As used in this article, the following words, terms and phrases shall have the meanings respectively ascribed to them in this section, unless the context requires otherwise:
Brush.
Scrub vegetation or dense undergrowth.
Carrion.
The dead and putrefying flesh of any animal, fowl or fish.
Dump.
To dispose, discharge, place, deposit, throw, leave, sweep, scatter, unload, or toss.
Filth.
Any matter in a putrescent state.
Garbage.
Any kitchen refuse, foodstuffs or related material, including all decayable waste.
Impure or unwholesome matter.
Any putrescible or nonputrescible condition, object or matter which tends to or may or could cause injury, death or disease to human beings.
Junk.
All worn-out, worthless or discarded material, including, but not limited to, any of the following materials, or parts of said materials or any combination thereof: new or used iron, steel or nonferrous metallic scrap, brass or waste materials; used and/or inoperative household appliances, household electrical or plumbing fixtures, floor coverings and/or window coverings not currently in use; used lumber, brick, cement block, wire, tubing and pipe, tubs, drums, barrels and/or roofing material not currently in use; air conditioning and heating equipment not currently in use; used vehicle components and parts not currently in use; used furniture other than that designed for outdoor use or that which would normally be considered as antique furniture; used and/or inoperative residential lawn care equipment and machinery not currently in use; used pallets, windows or doors not currently in use; new or used sheet metal, structural steel and/or chains not currently in use; used and/or inoperable vending machines, radios and/or televisions not currently in use; waste tires; and any other type of used and/or inoperable machinery or equipment not currently in use.
Matter.
That of which any physical object is composed.
Nuisance.
Any condition, object, material or matter that is dangerous or detrimental to human life or health; or that renders the ground, the water, the air or food a hazard or is likely to cause injury to human life or health; or that is offensive to the senses; or that threatens to become detrimental to the public health; and shall include, but not be limited to, any abandoned wells, shafts or basements, abandoned refrigerators, stagnant or unwholesome water, sinks, privies, filth, carrion, rubbish, junk, trash, debris or refuse, impure or unwholesome matter of any kind, or any objectionable, unsightly, or unsanitary matter of whatever nature.
Objectionable, unsightly or unsanitary matter.
Any matter, condition or object which is objectionable, unsightly or unsanitary to a person of ordinary sensitivities.
Owner.
Any person or entity shown as the property owner on the latest property tax assessment rolls or any person having or claiming to have any legal or equitable interest in the property, including any agent who is responsible for managing, leasing or operating the property.
Person.
Any individual, firm, partnership, association, business, corporation or other entity.
Property.
All privately owned occupied or unoccupied property, including vacant land, and/or a building designed or used for residential, commercial, business, industrial or religious purposes. The term shall also include a yard, ground, wall, driveway, fence, porch, steps or other structure appurtenant to the property.
Putrescible.
The decomposition of organic matter with the formation of foul-smelling, incompletely oxidized products.
Refuse.
Heterogeneous accumulation of worn-out, used, broken, rejected or worthless materials, including, but not limited to, garbage, rubbish, paper or litter, and other decayable or nondecayable matter.
Rubbish.
Junk, trash, debris, rubble, stone, useless fragments of building materials, and other miscellaneous useless waste or rejected matter.
Trash and debris.
All manner of refuse, including, but not limited to, mounds of dirt, piles of leaves, grass and weed clippings, paper trash, useless fragments of building material, rubble, furniture other than furniture designed for outside use, useless household items and appliances, items of salvage, such as scrap metal and wood, old barrels, old tires, objects that hold water for an extended time, tree and brush trimmings, and other miscellaneous wastes or rejected matter.
Vegetative growth.
Any grass, weeds, shrubs, trees, brush, bushes or vines.
Waste tire.
A tire that is no longer mounted on a vehicle and is no longer suitable for use as a vehicle tire due to wear, damage, or deviation from the manufacturer’s original specifications. A waste tire includes a repairable tire, scrap tire, and altered waste tire, but does not include a tire derived product, crumb rubber, or a used [tire] that is organized for inspection and resale by size in a rack or stack.
Weeds.
Any vegetation that because of its height is objectionable, unsightly or unsanitary, excluding shrubs, bushes and trees, cultivated flowers, and cultivated crops.
(2003 Code, sec. 6.201)
(a) 
It is unlawful and declared a nuisance 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 stagnant or unwholesome water, sinks, refuse, filth, carrion, weeds, rubbish, brush and refuse, trash, debris, junk, garbage, impure or unwholesome matter of any kind, or objectionable or unsightly matter of whatever nature to accumulate or remain upon any such real property or within any public easement on or across such real property or upon any adjacent public street or alley right-of-way between the property line of such real property and where the paved surface of the street or alley begins.
(b) 
It shall be unlawful and declared a nuisance for any person to dump, or permit to be dumped, upon or along any drain, gutter, alley, sidewalk, street, park, right-of-way or vacant lot into or adjacent to water, or any other public or private property within the corporate limits of the city, any unwholesome water, refuse, rubbish, trash, debris, filth, carrion, weeds, brush, junk, garbage, impure or unwholesome matter of any kind or other objectionable or unsightly matter of whatever kind.
(c) 
It shall be the duty of any person owning, claiming, occupying or having supervision or control of any real property, occupied or unoccupied, to keep the sidewalks in front of their property free and clear of all such matter, and to fill up, drain or regrade any lots, ground or yards which shall have stagnant water thereon, and to cleanse and disinfect any house, building, establishment, lot, yard or ground from refuse, rubbish, trash, filth, carrion, or objectionable, unsightly or unsanitary matter of any kind, or other impure or unwholesome matter of any kind.
(d) 
It shall be unlawful for any person to set out for collection or to place within any city-owned refuse container a whole waste tire, or split, quartered or shredded waste tire pieces.
(e) 
It shall be unlawful for any person to dispose of a whole waste tire or a portion of a waste tire except as provided by article 6.08.
(f) 
The unlawful disposal of any whole or a portion of a waste tire is declared to be a public nuisance and shall be disposed of as required by the procedures specified in article 6.08. The declaration of nuisance and all terms of this section shall be applicable to and enforceable both within the city limits and for a distance of five thousand feet (5,000') beyond the city limits or such other distance allowed by state law.
(g) 
Chapter 361 of the Texas Health and Safety Code concerning the disposal of tires and the administrative rules codified in chapter 328 of the Texas Administrative Code, subchapter F, “management of used or scrap tires” as such now exists and hereafter amended or recodified are hereby adopted.
(Ordinance 18-20, sec. 2, adopted 6/19/18)
(a) 
It shall be unlawful 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 weeds, brush, grass, or any objectionable or unsightly matter to grow to a height greater than eight inches (8") upon such real property within 100 feet of any property line which abuts street rights-of-way, alleys, utility easements, subdivided additions, developed property or any buildings or other structures. It shall be the duty of such person to keep the area from the line of his property to the curbline adjacent to it, if there is a curbline, and, if not, then to the centerline of the adjacent unpaved street, or to the edge of the pavement, cleared of the matter referred to above. All vegetation (including hay unless the hay is cultivated on property which has been granted an agricultural property tax exemption on the most recent tax roll as certified by the county appraisal district), except regularly cultivated row crops, which exceeds eight inches (8") in height, shall be presumed to be objectionable and unsightly matter; provided further that regularly cultivated row crops shall not be allowed to grow within the right-of-way of any public street or easement nor shall they be allowed to obstruct the necessary view to and from adjacent rights-of-way, but shall be kept mowed as provided herein.
(b) 
With respect to lots, tracts or parcels of land of five or more acres, the provisions of this section shall not apply to any such area greater than 100 feet from any open public street or thoroughfare, as measured from the right-of-way line of said street or thoroughfare, or an area greater than 100 feet from any adjacent property under different ownership and on which any building is located or on which any improvement exists, as measured from the property line.
(2003 Code, sec. 6.203)
For the purpose of ascertaining whether violations of this code exist, the environmental compliance official, or his designee, is authorized to inspect the exterior of a structure and premises which contain no structure, and if entry onto the property is refused, the environmental compliance official shall have every recourse provided by law, including, but not limited to, an administrative search warrant or an injunction, to secure entry. If the owner, occupant, or person in control cannot be identified or located, the environmental compliance official may enter the property to the extent allowed by law.
(2003 Code, sec. 6.204)
It shall be the duty of any person owning, claiming, occupying or having supervision or control of any real property, as described in sections 6.05.002 and 6.05.003, to remove, drain and/or fill all prohibited matter or conditions and to cut and remove all weeds, brush, impermissible vegetative growth, and other objectionable or unsightly matter as often as may be necessary to comply with sections 6.05.002 and 6.05.003 and to use every precaution to prevent the same from occurring or growing on such property.
(2003 Code, sec. 6.205)
(a) 
Work by city authorized; administrative fee.
If any person violating the terms of this article fails or refuses to comply with the demand for compliance contained in this section, the city, within seven days after the date of notification as provided herein, may go upon such property and do or cause to be done the work necessary to obtain compliance with this article. All costs, charges and expenses (hereinafter “charges”) incurred in doing or in having such work done shall be a charge to, and a personal liability of, such person. In addition to the actual costs incurred in performing the work necessary to obtain compliance with this article, an administrative fee in the amount established in appendix A of this code shall be assessed on each lot, tract, or parcel of property to cover the actual cost of clerical work, title searches, publications, and filing fees.
(b) 
Notice requirements.
It shall be the duty of the environmental compliance official or his designee to give a minimum of seven days’ official notice, in writing, to such person violating the terms of this article, subject to the provisions herein stated. The notice shall be in writing and may be served on such person violating the terms of this section:
(1) 
By delivering it to him in person;
(2) 
By letter or written notice addressed to such person at the person’s address as recorded in the county appraisal district in which the property is located and delivered by United States certified mail, return receipt requested, with a second optional copy by United States regular mail; or
(3) 
If personal service cannot be obtained:
(A) 
Notice shall be provided by publication once within seven days of the date the first notice attempt is made in the city’s official newspaper;
(B) 
By posting the notice on or near the front door of each building on the property to which the violations relates; or
(C) 
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) 
Notice returned by post office.
If the city mails a notice to the property owner in accordance with subsection (b) of this section 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) 
Subsequent violations.
The city, in the notice provided herein, may inform the owner by certified mail, return receipt requested, or by regular mail in combination with a posting on the property, that if the owner commits another violation of the same kind or nature and that violation poses a danger to the public health and safety on or before the first anniversary of the date of such notice, the city, without further notice, may correct the violation at the owner’s expense and assess the expense and administrative fees against the property. If the violation covered by a notice under this subsection occurs within said one-year period, and the city has not been informed in writing by the owner of an ownership change, then the city, without notice, may take any action permitted by subsection (a) of this section, and assess its expenses and fees as provided by section 6.05.007.
(Ordinance 12-21, sec. 3, adopted 6/19/12; Ordinance adopting Code)
(a) 
If notice, as provided in section 6.05.006, is delivered to the owner of such real property, and he fails or refuses to timely comply with the notice provided in section 6.05.006, the charges set forth in section 6.05.006 shall be, in addition to a charge to and personal liability of said owner, a privileged lien upon and against such real property, including all fixtures and improvements thereon.
(b) 
To perfect the lien against the real property, the city manager, municipal health authority, or other municipal official designated by the city manager, such as the environmental compliance official, shall file a written statement of such charges with the county clerk for filing in the county land and deed records. The statement shall be deemed sufficient if it contains the following minimum information; however, it also may contain additional information deemed appropriate by the mayor, the environmental compliance official, or their duly appointed representative or designee:
(1) 
The name of the owner of the real property, if known;
(2) 
A legal description of the real property;
(3) 
A statement of the charges incurred by the city in doing or in having such work done as necessary to bring the real property into compliance with this article; and
(4) 
A notarized affidavit executed by the environmental compliance official, or his duly appointed representative, stating that all prerequisites required by this article for the imposition of the charges and the affixing of the lien have been met and that all statements and/or representations made therein are true and correct. The lien attaches upon the filing of the lien statement with the county clerk.
(c) 
Upon the filing of the statement of charges with the county clerk’s office, an administrative fee in the amount established in appendix A of this code shall be assessed by the city against the owner of the real property or any other person claiming, occupying or having supervision or control of the real property.
(d) 
All such charges shall bear interest at the rate of ten percent per annum from the date of payment by the city. The lien obtained is security for the expenditures made and is inferior only to tax liens and liens for street improvements. The city may bring suit to collect the charges, institute foreclosure proceedings, or both. The written statement of such charges provided for herein, or a certified copy thereof, shall be prima facie evidence of the city’s claim for charges or right to foreclose the lien. The owner of the real property or any other person claiming, occupying or having supervision or control of the real property shall be jointly and severally liable for such charges.
(e) 
This remedy is in addition to any penal provision provided for herein.
(Ordinance 12-21, sec. 5, adopted 6/19/12; Ordinance adopting Code)
The provisions of this article shall be enforced by the environmental compliance official and his duly appointed representative, and it shall be unlawful for any person to interfere with or hinder the environmental compliance official and his duly appointed representative in the exercise of their duties under this article. Notwithstanding any provisions contained herein to the contrary, the environmental compliance official and his duly appointed representative are hereby granted the authority to issue immediate citations to persons violating any provision of this article in their presence.
(2003 Code, sec. 6.209)
(a) 
Any person who violates or fails to comply with any provision or requirement of this article, and who continues to violate or fail to comply with same within seven days after notice is given and received as set forth in section 6.05.006, shall also be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined in an amount not to exceed $2,000.00, such offenses being violations of the health and safety ordinances of the city. A separate offense shall be deemed committed upon each day during or on which a violation or failure to comply occurs or continues to occur. This section shall be in addition to and cumulative of the provisions for abatement of the nuisance by the city and charging the cost of same against the owner of the property.
(b) 
Notwithstanding the foregoing, any violation of any provision of this article which constitutes an immediate danger or threat to the health, safety and welfare of the public may be enjoined in a suit brought by the city for such purpose.
(c) 
In addition to any other remedies or penalties contained herein, the city may enforce the provisions of this article pursuant to the applicable provisions of chapter 54 of the Texas Local Government Code, which chapter provides for the enforcement of municipal ordinances.
(d) 
Allegation and evidence of a culpable mental state are not required for the proof of an offense defined by this article.
(Ordinance 12-21, sec. 6, adopted 6/19/12)