Caldwell, ID Code Violation Reporting: Common Violations (2026)

Caldwell City Code section 07-11-01 spells out what counts as a nuisance subject to code enforcement action, and the list is specific rather than a vague catch-all. It defines nuisance broadly as any condition detrimental to the premises of others, that causes material diminution in the value of other premises, promotes blight and deterioration, invites plundering, creates fire or traffic hazards, or creates a harborage for rodents and insects. The section then enumerates eight recurring violation types: weeds over eight inches tall or otherwise hazardous; graffiti on any surface; nuisance materials leaked, drained or dumped on the ground; snow, ice, vegetation or personal property obstructing a public sidewalk; stagnant or impure water creating unsanitary conditions; exposed refuse, decaying matter, garbage or filth; discarded matter with no market value left exposed and unenclosed, such as rubble, scrap wood, scrap metal, tires and broken glass; and the accumulation or failure to lawfully dispose of solid waste on a residential or commercial property.

Section 07-11-03 then makes maintaining any of these conditions unlawful for an owner, occupant, user or person in control of the property, and extends liability to the abutting street, sidewalk or right-of-way, including the area behind curbs and to the center of alleys and ditches. Where a nuisance sits on vacant, abandoned or uninhabited property, the owner of record shown on the most recent assessment roll is presumed responsible and bears the burden of rebutting that presumption. These provisions trace to Ordinance 2913 of 2012 and were consolidated with the former weeds and refuse-accumulation articles by Ordinance 2958 in 2014.