This article may be cited as the junked vehicle ordinance.
(1999 Code, sec. 7.101)
The following terms, whenever used or referred to in this article, shall have the same respective meaning unless a different meaning clearly appears from the context:
Antique vehicle.
A passenger car or truck that is at least 25 years old.
Inoperable.
Incapable of being propelled on its own power.
Junked vehicle.
(1) 
A vehicle that is:
(A) 
Self-propelled; and
(B) 
Is:
(i) 
Wrecked, dismantled or partially dismantled, or discarded; or
(ii) 
Inoperable and has remained inoperable for more than:
a. 
Seventy-two (72) consecutive hours, if the vehicle is on public property; or
b. 
Thirty (30) consecutive days, if the vehicle is on private property.
(2) 
For purposes of this article, “junked vehicle” includes a motor vehicle, aircraft, or watercraft. This subsection applies only to:
(A) 
A motor vehicle that displays an expired license plate or does not display a license plate;
(B) 
An aircraft that does not have lawfully printed on the aircraft an unexpired federal aircraft identification number registered under Federal Aviation Administration aircraft registration regulations in 14 C.F.R. part 47; or
(C) 
A watercraft that does not have lawfully on board an unexpired certificate of number and is not a watercraft described by section 31.055, Texas Parks and Wildlife Code.
Motor vehicle collector.
A person who owns one or more antique or special interest vehicles and acquires, collects, or disposes of an antique or special interest vehicle or part of an antique or special interest vehicle for personal use to restore and preserve an antique or special interest vehicle for historic interest.
Special interest vehicle.
A motor vehicle of any age that has not been changed from original manufacturer’s specifications and, because of its historic interest, is being preserved by a hobbyist.
(Ordinance 17-0413 adopted 4/13/17)
A junked vehicle, including a part of a junked vehicle, that is visible at any time of the year from a public place or public right-of-way:
(1) 
Is detrimental to the safety and welfare of the general public;
(2) 
Tends to reduce the value of private property;
(3) 
Invites vandalism;
(4) 
Creates fire hazards;
(5) 
Constitutes an attractive nuisance creating a hazard to the health and safety of minors;
(6) 
Produces urban blight adverse to the maintenance and continuing development of municipalities; and
(7) 
Is a public nuisance.
(1999 Code, sec. 7.103)
(a) 
Prior to any official action being taken to abate and remove a junked vehicle constituting a public nuisance, from private property, public property or a public right-of-way, not less than 10 days’ notice shall be given, except as hereinafter provided, to the following parties:
(1) 
The last known registered owner of the junked vehicle as shown on the certificate of title;
(2) 
Any lienholder of record; and
(3) 
The owner or occupant of the property upon which the junked vehicle is located or the owner or occupant of the premises adjacent to the public right-of-way on which the junked vehicle is located.
(b) 
The notice shall be mailed, by certified mail with a 5-day return requested, and, if the vehicle is reasonably accessible, also by posting a copy of such notice to the front windshield of the vehicle, and shall state the following:
(1) 
The nature of the public nuisance.
(2) 
That it must be removed and abated not later than the 10th day after the date on which the notice was mailed.
(3) 
That any request for a hearing must be made in writing before the 10-day period expires.
(4) 
That failure to abate the nuisance, request a hearing or attend the hearing, if requested, constitutes a waiver by the owner and lienholders of all right, title and interest in the vehicle and their consent to disposal of the junked vehicle under the terms of the Texas Transportation Code concerning the disposal of junked vehicles.
(c) 
If the post office address of the last known registered owner of the junked vehicle is unknown, notice may be placed on the junked vehicle or, if the owner is located, hand delivered.
(d) 
If any notice is returned undelivered by the United States Postal Service, the validity of the notice is not affected, and the notice is considered as delivered; however, official action to abate the nuisance shall be continued to a date not earlier than 11 days after the date of the return of the notice.
(1999 Code, sec. 7.104)
(a) 
The owner of a vehicle or the owner or occupant of the premises where the vehicle is located or the premises adjacent to the public right-of-way where the vehicle is located may, within the 10-day period after the notice required by section 8.03.004(b) is served, file a written request with the municipal court clerk to set a date and time to appear before the town council for a public hearing to determine whether the vehicle, or part of a vehicle, is a junked vehicle. If a hearing is requested within the 10-day period after the notice required by section 8.03.004(b) is served, the junked vehicle shall not be abated by the town until ordered to do so by the town council. If timely requested, the hearing shall be held not earlier than the 11th day after the date the notice required by section 8.03.004(b) is served.
(b) 
At the public hearing, the town council shall hear and consider all relevant evidence, objections or protests and shall receive testimony from owners, witnesses, town employees and interested persons relative to such alleged public nuisance. The hearing may be continued from time to time.
(c) 
At a hearing under this section concerning a motor vehicle, the motor vehicle is presumed, unless demonstrated otherwise by the owner, to be inoperable.
(d) 
At the conclusion of a hearing under this section, the town council shall consider all evidence and determine whether the vehicle, or part of a vehicle, constitutes a junked vehicle and a public nuisance as alleged. If the town council finds that the vehicle, or part of a vehicle, is a junked vehicle and a public nuisance, that there is sufficient cause to abate the public nuisance, and that the notice requirements provided in this article have been met, the town council shall make a written order setting forth its findings and ordering that the junked vehicle and public nuisance be abated.
(e) 
If the information is available at the location of the junked vehicle and nuisance, the order requiring removal of the nuisance must include:
(1) 
For a motor vehicle, the vehicle’s:
(A) 
Description;
(B) 
Vehicle identification number; and
(C) 
License plate number;
(2) 
For an aircraft, the aircraft’s:
(A) 
Description; and
(B) 
Federal aircraft identification number as described by Federal Aviation Administration aircraft registration regulations in 14 C.F.R. part 47; and
(3) 
For a watercraft, the watercraft’s:
(A) 
Description; and
(B) 
Identification number as set forth in the watercraft’s certificate of number.
(Ordinance 17-0413 adopted 4/13/17)
If no hearing is requested prior to the expiration of 10-day window after the notice required by section 8.03.004(b) is served, or in the event the town council orders abatement of the nuisance, the town administrator, or his designee, or any duly authorized person may abate such public nuisance by removal and disposal of the junked vehicle in accordance with this article and subchapter E, chapter 683, of the Texas Transportation Code.
(Ordinance 17-0413 adopted 4/13/17)
After any junked vehicle has been removed under the authority of this article, it shall not be reconstructed or made operable again.
(1999 Code, sec. 7.107)
No later than the 5th day after the date of removal of a junked vehicle pursuant to this article, notice must be given to the state department of transportation. Such notice must identify the vehicle.
(1999 Code, sec. 7.108)
After the town has sent notice in accordance with section 8.03.004, the relocation of a junked vehicle that is a public nuisance to another location in the town has no effect on the proceeding if the junked vehicle constitutes a public nuisance at the new location.
(1999 Code, sec. 7.109)
Any junked vehicle removed by the town or any duly authorized person pursuant to the authority of this article may be disposed of by removal and sale to a scrap yard, a motor vehicle demolisher, or a suitable site operated by a municipality or county. The removal of a junked vehicle or parts thereof from property may be by any duly authorized person.
(Ordinance 17-0413 adopted 4/13/17)
The provisions of this article shall not apply to a vehicle or vehicle part that is:
(1) 
Completely enclosed within a building in a lawful manner where it is not visible from the street or other public or private property; or
(2) 
Stored or parked in a lawful manner on private property in connection with the business of a licensed vehicle dealer or junkyard, or that is an antique or special interest vehicle stored by a motor vehicle collector on the collector’s property, if the vehicle or part and the outdoor storage area, if any, are:
(A) 
Maintained in an orderly manner;
(B) 
Not a health hazard; and
(C) 
Screened from ordinary public view by appropriate means, including a fence, rapidly growing trees, or shrubbery.
(1999 Code, sec. 7.111)
(a) 
In lieu of or in addition to the abatement proceedings set forth in this article, the town may pursue the filing of a criminal complaint against the owner or occupant of the property in the municipal court for violation of this article or chapter 683, subchapter E, Texas Transportation Code.
(b) 
A person commits an offense if the person maintains a public nuisance described by section 8.03.003. An offense under this section is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine in accordance with the general penalty provision found in section 1.01.009 of this code. Each day an offense occurs shall be a separate offense.
(c) 
The municipal court shall order abatement and removal of the nuisance on conviction for an offense under this section.
(1999 Code, sec. 7.112)
If, within the 10-day period after the notice is served in accordance with section 8.03.004, the owner of the junked vehicle or occupant of the premises on which the junked vehicle is located or the property adjacent to the right-of-way where the junked vehicle is located shall give his written permission to the town for removal of the junked vehicle from the premises, the giving of such permission shall be considered compliance with the provisions of this article.
(Ordinance 17-0413 adopted 4/13/17)
Nothing in this article shall affect ordinances or other laws that permit immediate removal of a vehicle left on public property which is abandoned or which constitutes an obstruction to traffic.
(1999 Code, sec. 7.114)
(a) 
The town administrator, or his designee, is authorized to administer the procedures for the abatement and removal of a public nuisance under this article.
(b) 
The procedures for the abatement and removal of a public nuisance under this article must be administered by regular salaried, full-time employees of the town, except that any authorized person may remove the nuisance.
(c) 
A person authorized to administer the procedures under this article may enter private property to examine a public nuisance, to obtain information to identify the nuisance, and to remove or direct the removal of the nuisance:
(1) 
With consent of the owner or person in control of the property;
(2) 
With a valid warrant issued by a magistrate as defined in Texas Code of Criminal Procedure article 2.09; or
(3) 
When the private property is open to the public.
(Ordinance 17-0413 adopted 4/13/17)