstructing Sidewalk-Removal Required. It is a public nuisance and shall be the
duty of every owner or occupant of any property within the city limits to remove or destroy all
trees, plants, shrubs or vegetation, or parts thereof, which overhang, infringe upon or obstruct
access to any part of any street, parking strip or sidewalk, in such a manner as to limit their free
and full use.
N. Refrigerators. Any icebox, refrigerator, deep freeze or other container, which has an airtight
door or lid, snap lock or other automatic locking device which may not be released from the
inside, which is permitted to remain outside or within any unoccupied or abandoned building,
dwelling, other structure, or in a place accessible to children is a public nuisance.
0. Insect Breeding and Infestation. Items that remain outside the confines of a structure or building
such as buckets, barrels, flower pots, wheelbarrows, wading pools, bottles, cans, bird baths and
other items that routinely hold water shall be maintained to prevent any water accumulation
from becoming stagnant and providing a place for mosquitoes or other insects to breed. Failure
to comply with the provisions of this subsection is deemed a public nuisance.
(Ord. 2520 §§ 2-5, 2008; Ord. 2193 § 1 (part), 1999)