The purpose of this article is to require the repair or removal
of dilapidated or substandard structures.
(Ordinance 2047 adopted 5/28/19)
The following terms shall be deemed to have the meanings assigned
herein for the purposes of this article:
Building Official.
The Assistant Director of Town Services, or such other individuals
designated by the Town Administrator to carry out such duties.
Substandard or dilapidated building.
Any structure in which there exists any of the following
listed conditions and where such condition(s) causes said structure
to be a hazard to the public health, safety, and welfare, or where
said structure constitutes a danger to the occupant(s) or public:
(1)
Lack of or defective utility service.
(2)
Lack of or defective plumbing.
(3)
Lack of hot or cold running water to plumbing fixtures or sprinkler
systems.
(4)
Lack of adequate heating equipment.
(5)
Lack of or defective required ventilation or ventilating equipment.
(6)
Required space dimensions less than required by Town codes.
(8)
Dampness of interior areas.
(9)
Infestation by insects, vermin, or rodents.
(10)
General dilapidation or improper maintenance.
(11)
Lack of connection to required sewage disposal system.
(12)
Lack of adequate garbage or rubbish storage and containers.
(13)
Partial destruction or damage by fire unrepaired for more than
thirty (30) days.
(14)
Deteriorated or inadequate foundation.
(15)
Defective or deteriorated flooring or floor supports.
(16)
Flooring or floor supports of insufficient size to carry imposed
loads with safety.
(17)
Deteriorated or damaged framing members:
(A)
Members of walls, partitions, or other vertical supports that
split, lean, list, or buckle due to defective material or deterioration.
(B)
Members of walls, partitions, or other vertical supports that
are of insufficient size to carry imposed loads with safety.
(C)
Members of ceilings, roofs, ceiling and roof supports, or other
horizontal members which sag, split, or buckle due to defective materials
or deterioration.
(D)
Members of ceilings, roofs, ceiling and roof supports, or other
horizontal members that are of insufficient size to carry imposed
loads with safety.
(18)
Deteriorated or damaged fireplace or heating components:
(A)
Fireplaces or chimneys which list, bulge, or settle due to defective
material or deterioration.
(B)
Fireplaces or chimneys which are of insufficient size or strength
to carry imposed loads with safety.
(C)
Heating flues and exhausts which list, bulge, or settle due
to defective material or deterioration.
(19)
Hazardous or defective wiring.
(21)
Hazardous or defective mechanical equipment.
(22)
Faulty weather protection, which shall include but not be limited
to the following:
(A)
Deteriorated, crumbling, or loose plaster or masonry.
(B)
Deteriorated or ineffective water-proofing of exterior walls,
roof, foundations, or floors, including broken windows or doors.
(C)
Defective or lack of weather protection for exterior wall coverings,
including lack of paint, or weathering due to lack of paint or other
approved protective covering.
(D)
Broken, rotted, split, or buckled exterior wall coverings or
roof coverings.
(23)
Fire hazard. Any building or portion thereof, device, apparatus,
equipment, or accumulation which, in the opinion of the Building Official,
is in such a condition as to cause a fire or explosion or provide
a ready fuel to augment the spread and intensity of fire or explosion
arising from any cause.
(24)
Faulty materials of construction.
(25)
Hazardous or unsanitary premises. Those premises on which an
accumulation of weeds, vegetation, junk, dead organic matter, debris,
garbage, offal, rodent harborages, stagnant water, combustible materials,
and similar materials or conditions constitute fire, health, or safety
hazards.
(26)
Inadequate maintenance. Any building or portion thereof which
is determined to be an unsafe building in accordance with applicable
codes.
(27)
Inadequate fire-protection or fire-fighting equipment. All buildings
or portions thereof which are not provided with the fire-resistive
construction or fire-extinguishing systems or equipment required by
applicable codes, except those buildings or portions thereof which
conformed with all applicable laws at the time of their construction
and whose fire-resistive integrity and fire-extinguishing systems
or equipment have been adequately maintained and improved in relation
to any increase in occupant load, alteration or addition, or any change
in occupancy.
(Ordinance 2047 adopted 5/28/19)
(a) Commencement of proceedings.
Whenever the Building Official
has inspected or caused to be inspected any building and has found
and determined that such building is a substandard building, he shall
commence proceedings to cause the repair, rehabilitation, vacation,
or demolition of the building.
(b) Notice.
The Building Official shall issue a notice directed
to the record owner of the building. Prior notices issued in compliance
with the following are sufficient. The notice shall contain:
(1) The street address and a legal description sufficient for identification
of the premises upon which the building is located.
(2) A statement that the Building Official has found the building to
be substandard with a brief and concise description of the conditions
found to render the building dangerous to the occupant(s) or public
and/or a hazard to the public health, safety, and welfare.
(3) A statement of the action required to be taken as determined by the
Building Official.
(4) A requirement that the owner or person in charge of the building
or premises secure required permits and commence the required action
within fifteen (15) days from the date of such notice and that all
work be completed within such time as the Building Official shall
determine is reasonable.
(5) If the Building Official has determined that the building or structure
must be vacated, the notice shall contain a requirement that the building
be vacated within such time from the date of the notice as determined
by the Building Official to be reasonable.
(6) A statement advising that if any required repair or demolition work
is not commenced within the time specified, the Building Official
will, without further notice, order the building vacated and posted
to prevent further occupancy until the work is completed.
(7) A statement advising that if any required repair or demolition work
is not commenced or completed within the time specified, proceedings
will be commenced to have the building repaired or demolished and
the cost of such assessed as a charge against the land.
(c) Service of notice.
The notice and any amended notice
shall be served upon the record owner.
(d) Method of service.
Service of notice shall be made upon
all persons entitled thereto either personally or by mailing a copy
of such notice and order by certified mail, postage prepaid, return
receipt requested, to each such person at his address as it appears
on the last tax roll of the Town, or as known to the Building Official.
If no address of any such person so appears or is known to the Building
Official, then a copy of the notice and order shall be published twice
within ten (10) consecutive days in a newspaper of general circulation
in the Town. The failure of any such person to receive such notice
or order shall not affect the validity of any proceedings taken under
this section. Service by certified mail in the manner herein provided
shall be deemed effective on the date of mailing. Service by publication
shall be deemed effective on the date of the second publication.
(e) Order to vacate.
An order to vacate immediately may
be issued only if the building or structure is in such condition as
to make it immediately dangerous to the life, limb, property, or safety
of the public or of the occupants.
(f) Posting.
Every notice to vacate shall, in addition to
being served as provided in (c) above, be posted at or upon each exit
of the building, and shall be in substantially the following form:
“DO NOT ENTER
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UNSAFE TO OCCUPY
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It is a misdemeanor to occupy this building or to remove or
deface this notice.
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Building Official
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Town of Highland Park”
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(Ordinance 2047 adopted 5/28/19)
No person shall remain in or enter any building which has been posted as provided by section
3.17.002, except that entry may be made to repair, demolish, or remove such building under permit. No person shall remove or deface any such notice after it is posted until the required repairs, demolition, or removal have been completed and a certificate of occupancy issued pursuant to the provisions of this code. Any person violating this subsection shall be guilty of a class C misdemeanor. Any person who fails to meet the requirements made in any notice duly served as herein provided shall be guilty of a misdemeanor for each day such failure continues after the date the notice requires compliance.
(Ordinance 2047 adopted 5/28/19)
If the required repair or demolition has not been commenced
within fifteen (15) days from the date of any notice served pursuant
to this article, or if required action has not been completed as required
by such notice, the Building Official shall commence proceedings as
follows:
(1) The
Building Official shall cause such building to be vacated by posting
at each entrance thereto a notice reading:
“SUBSTANDARD BUILDING
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It is a misdemeanor to occupy this building or to remove or
deface this notice.
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Building Official
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Town of Highland Park”
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(2) The
Town Council shall be notified and requested to consider holding a
public hearing to decide whether to order the repair, removal, or
demolition specified in such notice to be done and whether to cause
the cost of such work to be paid and levied as a special assessment
against the property.
(3) The
Town Council may set a date and time for a public hearing to consider
ordering the improvement and assessment of any property where the
owner has failed to improve as required by notices described in this
article. Such public hearing shall be held not less than ten (10)
nor more than sixty (60) days from the date such hearing is set.
(4) Notice of the public hearing to be held before the Town Council shall be given by causing a notice thereof to be served on the owner of such property. Such notice shall be served in the same manner and method as notices of the Building Official are served as described in section
3.17.003. Such notice shall include the date, time, and place of such hearing and shall require that cause be shown why an order should not be issued by the Town Council requiring the repair, removal, or demolition of the described property within a reasonable time and a statement that if such action is not taken, the work will be done by the Town and the cost thereof assessed against the land.
(5) The
Town Council shall hold a public hearing as set forth in the notice
thereof and may order removal, repair, or demolition of any such property
and shall establish a date for the completion thereof, and may order
that if such action is not completed by such date, that the building
be removed at the expense of the Town, and the cost thereof, together
with interest at eight (8) per cent per annum, be assessed as a lien
against the described premises. Such order shall be served in the
same manner as the notice of public hearing.
(Ordinance 2047 adopted 5/28/19)
(a) Procedure.
When any removal is to be done pursuant to
the provisions of any order of the Town Council, the work may be accomplished
by Town personnel or by private contract as may be deemed necessary.
Rubble and debris shall be removed from any premises and the lot cleaned.
The building or building materials may be sold if removal is ordered,
and the proceeds shall be used to offset other costs of cleaning the
lot.
(b) Costs.
The cost of such work shall be paid from Town
funds and shall constitute a special assessment and a lien against
such property to secure payment thereof, together with eight (8) per
cent interest on such amount from the date the Town incurs the expense.
Such liens shall be privileged and second only to tax liens and liens
for street improvement. The Town Attorney is authorized to bring an
action in any court of proper jurisdiction to foreclose said lien
and to recover the costs incurred by the Town.
(Ordinance 2047 adopted 5/28/19)
A sworn account of the expense incurred by the Town in the repair,
removal, or demolition of any building done pursuant to the provisions
of this code shall be filed by the Building Official with the Town
Secretary. The Town Secretary shall file such notice of the Town’s
assessment and lien in the deed records of the County. Such notice
shall read substantially as follows:
“State of Texas
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County of Dallas
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Notice of Lien
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__________, Building Official for the Town of Highland Park,
makes oath and says that the Town of Highland Park (the “Town”)
has incurred an expense of $ __________ in improving property known
and described as __________. Such expense was incurred to eliminate
violations of the Town’s Building Regulations after notices
pursuant to Ordinance No. 2047 and to chapter 214 of the Local Government
Code were served on the record owner thereof, __________ , after a
public hearing before the Town Council as required by law.
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This assessment shall constitute a first and prior lien, subject
only to tax and paving liens.
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No building permit or certificate of occupancy will be issued
on this property unless and until this lien is paid, together with
eight (8) percent per annum interest from the date such expenses were
incurred. No utility service of any kind will be available to such
property until this lien is paid.
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_______________________
Building Official
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Town of Highland Park, Texas
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Sworn to and subscribed before me by the said __________, this
__________ day of _________ , 20 _____, to certify which witness my
hand and seal of office.
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(Seal)
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_______________________
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Signature of Notary Public”
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(Ordinance 2047 adopted 5/28/19)
No utility service, building permit or certificate of occupancy
shall be allowed for any such property until any such lien is released
by the Town and the assessment is paid.
(Ordinance 2047 adopted 5/28/19)