Elyria, OH Code Violation Reporting: Common Violations (2026)
Key Facts
- Notice to abate compliance
- Not less than three days after receipt
- Junk vehicle storage trigger
- More than five days, not garaged or screened
- Building materials removal
- Within thirty days, kept six inches off the ground
- First offense
- Minor misdemeanor, each day a separate offense
- Second offense within six months
- Misdemeanor of the fourth degree
- Cost recovery
- Lien through the County Auditor's tax duplicate
Summary
In the City of Elyria, Ohio, § 521.10 lists the conditions the code treats as public nuisances, including junk vehicles, rubbish, stored building materials and scrap tires. The Safety-Service Director has a notice to abate served with compliance required in not less than three days, and each day of noncompliance is a separate offense.
(a) Notice to Abate; Compliance. ... (2) Whenever a public nuisance exists, the Safety-Service Director shall direct the appropriate City department or division to cause the owner, tenant or person in charge of such property upon which such public nuisance exists to be served with a notice to abate the public nuisance. Compliance shall be required within not less than three days after receipt of such notice. ... (3) Whoever fails to comply with such notice shall be deemed guilty of a minor misdemeanor and each day of such noncompliance shall constitute a separate offense. A second offense for violation of this section within six months is a misdemeanor of the fourth degree and each day of such noncompliance shall constitute a separate offense. ... (b) Public Nuisance Defined. The following shall be deemed to constitute a public nuisance within the City: ... (4) The suffering, permitting, allowing to remain or maintaining of rubbish, refuse or junk, which includes is not limited to wire, chips, shavings, bottles, broken glass, crockery, tin, cast or wooden ware, boxes, rags, weeds, paper, circulars, handbills, boots, shoes or ashes
Full Breakdown
Section 521.10 of the Elyria General Offenses Code, enacted by the Elyria City Council in Lorain County, Ohio, is the city's main list of common property violations. Division (b) defines what counts as a public nuisance. The list includes a business or animal use that causes noxious exhalations, noise disturbances or offensive smells; storage of garbage or offal contrary to Department of Health rules; rubbish, refuse or junk, with weeds and broken glass named among the examples; building materials left on property; and scrap tire stockpiles.
Two items carry numbers. A motor vehicle that is unlicensed or three years old or older, extensively damaged, apparently inoperable and worth one thousand five hundred dollars ($1,500.00) or less becomes a nuisance if stored on public or private property for more than five days without being in an enclosed garage or obscured from public view. Building materials, including construction residue and new materials, become a nuisance if not removed or used within thirty days after placement, and stored materials have to sit at least six inches off the ground.
The procedure is in division (a). When a public nuisance exists, the Safety-Service Director directs the appropriate City department or division to have the owner, tenant or person in charge served with a notice to abate. Compliance is required within not less than three days after receipt. Service is personal; if that fails, the notice is posted conspicuously and mailed by certified and regular U.S. Mail, and service is deemed received three days after posting or mailing, whichever is later.
Division (c) lets the Law Director institute legal or equitable proceedings. Division (d) lets the City abate the nuisance itself, including entering public or private property, and report the costs to the County Auditor, who enters them on the tax duplicate as a lien on the land, collected as other taxes. A nuisance motor vehicle can be impounded as provided in § 303.08.
Violations & Fines
Under § 521.10(a)(3), failing to comply with a notice to abate is a minor misdemeanor, and each day of noncompliance is a separate offense. A second offense within six months is a misdemeanor of the fourth degree, again with each day a separate offense. Criminal prosecution is not displaced by the City's abatement remedy, and unpaid abatement costs become a lien on the land through the tax duplicate.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Sources & Official References
Other rules in Elyria
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