Why Control Nuisances?
| There are few conditions of urban living that so adversely affect the quality of life in our towns and cities as do nuisances. Neighbors go to war, neighborhoods go to the dogs (literally), districts become slums, citizens flee to suburbia only to find more of the same. One dandelion infested yard makes a neighborhood look bad. One junk filled backyard leads to a neighborhood that does not care what it looks like, because individual effort and pride are wasted. [From Nuisance Abatement, by William L. Cameron, City Attorney of Kennewick. Information Bulletin No. 497 (1997), Legal Notes, Proceedings of April 23-25, 1997, pp. 17-1 -17-28.] |
Controlling nuisances keeps communities safe and livable. The degree of control depends on how citizens perceive their community. Most Washington local governments include a goal of protecting the environment and enhancing quality of life in their community vision statements. Creation of a sense of place and community pride are also part of this vision. Issues of property maintenance -- the accumulation of junk vehicles, vehicle storage, overgrown vegetation, litter and other visual clutter are seen as a deterioration of the quality of life.
The existence of dilapidated buildings, unkempt streets and property overgrown with vegetation are associated with areas of high crime and deteriorating property values. The enforcement of nuisance codes, cleanup of property, and beautification efforts are part of crime prevention and economic development activities. The physical condition of neighborhoods and business districts can show ownership, care, and purposeful maintenance, or it can convey the message that an area may be vulnerable to crime, violence and drug trafficking. Most community-based crime prevention programs include property maintenance activities such as periodic clean-up days and are often accompanied by beautification programs.
The preservation and enhancement of the quality of life is universally held as an attainable, measurable goal. Quality of life indicators and performance measures for government services include such items as: the percentage of streets rated acceptably clean; percentage of surfaces where there is little or no graffiti; percentage of nuisance violations corrected; ratio of enforcement actions taken to hours devoted to proactive patrol; number and percent of sites where weeds were abated; and percent weed lot violations corrected by owners. Other indicators include the monitoring of air and water quality conditions.
As summarized in the Port Angeles ordinance, nuisances are regulated
to prevent and prohibit those conditions which reduce the value of private property, interfere with the enjoyment of public and private property, create and constitute fire and other safety and health hazards, and generally create a menace to the health and welfare of the public and contribute to the degradation of the character of neighborhoods and depreciation of property values. It is necessary for the public health, safety and welfare to regulate, prevent and prohibit conditions which may constitute disorderly, disturbing, unsafe, unsanitary, fly-producing, rat-harboring, and/or disease-causing places, conditions, or objects. It is also necessary for the public social and economic welfare to regulate, prevent, and prohibit conditions which degrade the City's scenic attractiveness and liveability and its economic development. (Ord. 2469 §1, 1/22/88)