Resolutions and Ordinances

Amended Lawn and Grass Ordinance 9/2021

VILLAGE OF LUBLIN – PUBLIC NUISANCE ORDINANCE No. 2022-02

STATE OF WISCONSIN

VILLAGE OF LUBLIN, TAYLOR COUNTY

SECTION I – TITLE AND PURPOSE

The title of this ordinance is the Village of Lublin Public Nuisance Ordinance. The purpose of this ordinance is to regulate for public health and safety reasons public nuisances and certain uses and activities in the village.

SECTION II – AUTHORITY

The village board has the specific authority under ss. 29.038, 66.0407, 66.0413, 125.14, 169.01, and 175.25, and chapter 823, Wis. stats., and general authority under its village powers under s. 60.22, Wis. stats., to adopt this ordinance.

SECTION III – ADOPTION OF ORDINANCE

This ordinance, adopted by a majority of the village board on a roll call vote with a quorum present and voting and proper notice having been given, provides for the regulation of the storage, treatment, disposal, and discharge of certain junk and of other items, uses, and activities in the village.

SECTION IV – DEFINITIONS

A. “Agricultural use” means any beekeeping, commercial feed lots, dairying, egg production, floriculture, fish or fur farming, forest and game management, grazing, livestock raising, orchards, plant greenhouses and nurseries, poultry raising, raising of grain, grass, mint, and seed crops, raising of fruits, nuts, and berries, sod farming, placing land in federal programs in return for payments in kind, owning land, at least 35 acres of which is enrolled in the conservation reserve program under 16 USC 3831 to 3836, participating in the milk production termination program under 7 USC 1446 (d), and vegetable raising.

B. “Appliance” means any household or office device, instrument, utensil, apparatus, or machine including, but not limited to, any stove, clothes washer or dryer, refrigerator, dish washer, freezer, water heater, water pump, furnace, television set, home entertainment device, computer or peripheral device, or other home or office electronic device.

C. “Building” includes any building or structure or any portion of a building or structure.

D. “Debris” means any litter, junk, wood, bricks, paper, cement, concrete blocks, or any other unsightly

accumulation of items or materials that may tend to depreciate property values in the adjacent or near area, create a blighted condition, present a substantial threat to public health or safety, or create a public nuisance or a public safety or health hazard, except when such items are determined by the village board or village committee or other agent of the village to be stored or housed out of public view and are treated and maintained so as not to be a public nuisance.

E. “Equipment” means goods used or bought for use primarily in a business, including farming and a profession.

F. “Hazardous waste” means any solid waste identified by the State of Wisconsin, Department of Natural

Resources as hazardous under s. 291.05 (2), Wis. stats.

G. “Junk” means scrap metal, metal alloy, wood, concrete, or synthetic or organic material or any junked,

inoperative, unlicensed, or unregistered vehicle, structure, equipment, furniture, appliances, or machinery, or any part thereof. “Junk” includes refuse, used tires, parts of dismantled buildings, agricultural use equipment not in usable condition, parts of agricultural use equipment, and contaminated recyclable material.

H. “Junked” means dismantled for parts or scrapped.

I. “Junked vehicle parts” means parts from a junked vehicle.

J. “Junkyard” means any place that is owned, maintained, operated, or used for storing, keeping, processing, buying, or selling junk. “Junkyard” includes sanitary landfills, refuse dumps, garbage dumps, automobile graveyards, scrap metal processors, auto-wrecking yards, salvage yards, auto-recycling yards, used auto parts yards, and places for temporary storage of automobile bodies or parts awaiting disposal as a normal part of a business operation when the business will continually have like materials located on the premises. “Junkyard” does not include places where litter, trash, and other debris are scattered along or upon a highway or temporary operations and outdoor storage of limited duration.

K. “Local zoning and land use regulation” means any applicable county, village, or extraterritorial zoning,

subdivision, land division, platting, official map, building code, building permit, or other ordinance adopted pursuant to general police powers that is applicable in any manner to the use of land.

L. “Machinery” means a structure or assemblage of parts that transmits forces, motion, or energy from one part to another in a predetermined way by electrical, mechanical, or chemical means. “Machinery” does not include a building.

M. “Motor vehicle dealer” has the meaning given in s. 218.0101 (23), Wis. stats.

N. “Motor vehicle salvage dealer” has the meaning given in s. 218.20 (1r), Wis. stats.

O. “Not registered,” in reference to “all-terrain vehicles” as defined in s. 340.01 (2g), Wis. Stats.,”snowmobiles” as defined in s. 340.01 (58a), Wis. stats., or “boats” asdefined in s. 29.001 (16), Wis. stats., means those that are required to, but do not have nor bear, required current and valid State of Wisconsin licenses or registrations.

P. “Public nuisance” means a thing, act, occupation, condition, or use of property that continues in the village for such time as to do any of the following:

1. Substantially annoy, injure, or endanger the comfort, health, repose, or safety of the public.

2. In any way render the public insecure in life or in the use of property.

3. Greatly offend the public morals or decency.

4. Unlawfully and substantially interfere with, obstruct, or attempt to obstruct or render dangerous for

passage any street, alley, highway, navigable body of water, or other public way, or the use of public

property.

Q. “Recyclable material” means material that is suitable for recycling.

R. “Village” means the Village of Lublin, Taylor County, Wisconsin.

S. “Village board” means the board of supervisors for the Village of Lublin, Taylor County, Wisconsin, and

includes designees of the board authorized to act for the board, specifically including the village clerk and

village chair.

T. “Village chair” means the chairperson of the Village of Lublin, Taylor County, Wisconsin.

U. “Village clerk” means the clerk of the Village of Lublin, Taylor County, Wisconsin.

V. “Village committee” means a committee established by the village board to address and aid in regulation of those uses and activities that may cause public nuisance or public health and safety threats in the village.

W. “Unlicensed” or “unregistered” in reference to vehicles, mobile homes, or manufactured homes means those that are required to be licensed or registered for operation in the state, but do not have nor bear required current and valid State of Wisconsin licenses or registration.

X. “Vehicle” means every device in, upon, or by which any person or property is or may be transported.

“Vehicle” includes, but is not limited to, all of the following:

1. “Aircraft” as defined in s. 29.001 (16), Wis. stats.

2. “All-terrain vehicles” as defined in s. 340.01 (2g), Wis. stats.

3. “Antique vehicles” as described in s. 341.265, Wis. stats.

4. “Automobiles” as defined in s. 340.01 (4), Wis. stats.

5. “Boats” as defined in s. 29.001 (16), Wis. stats.

6. “Camping trailers” as defined in s. 340.01 (6m), Wis. stats.

7. “Farm equipment” as defined in s. 100.47 (1), Wis. stats.

8. “Farm tractors” as defined in s. 340.01 (16), Wis. stats.

9. “Hobbyist or homemade vehicles” as defined in s. 341.268, Wis. stats.

10. “Junk vehicles” as defined in s. 340.01 (25j), Wis. stats.

11. “Implements of husbandry” as defined in s. 340.01 (24), Wis. stats.

12. “Manufactured homes” as defined in s. 101.91 (2), Wis. stats.

13. “Mobile homes” as defined in s. 340.01 (29), Wis. stats.

14. “Mopeds” as defined in s. 340.01 (29m), Wis. stats.

15. “Motor bicycles” as defined in s. 340.01 (30), Wis. stats.

16. “Motor buses” as defined in s. 340.01 (31), Wis. stats.

17. “Motor homes” as defined in s. 340.01 (33m), Wis. stats.

18. “Motor trucks” as defined in s. 340.01 (34), Wis. stats.

19. “Motorcycles” as defined in s. 340.01 (32), Wis. stats.

20. “Railroad trains” as defined in s. 340.01 (48), Wis. stats.

21. “Recreational vehicles” as defined in s. 340.01 (48r), Wis. stats.

22. “Road machinery” as defined in s. 340.01 (52), Wis. stats.

23. “Road tractors” as defined in s. 340.01 (53), Wis. stats.

24. “Salvage vehicles” as defined in s. 340.01 (55g), Wis. stats.

25. “School buses” as defined in s. 340.01 (56), Wis. stats.

26. “Semi trailers” as defined in s. 340.01 (57), Wis. stats.

27. “Snowmobiles” as defined in s. 340.01 (58), Wis. stats.

28. “Special interest vehicles” as defined in s. 341.266, Wis. stats.

29. “Trailers” as defined in s. 340.01 (71), Wis. stats.

30. “Truck tractors” as defined in s. 340.01 (73), Wis. stats.

31. Unlicensed demolition vehicles and unlicensed racing vehicles.

32. Golf carts, garden tractors, riding lawn mowers, and other motorized tractors, motorized carts, and

motorized utility vehicles that require no registration or licensure by the State of Wisconsin.

Y. “Wild animal” means any animal of a wild nature that is normally found in the wild and that is not a farm-raised deer, a pet bird, a farm-raised game bird, or an animal that is listed as a domestic animal by rule by the State of Wisconsin, Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection.

Z. “Wis. stats.” means the Wisconsin Statutes, including successor provisions to cited statutes.

SECTION V – SUBDIVISION AND NUMBERING OF THIS ORDINANCE

This ordinance is divided into sections designated by uppercase Roman numerals. Sections may be divided into subsections designated by uppercase letters. Subsections may be divided into paragraphs designated by numbers. Paragraphs may be divided into subdivisions designated by lowercase letters. Subdivisions may be divided into subdivision paragraphs designated by lowercase Roman numerals. Reference to a “section,” “subsection,” “paragraph,” or “subdivision” includes all divisions of the referenced section, subsection, paragraph, or subdivision.

SECTION VI – PUBLIC HEALTH OR SAFETY

No person may create, contrive, erect, maintain, cause, continue, install, construct, or permit to exist in the village a public nuisance associated with, causing, or likely to cause danger, disturbance, or injury to the public health or safety. The following acts, uses, activities, things, occupations, places, or physical conditions, not properly and timely removed after written notice to remove from the village board to any owner or occupant of the land where the act, use, activity, thing, occupation, place, or physical condition exists, is located, or occurred, or to any person responsible for the creation, maintenance, or providing of the act, use, activity, thing, occupation, place, or physical condition, are specifically declared to be a public nuisance:

A. Noxious weed areas. Any place in the village where noxious weeds are over one foot high, are located on private or public land, and the noxious weeds are not timely cut or removed within 24 hours after posting or publication of a notice to destroy noxious weeds under s. 66.0407, Wis. stats., or within 24 hours after receipt of written notice to remove from the village board.

B. Unburied animal carcass areas. Any place in the village where unburied animal carcasses are located on private and the animal carcasses are not timely removed or discarded, including by timely burial in a sanitary manner, within 24 hours after receipt of written notice to remove from the village board.

C. Noxious or polluted or waste areas. Any place in the village where noxious, nauseous, unwholesome, or polluted water and waste are located on private or public land, including village roads, highways, bridges, sidewalks, alleys, or other public lands owned or controlled by the village, and those conditions are not timely removed within 24 hours after receipt of written notice from the village board.

D. Noxious emission odor areas. Any place in the village where noxious odor, stench, or gas escapes or is emitted into the open air from sources located on public or private land, and these conditions are not timely removed or discontinued within 24 hours after receipt of written notice to remove from the village board. In this subsection, “noxious odor” means an odor that is extremely repulsive to the senses of ordinary persons in the village and that seriously annoys or causes serious discomfort or serious injury to the health or causes serious inconvenience to the health or safety of a significant number of persons within the village, as determined by the village board.

E. Rat or vermin areas. Any place in the village where rats or other vermin are located or frequent on public or private land, and those conditions are not removed or destroyed within 24 hours after receipt of written notice to remove from the village board.

F. Junked vehicle and junked part areas. Any place in the village where junked vehicles or junked vehicle parts are accumulated or stored or any place in the village where junked vehicles or junked vehicle parts are accumulated or stored outside of a building.

G. Unlicensed or unregistered vehicle area. Any place in the village where for a period exceeding 30 days upon private property a not registered, unlicensed, or unregistered vehicle is parked, stored, or otherwise kept outside a building without the written permission of the village board and is not timely removed or discontinued within 24 hours of receipt of written notice to remove from the village board.

SECTION VII – ABANDONED VEHICLES, MACHINERY, EQUIPMENT, AND APPLIANCES ON

PUBLIC LANDS

No person shall leave unattended or stored any vehicle, regardless of the vehicle’s physical condition, registration, or license held, any appliance, equipment, or machinery, or parts thereof, on any public street, public road, public highway, or other public property in the village, including the road right-of-way, for such time and under such circumstances as to cause the vehicle, appliance, equipment, or machinery to reasonably appear to have been abandoned. When any vehicle, machinery, appliances, or equipment has been left unattended, parked, or stored on any public street, road, highway, or other public property, including a road right-of-way, within the village for a period of more than 72 hours, the vehicle, structure, machinery, appliances, or equipment is presumed by the village to be abandoned and a public nuisance and may be removed in accordance with s. 342.40, Wis. stats., and the owner of the vehicle is subject to the imposition of forfeitures under Section XIII of this ordinance. This section does not apply to a railroad train stopped at a railway crossing as defined in s. 340.01 (47), Wis. Stats.

SECTION VIII – ABATEMENT OF PUBLIC NUISANCES

A. Owner of Premises Responsibility. Any owner or occupant of land in the village is responsible for compliance with this ordinance on the owner’s or occupant’s land regardless of ownership of and responsibility for the uses, activities, or things located on the land that are subject to this ordinance.

B. Summary Abatement.

1. Notice to Owner. If the village chair, village committee, or other agents of the village board determine, by written notice to the village board, that a public nuisance exists under this ordinance within the village on private or public land and that there is great, immediate, and substantial danger or threat to the public health or safety, the village board, village chair, village committee, or other agents of the village board shall serve a written order upon the person who is causing, permitting, or maintaining the public nuisance, and the owner or occupant of the premises where the public nuisance is caused, permitted, or maintained. The owner or occupant of the premises or the person who is causing, permitting, or maintaining the public nuisance, shall be served by mailing by Certified U.S. mail a letter to the last known address for the owner or occupant of the premises. The order notice shall direct the owner or occupant to remove the public nuisance within 24 hours and shall state that unless the public nuisance is so timely abated, the village may cause, due to the emergency conditions, the public nuisance to be abated and shall charge the costs of abatement to the owner, occupant, or person causing, permitting, or maintaining the public nuisance.

2. Abatement by village. If the public nuisance is not abated within the time provided in the notice under paragraph 1 or if the owner, occupant, or person causing the public nuisance, if known, cannot be found, the village chair, the village committee, or other agents of the village board, with approval of the village board, shall cause the abatement or removal of the public nuisance by immediately seeking for the village a court order that allows for the immediate enjoinment and abatement of the public nuisance.

C. Abatement By Court Action. If the village board determines that a public nuisance exists on public or private premises but that the nature of the nuisance does not threaten great, immediate, and substantial danger to the public health or safety, the village board shall file a written report or its resolution of its findings with the village clerk who shall, after approval and filing of the report or resolution by the village board, take one or more of the following actions, as directed by the village board:

1. Issue a written order to cease and desist the public nuisance upon the person causing, permitting, or maintaining the public nuisance and the owner or occupant of the premises where the public nuisance is located.

2. Issue a citation for violation of this ordinance upon the person causing, permitting, or maintaining the public nuisance and the owner or occupant of the premises where the public nuisance is located.

3. Cause the village attorney to draft a formal civil complaint to be filed and served upon the alleged violators based upon an alleged violation of this ordinance to be filed and served a formal complaint for abatement of the public nuisance under chapter 823, Wis. stats.

D. Other Methods Not Excluded. Nothing in this ordinance may be construed as prohibiting the injunction and abatement of public nuisances against any person, by the village or its officials in accordance with the laws of the State of Wisconsin or this ordinance.

SECTION IX – COSTS OF ABATEMENT OR DISPOSAL

In addition to any other penalty imposed by this ordinance for the erection,contrivance, creation, continuance, or maintenance of a public nuisance and violation of this ordinance, the cost of abatement of any public nuisance by the village may be collected under this ordinance or s. 823.06, Wis. stats., as a debt or expense from the owner or occupant of the real property for causing, or maintaining the public nuisance. If notice to abate the nuisance has been given to the owner or occupant previously, the cost of abatement may be assessed against the real property for services rendered and incurred by the town to enjoin or abate the public nuisance as a special charge under s. 66.0627, Wis. stats., unless paid earlier. If any vehicle, structure, equipment, implement, or appliance is abandoned or remains unclaimed in violation of this ordinance, the town board may proceed to declare this personal property abandoned and proceed to dispose of this personal property under s. 66.0139, Wis. stats., by public auction or other means as determined in writing by the village board.

SECTION X – ENFORCEMENT PROVISIONS

A. Penalties.

1. 1st Offense. Any person who violates this ordinance shall, upon conviction, forfeit not less than $20 nor more than $500 together with the costs of prosecution, and in default of payment of such forfeiture and

costs of prosecution shall be imprisoned in the county jail until the forfeiture and costs are paid, but not

exceeding 90 days.

2. Second and Subsequent Offenses; Penalty. Any person guilty of violating this ordinance or any person

who has previously been convicted of a violation of this ordinance shall, upon conviction, forfeit not less

than $100 nor more than $1,000 for each offense, together with the costs of prosecution, and in default of payment of such forfeiture and costs of prosecution shall be imprisoned in the county jail until the forfeiture and costs of prosecution are paid, but not exceeding 6 months.

SECTION XI – SEVERABILITY

If any provision of this ordinance or its application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the invalidity does not affect other provisions or applications of this ordinance that can be given effect without the invalid provision or application, and to this end the provisions of this ordinance are severable.

SECTION XII – EFFECTIVE DATE

This ordinance is effective on publication or posting.

The town clerk shall properly publish this ordinance as required under s. 60.80, Wis. Stats.

Adopted this 5^th day of December, 2022

Rita Niznik

Clerk