City of Reno Code Enforcment
Reno Municipal Code (RMC) Sec. 8.22.030. Definitions.
- Nuisance or nuisance activity. That which is injurious to health, or injurious, indecent and offensive to the senses, or an obstruction to the free use of property so as to interfere with the comfortable enjoyment of life or property, or is against the interest of public morals, decency, safety, peace and order, including, but not limited to, an attractive nuisance, a nuisance per se, criminal activity, the presence of debris, litter, graffiti, garbage, rubble, abandoned, unregistered or junk vehicles or junk appliances, curfew violations, or any other activity, behavior or conduct defined by the council or Nevada Revised Statutes to constitute a public nuisance. Nuisance or nuisance activity includes unreasonably creating, allowing, or engaging in any activity, conduct or use of property that subjects a person or neighborhood to noise which is likely to disturb the peace of persons of reasonable and ordinary sensibilities. [Reference NRS 268; NRS 268.412; 1997]
Sec. 8.22.035. Nuisances per se Defined
Any of the following conditions are a nuisance per se as constituting conditions which annoy, injure or endanger the safety, health or comfort of any considerable number of persons:
(1) An unsafe or dangerous building;
(2) Unoccupied buildings or unoccupied structures with boarded-up windows or entryways that have been opened and unsecured, or windows without opaque coverings or entryways without boards for more than ten calendar days;
(3) Buildings or structures where more than 25 percent of the exterior of the building was damaged or destroyed and is left in such condition for more than ten calendar days;
(4) Buildings or structures in a state of partial unprogressing construction for more than 90 days;
(5) Property, buildings, structures or premises with barricades, fencing, screen walls or retaining walls which are not of sound condition, damaged or in disrepair;
(6) Unoccupied buildings or unoccupied structures where exterior lighting is less than 1 foot candle of light at ground level around the exterior of the building;
(7) Property, buildings, structures or premises where dead plants, dead materials, overgrown weeds, brush, and debris have not been removed for a period of more than ten days.
(8) Property, buildings, structures or premises which display dilapidation, disrepair, structural defects or unsightly appearances that constitute a blight to adjoining property, the neighborhood or the city;
(9) Property, buildings, structures or premises which contain debris, scrap material, garbage, hazardous waste, a health hazard, a dangerous condition, an imminent hazard, an incipient hazard, infestation, litter, rubble or overgrown vegetation that constitute a blight to adjoining property, the neighborhood or the city, or a health, safety or fire hazard;
(10) Wells, shafts, basements, cesspools, septic tanks, swimming pools, recreational/ architectural pools, ponds and other like or similar excavations where it appears that such are abandoned or not maintained or secured or unattended;
(11) Graffiti capable of being viewed by a person using any public area or right-of-way in the city;
(12) Any obstruction including vegetation, which may endanger, in any way, the security or usefulness of or any access to any street, utility line (above or underground), sewer or public place;
(13) Any vegetation located anywhere within the city which is determined by the Director of Parks, Recreation and Community Services or his/her designee to be afflicted with any dangerous and infectious insect infestation or plant disease;
(14) Any tree of all species and varieties of Ulmus, Zelkova and Planera infected with the fungus Certostomella ulmi, as determined by laboratory analysis conducted at the direction of the Director of Parks, Recreation and Community Services or his/her designee, located anywhere within the city;
(15) Any tree which is in a dead or dying condition located anywhere in the city, that may serve as a breeding place for any infectious insects or disease or is a dangerous condition for surrounding persons or property;
(16) Any property on which a swimming pool, pond, stream or other body of water is abandoned, unattended, unfiltered or not otherwise maintained, resulting in the water becoming polluted;
(17) Any property whereon any condition or object obscures the visibility of a public street intersection to the public so as to constitute a hazard, including but not limited to vegetation, signs, posts or equipment;
(18) Any criminal activity occurring at any building or premises;
(19) A building or place used for the purposes of unlawfully selling, serving, storing, keeping, manufacturing, using or giving away a controlled substance, immediate precursor as defined in NRS 453.086 or controlled substance analog as defined in NRS 453.043; or
(20) Any garage sale which exceeds the following limitations:
(a) No more than four garage sales shall be conducted on premises per
calendar year.
(b) No garage sale shall be conducted for longer than 48 hours consecutively.
(21) Parking in front of the front building line of single-family residential dwellings except:
- on paved standard driveway areas; or
- upon a paved surface as defined in this chapter which is directly adjacent to the approved driveway and the nearest property line with its access made through the approved driveway approach without driving over required landscape.
(22) Using any mobile home, recreational vehicle or vehicle for dwelling or sleeping purposes outside of a mobile home park, mobile home subdivision or recreational vehicle park.
(23) The display of any vehicle for the purpose of sale or lease upon any vacant lot or unimproved portion of a public right of way; (Per NRS 482.548)
(24) Any other condition which creates a blight to adjoining property, the neighborhood or the city, or a health, safety or fire hazard under the conditions set forth in the International Fire Code, International Building Code, Uniform Abatement of Dangerous Buildings Code, Washoe County Solid Waste Management Code, or any other Reno Municipal Code or Washoe County Code or the Nevada Revised Statutes.
Sec. 8.22.090. Unlawful to permit or allow existence of nuisance.
No owner, occupant, agent, property manager, or anyone having charge or control of any property, building, or premises within the city shall permit or allow the existence of a nuisance or nuisance activity, an attractive nuisance, or nuisance per se as defined in this chapter, upon any property, building, structure or premises owned, occupied or controlled by him. Any person violating any of the provisions of this chapter:
(1) Upon conviction, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and punished as provided in section 1.04.010; or
(2) Shall be subject to provisions of Chapter 1.05 of the Code.
Nevada Revised Statutes (Very vague)
NRS 40.140 Nuisance defined; action for abatement and damages; exceptions.
1. Except as otherwise provided in this section, anything which is injurious to health, or indecent and offensive to the senses, or an obstruction to the free use of property, so as to interfere with the comfortable enjoyment of life or property, including, without limitation, a building or place used for the purpose of unlawfully selling, serving, storing, keeping, manufacturing, using or giving away a controlled substance, immediate precursor as defined in NRS 453.086 or controlled substance analog as defined in NRS 453.043, is a nuisance, and the subject of an action. The action may be brought by any person whose property is injuriously affected, or whose personal enjoyment is lessened by the nuisance, and by the judgment the nuisance may be enjoined or abated, as well as damages recovered.
2. It is presumed:
(a) That an agricultural activity conducted on farmland, consistent with good agricultural practice and established before surrounding nonagricultural activities is reasonable. Such activity does not constitute a nuisance unless the activity has a substantial adverse effect on the public health or safety.
(b) That an agricultural activity which does not violate a federal, state or local law, ordinance or regulation constitutes good agricultural practice.
3. A shooting range does not constitute a nuisance with respect to any noise attributable to the shooting range if the shooting range is in compliance with the provisions of all applicable statutes, ordinances and regulations concerning noise:
(a) As those provisions existed on October 1, 1997, for a shooting range in operation on or before October 1, 1997; or
(b) As those provisions exist on the date that the shooting range begins operation, for a shooting range that begins operation after October 1, 1997.
ÊA shooting range is not subject to any state or local law related to the control of noise that is adopted or amended after the date set forth in paragraph (a) or (b), as applicable, and does not constitute a nuisance for failure to comply with any such law.
4. As used in this section, “shooting range” means an area designed and used for archery or sport shooting, including, but not limited to, sport shooting that involves the use of rifles, shotguns, pistols, silhouettes, skeet, trap, black powder or other similar items.
[1911 CPA § 562; RL § 5504; NCL § 9051]—(NRS A 1985, 873; 1997, 951, 1471, 1472)
2005 Code Enforcement Accomplishments
Efficiency and Effectiveness
- Acquired a new Administrative Hearing Officer increasing appeal hearings to twice a month, reducing amount of time violation exists between hearings.
- All Code Enforcement Officers switched from desktops to laptops, providing for more time in the field, increasing productivity.
- Daily average number of open SRO cases reduced from 350-375 to fewer than 250. Current winter average 125-150 open SRO cases.
- After numerous testimonies at the Senate, SB52 was approved, providing Code Enforcement the authority to tow imminent hazard vehicles from public property, no longer requiring P.D. assistance.
- Six new policies and procedures established to ensure uniformity, and enhance efficiency and effectiveness with daily approaches in enforcing most common code violations, thus reducing litigation risks and enhancing fair approach with all violations.
- Eliminated courtesy letters to commercial businesses, providing for quicker response and compliance.
- Established standard buckets in every Code Enforcement Officer’s vehicles with essential tools to conduct duties, such as placards, gloves, flashlights, face masks, hammers, tape measures, etc.
- Installed safety strobe lights in all vehicles.
Customer Service
- Hired new bilingual OAII to facilitate service with Spanish speaking community.
- Conducted public service announcement interviews with Hispanic media, both radio and television.
- Established minimum requirement for tenants to inform landlords of housing violations prior to City taking enforcement actions. Providing landlords and property owners the opportunity to rectify the problem before issuing notices and citations.
- Created a Snow Removal courtesy flyer for residents.
- Attended multiple neighborhood events and handed out code enforcement memorabilia in forms of pens, writing pads, rulers, with “Keep my Neighborhood Clean” slogan and phone number to Reno Direct.
Financial
- Established a billing process for all administrative fees and citations.
Neighborhood Services
- Held monthly meetings with Code Enforcement Ad Hoc Committee, and implemented recommendations of the committee.
- Established a standard Code Enforcement article in the Weed & Seed newsletter.
- Proactively opened and addressed 1563 code violation cases.
Quality of Life
- Conducted a one hour presentation in Spanish at the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce End-of-Year Breakfast.
- Conducted a presentation for the Annual Reno Sparks Realtors Association Meeting regarding responsibilities of landlords.
- Adopted 2003 International Property Maintenance Code, establishing minimum property maintenance, heating, sanitation, health and safety requirements for all new and existing structures.
- Established a process with the Code Enforcement Task Force and P.D. Motel Interdiction Team to identify multi-dwelling properties and conduct in-depth inspections.
- Established minimum annual requirement of proactive cases for Code Enforcement Officers.
Redevelopment/Downtown
- Established an inspection process to enforce compliance with the Safescape Ordinance.
