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Subjects › Legal › Nuisances › Nuisances - Unsightly Areas
Updated 06/2011

Nuisances - Unsightly Areas

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About Unsightly Areas

Excessive amounts of rubbish, overgrown vegetation, and objects accumulated on private property are usually regulated as "public nuisances" by cities and counties. However, there is a limit on how far a city or county may go in regard to regulating "unsightly areas." It is an open question in this state whether our courts would uphold an ordinance if the regulation is based purely on aesthetic grounds. Washington court cases, such as Lenci v. City of Seattle, 63 Wn.2d 664 (1964), and Duckworth v. City of Bonney Lake, 91 Wn.2d 19 (1978), indicate that municipal regulations may be based in part on aesthetic considerations. However, these cases seem to imply that there must also be public health, safety, or welfare issues in order to justify a municipal regulation under the police power. Ordinances must indicate a public health and safety concern as a justification for the regulation of unsightly areas as nuisances. However, such conditions as peeling paint on a house, cracked windows, or fences in disrepair may be difficult to regulate unless there is a true public health and safety concern involved. If a building actually constitutes an unsafe structure, local governments havestatutory authority to regulate and abate the building.

Ordinances allowing local authorities to undertake clean-up on private property where the property owner fails to do so and recover costs from the property owner (including placing a lien on the property if necessary) are limited to situations where the unsightly debris becomes a public nuisance or safety hazard. The procedural requirements of RCW 35.21.310 must be followed. Legal counsel should be sought about the legal sufficiency of the definition of "unsightly areas" as a public nuisance and the procedural requirements of RCW 35.21.310.

Accumulation of Machinery and Junk

  • Leavenworth Municipal Code Ch. 8.41 - Junk, Garbage and Debris on Private Property
  • Tacoma Municipal Code Sec. 8.30.040 (Adobe Acrobat Document) - Specific Public Nuisances Declared 

Accumulation of Trash 

  • Grandview Municipal Code Sec. 8.24.020 - Nuisances designated,  B. Unsightly Areas – Property Maintenance and Vegetation
  • Lynnwood Ordinance No. 2284 (Adobe Acrobat Document) - Remedies for maintaining a nuisance or failure to remove accumulations of refuse, 11/1999 
  • Mercer Island Municipal Code Sec. 8.24.020(I)(6) - (7) - Nuisance Control Code 
  • Mountlake Terrace Municipal Code Sec. 8.15.040(G)-(I) - Covers:  G. Garbage, Recyclables, and Compost. In addition to the regulations in Chapter 13.10; H. Furniture and Appliances, I. Debris and Trash...
  • Port Angeles Municipal Code Sec. 8.04.030(C) - The depositing, leaving or throwing away of any junk, litter or refuse within the City for an unreasonable length of time beyond what is necessary for proper disposal, which length of time shall be not less than thirty (30) days, except at the City Landfill or in covered containers or receptacles acceptable to the enforcement officer of the City...
  • Tacoma Municipal Code Sec. 8.30.040(C) (Adobe Acrobat Document) - Nuisances Specifically Defined - (C) Filthy, littered, trash-covered, or overgrown premises or abutting street and alley rights-of-way for which a property owner is responsible, including, but not limited to....

Storage of Miscellaneous Items, Including Cargo Containers

Provisions related to outdoor storage of items on property vary in terms of time, purpose, and whether or not the items stored are in public view. Similar provisions appear in both highly urban and more rural settings. 

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