Apple Valley, MN Public Conduct: Public Urination (2026)

Apple Valley Code of Ordinances § 94.17(U) is the city's public urination and defecation rule. It is one of the divisions declared public nuisances affecting public peace and safety. The conduct covered is willfully or intentionally urinating or defecating by any person in any public place, or in any place where there is reason to believe others may be exposed to that conduct. The intent word matters: the text reaches willful or intentional acts, not an accident or a medical emergency.

The rule reaches beyond streets and parks. The second clause covers any location, including private property, where there is reason to believe others could see the conduct, so a yard visible from a sidewalk or a parking lot is within it. The only exception is a permanent or portable designed lavatory, bathroom, washroom, restroom or similar place equipped with a urinal or toilet. A portable toilet at an event therefore is a lawful place, and a bush behind a building is not.

The division was part of the section as amended by Ord. 1095, passed 6-10-21, according to the history line printed under § 94.17. The chapter's statutory reference points to M.S. § 412.221, subd. 23, for the city's authority to define and abate nuisances. Because the code classes the conduct as a public nuisance, the abatement procedure in § 94.01 governs: the owner or occupant of property where a nuisance exists has primary responsibility to abate it, and the city serves mailed notice with a five-day deadline. Under § 94.18 the city can abate an imminent and serious hazard to human life or safety without notice. Police enforce conduct rules in the city, and the section sits alongside neighboring nuisance divisions such as (S), annoying, injuring or endangering the safety, comfort or repose of the public.