Nuisance

In tort law, a type of wrong.  A wrong arising from the unreasonable, improper, indecent, or unlawful use of property to the annoyance or damage of another, or the general public.

A private nuisance is an interference with a person's interest in the use and enjoyment of his land.

A public nuisance is an interference with the common right of the general public or an indefinite number of persons; an unreasonable interference with the health, safety, peace, or comfort of the community.

"There is perhaps no more impenetrable jungle in the entire law than that which surrounds the word nuisance."  William Prosser, The Law of Torts, 4th ed., page 571.

CALIFORNIA CIVIL CODE

3479. Anything which is injurious to health, including, but not limited to, the illegal sale of controlled substances, or is indecent or offensive to the senses, or an obstruction to the free use of property, so as to interfere with the comfortable enjoyment of life or property, or unlawfully obstructs the free passage or use, in the customary manner, of any navigable lake, or river, bay, stream, canal, or basin, or any public park, square, street, or highway, is a nuisance.

(3480.) Section Thirty-four Hundred and Eighty. A public nuisance is one which affects at the same time an entire community or neighborhood, or any considerable number of persons, although the extent of the annoyance or damage inflicted upon individuals may be unequal.

3481. Every nuisance not included in the definition of the last section is private.

3482. Nothing which is done or maintained under the express authority of a statute can be deemed a nuisance.

3482.1. (a) As used in this section:

(1) "Person" means an individual, proprietorship, partnership, corporation, club, or other legal entity.
(2) "Sport shooting range" or "range" means an area designed and operated for the use of rifles, shotguns, pistols, silhouettes,skeet, trap, black powder, or any other similar sport or law enforcement training purpose.
(3) "Indoor shooting range" means a totally enclosed facility designed to offer a totally controlled shooting environment that includes impenetrable walls, floor and ceiling, adequate ventilation and lighting systems, and acoustical treatment for sound attenuation suitable for the range's approved use.
(4) "Nighttime" means between the hours of 10 p.m. and 7 a.m.

(b)

(1) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a person who operates or uses a sport shooting range in this state shall not be subject to civil liability or criminal prosecution in any matter relating to noise or noise pollution resulting from the operation or use of the range if the range is in compliance with any noise control laws or ordinances that applied to the range and its operation at the time construction or operation of the range was approved by a local public entity having jurisdiction in the matter, or if there were no such laws or ordinances that applied to the range and its operation at that time.
(2) A person who operates or uses a sport shooting range or law enforcement training range is not subject to an action for nuisance, and a court shall not enjoin the use or operation of a range, on the basis of noise or noise pollution if the range is in compliance with any noise control laws or ordinances that applied to the range and its operation at the time construction or operation of the range was approved by a local public entity having jurisdiction in the matter,or if there were no such laws or ordinances that applied to the range and its operation at that time.
(3) Rules or regulations adopted by any state department or agency for limiting levels of noise in terms of decibel level which may occur in the outdoor atmosphere shall not apply to a sport shooting range exempted from liability under this section.

(c) A person who acquires title to or who owns real property adversely affected by the use of property with a permanently located and improved sport shooting range may not maintain a nuisance action with respect to noise or noise pollution against the person who owns the range to restrain, enjoin, or impede the use of the range where there has been no substantial change in the nature of the use or the range. This section does not prohibit actions for negligence or recklessness in the operation of the range or by a person using the range.

(d) A sport shooting range that is in operation and not in violation of existing law at the time of the enactment of an ordinance described in subdivision (b) shall be permitted to continue in operation even if the operation of the sport shooting range at a later date does not conform to a new ordinance or an amendment to an existing ordinance if there has been no substantial change in the nature or use of the range. Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit the authority of a local agency to enforce any term of a conditional use permit.

(e) Except as otherwise provided in this section, this section does not prohibit a local public entity having jurisdiction in the matter from regulating the location and construction of a sport shooting range after the effective date of this section.

(f) Except as otherwise provided in this section, this section does not prohibit a local public entity having jurisdiction in the matter from requiring that noise levels at the nearest residential property line to a range not exceed the level of normal city street noise which shall not be more than 60 decibels for nighttime shooting. The subdivision does not abrogate any existing local standards for nighttime shooting. The operator of a sport shooting range shall not unreasonably refuse to use trees, shrubs, or barriers, when appropriate, to mitigate the noise generated by nighttime shooting. For the purpose of this section, a reasonable effort to mitigate is an action that can be accomplished in a manner and at a cost that does not impose an unreasonable financial burden upon the operator of the range.

(g) This section does not apply to indoor shooting ranges.

(h) This section does not apply to a range in existence prior to January 1, 1998, that is operated for law enforcement training purposes by a county of the sixth class if the range is located without the boundaries of that county and within the boundaries of another county. This subdivision shall become operative on July 1,1999.

3482.5. (a)

(1) No agricultural activity, operation, or facility,or appurtenances thereof, conducted or maintained for commercial purposes, and in a manner consistent with proper and accepted customs and standards, as established and followed by similar agricultural operations in the same locality, shall be or become a nuisance, private or public, due to any changed condition in or about the locality, after it has been in operation for more than three years if it was not a nuisance at the time it began.
(2) No activity of a district agricultural association that is operated in compliance with Division 3 (commencing with Section 3001) of the Food and Agricultural Code, shall be or become a private or public nuisance due to any changed condition in or about the locality, after it has been in operation for more than three years if it was not a nuisance at the time it began. This paragraph shall not apply to any activities of the 52nd District Agricultural Association that are conducted on the grounds of the California Exposition and State Fair, nor to any public nuisance action brought by a city, county, or city and county alleging that the activities,operations, or conditions of a district agricultural association have substantially changed after more than three years from the time that the activities, operations, or conditions began.

(b) Paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) shall not apply if the agricultural activity, operation, or facility, or appurtenances thereof obstruct the free passage or use, in the customary manner, of any navigable lake, river, bay, stream, canal, or basin, or any public park, square, street, or highway.

(c) Paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) shall not invalidate any provision contained in the Health and Safety Code, Fish and Game Code, Food and Agricultural Code, or Division 7 (commencing with Section 13000) of the Water Code, if the agricultural activity,operation, or facility, or appurtenances thereof constitute a nuisance, public or private, as specifically defined or described if any of those provisions.

(d) This section shall prevail over any contrary provision of any ordinance or regulation of any city, county, city and county, or other political subdivision of the state. However, nothing in this section shall preclude a city, county, city and county, or other political subdivision of this state, acting within its constitutional or statutory authority and not in conflict with other provisions of state law, from adopting an ordinance that allows notification to a prospective homeowner that the dwelling is in close proximity to an agricultural activity, operation, facility, or appurtenances thereof and is subject to the provisions of this section consistent with Section 1102.6a.

(e) For purposes of this section, the term "agricultural activity, operation, or facility, or appurtenances thereof" shall include, but not be limited to, the cultivation and tillage of the soil, dairying, the production, cultivation, growing, and harvesting of any agricultural commodity including timber, viticulture, apiculture, or horticulture, the raising of livestock, fur bearing animals, fish, or poultry, and any practices performed by a farmer or on a farm as incident to or in conjunction with those farming operations,including preparation for market, delivery to storage or to market,or delivery to carriers for transportation to market.

3482.6. (a) No agricultural processing activity, operation, facility, or appurtenances thereof, conducted or maintained for commercial purposes, and in a manner consistent with proper and accepted customs and standards, shall be or become a nuisance, private or public, due to any changed condition in or about the locality, after the same has been in continuous operation for more than three years if it was not a nuisance at the time it begins.

(b) If an agricultural processing activity, operation, facility,or appurtenances thereof substantially increases its activities or operations after January 1, 1993, then a public or private nuisance action may be brought with respect to those increases in activities or operations that have a significant effect on the environment. For increases in activities or operations that have been in effect more than three years, there shall be a rebuttable presumption affecting the burden of producing evidence that the increase was not substantial.

(c) This section shall not supersede any other provision of law, except other provisions of this part, if the agricultural processing activity, operation, facility, or appurtenances thereof, constitute a nuisance, public or private, as specifically defined or described in the provision.

(d) This section shall prevail over any contrary provision of any ordinance or regulation of any city, county, city and county, or other political subdivision of the state, except regulations adopted pursuant to Section 41700 of the Health and Safety Code as applied to agricultural processing activities, operations, facilities, or appurtenances thereof that are surrounded by housing or commercial development on the effective date of this section. However, nothing in this section shall preclude a city, county, city and county, or other political subdivision of this state, acting within its constitutional or statutory authority and not in conflict with other provisions of state law, from adopting an ordinance that allows notification to a prospective homeowner that the dwelling is in close proximity to an agricultural processing activity, operation, facility, or appurtenances thereof and is subject to provisions of this section consistent with Section 1102.6a.

(e) For purposes of this section:

(1) "Agricultural processing activity, operation, facility, or appurtenances thereof" includes, but is not limited to, the canning or freezing of agricultural products, the processing of dairy products, the production and bottling of beer and wine, the processing of meat and egg products, the drying of fruits and grains, the packing and cooling of fruits and vegetables, and the storage or warehousing of any agricultural products, and includes processing for wholesale or retail markets of agricultural products.
(2) "Continuous operation" means at least 30 days of agricultural processing operations per year.
(3) "Proper and accepted customs and standards" means the compliance with all applicable state and federal statutes and regulations governing the operation of the agricultural processing activity, operation, facility, or appurtenances thereof with respect to the condition or effect alleged to be a nuisance.

(f) This section shall not apply to any litigation pending or cause of action accruing prior to January 1, 1993.

3483. Every successive owner of property who neglects to abate a continuing nuisance upon, or in the use of, such property, created by a former owner, is liable therefor in the same manner as the one who first created it.

3484. The abatement of a nuisance does not prejudice the right of any person to recover damages for its past existence.

3490. No lapse of time can legalize a public nuisance, amounting to an actual obstruction of public right.

3491. The remedies against a public nuisance are:

1. Indictment or information;
2. A civil action; or,
3. Abatement.

3492. The remedy by indictment or information is regulated by the Penal Code.

3493. A private person may maintain an action for a public nuisance, if it is specially injurious to himself, but not otherwise.

3494. A public nuisance may be abated by any public body or officer authorized thereto by law.

3495. Any person may abate a public nuisance which is specially injurious to him by removing, or, if necessary, destroying the thing which constitutes the same, without committing a breach of the peace, or doing unnecessary injury.