Mesa-Vista HOA

Mesa City Code Title VIII - Health, Sanitation, and Environment

Mar 18, 2004

Chapter 6 - Public Nuisances and Property maintenance Article 1 - Purpose, Scope, Definitions, and Prohibitions SECTION 8-6-3: PUBLIC NUISANCES PROHIBITED:

The following acts, omissions, conditions, and things in or upon any land or structure in the City constitute public nuisances, the existence of which are hereby prohibited and declared to be unlawful: (2568) (A) It shall be unlawful for any person to cause or allow any abandoned or inoperable vehicle to be parked or stored except in complete conformance with the terms of this paragraph. All abandoned or inoperable vehicles or vehicles in residential areas being restored or repaired for longer than ten (10) days shall be stored safely within a lawful, enclosed building or structure or screened by a lawful fence in such a manner as to not be visible from beyond the lot boundaries or shall be stored on the premises of a business enterprise operated in a lawful place and manner in accordance with the provisions of the Mesa City Code where the storage of the vehicle is necessary to the operation of the business enterprise. (2568,2824,3388) (B) No person shall deposit, store, or maintain any garbage or junk, or an accumulation of materials such as: vehicle parts, appliances, indoor furniture, boxes, crates, packing cases, mattresses, bedding, lumber, scrap iron, tin, and other metals, unless stored safely within a lawful, enclosed building or structure, or screened by a lawful fence or within a trash receptacle in such a manner as to not be visible from beyond the lot boundaries, except as authorized for collection under Title 8, Chapter 3 of this Code. (2568,3388) (C) All persons owning or occupying land or places of business within the City shall keep the sidewalk or public places fronting or bordering their property free of garbage, junk, obstructions, and weeds or grass in excess of nine inches (9"); provided, however, this Section shall not prohibit the temporary storage of such matters in authorized receptacles for collection consistent with Chapter 3 of Title 8 of this Code. (2568,2824,3388) (D) No owner or occupant of land shall allow or permit trees, shrubs, or plant growth on that land to impede, obstruct, or interfere with the passage of any street, sidewalk, or alley within the City or the visibility of any traffic control device or signal. (2568) (E) No owner or occupant of land within the City shall allow plant growth which is dead, dormant, or so dry as to be readily flammable or combustible on such land that may constitute a fire hazard or other threat to the public health or safety. (2568) (F) No person shall deposit in, sweep upon, or permit to drain into any public right-of-way or public place of the City any garbage, junk, obstruction, or similar matter or any hazardous material which is offensive to sight or smell or impedes passage or is detrimental to public health. (2568) (G) It shall be unlawful to allow any swimming pool or similar body of water to stagnate and thereby become eutrophic, polluted, or offensive to the senses and unsafe for its intended use. (2568) (H) No owner or occupant of a building or structure within the City shall permit graffiti on the building or structure or fail to eradicate graffiti from the building or structure within fifteen (15) days of a notice to abate under this Chapter. (2568) (I) It shall be unlawful to erect or maintain any electric fence or to attach to any fence any glass, nails, metal objects, or other materials in such a manner that is likely to injure any person who comes in contact with such object, or to erect or maintain any barbed wire or razor wire except that no more than three (3) strands of barbed wire or one (1) coil of razor wire not less than six feet and two inches (6'2") above the ground are permitted at the top of an otherwise lawful fence enclosing a municipal, institutional, or commercial use. Barbed wire fencing is not prohibited on premises larger than one (1) acre used for agricultural or livestock purposes. Barbed wire or razor wire shall not extend beyond the premises permitted to be enclosed. (2568,3388) (J) It shall be unlawful for any person to display any vehicle or boat for sale, rent, or lease on vacant or undeveloped and unsurfaced property, and no owner or occupant of vacant, undeveloped, or unsurfaced property shall allow or permit such displays. (2568,3388) (K) It shall be unlawful for an owner or occupant to fail to properly maintain, repair, or replace the exposed exterior surfaces of a building or structure including exterior windows, doors, canopies, metal awnings, roofs, exhaust ducts, chimneys, painted surfaces, window screening, fences, screen walls, retaining walls, foundations, cooling devices, outdoor stairs, porches, and railings as visible from the adjacent rights-of-way, using materials, colors, or finishes that are incongruous with the predominant materials, colors, or finishes of the exposed exterior surface when such incongruous materials, colors, or finishes constitute more than twenty (20) contiguous square feet, or more than ten percent (10%) of the area of any exposed individual plane surface unbroken by corners or angles. (2568,3388,3478) (L) It shall be unlawful for any person to park and for an owner or occupant of land to allow or permit any person to park on the owner's or occupant's land any commercial vehicle having a gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) exceeding thirteen thousand (13,000) pounds or having dual rear wheels exceeding seventeen inches (17") in diameter on any undeveloped and unsurfaced private property in the City except when such parking is necessarily required while actually carrying out a lawful commercial purpose. In an action involving a violation of this paragraph, a notice or a citation need not be personally served upon the owner or operator of the vehicle but may be served by attaching a copy to the vehicle. The vehicle owner, the vehicle operator, the owner of the land, and the occupant of the land shall be jointly and severally liable for violation of this paragraph. (2568,2901) (M) No person shall attach any sign to any public utility structure, traffic control device, streetlight standard, or similar structure in the public right-of-way excepting those signs erected by a public utility or government agency. (2568) (N) All vacant or abandoned buildings shall be secured against unauthorized entry at all times. (2729) (O) No owner or occupant of a parcel of land within the City shall allow thereon weeds or grass which occupy more than fifty (50) contiguous square feet on a developed parcel to attain a predominant height in excess of nine inches (9"), or more than ten percent (10%) of the area of an undeveloped parcel to attain a predominant height in excess of twelve inches (12"). This provision shall not apply to single residence rear yards not visible from the adjacent right-of-way or to crops supporting bona fide livestock grazing where lawful. (2824,3388) (P) Deleted. (3689) (Q) Deleted. (3689) (R) No person shall offer to sell, sell, or plant any male mulberry tree (morus alba) or olive tree (olea europea) in the City unless it is one of the nonpollinating varieties of such trees. The City shall maintain a current list of nonpollinating varieties, which shall be available for public review and shall be based on industry standard for nonpollinating varieties, applicable horticultural and scientific research and data, review and evaluation by qualified experts, and other appropriate information. (2945,3465,3689) (S) It shall be unlawful for any person to maintain or display any sign regulated under Section 19, Title 11 of this Code that is damaged or deteriorated to a condition constituting a visual blight. Visual blight shall include conditions detectable from beyond the lot boundaries such as chipping, peeling, fading, or rusting surfaces; the presence of cracks, holes, buckles, warps, or splinters in any sign component; and defective bulbs, fluorescent tubes, or neon or other inert gas light segments. (3307,3465,3689,4074) (T) It shall be unlawful to park any motor vehicle within the front or side yard of a single-residence use unless such parking is on an improved, dustproof parking surface. Parking within the front yard of a single-residence use shall be on or contiguous to a legal driveway provided such parking does not exceed a maximum of fifty percent (50%) of the front yard area. All motor vehicles parked in a front yard must have current license plates displayed. (3388,3465,3689) (U) It shall be unlawful to store any watercraft, utility trailer, or any nonvehicle-mounted camper shell or truck camper within the front yard of a residential use. On residential lots containing less than five (5) dwelling units, all watercraft, utility trailers, or any nonvehicle-mounted camper shells or truck campers stored in the side yard that exceed six feet (6') in height as measured from grade and are visible from a public street shall be screened from such street by a six-foot- (6'-) high opaque fence. No watercraft, utility trailer, or any nonvehicle-mounted camper shell or truck camper exceeding thirty feet (30') in length exclusive of tongue shall be stored in the side yard. (3689) (V) All persons owning or occupying improved property within the City shall maintain the yards and exposed exterior surfaces such as exterior windows, doors, canopies, metal awnings, roofs, exhaust ducts, chimneys, painted surfaces, window screening, fences, screen walls, retaining walls, foundations, cooling devices, outdoor stairs, porches and railings, as visible from the adjacent rights-of-way, in a structurally sound condition that does not constitute a hazard and is impervious to moisture and weather elements. Yards and exposed exterior surfaces as visible from the adjacent rights-of-way shall also be maintained so as to not exhibit deterioration, disrepair, or blight constituting more than twenty (20) contiguous square feet, or more than ten percent (10%) of the area of any exposed individual plane surface unbroken by corners of angles. (3478) The provisions of this Section may be applied cumulatively or separately for purposes of enforcement. (2824)