A public nuisance can be a disorderly house, after-hours establishment, or a place where liquor, beer, or narcotics are sold illegally, a place where prostitution or gambling take place, or a vacant dilapidated building.

The City may not take sufficient action on some public nuisances to satisfy surrounding residents. Under some circumstances, those residents may petition the City to take additional action.

For more information on what you can do about public nuisance activities, including details on the public nuisance petition procedure, call the City's DSI - Complaint Office at (651) 266-8989.

A petition to declare a property a public nuisance must be signed by 60% of all owners and tenants one block in any direction around the alleged nuisance. The petition must include:

The City Council will schedule a public hearing on allegations in the petition. You and anyone else concerned may appear and testify at the hearing.

After the hearing, the Council will either return the petition to the petitioners for insufficient evidence or refer it to the City Attorney's office for legal review. The City Attorney will respond with a report explaining his or her decision. However, the City Attorney's office will not itself investigate the allegations in the petition.

If the public nuisance involves prostitution, gambling, or keeping a disorderly house, and if there have been a number of previous convictions for these offenses in the building, state law permits the City Attorney to request a court order. The court order will close the building for one year, and can remove and sell any movable property.

If a building tenant was responsible for a nuisance situation, the property owner can ask the court to order cancellation of the tenant's lease.

The person or persons responsible for any nuisance that generates extraordinary cost to the City for excessive consumption of Police services, such as multiple Police visits to a disorderly house, may be liable for a Police service fee.


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