It shall be unlawful and a violation of this article for any person owning, claiming, occupying or having supervision or control of any real property, occupied or unoccupied, within the corporate limits of the city to permit or allow any trash, rubbish, carrion, filth, brush, tree limbs or trimmings, cut vegetation, stagnant water, the accumulation of building materials not intended for immediate use, or other impure or unwholesome matter to accumulate or remain thereon or therein. It shall be the duty and responsibility of that person to keep property and the sidewalks in front of this property free and clear of the same.
(Ordinance 2011-43, sec. 3.01, adopted 12/12/11)
All trees and shrubs within the scope of this section, grown or maintained in the city, shall conform to the following specifications:
(1) 
Height above street.
No tree, shrub, vine, or similar plant shall be grown, maintained or cultivated in such a manner so that any portion of such tree, shrub, vine, etc., may overhang or obtrude upon or over any dedicated alleyway, street, or highway in the city, unless there be a full fourteen-foot (14') clearance between the surface of all portions of such street or highway and the overhanging tree, limb, shrub, vine, or plant of any description or kind.
(2) 
Height above sidewalk.
No tree, shrub, vine, or similar plant shall be grown, maintained or cultivated in such a manner so that any portion of such tree, shrub, vine, etc. may overhang or obtrude upon or over any sidewalk used by the public, unless there be a full seven-foot (7') clearance between the surface of the sidewalk and the overhanging tree, limb, shrub, vine, or plant of any description or kind.
(3) 
Fire hydrant clearance.
No tree, shrub, vine, hedge, or any similar plant of any description or kind shall be grown or maintained between the sidewalk and the curb or ditch line on any street or highway at a lesser distance than ten feet (10') from any fire hydrant in the city.
(4) 
Street intersection clearance between sidewalk and curb.
No tree, shrub, vine, or any similar plant of any description or kind shall be grown or maintained between the sidewalk and the curb on any public street or highway in the city at a lesser distance than thirty feet (30') from the corner of any block on any such public street or highway, such measurements to be computed at the point of intersection of two (2) lines extended parallel with the curbline of the streets or avenues intersecting and causing such corners.
(5) 
Street intersection clearance in corner triangle.
No tree, shrub, plant, fence, or obstruction of any kind shall be erected or maintained within the restricted area hereinafter described to a height greater than thirty inches (30") from the street gutter flow line. Any tree planted, grown or maintained in such restricted areas shall not have branches or foliage extending from the trunk thereof at a height lower than eight feet (8') from the street gutter flow line. The areas in the city by this subsection restricted are as follows:
(A) 
All of that portion of land lying within a triangular-shaped area at each intersection of a public right-of-way or curb cut within the city described as follows: Beginning at the precise corner of the intersection point of the curb of the street with the curb of a driveway or curb of another public right-of-way intersection forming each corner and extending thirty feet (30') along each such curbline from said curb intersection point, the third side being determined by the drawing of a straight line from the ends of each such thirty-foot extension (whether said land be privately owned or unpaved or untraveled street right-of-way property). Where no curbs are in existence at such intersections, said thirty-foot (30') lines shall coincide with the central flow line of the ditch paralleling such uncurbed street (as such central flow line shall be determined by the city engineer).
(B) 
By “street gutter flow line” is meant the street gutter flow line of the curb adjacent to and bordering upon each such restricted area. In the event that there is no such curb as aforesaid, the aforesaid height restrictions shall be based upon the actual level of the paved or used portion of the public street adjacent to and bordering upon each such restricted area.
(6) 
It shall be unlawful and a violation of this article for any person owning, claiming, occupying or having supervision of any real property, occupied or unoccupied, within the corporate limits of the city to permit or allow such conditions to exist.
(Ordinance 2014-02 adopted 1/14/14)
(a) 
It shall be unlawful and a violation of this article for any person owning, claiming, occupying or having supervision or control of any real property, occupied or unoccupied, within the corporate limits of the city to permit grass, weeds or any other objectionable or unsightly vegetation to grow to a greater height than 12 inches upon any real property within 150 feet of any property line.
(b) 
All vegetation, not regularly cultivated and which exceeds 12 inches in height, shall constitute a nuisance.
(Ordinance 2014-02 adopted 1/14/14)
(a) 
Real property.
It shall be the duty of any person owning, claiming, occupying or having supervision or control of any real property within the corporate limits of the city, occupied or unoccupied, to cut and remove all grass, weeds or any other objectionable or unsightly vegetation within 150 feet of any property line or from the curb line next to it, if there is one, and if not, then to the edge of pavement, or to the centerline of the adjacent unpaved street, alley, or easement as often as may be necessary to comply with the preceding section.
(b) 
Developments with a homeowners’ association.
(1) 
Within the boundaries of a subdivision which has a homeowners’ association, the homeowners’ association shall be responsible for maintaining all common areas.
(2) 
Except in those cases where the homeowners’ association has agreed to take responsibility, individual homeowners shall be responsible for maintaining any property that is adjacent to a street or alley right-of-way up to the boundary of the subdivision plat.
(c) 
Cultivated agricultural property.
It shall be the duty of any person owning, claiming, occupying or having supervision or control over cultivated agricultural property where the distance between the growing crop and adjacent property under different ownership, a right-of-way or easement is less than 150 feet, to cut and remove all grass, weeds or any other objectionable or unsightly vegetation between such growing crop and any adjacent property under different ownership, or within a right-of-way or easement.
(Ordinance 2014-02 adopted 1/14/14)
(a) 
If the owner, occupant, or person in control of the property fails or refuses to comply with the provisions of this article, the city shall give written notice, prior to initiating abatement, to the property owner.
(b) 
Notice may be given personally to the previously mentioned person in writing; by letter addressed to the owner at the owner’s post office address; or, if personal service cannot be obtained or the owner’s post office is unknown, by publication at least once; by posting the notice on or near the front door of each building on the property to which a violation relates; or by posting the notice on a placard attached to a stake driven into the ground on the property to which the violation relates, if the property contains no buildings.
(c) 
If the city mails a notice to a property owner in accordance with subsection (b) above and the United States Postal Service returns the notice as “refused” or “unclaimed,” the validity of the notice is not affected, and the notice is considered as delivered.
(d) 
The city may inform the owner or person with care, custody and control of the property in question by certified mail, return receipt requested, that if the mentioned person commits another offense under this article of the same kind or of the same nature that poses a danger to the public health and safety on or before the first anniversary of the date of the previous notice, the city, without further notice, may correct the violation at the owner’s expense and assess the expenses against the property.
(e) 
If a violation covered by a notice under this subsection occurs within the one-year time period and the city has not been informed of change of ownership, as described in Texas Local Government Code, section 54.005(b), the city may, without notice, correct the violation at the owner’s expense and assess the expenses against the property.
(Ordinance 2014-02 adopted 1/14/14)
(a) 
If any person notified, as provided within section 6.02.005, fails or refuses to correct or remove the condition specified within the notice within ten days after the date of notification, the city may do or cause the work to be done, or make the improvements required and pay for the work done or improvements made and charge the expenses to the owner of the property.
(b) 
A lien may be placed against the property in which the work or improvement was performed. To obtain a lien in this manner, the mayor, municipal health authority or the designee of the mayor must file a statement of expenses with the county clerk. The lien attaches upon the filing of the lien statement with the county clerk.
(c) 
The lien obtained by the city is security for the expenditures made and interest accruing at a rate of 10% on the amount due from the date of payment for services by the city. The lien is inferior only to tax liens and liens for street improvements.
(d) 
The city may foreclose the lien in a proceeding as authorized in Texas Health and Safety Code, section 342.007.
(Ordinance 2011-43, sec. 3.01, adopted 12/12/11)
Any person, firm, partnership, corporation or association violating any of the provisions of this article [shall] be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined in the sum of not more than two thousand dollars ($2,000.00) for each offense; and each day such violation continues shall constitute a separate and distinct offense. Upon a first conviction, the fine shall not be less than fifty dollars ($50.00). The minimum fine established in this section shall be doubled for the second conviction of the same offense within any twelve-month period and trebled for the third and subsequent convictions of the same offense within any twelve-month period.
(Ordinance 2011-43, sec. 3.01, adopted 12/12/11)