Chapter 521: Health, Safety and Sanitation

Sections

Cross references

  • See sectional histories for similar State law
  • Flagpole installation in sidewalk - see Ohio R.C. 723.012
  • Excavation liability - see Ohio R.C. 723.49 et seq.
  • Removal of noxious weeds or litter - see Ohio R.C. 731.51 et seq.
  • Nuisances - see Ohio R.C. Chapter 3767
  • Tampering with safety devices - see GEN. OFF. 541.04

521.01   Abandoned refrigerators and airtight containers

  1. (a) No person shall abandon, discard, or knowingly permit to remain on premises under his control, in a place accessible to children, any abandoned or discarded icebox, refrigerator or other airtight or semiairtight container which has a capacity of one and one-half cubic feet or more and an opening of fifty square inches or more and which has a door or lid equipped with hinge, latch or other fastening device capable of securing such door or lid, without rendering such equipment harmless to human life by removing such hinges, latches or other hardware which may cause a person to be confined therein. This section shall not apply to an icebox, refrigerator or other airtight or semiairtight container located in that part of a building occupied by a dealer, warehouseman or repairman.
    (ORC 3767.29)

  2. (b) Whoever violates this section is guilty of a misdemeanor of the third degree.

521.02   Venting of heaters and burners

  1. (a) A brazier, salamander, space heater, room heater, furnace, water heater or other burner or heater using wood, coal, coke, fuel oil, kerosene, gasoline, natural gas, liquid petroleum gas or similar fuel, and tending to give off carbon monoxide or other harmful gas:

    1. (1) When used in living quarters, or in any enclosed building or space in which persons are usually present, shall be used with a flue or vent so designed, installed and maintained as to vent the products of combustion outdoors; except in storage, factory or industrial buildings which are provided with sufficient ventilation to avoid the danger of carbon monoxide poisoning;

    2. (2) When used as a portable or temporary burner or heater at a construction site, or in a warehouse, shed or structure in which persons are temporarily present, shall be vented as provided in subsection (a) hereof, or used with sufficient ventilation to avoid the danger of carbon monoxide poisoning.

  2. (b) This section does not apply to domestic ranges, laundry stoves, gas logs installed in a fireplace with an adequate flue, or hot plates, unless the same are used as space or room heaters.

  3. (c) No person shall negligently use, or, being the owner, person in charge, or occupant of premises, negligently permit the use of a burner or heater in violation of the standards for venting and ventilation provided in this section.

  4. (d) Subsection (a) hereof does not apply to any kerosene-fired space or room heater that is equipped with an automatic extinguishing tip-over device, or to any natural gas-fired or liquid petroleum gas-fired space or room heater that is equipped with an oxygen depletion safety shutoff system, and that has its fuel piped from a source outside of the building in which it is located, that are approved by an authoritative source recognized by the State Fire Marshal in the State Fire Code adopted by him under Ohio R.C. 3737.82.

  5. (e) The State Fire Marshal may make rules to ensure the safe use of unvented kerosene, natural gas or liquid petroleum gas heaters exempted from subsection (a) hereof when used in assembly buildings, business buildings, high hazard buildings, institutional buildings, mercantile buildings and type R- 1 and R-2 residential buildings, as these groups of buildings are defined in rules adopted by the Board of Building Standards under Ohio R.C. 3781.10. No person shall negligently use, or, being the owner, person in charge or occupant of premises, negligently permit the use of a heater in violation of any rules adopted under this subsection.

  6. (f) The State Fire Marshal may make rules prescribing standards for written instructions containing ventilation requirements and warning of any potential fire hazards that may occur in using a kerosene, natural gas, or liquid petroleum gas heater. No person shall sell or offer for sale any kerosene, natural gas or liquid petroleum gas heater unless the manufacturer provides with the heater written instructions that comply with any rules adopted under this subsection.

  7. (g) No product labeled as a fuel additive for kerosene heaters and having a flash point below one hundred degrees fahrenheit or thirty-seven and eight- tenths degrees centigrade shall be sold, offered for sale or used in any kerosene space heater.

  8. (h) No device that prohibits any safety feature on a kerosene, natural gas or liquid petroleum gas space heater from operating shall be sold, offered for sale or used in connection with any kerosene, natural gas or liquid petroleum gas space heater.

  9. (i) No person shall sell or offer for sale any kerosene-fired, natural gas or liquid petroleum gas-fired heater that is not exempt from subsection (a) hereof unless it is marked conspicuously by the manufacturer on the container with the phrase “Not Approved For Home Use.”

  10. (j) No person shall use a cabinet-type, liquid petroleum gas-fired heater having a fuel source within the heater, inside any building, except as permitted by the State Fire Marshal in the State Fire Code adopted by him under Ohio R.C. 3737.82.
    (ORC 3701.82)

  11. (k) Whoever violates this section is guilty of a misdemeanor of the first degree.
    (ORC 3701.99(C))

521.03   Barricades and warning lights; abandoned excavations

  1. (a) No person shall abandon or knowingly permit to remain on public or private property, any excavation, well, cesspool or structure which is in the process of construction, reconstruction, repair or alteration unless the same is adequately protected by suitable barricades and guarded by warning devices or lights at night so that the condition will not reasonably prove dangerous to life or limb.

  2. (b) No person shall destroy, remove, damage or extinguish any barricade or warning light that is placed for the protection of the public so as to prevent injury to life or limb.

  3. (c) Any owner or agent in control of a premises upon which a basement, cellar, well or cistern has been abandoned due to demolition, failure to build or any other reason shall cause the same to be filled to the ground surface with rock, gravel, earth or other suitable material.

  4. (d) Whoever violates this section is guilty of a misdemeanor of the third degree.

521.04   Interference with water works system; pollution

  1. (a) No person shall interfere in any manner with the operation or maintenance of the water works system of the Municipality, whether such system is located within or without the corporate limits, or commit any act detrimental to the water supply system of the Municipality or any act which will be deleterious to the purity of the water supply.

  2. (b) No person shall pollute or in any manner interfere with the operation or maintenance of the water supply system of the Municipality, whether such system is included within or without the corporate limits.

  3. (c) All existing provisions, by ordinance or resolution, applying to the Municipality generally and constituting police or sanitary regulations for the protection of the Municipality and the inhabitants thereof, shall apply equally to the protection of all property owned by the Municipality and situated outside of the corporate limits thereof and used for or in connection with its water supply system.
    (Ord. 1944-10. Passed 7-10-44.)

  4. (d) Whoever violates this section is guilty of a misdemeanor of the first degree.

521.05   Notice to fill lots, remove putrid substances

  1. (a) No person shall fail to comply with the following requirements within the lawful time after service or publication of the notice or resolution is made as required by law:

    To fill or drain any lot or land or remove all putrid substances therefrom, or remove all obstructions from culverts, covered drains or natural watercourses as provided in Ohio R.C. 715.47.

  2. (b) Whoever violates this section is guilty of a misdemeanor of the third degree.

521.06   Disposal of solid wastes

  1. (a) “Solid wastes”, for the purpose of this section, means such unwanted residual solid or semisolid material as results from industrial, commercial, agricultural and community operations, excluding earth, material from construction, mining or demolition operations and slag and other substances which are not harmful or inimical to public health, but including garbage, combustible and noncombustible material, street dirt and debris.

  2. (b) No person shall place or dispose of in any manner any garbage, waste or peelings of vegetables or fruits, rubbish, ashes, cans, bottles, wire, paper, cartons, boxes, parts of automobiles, wagons, furniture, glass, oil or anything else of an unsightly or unsanitary nature in any ditch, stream, river, lake, pond or other watercourse or upon the bank thereof where the same is liable to be washed into the water either by ordinary flow or annual floods to the extent that the water quality of the receiving stream is reduced below the current minimum quality as set forth by the State of Ohio Department of Health. Nor shall any such material be disposed of on any property, private or public without a prior permit from the Environmental Control Board.

  3. (c) No zoning commission or other governmental officer, except Council, acting pursuant to the powers granted to it, may authorize the placing or disposal of materials in or upon the banks of a ditch, stream, river or other watercourse after October 15, 1968, where such placing or disposal would be prohibited under the provisions of subsection (b) hereof. Such placing or disposal may be enjoined by the Common Pleas Court of Cuyahoga County upon application by the Environmental Control Officer.
    (Ord. 1968-740. Passed 10-1-68.)

  4. (d) Whoever violates this section is guilty of a misdemeanor of the first degree.

521.07   Fences

(Editor’s note: Former Section 521.07 was repealed by Ordinance 1995-18, passed April 10, 1995.)

521.08   Littering and deposit of garbage, rubbish, junk, etc

  1. (a) No person, regardless of intent, shall deposit litter or cause litter to be deposited on any public property, on private property not owned by the person, or in or on waters of the State, or Municipality, unless one of the following applies:

    1. (1) The person is directed to do so by a public official as part of a litter collection drive;

    2. (2) Except as provided in subsection (b) hereof, the person deposits the litter in a litter receptacle in a manner that prevents its being carried away by the elements;

    3. (3) The person is issued a permit or license covering the litter pursuant to Ohio R.C. Chapter 3734 or 6111.

  2. (b) No person, without privilege to do so, shall knowingly deposit litter, or cause it to be deposited, in a litter receptacle located on any public property or on any private property not owned by the person, unless one of the following applies:

    1. (1) The litter was generated or located on the property on which the litter receptacle is located.

    2. (2) The person is directed to do so by a public official as part of a litter collection drive.

    3. (3) The person is directed to do so by a person whom the person reasonably believes to have the privilege to use the litter receptacle.

    4. (4) The litter consists of any of the following:

      1. (A) The contents of a litter bag or container of a type and size customarily carried and used in a motor vehicle;

      2. (B) The contents of an ash tray of a type customarily installed or carried and used in a motor vehicle;

      3. (C) Beverage containers and food sacks, wrappings and containers of a type and in an amount that reasonably may be expected to be generated during routine commuting or business or recreational travel by a motor vehicle;

      4. (D) Beverage containers, food sacks, wrappings, containers and other materials of a type and in an amount that reasonably may be expected to be generated during a routine day by a person and deposited in a litter receptacle by a casual passerby.

  3. (c)

    1. (1) As used in subsection (b)(1) hereof, “public property” includes any private property open to the public for the conduct of business, the provision of a service, or upon the payment of a fee but does not include any private property to which the public otherwise does not have a right of access.

    2. (2) As used in subsection (b)(4) hereof, “casual passerby” means a person who does not have depositing litter in a litter receptacle as the person’s primary reason for traveling to or by the property on which the litter receptacle is located.

  4. (d) As used in this section:

    1. (1) “Auxiliary container” means a bag, can, cup, food or beverage service item, container, keg, bottle, or other packaging to which all of the following apply:

      1. (A) It is designed to be either single use or reusable.

      2. (B) It is made of cloth, paper, plastic, foamed or expanded plastic, cardboard, corrugated material, aluminum, metal, glass, postconsumer recycled material, or similar materials or substances, including coated, laminated, or multilayered substrates.

      3. (C) It is designed for consuming, transporting, or protecting merchandise, food, or beverages from or at a food service operation, retail food establishment, grocery, or any other type of retail, manufacturing, or distribution establishment.

    2. (2) “Deposit” means to throw, drop, discard, or place.

    3. (3) “Litter” includes garbage, trash, waste, rubbish, ashes, cans, bottles, wire, paper, cartons, boxes, automobile parts, furniture, glass, auxiliary containers, or anything else of an unsightly or unsanitary nature.

    4. (4) “Litter receptacle” means a dumpster, trash can, trash bin, garbage can, or similar container in which litter is deposited for removal.
      (ORC 3767.32)

  5. (e) No person shall cause or allow litter to be collected or remain in any place to the damage or prejudice of others or of the public, or unlawfully obstruct, impede, divert, corrupt or render unwholesome or impure, any natural watercourse.

  6. (f) Whoever violates any provision of subsections (a) to (e) hereof, is guilty of a misdemeanor of the third degree. The sentencing court may, in addition to or in lieu of the penalty provided in this subsection require a person who violates subsections (a) to (e) hereof to remove litter from any public or private property, or in or on any waters.
    (ORC 3767.99(C))

521.09   Noxious or offensive odors

  1. (a) No person shall erect, continue, use or maintain a dwelling, building, structure or place for a residence or for the exercise of a trade, employment or business, or for the keeping or feeding of an animal which, by occasioning noxious exhalations or noisome or offensive smells, becomes injurious to the health, comfort or property of individuals or of the public.
    (ORC 3767.13)

  2. (b) Whoever violates this section is guilty of a misdemeanor of the third degree.

521.10   Garbage or refuse outside eating establishments

  1. (a) Any proprietor, manager or employee of a restaurant or eating establishment serving food to be eaten in parked automobiles or out of doors on the premises of the business shall not cause or allow trash, debris, refuse, garbage or waste materials to be placed or to remain on the premises outside of containers. The proprietors or managers of such eating establishments shall maintain on the premises in areas where food is consumed out of doors refuse and waste containers which are easily accessible to customers and employees. Such containers shall be metal, of at least twenty-gallon capacity with a tightly fitting cover.
    (Ord. 1957-420. Passed 12-28-57.)

  2. (b) Whoever violates this section is guilty of a misdemeanor of the first degree.

521.11   Junk and junk vehicles

  1. (a) Definitions. For the purpose of this section, the following terms are defined as follows:

    1. (1) “Person” means any person, firm, partnership, association, corporation, company or organization of any kind.

    2. (2) “Street or highway” means the entire width between the boundary lines of every way publicly maintained when any part thereof is open to the use of the public for purposes of vehicular travel.

    3. (3) “Property” means discarded articles of all kinds which reasonably appear to be discarded or of no intrinsic value.

    4. (4) “Junk” means any worn-out, castoff, or discarded article or material which is ready for destruction or has been collected or stored for salvage or conversion to some other use. Any article or material which, unaltered or unchanged and without further reconditioning, can be used for its original purpose as readily as when new, shall not be considered junk.

    5. (5) “Junk car” means any used vehicle propelled or intended to be propelled by power other than human power and which is in an inoperative or a partially dismantled condition. Portions of junk cars such as hoods, fenders, radiators, rims, motors, etc., not being utilized for the repair of a motor vehicle, shall be considered as junk.

    6. (6) “Inoperative condition” means a vehicle, as above described, incapable of being propelled under its own power .

    7. (7) “Partially dismantled condition” means a vehicle, as above described having some part or parts missing which is or are ordinarily an essential component thereof.

  2. (b) Abandonment of Vehicles. No person shall abandon any vehicle within the Municipality and no person shall leave any vehicle at any place within the Municipality for such time and under such circumstances as to cause such vehicle reasonably to appear to have been abandoned.

  3. (c) Leaving of Wrecked, Nonoperating Vehicle on Street. No person shall leave any partially dismantled, nonoperating wrecked or junked vehicle on any street or highway within the Municipality for more than seventy-two hours.

  4. (d) Deposit, Storage, Maintenance or Collection Declared a Public Nuisance. Except as herein otherwise provided, the deposit, storage, maintenance or collection of junk or junk cars outside of a building or buildings is hereby declared to be a public nuisance and offensive to the public health, welfare and safety of the residents of this Municipality.

  5. (e) Deposit, Storage, Maintenance or Collection Prohibited. No person in charge or control of any premises within the Municipality, whether as owner, tenant, lessee, occupant or otherwise, shall allow any junk or junk car to remain upon such premises longer than ten days after receipt of written notice to remove the junk or junk car from such premises, such written notice to be issued and delivered by the Chief of the Police Department or by any member of the Department duly designated by him.

    Such written notice shall be served upon the person aforementioned either personally or at his usual place of residence or by registered or certified mail addressed to such person’s last-known place of residence. The provisions of this section, however, shall not apply to the deposit, storage, maintenance or collection of junk or junk cars in an enclosed building or in a container in a regularly established junk yard.
    (Ord. 1969-788. Passed 12-16-69. )

  6. (f) Whoever violates this section is guilty of a misdemeanor of the first degree.

521.12   Rat control

  1. (a) Conditions Conducive to Harboring Rats. The following conditions are declared to be conducive to harboring rats and are hereby declared to be nuisances and prohibited:

    1. (1) Broken walls, floors or foundations, in which there are holes or cracks of a size sufficient to permit a rat to pass through.

    2. (2) Materials, including rubbish, piled, stored or kept on the premises, into, among or under which rats have burrowed or may burrow.

    3. (3) Buildings, foundations of buildings, appurtenances to buildings, or floors, under which rats have burrowed.

    4. (4) Portable buildings, boxes, crates and materials, including rubbish, piled, stored or kept so that they rest directly on the ground surface or less than eight inches above such surface.

    5. (5) Garbage containers without watertight tops, sides and bottoms or without tightly fitting tops or around or under which rats have burrowed or may burrow.

    6. (6) Feeding of wild animals, birds or other wildlife, other than in suitable containers for food, elevated at least forty-eight inches above the ground level.
      (Ord. 1943-324. Passed 4-26-43.)

  2. (b) Abatement by Owner. No owner, lessee or occupant of any premises on which any conditions prohibited in subsection (a) hereof exist, shall fail or refuse to abate the same within thirty days after being notified to do so, as hereinafter provided.

  3. (c) Abatement by Municipality. In addition to any of the foregoing provisions of this section, if the owner, lessee or occupant of any premises in the Municipality fails or refuses, within ninety days after receiving notice herein above provided for, to abate the nuisance, it may be abated by the Municipality, through its employees and under the direction of the Chief of Police. The cost of abating any such nuisance shall be charged to the owner of the property affected, and, in default of payment, shall be assessed against such property.

  4. (d) Inspection of Buildings Used for Food or Food Products.

    1. (1) The Municipality shall inspect all buildings and premises used or to be used for the commercial handling, storage, sale, preparation, transmission or disposal of food or food products. Such inspections shall be made under the direction of the Chief of Police.

    2. (2) Such inspections shall be made of all buildings and premises in which is located any grocery, meat market, bakery, dairy, restaurant, drug store, liquor store, saloon or other place in which fruit, vegetables, meat, fish, grain, baked goods, ice cream, dairy products, any combination of any of the foregoing or any food, refreshment or other substance for human consumption, whether liquid or solid, is received, stored, handled, transmitted, prepared, sold or served, for a consideration.

  5. (e) Inspection Report. A report shall be made of each inspection made pursuant to subsection (d) hereof. Each report shall be made in duplicate. One copy shall be filed with the Chief of Police and one shall be given to the occupant of the premises inspected. Each report shall state the condition of the building and premises inspected with respect to each of the conditions purported to be regulated by subsection (a) hereof.
    (Ord. 1943-324. Passed 4-26-43.)

  6. (f) Whoever violates this section is guilty of a misdemeanor of the first degree.

521.13   Accumulations as fire hazards

  1. (a) All ashes produced upon any property shall be so secured as not to constitute a fire hazard.

  2. (b) No person shall permit any combustible waste or salvage material or rubbish to accumulate in or about any building or structures for a period longer than seven days, or fail or neglect to clean and remove the same from such building or off of such premises within twenty-four hours of the time such person has been notified to do so by the Fire Chief.
    (Ord. 1944-7. Passed 4-24-44.)

  3. (c) Whoever violates this section is guilty of a misdemeanor of the first degree.

521.14   Storage and keeping of manure

  1. (a) No person shall keep, store, gather or accumulate any manure at any place within the Municipality for any purposes, other than for use upon the premises where kept.

  2. (b) Whoever violates this section is guilty of a misdemeanor of the first degree.

521.15   Swimming in chagrin river

  1. (a) Swimming, including diving, is prohibited in the Chagrin River adjacent to Riverside Park, as well as from other Municipal property adjacent to the River, particularly the area adjacent to the west side of Main Street.

  2. (b) Signs prohibiting swimming shall be posted in the area advising all persons of the prohibition prior to any arrest.
    (Ord. 1969-774. Passed 9-2-69. )

  3. (c) Whoever violates this section is guilty of a misdemeanor of the third degree.

521.16   Scavenging prohibited; exception

  1. (a) No person shall scavenge or remove recyclable refuse stored in curbside recycling containers for collection from any tree lawn or collection point except from a tree lawn or collection point on or butting that person’s property.

  2. (b) Whoever violates this section is guilty of a minor misdemeanor upon conviction of the first offense and a misdemeanor of the third degree upon convictions thereafter.
    (Ord. 1990-43. Passed 5-14-90.)

521.99   Penalty

(Editor’s note: See Section 501.99 for penalties applicable to any misdemeanor classification.)