For purposes of this article:
City-approved metal or plastic receptacles used for the disposal and storage of solid waste.
All decayable waste from public and private establishments, including but not limited to vegetable, animal and fish offal and animal and fish carcasses. The term does not include sewage, body waste and industrial byproducts.
All worn-out, worthless and discarded material, including but not limited to odds and ends, old iron or other metal, glass, paper and cordage.
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.
Includes, but is not limited to, the following locations owned by private individuals, firms, corporations, institutions or organizations: yards, grounds, driveways, entranceways, passageways, parking areas, working areas, storage areas, vacant lots, drainways and recreation facilities.
Includes, but is not limited to, the following exterior locations: streets, street medians, roads, road medians, catchbasins, sidewalks, recreation paths, strips between streets and sidewalks, lanes, alleys, public rights-of-way, public parking lots, school grounds, municipal vacant lots, parks, other publicly owned recreation facilities, and municipal waterways and bodies of water.
Garbage, rubbish and other decayable and nondecayable waste, including but not limited to vegetable matter and animal and fish carcasses. The term does not include sewage from a public or private establishment or residence. The term does include refuse, such as boulders, rocks, trees, bushes, limbs, and grass, resulting from lot clearing or other such activity.
All nondecayable wastes, except ashes, from a public or private establishment or residence.
(Ordinance 88-04-12-3, art. 1, adopted 4/12/88; Ordinance adopting Code)
It shall be unlawful for any person, firm, or corporation to violate the provisions of this article. Any person violating any of the provisions of this article shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and each such person shall be deemed guilty of a separate offense for each and every day or portion thereof during which any violation of any provision of this article is committed, continued, or permitted, and upon the conviction of any such violation, such offense shall be punishable by a fine of not more than one thousand dollars ($1000.00).
(Ordinance 88-04-12-3, art. 4, adopted 4/12/88)
Designated personnel in the following two departments are authorized to enforce sections of this article as prescribed below:
(1)
Police department and code enforcement.
Police and code enforcement officers are empowered to enforce any regulation of which violations may be observed in the normal course of patrol duty. Officers have authority to enforce, in their normal course of duty, violations of the following sections:
(A)
Section 10.04.004(a), littering by pedestrians and motorists.
(B)
Section 10.04.004(c), littering with handbills, leaflets, etc.
(C)
Section 10.04.005(a), transporting loose materials without adequate covering.
(D)
Section 10.04.006(a), lack of containers at loading/unloading operations.
(E)
Section 10.04.006(b), failure to clean loading/unloading areas.
(F)
Section 10.04.008(a), litter on private premises.
(G)
Section 10.04.008(b), litter on sidewalks and strips.
(H)
Section 10.04.008(c), sweep-outs.
(2)
City manager.
In pursuance of his normal work, the city manager, or his representative, is authorized to enforce the following sections:
(Ordinance 88-04-12-3, art. 3, adopted 4/12/88; Ordinance 94-07-12-2 adopted 7/12/94; Ordinance 2011-10-17-02 adopted 10/17/11)
(a)
It shall be unlawful for any person to throw, discard, place or deposit litter in any manner or amount on any public or private property within the corporate limits of the city, except in containers lawfully provided therefor.
(b)
In the prosecution charging a violation of subsection (a) of this section from a motor vehicle, proof that the particular vehicle described in the complaint was the origin of the litter, together with proof that the defendant named in the complaint was at the time of such violation the registered owner of said vehicle, shall constitute in evidence a presumption that the registered owner was the person who committed the violation.
(c)
It shall be the duty of every person distributing handbills, leaflets, flyers or any other advertising and information material to take whatever measures that may be necessary to keep such materials from littering public or private property.
(d)
To facilitate proper disposal of litter by pedestrians and motorists, publicly patronized or used establishments shall provide, regularly empty and maintain in good condition adequate containers that meet standards prescribed by the city. This requirement shall be applicable, but not limited to, fast food outlets, shopping centers, convenience stores, supermarkets, service stations, commercial parking lots, and public institutions.
(Ordinance 88-04-12-3, art. 2, sec. 1, adopted 4/12/88)
(a)
It shall be unlawful for any person, firm, corporation, institution or organization to transport any loose cargo by truck or other motor vehicles within the corporate limits of the city unless said cargo is covered and secured in such a manner as to prevent depositing of litter on public and private property.
(Ordinance 88-04-12-3, art. 2, sec. 2, adopted 4/12/88)
(a)
Any owner or occupant of an establishment or institution at which litter is attendant to the packing and unpacking and loading and unloading of materials at exterior locations shall provide suitable containers there for the disposal and storage of such litter and shall make appropriate arrangements for the collection thereof.
(b)
Further, it shall be the duty of the owner or occupant to remove at the end of each day any litter that has not been containerized at these locations.
(Ordinance 88-04-12-3, art. 2, sec. 3, adopted 4/12/88)
The building code, as amended, provides for proper disposition of litter at construction/demolition projects.
(Ordinance 88-04-12-3, art. 2, sec. 4, adopted 4/12/88)
(a)
It shall be the duty of the owner, agent, occupant or lessee to keep exterior private property free of litter. This requirement applies not only to removal of loose litter, but to materials that already are, or become, trapped at such locations as fence and wall bases, grassy and planted areas, borders, embankments and other lodging points.
(b)
Owners, agents, occupants or lessees whose properties face on city rights-of-way shall be responsible for keeping such rights-of-way free of litter.
(c)
It shall be unlawful to sweep or rake litter, debris, or grass clippings into streets or other rights-of-way. Such sweepings must be picked up and put into household or commercial solid waste containers.
(d)
It shall be unlawful to maintain a nuisance on improved private property consisting of any growth of weeds, grass, brush, or other rank vegetation, whether such growth is dead or living, which is neglected, disregarded, or not cut, mowed, or otherwise removed or which has attained a height of nine (9) inches or more.
(e)
It shall be unlawful to maintain or permit a nuisance on unimproved private property consisting of brush, dead trees, or other rank vegetation. When requested to do so by the city due to health, safety, or fire hazards, an owner of an unimproved private property shall mow or otherwise clean up the property to remove the hazard.
(f)
It shall be the duty of every nonresident owner or lessee of a vacant lot or other vacant property to appoint a resident agent who shall have responsibility for keeping that lot or other property free of litter or the nuisance described in subsection (d) and/or (e) of this section.
(1)
Any department of the city which receives a complaint regarding a violation of subsection (a), (b), (c), (d) or (e) of this section on any property within the city shall forward the complaint to the city assistant secretary, where it shall receive a case number and be entered into a notice form; thereafter, a visual inspection shall be made of the property in question.
(2)
If, upon inspection, it is determined that a violation of this section exists, an authorized employee of the city shall serve or cause to be served a written notice upon the owner or occupant of any premises where such a violation exists and demand the abatement of such within ten (10) days. If the owner’s or occupant’s address is unknown or personal service may not be effected, notice may be by publication, if such notice is published two times within a 10-day period in a newspaper of general circulation in the city.
(3)
In addition to the foregoing, the city may, by appropriate action, seek injunctive relief, and may petition a court of competent jurisdiction to enjoin or order the abatement of any violation of this article.
(4)
If the person served with notice under this section fails or refuses to abate same within ten (10) days’ notice in writing, the city may proceed to abate same, keeping an account of the expense of the abatement, and such expense shall be charged and paid by such owner or occupant. The city may collect such expense from an occupant or tenant as well as from the owner, but may not collect more than the expense it incurs.
(5)
The mayor of the city shall make a certified statement of the expense incurred by, and reimbursable to, the city in abating the litter or in mowing the growth described under this section, including the cost of searching the property records as such search is required. Said statement shall be sent to the property owner and/or occupant by the city.
(6)
The expenses of abating a nuisance, plus the applicable interest, shall be a lien upon the premises pursuant to Texas Health and Safety Code, chapter 431, as amended. Whenever a statement for such charge remains unpaid for sixty (60) days after it has been rendered, the city may file with the real property records of the county a statement by the mayor of the city of the lien claim. The statement, which shall be prima facie proof of the amount expended in any such work or improvements, shall contain a legal description of the property, the expenses and costs incurred and the date the nuisance was abated, and a notice that the city claims a lien for this amount. Notice of such lien claim shall be mailed to the owner if his address is known; however, the failure of the owner to receive notice shall not affect the right to foreclose the lien.
(7)
For any such expenditures and interest, the city may institute a suit and foreclose the lien.
(Ordinance 88-04-12-3, art. 2, sec. 8, adopted 4/12/88; Ordinance 98-03-16-1 adopted 3/16/98)
It shall be unlawful to dump refuse, garbage, rubbish, junk, or any other material, including but not limited to cement or any building material, on or near city streets, private property, parks, parking lots, or commercial or public buildings or on an adjoining highway and right-of-way; provided, however, that a reasonable amount of refuse or garbage may be deposited on private property by the owner or resident thereof for soil composting purposes, so long as such is done in a manner that prevents the deposit from being blown by the wind or strewn or scattered by animals.
(Ordinance 88-04-12-3, art. 2, sec. 9, adopted 4/12/88)
