Abatement of Nuisances and Hazards Within Arna Township

ARNA TOWNSHIP

ORDINANCE 2015 - 2

Ordinance for the

ABATEMENT OF NUISANCES AND HAZARDS WITHIN ARNA TOWNSHIP

Prepared in 2015 by:

ARNA TOWNSHIP PLANNING COMMISSION

Larry Larson

Ed Proffit

Gene Wickham

Cheryl Wickham, Secretary

Bob Brewster, Zoning Administrator

SECTION 1: GENERAL PROVISIONS

1.1 STATUTORY AUTHORIZATION 1

1.2 JURISDICTION 1

1.3 ABROGATION AND INTERPRETATION 1

1.4 SEVERABILITY 2

SECTION 2: DEFINITIONS 2

SECTION 3: NUISANCE AND HAZARD ABATEMENT 4

3.1 GENERAL GUIDELINES 4

3.2 ABATEMENT PROCEDURES 5

3.3 NUISANCE AND HAZARD LIST 7

3.3.1 Nuisances 7

3.3.2 Hazards 7

3.3.3 Can be either a Nuisance or a Hazard 7

3.4 PRIVACY SCREENING STANDARDS 8

SECTION 4: ADMINISTRATION AND ENFORCEMENT

4.1 ADMINISTRATION 9

4.2 ENFORCEMENT 9

4.2.1 Township Notice of Violation 9

4.2.2 Town Orders 10

4.2.3 Final Resolutions 11

CERTIFICATION AND EFFECTIVE DATE 13

ORDINANCE 2015 - 2

NUISANCE & HAZARD ABATEMENT ORDINANCE

Due to their role towards promoting the health, safety, and welfare of the residents of the township, the task of identifying and abating nuisances and hazards naturally falls to local units of government. Ordinances are the proper instruments for setting forth the guidelines and regulations necessary to address these quality of life issues, which include but are not limited to securing the property tax base, the good order of the town, fire safety, highway safety, environmental quality, public health, morals, comfort, repose, and other similar issues.

Therefore, the Town Board of Supervisors of Arna Township ordains: that this “Ordinance for the Abatement of Nuisances & Hazards within Arna Township” is in accordance with their Comprehensive Plan, and is hereby implemented in order to achieve the above stated goals.

SECTION 1: GENERAL PROVISIONS

1.1 STATUTORY AUTHORIZATION

A number of different Minnesota Statutes authorize and guide townships toward addressing these kinds of problems. Minnesota Statute 365.10 Subd 17 provides for the electors to authorize such activities to their Town Boards at their annual meeting. In regard specifically to nuisances, Minnesota Statute 561.01 and Minnesota Statute 617.81 (i.e., 617.80 to 617.87), the latter of which, under Subd 2 (iii) and (iv), goes on to authorize the use of Minnesota Statutes 609.74 and 609.745. In regard to hazardous buildings and properties, Minnesota Statute 463.15 Subd 3a) authorizes townships to use the provisions of Minnesota Statutes 463.15 to 463.26. Other statutes, like Minnesota Statute 471.92 address other issue specific hazards. It is the intent of Arna Township to use all these and any other applicable Minnesota Statutes and Rules that are relevant to the topics addressed in this ordinance.

1.2 JURISDICTION

The management of nuisance, hazardous, and blighted conditions shall be in full compliance with the terms of this ordinance, and shall apply and be binding upon all areas of Arna Township.

1.3 ABROGATION AND INTERPRETATION

It is not the intent of this ordinance to infringe or replace the Pine County Solid Waste Ordinance, or any other Arna Township, Pine County, State of Minnesota, or Federal regulations that apply to the same topical content as this ordinance. Reference to Ordinance 2015-2 or any part thereof shall be deemed to include any amendments. In their interpretation and application, the provisions of this ordinance shall be held to be minimum requirements, so in cases where this ordinance imposes greater restrictions than any other ordinance, the provisions of this ordinance shall prevail.

The penalties and remedies provided in this ordinance are in addition to any other penalty or remedy provided by ordinance, statute, or at common law. Any other penalty or remedy provided by ordinance, statute, or at common law shall not be construed as a limitation upon the penalties and remedies as provided in this ordinance, nor shall the remedies and penalties provided in this ordinance be construed as a limitation on any penalties or remedies available by other ordinance, statute, or at common law.

1.4 SEVERABILITY

The provisions of this ordinance shall be severable. The invalidity of any section, paragraph, or portion by a court of competent jurisdiction shall not make void any other section, paragraph, or part.

SECTION 2: DEFINITIONS

Unless otherwise specifically defined herein, all words and phrases defined in the Minnesota Statutes referenced in Section 1.1 shall have the same meanings when used in this ordinance. Unless otherwise specified, all distances shall be measured horizontally. Terms that are not specifically defined by law, shall be construed in accordance with their context and normal professional usage, and shall be further held to be minimum standards. The words "must" and "shall" are mandatory; the words “may” and “should” are permissive.

2.1 ADDRESS OF RECORD – the postal address in the Pine County Property Tax Assessor’s records, used for official written communication between the Township and the person responsible for the property.

2.2 ASSESSOR'S PARCEL OF RECORD - means a tract of land that is assigned one Parcel Identification Number (PID) in the record keeping system of the Pine County Assessor.

2.3 COMMUNITY STANDARD - means the prevailing interpretation(s) that result from and are supported by the Finding of Fact from a public hearing. The prevailing interpretation(s) so derived shall guide the "unreasonably annoys . . .any considerable number of members of the public" language found in Minnesota Statutes 609.74 (1), Minnesota Statutes 561.01, and other such statutes.

2.4 COUNTY - means Pine County, Minnesota.

2.5 HAZARD - means any situation or condition that contributes to the danger or potential risk of danger to a person or a community’s well being, or which places property at risk to damage, lessens its value, or restricts its ordinary usage. Hazards involve, but are not limited to, issues of fire safety, highway safety, environmental quality, health issues, and property values.

2.6 IMMINENT THREAT TO PUBLIC HEALTH AND SAFETY - includes any hazardous condition in which health hazards, fire hazards, environmental hazards, and/or public safety hazards are so excessive and compelling that a reasonable, prudent person would have a real sense of urgency that the situation should be abated immediately.

2.7 JUNK - means any object or condition that causes visual blight, whose apparent value is of little difference to its salvage value. Old agricultural equipment shall not be considered junk.

2.8 LOT - means a parcel of land designated by plat, proportional description (aliquot), metes and bounds, registered land survey, auditors plot, or other accepted means and separated from other parcels or portions by said description for the purpose of sale, lease, or separation.

2.9 NUISANCE - means any nuisance defined by a Minnesota statute, as well as any situation, condition, or annoyance that is determined by the public to violate their Community Standards, including but not limited to those identified in Section 3.3 of this ordinance.

2.10 PARCEL – is a one unit of land; an alternate term for Lot, or an Assessor’s Parcel of Record.

2.11 PLANNING COMMISSION – means the Arna Township Planning Commission.

2.12 PROPERTY OWNER – The named entity on the Address of Record.

2.13 PROPERTY OWNER’S AGENT – A person representing the interests of a Property Owner, such as an attorney, a contractor for the owner, or any other person so designated by the Property Owner. If the agent has legal standing in his representation of the Property Owner, then the Property Owner must so designate this in writing to the Township.

2.14 PUBLIC VIEW - means the ability to see some object or condition on a property, during winter leaf-off conditions (except as viewed from an airplane) without trespassing on that property. This is often called "As viewed from public roads and public waters". A privacy fence or privacy screen is intended to obstruct a public view.

2.15 STRUCTURE - means any building, camping vehicle, RV, mobile home, manufactured home, or other similar improvement, including but not limited to, dwellings, decks, saunas, gazebos, fences, and storage sheds. Aprons, sidewalks, concrete slabs, and aerial or underground utility lines, such as sewer, electric, telephone, gas lines, towers, poles, and other such facilities shall not be considered a Structure.

2.16 TOWN BOARD – means the Arna Township Town Board of Supervisors.

2.17 TOWN ORDER – As explained in Section 4.3.2, a Town Order is the final offer of terms, conditions, and demands for action that results from the Finding of Fact at a public hearing held for the purpose of resolving a violation of this ordinance. Do not confuse Town Order with many other kinds of Orders, such as Court Orders or Cease & Desist Orders.

2.18 ZONE A – Zone A surrounds the Markville Townsite area, and is approximately 200 acres in size. Zone A is described as NW ¼ of SE ¼, and W ½ of NE ¼, and SE ¼ of NE ¼, and SE ¼ of NW ¼, all in Section 26, Township 42 North, Range 16 West, Pine County, Minnesota.

2.19 ZONE B – means all the rest of Arna Township that is not in Zone A.

SECTION 3: NUISANCE AND HAZARD ABATEMENT

3.1 GENERAL GUIDELINES

Section 2 of this ordinance provides the official, and therefore determinate definition of the terms Nuisance and Hazard, but very broadly speaking, a core concept of the difference between these two terms is that a nuisance is an annoyance or a bother, whereas a hazard is something more urgent and/or dangerous, such as with issues of impending harm, loss, or destruction.

An important aspect of a nuisance and hazard abatement program is the realization that ambiguities can arise because statutes and the definitions they contain can at times be imperfect. For example, in regard to the definition of a hazard, Minnesota Statute 463.15 Subd 3 defines hazardous buildings and properties, but there are other things than buildings and property that can also be hazardous. In regard to the definition of a nuisance, many are identified clearly by various statutes like Minnesota Statute 617.81, which specifically identifies prostitution and gambling as a nuisance, but Minnesota Statute 609.74 states that a nuisance is: a condition which unreasonably annoys, injures or endangers the safety, health, morals, comfort, or repose of any considerable number of members of the public. This latter definition of a nuisance is not so precise.

Nuisances usually evolve when the problem can be seen, heard, smelled, or otherwise detected from public roads or nearby properties, while hazards often exist undetected before the harm is done. Further, as can be found in Section 3.3.3, some nearly identical situations may be interpreted as either a nuisance or a hazard, depending on the exact circumstances. For these reasons, nuisances and hazards slated for abatement sometimes need to be rigorously evaluated, and in order to give focus and clarity to such ambiguous circumstances, local Community Standards will be used as one tool to help provide guidance on such difficult interpretations.

In order to administer the township nuisance and hazard abatement program, the Planning Commission shall make use of the following provisions:

a) The Township shall keep available to the public a Nuisance and Hazard List (see Section 3.3). The situations listed in this section are those that are subject to enforcement.

b) As also indicated in Section 3.3, nuisance abatement shall be administered in Zone A only, whereas hazard abatement shall apply throughout all areas of Arna Township.

c) Alleged nuisances and hazards may be brought to the attention of the Planning Commission by a complaint from a resident or landowner in Arna Township, by the Arna Town Board, by the Arna Planning Commission, or by an official acting on behalf of a Federal, State of Minnesota, or Pine County unit of government. Complaints shall be made in writing by using a form provided by the township, used to assist with gathering the relevant information necessary to investigate all such complaints.

d) Complaints that involve disputes between abutting property owners shall address the issue of how the problem may also have an adverse affect upon the public at large.

e) Requests to amend this ordinance, including requests to change the Nuisance and Hazard List, must be made to the Arna Town Board.

f) All Township employees, as well as others who perform services for the Township, shall use the procedures stated in this ordinance, unless explicitly specified otherwise by the Town Board.

3.2 ABATEMENT PROCEDURES

a) When a complaint of a nuisance or hazard is received, the Planning Commission shall consider and study the matter under the general guidelines of Section 3.1. Of course, one the first tasks will be to determine if the situation is listed in the Nuisance and Hazard List (Section 3.3). As the Planning Commission decides the merits of a complaint, the following topics are offered as “food for thought” in order to help determine how much the alleged nuisance or hazard meets either a statutory definition, or is need of a determination of a Community Standard. Legal advice and other factors may also be considered when deciding whether to pursue a case or not. The following factors shall not be interpreted as a mandatory checklist used to develop the Finding of Fact described in Section 3.2 c) that follows.

1) SCOPE OF THE PROBLEM: For a nuisance, determine whether it actually “annoys a considerable number of people”, and also establish that it exists in Zone A.

2) PUBLIC INTEREST: Consider whether the “able to be seen (detected) publicly” aspect applies to the situation. Situations existing only between abutting properties should be so noted in the record. Also, determine whether a privacy screen (see Section 3.4) may be offered as a solution to the problem.

3) URGENCY: Consider whether the nature of the perceived nuisance or hazard is something of such urgency that it meets the definition of an Imminent Threat to Public Health and Safety, in which case it might be more effective to handle the matter using other methods.

4) HAZARDOUS: Consider whether the problem is a situation where a clear hazard exists due to the fact that something is toxic, harmful, debilitating, and/or dangerous, and determine whether it can also adversely affect neighboring properties due to its movement or nature.