News

July 14, 2005

Raleigh's Public Nuisance Ordinance Helps Ensure Clean, Safe And Healthy Environment

All Raleigh residents have a responsibility to make sure their property is clean, safe and free of potential health hazards. The Raleigh City Code and North Carolina state statutes set out the procedures used to control and remove dangers to the public health.

The Housing/Environmental Division of the City’s Inspection Department is responsible for enforcing public nuisance violations in Raleigh. Fines are imposed against owners of property who allow these health and safety nuisances to exist on their property. The City Council approved a change in the public nuisance ordinance on July 5 that is equitable for the unknowing violator while being punitive for the repeat violator. The City had charged landowners a $100 administrative fee anytime that a housing inspector found a nuisance existing on their property, regardless of whether the owner abated the nuisance in the allotted time. Under the new ordinance, a property owner who abates a nuisance when notified of its existence does not have to the pay the $100 administrative fee unless that owner has had a nuisance code violation within the preceding 24 months. Repeat violators must pay the administrative fee plus a minimum $250 civil penalty assessed by the City.

The City Council’s Law and Public Safety Committee currently is reviewing Raleigh’s public nuisance ordinance for possible additional changes that would be considered by the full council.

Generally, the City of Raleigh will notify a property owner of a public nuisance violation by first-class mail. The owner will have 10 days from the mailing of the notice to correct the violation. Under City ordinance, public nuisances include, among others:

•  Any area which serves as a breeding ground or harbor for mosquitoes, rats or other pests;
• Any area within a given distance of a dwelling or open street where a heavy growth of grasses or weeds are over 8 inches high;
• Any place of growth of poison sumac, poison ivy, poison oak or other noxious vegetation;
• Any collection of stagnant standing water where mosquitoes and other insects tend to breed;
• Any open place where there is a concentration of combustibles, such as mattresses, boxes, paper, automobile tires and tubes, trash, old clothes, rags or other items;
• Any concentration of building materials that are not suitable for construction, including concrete, steel or masonry;
• Any open space where junked refrigerators, appliances or household furniture is left;
• Any open space where there is a collection of garbage, food waste, animal waste or other rotted material of any kind, excluding properly maintained compost used for agricultural purposes;
• Privies or outhouses;
• Animal hides, dried or green, excluding those that are sold in the city when thoroughly cured and odorless;
• Any products that have jagged edges of metal or glass, or areas of confinement for these products that are located in open places;
• Any open space where there are discarded bottles, cans or medical supplies;
• Any improper or inadequate drainage on private property that causes flooding or endangers streets, sidewalks or other City-owned property;
• Any collection of water that has no adequate natural drainage and is or likely will become a menace to public health;
• Any improperly operated stormwater retention or impoundment device;
• Any condition that blocks the natural flow of streams, creeks or other water courses;
• Any visual obstruction which might constitute a traffic hazard;
• Nuisance motor vehicles; or
• Any other condition declared by the City Council to be a danger to the public health, safety, morals and general welfare of Raleigh residents.

ABANDONED AND NUISANCE VEHICLES

An abandoned motor vehicle is one that is:

• Left on any public street or highway in violation of a traffic or parking law;
• Left on any public street or highway longer than seven days;
• Left on property owned or operated by the City of Raleigh for longer than 24 hours; or,
• Left on private property without the consent of the property owner, occupant or tenant for longer than two hours

A nuisance motor vehicle is one which:

• Serves as a breeding ground or harbor for insects, rats or other pests;
• Is surrounded by heavy growth or weeds or other vegetation over eight inches high;
• Is being used to store combustibles, such as gasoline, oil or other explosive or flammable materials;
• Is a collection for garbage, waste or water;
• Is positioned in such a manner that it may fall, turn over or make an unsafe movement;
• Is considered unsafe due to jagged metal or broken glass; or,
• Any other vehicle that the City Council has specifically declared a health and safety hazard and a public nuisance.

The City of Raleigh Police Department is responsible for the removal of abandoned or nuisance vehicles from public streets or City-owned property. No notice to the vehicle owner is required.     

The Housing/Environmental Division of the City’s Inspections Department is responsible for the removal of abandoned or nuisance vehicles from private property. The vehicle owner is notified of the violation by a notice affixed to the vehicle and by certified mail. If the violation is not corrected by the date set by the City (no sooner than seven days after the notice is affixed), the vehicle will be towed away at the owner’s expense. To regain possession of the vehicle, the owner must pay storage fees owed to the towing company as well as towing charges. If payment is not made, the vehicle will be sold at public auction.        

In addition to abandoned and nuisance vehicles, City ordinance prohibits the open storage of two or more vehicles that are:

• Unlicensed;
• Uninspected;
• Wrecked;
• Crushed; or
• Partially or totally dismantled

After preliminary inspection and notification of violation by the City, the vehicle owner is given a deadline to remove the vehicle. If the vehicle is not removed by the deadline, the City inspector may issue a civil citation against the owner with an initial fine of $100 per vehicle.

APPEALS

Citizens who have been issued notices of code violation citations for public nuisances can file a written appeal to the City Council through the Inspections Department if they feel the code violation did not create a public nuisance. A hearing will be scheduled. Both the person who was issued the notice of code violation and a representative of the City’s Inspections Department will have an opportunity to make comments to the council at the hearing. The council will render a final decision.

For more information about public nuisances, contact the Housing/Environmental Division of the City of Raleigh Inspections Department at 807-5110.

Prepared by:
John Boyette
Public Affairs Specialist
Public Affairs Department

For More Information Contact:
Robert Spruill
Housing/Environmental Inspections Administrator
Inspections Department
One Exchange Plaza, Suite 504
Raleigh, NC 27602
919-807-5180

Print

Email

Bookmark