This article is adopted pursuant to the police powers and authority given general law cities by the constitution, codes and general laws of the state, including but not limited to chapter 51 of the Texas Local Gov’t. Code, chapter 217 of the Texas Local Gov’t Code, the Texas Health and Safety Code, and chapter 311 of the Texas Transportation Code.
(Ordinance 2015-08-10-B, art. I, sec. 2, adopted 8/10/15; Ordinance 24102105 adopted 10/21/2024)
The purpose of this article is to provide for public health and general welfare, the efficient and effective provision of city services and the protection of the environment and natural resources of the community. From and after the passage of this article all occupancies and uses within the city shall conform to the following rules and regulations.
(Ordinance 2015-08-10-B, art. I, sec. 3, adopted 8/10/15; Ordinance 24102105 adopted 10/21/2024)
For the purposes of this article, the following terms, phrases, words and their derivations shall have the meaning ascribed to them in this section; provided that, unless specifically defined below, words or phrases used in this article shall be interpreted so as to give them the same meaning as they have in common usage, and so as to give this article its most reasonable application:
Brush
means all uncultivated shrubs, bushes and small trees.
Building
means any structure built for the support, shelter, use or enclosure of persons, animals, chattels or property of any kind.
Code enforcement officer
means and refers to the individual appointed to enforce the provisions of this article and who has a certificate of registration or training certificate in accordance with state law.
Earth and construction materials
means earth, rocks, bricks, concrete, other similar materials and waste materials resulting from construction or remodeling.
Garbage
means rubbish, trash, kitchen and household waste, ashes, bottles, cans, rags, paper, food, food containers, lawn trimmings, tree trimmings, hedge trimmings, leaves, grass, weeds and refuse, and all decayable wastes, including animal and vegetable matter.
Graffiti
means visual markings including but not limited to symbols, words, figures, inscriptions, designs, drawings, or messages on a building, structure, wall, fence, sign, residence, property, street, curb, sidewalk, gutter, alley, or other surface using paint, ink, marker, etching device, engraving device, or any other implement meant to be permanent in nature or difficult to remove and made without the consent of the owner or authority under the law.
Hazardous waste
means solid or liquid waste, in any amount, which is defined, characterized, identified or designated as hazardous by the United States Environmental Protection Agency or appropriate state agency by or pursuant to federal or state law, or waste, in any amount, which is regulated under federal or state law, including motor oil and radiator, engine crankcase, transmission or differential fluid, gasoline, paint, paint cans, toxic or corrosive materials or any material found harmful to personnel or equipment as determined by the director of public works.
Junk
means all worn-out, worthless and discarded material, in general, including but not limited to scrap iron, scrap tin, scrap brass, scrap copper, scrap lead or scrap zinc and all other scrap metals and their alloys, and bones, rags, glass, paper, cordage, cloth, rubber, rope, tinfoil, bottles, old cotton, machinery, tools, construction materials, appliances, furniture, fixtures, utensils, boxes or crates, pipe or pipe fittings, automobile or airplane tires, dismantled motor vehicles, boats, boat trailers, boathouses or travel trailers or parts thereof, or other manufactured goods or odds and ends that are worn-out, worthless, deteriorated, obsolete, discarded material or other wastes, especially those that are unusable in their existing condition.
Litter
means any quantity of uncontainerized paper, metal, plastic, glass, or miscellaneous solid waste which may be classed as trash, debris, rubbish, refuse, garbage, or junk not placed in a solid waste container.
Lot
means any tract, block or other parcel of land, or portion thereof, located within the city limits.
Motor vehicle
means every vehicle, car, boat or similar vehicle that is, or was originally, designed to be self-propelled.
Person
means and includes an individual human, partnership, co-partnership, firm, company, limited liability partnership or other partnership or other such company, joint venture, joint stock company, trust, estate, governmental entity, association or corporation or any other legal entity, or their legal representatives, agents or assigns. The masculine gender shall include the feminine, and the singular shall include the plural where indicated by the context.
Premises
means and refers to real property.
Refuse.
See “Garbage.”
Rubbish
means all refuse, junk, rejected tin cans, old vessels of all sorts, useless articles, abandoned pipe, waste wood, wood products, tree trimmings, grass cuttings, dead plants, weeds, leaves, dead trees or branches thereof, chips, shavings, sawdust, printed matter, paper, pasteboard, rags, straw, used and discarded clothing, used and discarded shoes and boots, combustible waste, pulp and other products used for packaging or wrapping crockery and glass, ashes, cinders, floor sweepings, glass, mineral or metallic substances, textiles and objects of all sorts, and in general all litter. The words “any and all objectionable or unsanitary matter,” not included within the meaning of the other terms as herein used, means those which are liable to produce or tend to produce an unhealthy, unwholesome or unsanitary condition to the general locality where the same are situated.
Sewage or wastewater
means a combination of waterborne wastes from residences, business buildings, institutions, and commercial and industrial establishments, together with such ground, surface and storm waters as may be present.
Solid waste
means household garbage and refuse and commercial garbage and refuse, brush cuttings and weeds.
Solid waste service
means the collection and hauling of residential and business solid waste, e.g., garbage, trash and refuse, for disposal at a state licensed landfill, and the actions and services directly related thereto or necessary for the provision of such services to consumers or customers in the city.
Structure
includes what is defined as “building” as set forth in this article, but shall also mean any type of constructed formation that is attached to real property.
Trash.
See “Garbage.”
Unwholesome matter
means all stagnant water, filth, carrion, impure matter and any condition liable to produce, harbor or spread disease or germs or cause noxious, foul and offensive odors, including foodstuffs or byproducts thereof of any animal nature, or any fruit, vegetable or other thing which may become tainted, diseased, fermented or decaying or otherwise unwholesome or unclean.
Waste
means rejected, unutilized or superfluous substances in liquid, gaseous or solid form resulting from domestic, agricultural, commercial, or industrial activities.
Weeds
means all rank and uncultivated vegetation growth or matter or cultivated vegetation growth if grown or maintained in a manner or condition that creates an unsanitary condition likely to attract or harbor mosquitoes, rodents, vermin, or other disease-carrying pests regardless of the height of the weeds.
(Ordinance 2015-08-10-B, art. I, sec. 4, adopted 8/10/15; Ordinance 2015-08-10-BA, sec. 4, adopted 5/9/16; Ordinance 24102105 adopted 10/21/2024)