Kingsport, TN Code Violation Reporting: Common Violations (2026)
Key Facts
- Governing section
- Kingsport Code § 62-126, certain items declared a nuisance
- Items listed
- Eight, and the list is expressly not conclusive
- Unlawful act
- Cause, permit, maintain or allow a nuisance (§ 62-128)
- General penalty
- Not less than $10.00 or more than $50.00 (§ 1-14)
- Continuing violations
- Each day is a separate offense unless otherwise provided
- Unsafe structures
- Handled under Chapter 22, Article IX
Summary
In the City of Kingsport, Tennessee, Sec. 62-126 of the Code declares eight kinds of conditions on public or private property to be a nuisance, from rubbish and inoperable vehicles to stagnant water and dense smoke, and Sec. 62-128 makes causing or maintaining a nuisance unlawful. The list is expressly not conclusive.
Placing, depositing, leaving or permitting to be or remain on any public or private property any of the following items is declared to be and shall constitute a nuisance; provided, however, this enumeration shall not be deemed or construed to be conclusive, limiting or restrictive: (1)Rubbish, trash, refuse, junk and other abandoned materials, metals, any inoperable vehicle as defined in section 38-19, subject to the exceptions in 38-34(c), lumber or other things.(2)Creating or maintaining any condition that provides harborage for rats, mice, snakes and other vermin or that provides breeding places for disease or disease-carrying pests such as flies, mosquitoes, etc.(3)Creating or causing unnecessary or unauthorized noises or annoying vibrations, including animal noises. ... (7)Creating or causing any accumulation of stagnant water on any lot or piece of ground.(8)Creating or causing dense smoke, noxious fumes, gas, soot or cinders, in unreasonable quantities.
Full Breakdown
Article V of Chapter 62 is the nuisance article of the Kingsport Code. Sec. 62-125 defines a nuisance as an act, omission or condition that injures or endangers the comfort, repose, health or safety of others; unlawfully obstructs or renders dangerous for passage any public or private street, highway, sidewalk, stream or drainage; renders other persons insecure in life or the use of property; or interferes with the comfortable enjoyment of life and property or tends to depreciate the value of the property of others.
Sec. 62-126 then lists eight items that constitute a nuisance when placed, deposited, left or permitted to remain on any public or private property: rubbish, trash, refuse and junk, including any inoperable vehicle as defined in section 38-19 subject to the exceptions in 38-34(c); harborage for rats, mice, snakes and other vermin; unnecessary or unauthorized noises or annoying vibrations, including animal noises; disagreeable or obnoxious odors and stenches; failing to dispose of the carcasses of animals or fowl within a reasonable time after death; polluting any public water supply, stream, lake or canal; any accumulation of stagnant water on any lot or piece of ground; and dense smoke, noxious fumes, gas, soot or cinders in unreasonable quantities.
Because the enumeration is not conclusive, limiting or restrictive, the list does not cap what can be treated as a nuisance under the Sec. 62-125 definition. Sec. 62-127 makes the article supplemental to all other city ordinances, and an editor's note sends unsafe and unfit structure nuisances to Chapter 22, Article IX.
Violations & Fines
Causing, permitting, maintaining or allowing a nuisance is unlawful under Sec. 62-128. Sections 62-125 through 62-128 print no penalty of their own, so the general penalty in Sec. 1-14 applies: not less than $10.00 or more than $50.00, unless a greater amount is permitted by state law. Unless otherwise provided, each day the violation continues is a separate offense, and a penalty does not prevent revocation of a permit or license or other remedial action.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does the Kingsport nuisance list cover animal noise?
Is the list in Sec. 62-126 the complete list of nuisances?
What does a nuisance violation cost in Kingsport?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Kingsport
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