Junk and Junk Vehicles

Chapter 90

Storing, accumulating, or allowing to remain on any private property within the corporate limits of the city any junk or junk vehicle. Storing of a vehicle on a property that is owned by an individual that is not the registered owner of said vehicle(s).

Junk

Defined as all old or scrap copper, brass, lead or any other non-ferrous metal: old or discarded rope, rags, batteries, paper, trash, rubber, debris, waste or used lumber, or salvaged wood; dismantled vehicles, machinery and appliances or parts of such vehicles, machinery or appliances; iron, steel or other old or scrap ferrous materials; old or discarded glass, tin, plastic or old or discarded household goods or hardware.  Neatly stacked firewood located on a side or a rear yard is not considered junk.

Junk Vehicle

Any vehicle that is parked, stored or placed upon a property and that is not able to be moved under its own power or has not been moved or used as an operating vehicle for a period of seven days and has any of the following characteristics:

  1. Broken glass.  Any vehicle with a broken windshield or window.
  2. Broken or loose part.  Any vehicle with a broken or loose fender, door, bumper, hood, running board, steering wheel or trunk top.
  3. Habitat for nuisance animals or insects.  Any vehicle which has become the habitat for rats, mice, or snakes, or any other vermin or insects.
  4. Flammable fuel.  Any vehicle which contains gasoline or any other flammable fuel, and is inoperable.
  5. Inoperable.  Any motor vehicle which lacks an engine or two or more wheels or other structural parts, rendering said motor vehicle totally inoperable, or which cannot be moved under its own power or has not been used as an operating vehicle for a period of seven days or more.
  6. Defective or obsolete condition.  Any other vehicle which, because of its defective or obsolete condition, in any other way constitutes a threat to the public health and safety, and/or can be described as a nuisance by any of the conditions listed in this chapter.
  7. Mobile and/or manufactured homes.  Mobile and/or manufactured homes that are vacant, dilapidated beyond reasonable repair, or that are not properly affixed or tied down to a foundation, or a footing or slab according to Appendix E of the 2006 International Residential Code are deemed as a nuisance and must be abated as a nuisance according to the provisions of this chapter.
  8. Mere licensing of such a vehicle shall not constitute a defense to the finding that a vehicle is a junk vehicle.

Vehicle

Every device in, upon, or by which a person or property is or may be transported or drawn upon a highway or street, excepting devices moved by human power or used exclusively upon stationary rails or tracks, and includes without limitation a motor vehicle, automobile, truck, motorcycle, tractor, trailer, buggy, wagon, farm machinery, any of which may be licensed or unlicensed, or any combination thereof.