§ 5-1-2. Public nuisances defined.

A.

General. A public nuisance is a thing, act, occupation, condition or use of property which shall continue for such length of time as to:

1.

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

2.

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

3.

Greatly offend the public morals or decency; or

4.

Unlawfully and substantially interfere with, obstruct or tend to obstruct or render dangerous for passage any street, alley, highway, navigable body of water or other public way.

B.

Public Nuisances Affecting Health. The following acts, omissions, places, conditions and things are hereby specifically declared to be public health nuisances, but shall not be construed to exclude other health nuisances coming within the definition of subsection A of this Section:

1.

All decayed, harmfully adulterated or unwholesome food or drink sold or offered for sale to the public;

2.

Carcasses of animals, birds or fowl not buried or otherwise disposed of in a sanitary manner within twenty-four (24) hours after death;

3.

Accumulations of decayed animal, or vegetable matter, trash, rubbish, garbage, debris, rotting lumber, bedding, packing material, abandoned, disabled or inoperable vehicles or junk machinery, scrap metal or any material in which flies, mosquitoes, disease-carrying insects, rats or other vermin may breed;*

4.

All stagnant water in which mosquitoes, flies or other insects can multiply;

5.

Garbage cans which are not flytight;

6.

The escape of smoke, soot, cinders, noxious acids, fumes, gases, fly ash or industrial dust within the Village limits in such quantities as to endanger the health of persons of ordinary sensibilities or to threaten or cause substantial injury to property;

7.

The pollution of any public well or cistern, stream, lake, canal or body of water by sewage, creamery or industrial wastes or other substances;

8.

Any use of property, substances or things within the Village emitting or causing any foul, offensive, noisome, nauseous, noxious or disagreeable odors, effluvia or stenches extremely repulsive to the physical senses of ordinary persons which annoy, discomfort, injure or inconvenience the health of any appreciable number of persons within the Village;

9.

All abandoned wells not securely covered or secured from public use;

10.

Any barn, stable or shed used for keeping animals;

11.

Any obstruction in or across any watercourse, drainage ditch or ravine;

12.

The deposit of garbage, rubbish or any offensive substance on any street, sidewalk or public place, or on any private property, except as may be permitted by ordinance;

13.

Any noxious weeds on private property as defined by the Illinois Revised Statutes.** Grass and other weed growth shall not exceed eight inches (8″) in height.

C.

Public Nuisances Offending Morals and Decency. The following acts, omissions, places, conditions and things are hereby specifically declared to be public nuisances offending public morals and decency, but such enumeration shall not be construed to exclude other nuisances offending public morals and decency coming within the definition of subsection A of this Section:

1.

All bawdy or disorderly houses, houses of ill fame or assignation, and buildings or structures kept or resorted to for the purpose of prostitution, promiscuous sexual intercourse, or other sexual deviate acts, or for the publication, distribution, sale or exhibition of obscene or immoral publications, prints, pictures, films, illustrations, books, pamphlets or magazines;

2.

All gambling houses, gambling devices and paraphernalia; slot machines; off-street betting parlors; or to advertise any gambling house or resort in any street, alley or other public place within the Village excepting therefrom the Illinois State Lottery;

3.

All places where intoxicating liquor or fermented malt beverages are sold, possessed, stored, brewed, bottled, manufactured or rectified without a permit or license as provided for by this Code;***

4.

Any place or premises within the Village where ordinances or State laws relating to public health, safety, peace, morals or welfare are openly, continuously, repeatedly and intentionally violated.

D.

Public Nuisances Affecting Peace and Safety. The following acts, omissions, places, conditions and things are hereby declared to be public nuisances affecting peace and safety, but such enumeration shall not be construed to exclude other nuisances affecting public peace or safety coming within the provisions of subsection A of this Section:

1.

All buildings erected, repaired or altered in violation of the provisions of the ordinances of the Village relating to materials and manner of construction of buildings and structures;****

2.

All unauthorized signs, signals, markings or devices which purport to be or may be mistaken as official traffic-control devices placed or maintained upon or in view of any public highway or railway crossing;

3.

All trees, hedges, billboards or other obstructions which prevent persons driving vehicles on public streets, alleys or highways from obtaining a clear view of traffic when approaching an intersection or pedestrian crosswalk;

4.

All limbs of trees which project over a public sidewalk less than eight feet (8′) above the surface thereof or less than ten feet (10′) above the surface of a public street;

5.

Any dangerous or dead tree or trees infected with Dutch Elm disease on private property which is declared a public nuisance shall be promptly removed by the owner of record of said property in accordance with the provisions of Section 5-1-3.

6.

All uses or displays of fireworks except as provided by the laws of the State of Illinois and ordinances of the Village;*****

7.

All buildings or structures so old, dilapidated or out of repair as to be dangerous, unsafe, unsanitary or otherwise unfit for human use;

8.

All wires over streets, alleys or public grounds which are strung less than fifteen feet (15′) above the surface of the street or ground;

9.

All loud and discordant noises or vibrations of any kind;

10.

All obstructions of streets, alleys, sidewalks or crosswalks and all excavations in or under the same, except as permitted by the ordinances of the Village or which, although made in accordance with such ordinances, are kept or maintained for an unreasonable length of time after the purpose thereof has been accomplished;******

11.

All open and unguarded pits, wells, excavations or unused basements freely accessible from any public street, alley or sidewalk;

12.

All abandoned refrigerators or iceboxes or other containers of a capacity of one and one-half (1½) cubic feet or more, from which the doors and other covers have not been removed or which are not equipped with a device for opening from the inside by pushing only with the strength of a small child;

13.

Any unauthorized or unlawful use of property abutting on a public street, alley or sidewalk which causes large crowds of people to gather, obstructing traffic and the free use of the streets or sidewalks;

14.

Any advertisements or signs affixed to any building, wall, fence, sidewalk, street or other private or public property without permission of the owner thereof;

15.

Any sign, marquee or awning which is in an unsafe condition, or which overhangs any roadway, or which overhangs any sidewalk less than eight feet (8′) above the sidewalk surface;

16.

Any structure, material or condition which constitutes a fire hazard or will impair the extinguishing of any fire;

17.

Any nuisance so defined by the Illinois Revised Statutes.

(Ord. 82-13, 11-10-82; amd. 1985 Code; Ord. 03-1, 1-14-03; Ord. 2015-O-07, 10-13-15)

* For lien on premises, see Section 5-1-4A of this Chapter.

** For lien on premises, see Section 5-1-4B of this Chapter.

*** See Title 3, Chapter 3 of this Code.

**** Title 7 of this Code.

***** See Section 5-4-19 of this Code.

****** See Title 4, Chapter 2 of this Code.