A junked vehicle, including a part of a junked vehicle, that
is located in a place where it is visible from a public place or right-of
way:
(1) Is detrimental to the safety and welfare of the public;
(2) Tends to reduce the value of private property;
(5) Constitutes an attractive nuisance creating a hazard to the health
and safety of others;
(6) Produces urban blight adverse to the maintenance and continuing development
of the city; and
(Ordinance adopting Code)
A person commits an offense if the person maintains a public nuisance described by section
24.10.091 and fails to abate such public nuisance and to remove the vehicle or vehicle part after being directed to do so by the judge of the municipal court and shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by a fine as provided in section
1.01.009, and each and every day such offense shall continue shall be deemed a separate offense. The court, upon conviction of the person maintaining a public nuisance, will order abatement and removal of the public nuisance.
(Ordinance adopting Code)
(a) The city hereby adopts procedures for the abatement and removal of
a junked vehicle, or a part of a junked vehicle, as a public nuisance,
from public or private property or a public right-of-way. Such vehicle
or part of a junked vehicle will not be reconstructed or made operable
after removal of the public nuisance.
(b) For a nuisance on private property, the city shall give not less
than ten days’ notice stating the nature of the public nuisance
on private property, that the nuisance must be abated or removed not
later than the tenth day after the date on which the notice was personally
delivered or mailed, and, if a hearing is desired, a written request
for hearing must be made before the ten-day period expires. The notice
must be personally delivered or sent by certified mail, five-day return
receipt requested, to:
(1) The last known registered owner of the nuisance;
(2) Each lienholder of record of the nuisance; and
(3) The owner or occupant of:
(A) The property on which the nuisance is located; or
(B) If the nuisance is located on the public right-of-way, the property
adjacent to the right-of-way.
(c) If the notice is returned undelivered, official action to abate the
nuisance shall be continued to not earlier than the eleventh day after
the date of the return. If the post office address of the last known
registered owner of the nuisance is unknown, notice may be placed
on the nuisance or, if the owner is located, personally delivered.
(d) For a nuisance on public property, the city shall give not less than
ten days’ notice, stating the nature of the public nuisance
on public property or on a public right-of-way, that the nuisance
must be removed and abated within ten days, and, if a hearing is desired,
a written request for hearing must be made before expiration of the
ten-day period. The notice must be personally delivered or mailed
by certified mail, with a five-day return receipt requested, to the
last known registered owner of the public nuisance, each lienholder
of record of the nuisance, and the owner or occupant of the private
property or, if the nuisance is located on the public right-of-way,
the property adjacent to the right-of-way. If the notice is returned
undelivered, official action to abate the nuisance shall be continued
to not earlier than the eleventh day after the date of return.
(e) Upon request for a hearing as provided herein, a public hearing shall
be held before the municipal court of the city for determination of
the existence of a junked vehicle as a public nuisance and for the
purpose of entering an order requiring removal of the junked vehicle
or junked vehicle part as a public nuisance. Where a request for a
hearing has not been made, the judge of the municipal court, if shown
a public nuisance exists, may enter an order requiring the removal
of the vehicle or vehicle part as a public nuisance. The order requiring
the removal of the vehicle or vehicle part must include a description
of the vehicle and the vehicle identification number and license number
of the vehicle if the information is available at the site.
(f) Notice shall also be given to the state department of transportation
not later than the fifth day after removal. The notice must identify
the vehicle or vehicle part. The department shall immediately cancel
the certificate of title to the vehicle pursuant to the Certificate
of Title Act (V.T.C.A., Transportation Code, chapter 501).
(g) Where the vehicle is declared a public nuisance by the municipal
court judge and is ordered to be removed, it shall not thereafter
be reconstructed or made operable.
(h) This section does not apply to a vehicle or vehicle part that is
completely enclosed within a building in a lawful manner where it
is not visible from the street or other public or private property;
a vehicle or vehicle part that is stored or parked in a lawful manner
on private property in connection with the business of a licensed
vehicle dealer or junkyard; or an unlicensed, operable or inoperable
antique or special interest vehicle stored by a collector on the collector’s
property, if the vehicle and the outdoor storage area are maintained
in a manner so that they do not constitute a health hazard and are
screened from ordinary public view by means of a fence, rapidly growing
trees, shrubbery or other approved means.
(i) This section shall be administered by regularly salaried, full-time
employees of the city, except that removal of a vehicle or part thereof
from public or private property or the public right-of-way may be
by any other duly authorized person under the direction of the city.
(j) The person designated by the city and authorized to administer the
procedures of this division may enter upon private property for the
purposes specified in these procedures to examine a vehicle or vehicle
part, obtain information as to the identity of the vehicle and remove
or cause the removal of a vehicle or vehicle part that constitutes
a public nuisance. The judge of the municipal court may issue orders
necessary to enforce these procedures.
(k) The relocation of a junked vehicle that is a public nuisance to another
location within the corporate limits of the city after a proceeding
for the abatement or removal of the public nuisance has commenced
has no effect on the proceedings if the junked vehicle constitutes
a public nuisance at the new location.
(Ordinance adopting Code)
A junked vehicle or vehicle part may be disposed of by removal to a scrapyard, demolisher or any suitable site operated by the city for processing as scrap or salvage. The process of disposal must comply with the provisions of section
24.10.093. Upon proper authorization by the city council, the city may operate a disposal site if the city council determines that commercial channels of disposition are not available or are inadequate, and it may make final disposition of the vehicles or vehicle parts, or the city may transfer the vehicle or vehicle parts to another disposal site if the disposal is only as scrap or salvage.
(Ordinance adopting Code)