The following words, terms and phrases, when used in this division, shall have the meanings ascribed to them in this section, except where the context clearly indicates a different meaning:
Brush.
Every tree or shrubbery under seven feet in height which is not cared for by a person owning or controlling the premises in a manner that will prevent fire spread, and shall include any shrubbery or trees of any size located on or near a right-of-way that may interfere with, impede, or obstruct pedestrian or vehicular traffic.
Improved property.
Any property, lot, parcel or tract of land that has any type of building, fencing, regulated signage, or any property that is or has been previously mowed, cleared of brush, mesquite, weeds, or grass. Shall a property ever meet the qualification for improved property and any or all aforementioned improvements be demolished, removed, or discontinued, the property shall still be known, identified, and treated as an improved property and shall include abutting areas as defined in “property.” (Referred in the plural as improved properties.)
Objectionable.
Any outdoor storage or display of items, articles, vessels, or any objects not manufactured for outdoor use, display, or storage purposes. The same shall apply to outdoor items or articles not being used for their original intent.
Occupant.
Any adult person residing at or squatting said property, or the person that has taken responsibility for the city utilities (account holder).
Owner.
Any person that by record of the local tax assessor is shown to hold an ownership interest in certain property, and shall include any known heirs or successors of a deceased owner.
Property.
Any piece of land that is registered with the county appraisal district, and for purposes of owner or tenants responsibility shall include, in addition to those grounds within their respective boundaries, all abutting easements and rights-of-way being adjacent thereto and extending beyond the property line of any such property to the edge of the blacktop of adjacent streets where a curbline has not been established, or to the back of the curb where curbline has been established, and also to the center of adjacent alleys, easements, and undeveloped streets.
Remediate.
To remedy or repair by taking action or to cause action to be taken that will resolve a violation of a rule.
Rubbish.
All refuse, trash, tin cans, unsealed, rusting, or decaying vessels of all sorts, useless articles, discarded clothing and in general all manufactured items that are no longer being used for their intended purpose, litter and other things usually included within the meaning of the term.
Unsafe.
Kept in a manner that may pose a safety danger or a risk of fire spread of any sort to persons, neighboring property, the public, or emergency response personnel.
Unsanitary.
Kept in a condition that is unclean, has the potential to produce or spread disease, harbor mosquitoes, vermin, rodents, or pest, including storage of tires, vessels, or any articles that have the potential to hold or accumulate stagnant water.
Vacant undeveloped property.
Any parcel or tract of land that is over one (1) acre in size, has never been subdivided and has never met the qualification to be considered improved property and shall include abutting areas as defined in “property.”
Vacant urban lots.
Any property less than one (1) acre in size, or any lot, parcel, or tract of any size including those larger than one (1) acre in a platted subdivision that has never met the qualification to be considered an Improved Property and shall include abutting areas as defined in “property.”
Vacant wooded property.
Any property that is undisturbed, has native trees or mesquite and has never been subdivided or met the qualifications to be considered an improved property and shall include abutting areas as defined in “property.”
Weed.
All rank and uncultivated vegetation or matter which has grown to more than 12 inches in height or which, regardless of height, is liable to become an unwholesome or a decaying mass or breeding place for mosquitoes or vermin or liable to pose a fire danger.
(Ordinance 1080, sec. 1, adopted 4/12/90; Ordinance 1664 adopted 11/12/20)
The owner and/or occupant of any property or any place in the city or within 5,000 feet of the city limits which shall be unwholesome, unsafe or have weeds or grass beyond the standards allowed by § 18-53, brush, rubbish, or stagnant water thereon or any other condition which is liable to produce disease or create an unhealthy or unsafe condition shall clean remediate nuisances or cause nuisances to be remediated and shall keep such place including abutting responsibility areas as defined in "property," free from weeds or grass beyond the standards allowed by § 18-53, rubbish, brush, and/or any and all other objectionable, unsafe, unsightly or unsanitary matter of whatever nature.
(Ordinance 1080, sec. 2, adopted 4/12/90; Ordinance 1089, sec. 2(A), adopted 11/8/90; Ordinance 1664 adopted 11/12/20; Ordinance 1740 adopted 8/10/2023)
No owner or occupant of any property may allow weeds, grass, brush or other vegetation to grow in excess of the following standards:
(1) 
Improved properties.
Any growth of weeds and grass may not exceed a height of 12 inches. All brush must also be cleared from the property including abutting responsibility areas as defined in “property,” and rubbish must not be allowed to accumulate on the property or in abutting responsibility areas.
(2) 
Vacant urban lots.
Any growth of weeds or grass may not exceed a height of 12 inches. Such property including abutting responsibility areas as defined in “property” must also be cleared of any brush and rubbish must not be allowed to accumulate on the property or in abutting responsibility areas.
(3) 
Vacant undeveloped properties.
Any growth of weeds or grass may not exceed a height of 18 inches. Such property must also be cleared of any brush in abutting responsibility areas as defined in “property” to a minimum of 40 feet into the property from the property line, and rubbish must not be allowed to accumulate on the property or in abutting responsibility areas.
(4) 
Vacant wooded properties.
On undeveloped properties which have significant vegetation other than weeds or grass (native mesquite, etc.), weeds and grass shall be maintained to the same standards as vacant undeveloped properties, mesquite and trees shall be maintained in a manner that will not pose a danger to the public or restrict access to fire or emergency personnel, otherwise growth of grass and mesquite may be left in a natural state. However, areas located within 40 feet of developed property or rights-of-way including abutting responsibility areas as defined in “property” must be maintained in accordance with the same standards for vacant urban lots. Additionally, rubbish must not be allowed to accumulate on the property or in abutting responsibility areas.
(Ordinance 1080, sec. 2, adopted 4/12/90; Ordinance 1089, sec. 2(B), adopted 11/8/90; Ordinance 1664 adopted 11/12/20)
(a) 
The city shall notify the owner and/or occupant of a violation of this division.
(b) 
The notice shall be given:
(1) 
Personally to the owner and/or occupant in writing;
(2) 
By letter addressed to the occupant at the property, and/or the owner at the owner’s address as recorded in the appraisal district records of the appraisal district in which the property is located; or
(3) 
If personal service cannot be obtained, by publication at least once, by posting the notice on or near the front door of the main structure, or front gate (if applicable) leading to the main structure on the property to which the 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.
(c) 
If the city mails a notice to a property owner in accordance with subsection (b) of this section, and the United States Postal Service returns the notice as “refused,” “undeliverable,” or “unclaimed,” the validity of the notice is not affected, and the notice is considered as delivered.
(d) 
The city may inform the owner: (1) in a notice provided under this section; (2) by regular mail and a posting on the property; or (3) by personally delivering the notice, that if the owner commits or allows another violation of the same kind or nature that poses a danger to the public health and safety on or before the first anniversary of the date of the notice, the city without further notice may correct the violation at the owner’s expense and assess the expense against the property. If a violation covered by a notice under this subsection occurs within the one-year period and the city has not been informed in writing by the owner of an ownership change, the city without notice may themselves or by contractor remediate the nuisances and assess the expenses as provided by section 18-57.
(Ordinance 1664 adopted 11/12/20)
When any owner fails or refuses to clean their property as is directed by sections 18-52 and 18-53 within seven (7) days after notice from the city, the city may do the work or cause the work to be done and may pay therefor and charge the expenses incurred in doing or having such work or improvements made to the owner of such property.
(Ordinance 1080, sec. 3, adopted 4/12/90; Ordinance 1664 adopted 11/12/20)
Any owner and/or occupant who fails or refuses to clean his their property as is provided in this division, within seven (7) days, after notice as provided, may be filed on in the municipal court for such failure or refusal, and such failure or refusal shall constitute an offense. The penalty and fine, upon conviction, shall be as provided in section 1-13.
(Ordinance 1080, sec. 4, adopted 4/12/90; Ordinance 1089, sec. 4, adopted 11/8/90; Ordinance 1664 adopted 11/12/20)
(a) 
The city council may assess expenses incurred under section 18-55 against the real estate on which the work is done or improvements made.
(b) 
To obtain a lien against the property, the mayor, municipal health authority, or municipal official designated by the mayor must file a statement of expenses with the county clerk. The lien statement must state the name of the owner, if known, and the legal description of the property. The lien attaches upon the filing of the lien statement with the county clerk.
(c) 
The lien obtained by the city council is security for the expenditures made and interest accruing at the rate of ten percent on the amount due from the date of payment by the city.
(d) 
The lien is inferior only to the following:
(1) 
Tax liens; and
(2) 
Liens for street improvements.
(e) 
The city council may bring a suit for foreclosure in the name of the city to recover the expenditures and interest due.
(f) 
The statement of expenses or a certified copy of the statement is prima facie proof of the expenses incurred by the city in doing the work or making the improvements.
(g) 
The remedy provided by this section is in addition to the remedy provided by section 18-56.
(h) 
The city council may foreclose a lien on property under this division in a proceeding relating to the property brought under V.T.C.A., Tax Code, ch. 33, subch. E.
(Ordinance 1080, sec. 5, adopted 4/12/90; Ordinance 1089, sec. 5, adopted 11/8/90; Ordinance 1664 adopted 11/12/20)
(a) 
The city may abate, without notice, weeds that:
(1) 
Have grown higher than 48 inches; and
(2) 
Are an immediate danger to the health, life, or safety of any person.
(b) 
Not later than the tenth day after the date the city abates weeds under this section, the city shall give notice to the property owner in the manner required by section 18-54.
(c) 
The notice shall contain:
(1) 
An identification, which is not required to be a legal description, of the property;
(2) 
A description of the violations that occurred on the property;
(3) 
A statement that the city abated the weeds; and
(4) 
An explanation of the property owner’s right to request an administrative hearing about the city’s abatement of the weeds.
(d) 
The city council shall conduct an administrative hearing on the abatement of weeds under this section if, not later than the 30th day after the date of the abatement of the weeds, the property owner files with the city council a written request for a hearing.
(e) 
An administrative hearing conducted under this section shall be conducted not later than the 20th day after the date a request for a hearing is filed. The owner may testify or present any witnesses or written information relating to the city’s abatement of the weeds.
(f) 
The city council may assess expenses and create liens under this section as it assesses expenses and creates liens under section 18-57. A lien created under this section is subject to the same conditions as a lien created under section 18-57.
(Ordinance 1664 adopted 11/12/20)