As used in this article, the following words and phrases shall
have the meanings ascribed below, except where the context in which
the word or phrase is used clearly indicates a different meaning is
intended:
A passenger car or truck that is at least twenty-five (25)
years old.
The chief of police of the city, or his/her designee or delegate,
or any duly commissioned police officer of the city.
The code enforcement officer of the city, or his/her designee
or delegate.
The term “junked vehicle” does not include:
A vehicle or part thereof which 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 part thereof which 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 and/or special
interest vehicle stored by a motor vehicle collector on the collector’s
property, provided that the vehicle and the outdoor storage area are
maintained in such a manner 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 appropriate means. The term “other
appropriate means” shall not include a tarp or similar covering.
A person who:
A motor vehicle of any age that has not been changed from
original manufacturer’s specifications and, because of its historic
interest, is being preserved by a hobbyist.
(2007 Code, sec. 8.02.001)
It shall be unlawful for the owner or occupant of any real property
within the city to keep or permit other persons to keep any junked
vehicle or parts thereof on said premises in ordinary public view.
(2007 Code, sec. 8.02.002)
(a)
Junked vehicles, including parts thereof and tarps or covers thereon,
that are visible from a public place or public right-of-way are detrimental
to the safety and welfare of the general public, tend to reduce the
value of private property, to invite vandalism, to create fire hazards,
and to constitute an attractive nuisance creating a hazard to the
health and safety of minors, and are detrimental to the economic welfare
of the city and state by producing urban blight which is adverse to
the maintenance and continuing development of the city, and such vehicles
are therefore declared to be a public nuisance and subject to abatement
as set out hereunder.
(b)
The owner or occupant of any real property within the city shall
keep such property free of and shall not permit or suffer the presence
of junked vehicles on such property.
(c)
It shall be unlawful for any person to knowingly or intentionally
interfere with or attempt to prevent the physical impounding of any
junked vehicle by the chief of police or by the code enforcement officer.
(2007 Code, sec. 8.02.003)
(a)
Whenever any such junked vehicle is located on occupied premises within the city in violation of section 14.06.003(b) above, the chief of police or the code enforcement officer shall order the owner of the premises, if the owner is in possession thereof, or the occupant of the premises whereon such public nuisance exists, to abate or remove the same. Such order shall:
(1)
Be in writing;
(2)
State the nature of the public nuisance and that it must be removed
and abated within ten (10) days after the date of mailing or personal
delivery of notice;
(3)
State that a request for a hearing to determine whether or not the
motor vehicle is a junked motor vehicle as defined herein must be
made to the clerk of the municipal court, either in person or in writing
and without the requirement of bond, before expiration of said ten-day
period; and
(4)
State that, in the event that no request for a hearing is received
before the expiration of said ten-day period, then it shall be conclusively
presumed that said vehicle is a junked vehicle as defined under state
law and under all applicable provisions hereof.
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The order must be personally delivered or mailed, by certified
mail/return receipt requested, to the last known registered owner
of the junked motor vehicle, to any lienholder of record, and to the
owner or occupant of the premises on which the public nuisance exists.
If the post office address of the last known registered owner of the
junked motor vehicle is unknown, notice to the last known registered
owner may be placed on the motor vehicle or, if the last known registered
owner is physically located, then the notice may be personally delivered.
If any notice is returned undelivered by the U.S. post office, then
official action to abate the nuisance shall be continued to a date
not earlier than the eleventh (11th) day after the date of the return.
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(b)
If the owner or occupant of the premises does not request a public
hearing and either fails or refuses to comply with the order of the
chief of police or the code enforcement officer within the ten-day
period after service thereof, all as provided herein, then the chief
of police or the code enforcement officer shall take possession of
such junked motor vehicle and remove it from the premises upon the
issuance of an appropriate order of the judge of the municipal court.
(2007 Code, sec. 8.02.004)
(a)
Whenever any such junked vehicle is located on unoccupied premises within the city in violation of section 14.06.003(b) above, the chief of police or the code enforcement officer shall order the owner of the premises, as shown on the current tax rolls of the city whereon such public nuisance exists, to abate or remove the same. Such order shall contain the same information as for the order required under section 14.06.004(a)(1) through (4) herein. The order must be personally delivered or mailed, by certified mail, return receipt requested, to the last known registered owner of the junked motor vehicle, to any lienholder of record, and to the owner of the premises, as shown on the city tax rolls, on which the public nuisance exists. If the post office address of the last known registered owner of the junked motor vehicle is unknown, notice to the last known registered owner may be placed on the motor vehicle or, if the last known registered owner is physically located, then the notice may be personally delivered. If any notice is returned undelivered by the U.S. post office, then official action to abate the nuisance shall be continued to a date not earlier than the eleventh (11th) day after the date of the return.
(b)
If the owner of the premises does not request a public hearing and
either fails or refuses to comply with the order of the chief of police
or the code enforcement officer within the ten-day period after service
thereof, all as provided herein, then the chief of police or the code
enforcement officer shall take possession of such junked motor vehicle
and remove it from the premises upon the issuance of an appropriate
order of the judge of the municipal court.
(c)
Whenever any such junked vehicle is located on public property or on a public right-of-way within the city in violation of section 14.06.003(b), then the chief of police or the code enforcement officer shall order the owner or occupant of the public premises or the owner or occupant of the premises adjacent to the public right-of-way upon which said public nuisance exists to abate or remove the same. Such order shall contain the same information as for the order required under section 14.06.004(a)(1) through (4) herein. The order must be personally delivered or mailed, by certified mail, return receipt requested, to the last known registered owner of the junked motor vehicle, to any lienholder of record, and to the owner or occupant of the premises or to the owner or occupant of the premises adjacent to the public right-of-way on which the public nuisance exists. If the post office address of the last known registered owner of the junked motor vehicle is unknown, notice to the last known registered owner may be placed on the motor vehicle or, if the last known registered owner is physically located, then the notice may be personally delivered. If any notice is returned undelivered by the U.S. post office, then official action to abate the nuisance shall be continued to a date not earlier than the eleventh (11th) day after the date of the return.
(2007 Code, sec. 8.02.005)
(a)
At the time a junked vehicle is located by the chief of police or
the code enforcement officer on either occupied or unoccupied private
or public property or the public right-of-way, in addition to any
other notice required herein, a visible notice, brightly colored but
of a color different from that used for notices of abandonment, shall
be securely affixed to such vehicle. Such notice shall:
(1)
State that the vehicle is a public nuisance and that it must be removed
and abated within ten (10) days from the date on such notice;
(2)
State that a request for a hearing to determine whether or not the
motor vehicle is a junked motor vehicle as defined herein must be
made to the clerk of the municipal court, either in person or in writing
and without the requirement of bond, before the expiration of said
ten-day period;
(3)
State that, in the event that no request for a hearing is received
before the expiration of said ten-day period, it shall be conclusively
presumed that said vehicle is a junked vehicle as defined under state
law and under all applicable provisions hereof; and
(4)
State the date it was affixed.
(b)
Affixing the notice set out herein shall not be a condition or requirement
precedent to any proceeding or official action to abate such public
nuisance, and such proceeding or action shall not be rendered void
or voidable nor shall it be in any way affected by failure to affix
the visible notice prescribed herein.
(c)
In the event the ten-day period set out on the visible notice is
different from that prescribed in any other notice served as provided
for hereunder, then official action or proceedings to abate such public
nuisance shall not be commenced until after the expiration of both
periods of time.
(2007 Code, sec. 8.02.006)
(a)
The owner or occupant of any premises on which a junked vehicle is
located may, within ten (10) days after service of notice to abate
said nuisance, request of the clerk of the municipal court of the
city, either in person or in writing and without the requirement of
a bond, that a date and a time be set when he/she may appear before
the judge of the municipal court for a hearing to determine whether
or not the motor vehicle is a junked motor vehicle.
(b)
The judge of the municipal court shall hear any case brought before
such court, as set out herein, and shall determine by a preponderance
of the evidence whether or not the motor vehicle is a junked motor
vehicle and is in violation of any applicable provisions hereof. At
the hearing, the motor vehicle is presumed to be inoperable unless
demonstrated otherwise by the owner. Such hearing shall not be criminal
in nature and shall be as summary as due process and orderly procedure
allow. Rules of evidence as in civil suits shall be followed. Upon
finding that such motor vehicle is in violation of any applicable
provisions hereof, the judge of such court shall order such defendant
to remove and abate such nuisance within ten (10) days, the same being
herein declared a reasonable time. If the defendant shall fail or
refuse within such ten (10) days to abate and remove the nuisance,
then the judge of the municipal court may issue an order directing
the chief of police or the code enforcement officer to have the same
removed, and the chief of police or the code enforcement officer shall
take possession of such junked motor vehicle and remove it from the
premises. Such order shall include a description of the vehicle, and
the current identification number and license number of the vehicle,
if available at the site.
(c)
Notice of any hearing set hereunder shall be delivered to the chief
of police or the code enforcement officer and to any person requesting
the hearing.
(d)
The relocation of a junked vehicle that is a public nuisance to another
location within the territorial limits of the city after a proceeding
for the abatement and removal of the public nuisance has commenced
shall have no effect on the proceeding if the junked vehicle constitutes
a public nuisance at the new location.
(2007 Code, sec. 8.02.007)
If there is a junked motor vehicle, as herein defined, on premises
that are occupied or unoccupied, and (i) neither the owner nor the
occupant of the premises can be found and notified to remove same,
or (ii) the notice required hereunder is returned undelivered by the
U.S. post office, and ten (10) days after the return of such notice
the nuisance has not been abated and removed, then upon a showing
of such facts to the judge of the municipal court, the court may issue
an order directing the chief of police or the code enforcement officer
to have the junked vehicle removed, and the chief of police or the
code enforcement officer shall take possession of such junked vehicle
and remove it from the premises.
(2007 Code, sec. 8.02.008)
Within five (5) days after the removal of a junked motor vehicle
as provided herein, notice shall be given to the state department
of transportation that such junked vehicle has been impounded, identifying
the vehicle or part thereof impounded.
(2007 Code, sec. 8.02.009)
The chief of police or the code enforcement officer shall dispose
of all impounded junked vehicles in such manner as the city manager
may designate, consistent with V.T.C.A., Transportation Code section
683.071 et seq. and any applicable state law, provided such vehicle
shall not be reconstructed or made operable. Disposal may be by removal
or sale, with or without competitive bidding, to a scrap yard or demolisher.
(2007 Code, sec. 8.02.010)
It shall be unlawful to do or perform any act prohibited hereunder, and it shall be unlawful to fail to do any act required hereunder. An offense hereunder is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine in accordance with the general penalty in section 1.01.009 of this code. Upon conviction, the court shall order removal and abatement of the nuisance.
(2007 Code, sec. 8.02.011)
(a)
The provisions hereunder shall be administered by regularly salaried,
full-time employees of the city as may be designated by the city manager,
except that any authorized person may remove the nuisance.
(b)
A person authorized by the city manager to administer the procedures
authorized hereunder may enter private property for the purposes specified
in V.T.C.A., Transportation Code section 683.071 et seq. and any applicable
state laws to examine a vehicle, obtain information as to the identity
of the vehicle, and/or remove or cause the removal of a vehicle that
constitutes a nuisance. The judge of the municipal court for the city
may issue any order necessary to enforce the provisions hereunder.
(2007 Code, sec. 8.02.012)
