The following words, terms and phrases, when used in this article, shall have the meanings ascribed to them in this section, except where the context clearly indicates a different meaning:
Brush
means all trees or shrubbery under seven (7) feet in height which are not cultivated, groomed or cared for by persons owning or controlling the premises.
Lawn
means all ground space around a house which is not in a planting bed or garden and that is covered in cultivated grasses.
Litter
means any and all kinds of garbage, trash, rubbish, refuse, grass clippings, hedge trimmings, leaves, and any other organic or inorganic waste material including petroleum products.
Objectionable, unsightly or unhealthful vegetation
means all uncultivated vegetation not included within the meaning of the other terms used in this article, which are likely to produce an unhealthy, unwholesome or unsanitary condition within the general location of vegetation.
Objects of Value
means any items that are not litter: including working appliances, storage containers, toys, building materials, etc.
Parcel of real property
means all parcels of land adjacent to and extending beyond the property line to the curbline of adjacent streets or fourteen (14) feet beyond the property line on which no curbline has been established and also to the center of adjacent alleys.
Weeds
means all rank and uncultivated vegetable growth or matter which is grown to more than six (6) inches in height or four (4) inches in length, or which, regardless of height or length, is likely to become an unwholesome or decaying mass or a bedding place for mosquitoes or vermin.
(Ordinance 190, sec. II, adopted 3/4/85; Ordinance 234, sec. 2, adopted 12/7/87; Ordinance 234-A, sec. 2, adopted 11/19/90; Ordinance 371, sec. 1, adopted 8/17/09)
Any person violating any of the provisions of this article shall be deemed guilty of a Class C misdemeanor as defined in Section 12.03 of the Texas Penal Code, and, upon conviction for such violation, shall be fined a sum of not less than twenty-five dollars ($25.00) nor more than five hundred dollars ($500.00) for each offense, and each day during which such violation continues shall be deemed a separate offense.
(Ordinance 190, sec. IV, adopted 3/4/85; Ordinance 196, sec. 1, adopted 10/21/85; Ordinance 234, sec. IV, adopted 12/7/87; Ordinance 235 adopted 12/21/87)
(a) 
It shall be unlawful for any person to throw, drop, place, suffer or maintain any litter upon or in any real property, or in any gutter, street, sidewalk, parkway, driveway, curb, alley, or in any other public property, including storm drains, within the limits of the City of El Lago.
(b) 
It shall be unlawful for any owner, occupant, lessee or tenant of any parcel or parcels of real property situated in the City of El Lago to cause or permit weeds, brush or any other objectionable, unsightly or unhealthful vegetation, including dead or significantly declining trees, to cover or partly cover the surface of such or any adjacent property situated within the City of El Lago.
(c) 
It shall be unlawful for any owner, occupant, lessee or tenant of any parcel or parcels of real property within the City of El Lago to cause or permit holes, sinks or depressions to exist on the surface of such property that are liable to hold stagnant water.
(d) 
It shall be unlawful for any owner, occupant, lessee or tenant of any parcel or parcels of real property situated in the City of El Lago to cause or permit lawn grasses to grow more than six (6) inches in height or more than four (4) inches in length.
(e) 
It shall be unlawful for any owner, occupant, lessee or tenant of any parcel or parcels of real property within the City of El Lago to store objects of value other than allowed vehicles, upon any real property including parkways, driveways or public rights-of-way within the City of El Lago in a location in which the objects of value can be viewed from the public street or any adjacent property.
(Ordinance 190, sec. I, adopted 3/4/85; Ordinance 234, sec. I, adopted 12/7/87; Ordinance 234-A, sec. 1, adopted 11/19/90; Ordinance 371, sec. 2, adopted 8/17/09; Ordinance 419, sec. 2, adopted 6/18/14)
(a) 
Whenever the existence of such conditions as prescribed in section 11-33 of this article exist, the owner, occupant, lessee or tenant shall be immediately notified in person or by written notice by the chief of police or building official that the prescribed condition must be corrected or abated within ten (10) days from the date of such notice. If the owner’s post office address is not known or if no occupant, lessee or tenant shall exist, such notice may be given by publication in a newspaper of general circulation on two (2) occasions within a ten-day period.
(b) 
Should the owner, occupant, lessee or tenant so notified fail, refuse or neglect to cause such condition to be corrected or abated within the time provided above, the chief of police shall arrange for abatement at the cost of the city. A statement of the costs of such abatement, including subsequent inspection, shall be mailed to the person so notified, but in no case shall such charges be less than an established minimum charge of one hundred dollars ($100.00). In addition, charges of violating the provisions of section 11-33 of this article shall be filed by the police department with the city’s municipal court.
(c) 
Should the owner, occupant, lessee or tenant so notified fail to make full payment of such charges within thirty (30) days from the date of mailing of such statement, the City of El Lago may assess such expenses against the property and file charges with the County Clerk of Harris County, Texas, a statement of the charges, plus six (6) percent interest per annum thereon which statement shall constitute a lien upon the property. Suit may be instituted and foreclosure had upon said property for any such expenditures and interest and a certified copy of the statement of costs shall be prima facie proof of the amount expended for such work.
(d) 
Upon payment of all charges, including interest, the mayor may execute, on behalf of the city, a written release of such lien on a form approved by the city attorney.
(e) 
In the event that the owner, occupant, lessee or tenant so notified subsequently continues to cause or permit such conditions to exist, the provisions of paragraph (b) above shall apply without prior notice to the owner, occupant, lessee or tenant.
(Ordinance 190, sec. III, adopted 3/4/85; Ordinance 234, sec. 3, adopted 12/7/87)