16-230 Drainage; nuisance; weeds; litter; removal; notice; action by city council; violation; penalty; civil action.
16-230. Drainage; nuisance;weeds; litter; removal; notice; action by city council; violation; penalty;civil action.(1) A city of the first class byordinance may require lots or pieces of ground within the city or within the city'sextraterritorial zoning jurisdiction to be drained or filled soas to prevent stagnant water or any other nuisance accumulating thereon. Except as provided in subsection (6) of this section, thecity may require the owner or occupant of all lots and piecesof ground within the city to keep the lots and pieces of ground and the adjoiningstreets and alleys free of any growth of twelve inches or more in height ofweeds, grasses, or worthless vegetation, and it may prohibit and control thethrowing, depositing, or accumulation of litter on any lot or piece of groundwithin the city.(2) Except as provided in subsection (6) ofthis section, any city of the first class may by ordinance declareit to be a nuisance to permit or maintain any growth of twelve inches or morein height of weeds, grasses, or worthless vegetation or to litter or causelitter to be deposited or remain thereon except in proper receptacles.(3) Any owner or occupant of a lot or piece of ground shall,upon conviction of violating any ordinance authorized under this section, be guilty ofa Class V misdemeanor.(4) Notice to abate and remove such nuisance shall be givento each owner or owner's duly authorized agent and to the occupant, if any,by personal service or certified mail. If notice by personal service or certifiedmail is unsuccessful, notice shall be given by publication in a newspaperof general circulation in the city or by conspicuously posting the noticeon the lot or ground upon which the nuisance is to be abated and removed.Within five days after receipt of such notice or publication or posting, whicheveris applicable, if the owner or occupant of the lot or piece of ground doesnot request a hearing with the city or fails to comply with the order to abateand remove the nuisance, the city may have such work done. The costs and expensesof any such work shall be paid by the owner. If unpaid for two months aftersuch work is done, the city may either (a) levy and assess the costs and expensesof the work upon the lot or piece of ground so benefited in the same manneras other special taxes for improvements are levied and assessed or (b) recoverin a civil action the costs and expenses of the work upon the lot or pieceof ground and the adjoining streets and alleys.(5) For purposes of this section:(a) Litter includes, but is not limited to: (i) Trash, rubbish,refuse, garbage, paper, rags, and ashes; (ii) wood, plaster, cement, brick,or stone building rubble; (iii) grass, leaves, and worthless vegetation; (iv)offal and dead animals; and (v) any machine or machines, vehicle or vehicles,or parts of a machine or vehicle which have lost their identity, character,utility, or serviceability as such through deterioration, dismantling, orthe ravages of time, are inoperative or unable to perform their intended functions,or are cast off, discarded, or thrown away or left as waste, wreckage, orjunk;(b) Weeds includes, but is not limited to, bindweed (Convolvulusarvensis), puncture vine (Tribulus terrestris), leafy spurge (Euphorbia esula),Canada thistle (Cirsium arvense), perennial peppergrass (Lepidium draba),Russian knapweed (Centaurea picris), Johnson grass (Sorghum halepense), noddingor musk thistle, quack grass (Agropyron repens), perennial sow thistle (Sonchusarvensis), horse nettle (Solanum carolinense), bull thistle (Cirsium lanceolatum),buckthorn (Rhamnus sp.) (tourn), hemp plant (Cannabis sativa), and ragweed(Ambrosiaceae); and(c) Weeds,grasses, and worthless vegetation does not include vegetation applied or grownon a lot or piece of ground outside the corporate limits of the city but insidethe city's extraterritorial zoning jurisdiction expressly for the purposeof weed or erosion control.(6) A cityof the first class by ordinance may declare it to be a nuisance to permitor maintain any growth of eight inches or more in height of weeds, grasses,or worthless vegetation on any lot or piece of ground located within the corporatelimits of the city during any calendar year if, within the same calendar year,the city has, pursuant to subsection (4) of this section, acted to removeweeds, grasses, or worthless vegetation exceeding twelve inches in heighton the same lot or piece of ground and had to seek recovery of the costs andexpenses of such work from the owner. SourceLaws 1901, c. 18, § 48, XXXVII, p. 255; R.S.1913, § 4846; Laws 1915, c. 84, § 1, p. 222; C.S.1922, § 4014; C.S.1929, § 16-231; R.S.1943, § 16-230; Laws 1975, LB 117, § 1; Laws 1988, LB 934, § 2; Laws 1991, LB 330, § 1; Laws 1995, LB 42, § 2; Laws 2004, LB 997, § 1; Laws 2009, LB495, § 5.AnnotationsCity owes no duty to provide drainage for property within its limits, where another due to a change in street grade caused inundation of plaintiff's premises. City of Beatrice v. Knight, 45 Neb. 546, 63 N.W. 838 (1895).