Neighborhood Services Officer (Weeds/Grass Not Maintained)

The City of Worthington has a Public Nuisance Ordinance to prohibit, prevent, reduce or eliminate blight, blighting factors or the cause of blight within our community. The primary emphasis behind the ordinance is:

  1. To protect the public health, welfare and safety of the citizens and owners of property within the City of Worthington.
  2. To eliminate the existence of unsightly, unhealthy or annoying conditions upon properties within the community.

  3. To present our community as a healthy and friendly place to live or visit.

The ordinance was also developed to protect property values and to prevent real estate from depreciating due to blight and deteriorated properties within a neighborhood.

RESPONSIBILITY OF OWNERS AND OCCUPANTS OF RESIDENTIAL AND COMMERCIAL PROPERTY OWNERS:

Section 98.07 of the ordinance pertains to the exterior of residential and commercial structures and is subdivided into two divisions as follows:

Subdivision 1: Foundations, roofs, exterior walls and surfaces.

Every foundation, chimney, roof, exterior wall and surface shall be weather tight, watertight, rodent and insect proof, and shall be kept in a workmanlike state of maintenance and repair.

All walls, fences shall be plumb and true, free of holes, missing, loose, or rotting boards/posts and loose and peeling paint.       

In all residential and commercial zoned districts, all materials, machinery, vehicles and equipment shall be stored within a building or be fully screened so as not to be visible from adjoining or adjacent lands and the street, except for the following:

  1. Landscaping materials/equipment in current use on the premises:
  2. Construction materials/equipment in current use on the premises:
  3. Motor vehicles bearing current registration licenses, provided the vehicles are necessary for the operation of the business:
  4. Licensed or non-licensed motor vehicles, agricultural or industrial equipment for sale, distribution, repair or rent by authorized dealers and businesses:
  5. Items or materials which, by their nature, require exterior storage and are offered for sale on the premises:
  6. Covered, rigid garbage containers in the rear yard, or side yard when fully screened:
  7. Licensed or non- licensed motor vehicles, agricultural or industrial equipment used to obtain parts for repair to a customer’s motor vehicle, agricultural or industrial equipment, provided that such equipment and/or motor vehicles are removed within 60 days after acquisition by authorized dealers and businesses:     

(2)     In such residential, business, industrial, transitional and commercial districts, all open areas and parts of the premises shall be maintained and kept in a reasonably clean and neat condition. This requirement shall include the removal of dead trees and brush, the removal of inoperable machines, appliances, fixtures and equipment so damaged, deteriorated or obsolete as to have no substantial value and which constitute junk, the removal of lumber piles and building materials not being used in actual construction on the premises unless such premises are being used by a business dealing in or requiring the use of such lumber and materials, and the removal of tin cans, broken glass, broken furniture, mattresses, box springs, crates, cardboard, tires, and other debris. Nothing in this section shall restrict the activities of duly established and permitted junk or salvage yards.

(3)    Every foundation, exterior wall, roof, window, exterior door, basement hatchway and every other entranceway of every non dwelling structure shall be so maintained as to prevent the structure from becoming a harborage for rodents, vermin and insects, and shall be kept in a reasonably good state of maintenance. All properties shall be maintained and painted.

 

COMMUNITY SERVICE OFFICE

WORTHINGTON POLICE DEPARTMENT

VOICE MAIL #507-295-5289

 

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