It shall be unlawful for any person, owner or agent of any premises, occupied or unoccupied, located in the corporate limits of the city to suffer or permit weeds, grass or any plant that is not cultivated to grow upon such premises at any time to a greater height than 12 inches on an average or to grow in rank profusion on the premises, and any such premises upon which any weeds are suffered or permitted to grow above the height of 12 inches or in rank profusion shall be deemed a nuisance, as dangerous to the public health, and calculated to increase the fire hazards of the city.
(Ordinance 1-95, sec. 2(A), adopted 7/18/1995; 1999 Code, sec. 102-1)
It shall be the duty of any owner or occupant of any premises to remove or cause to be cut all weeds, grass or plants that are not cultivated, as often as may be necessary to comply with section 6.02.061, and to use every precaution to prevent such growth on such premises so as to become a nuisance in violation of section 6.02.061; provided that the removing and cutting of weeds at least once in every three weeks during the period stated in section 6.02.061 shall be deemed to be in compliance with this section.
(Ordinance 1-95, sec. 2(B), adopted 7/18/1995; 1999 Code, sec. 102-2)
Any person violating any of the provisions, regulations and requirements of this division shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction may be punished as provided in section 1.01.009 for each such offense.
(Ordinance 1-95, sec. 2(C), adopted 7/18/1995; 1999 Code, sec. 102-3)
(a) 
Whenever any condition described in this division is found to exist on any premises within the city, the city secretary shall notify the owner or his agent of such premises, occupied or unoccupied, to abate the tall weeds or grass within ten days, and it shall be unlawful for any person to fail to comply with such notice.
(b) 
The notice must be given:
(1) 
Personally to the owner in writing;
(2) 
By letter addressed to 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:
(A) 
By publication at least once;
(B) 
By posting the notice on or near the front door of each building on the property to which the violation 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.
(4) 
If a municipality mails a notice to a property owner in accordance with 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.
(c) 
Annual notice.
In a notice provided under this section, the city may inform the owner by regular mail and a posting on the property, or by personally delivering the notice, that if the owner commits 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 may abate any nuisance contained on the property covered by this article without further notice and assess expenses to the owner.
(d) 
Failure of the owner or his agent of the nuisance premises to abate the nuisance within a ten-day time period after the notice requirements are satisfied will constitute prima facie evidence of violation of this division, and the city may thereafter cause to be done the work necessary to obtain compliance with this division and may have access to the property as is necessary for such work.
(Ordinance 1-95, sec. 2(D), adopted 7/18/1995; 1999 Code, sec. 102-4; Ordinance adopting 2018 Code)
If the owner or his agent of any lot or premises to whom notice has been given in accordance with the provisions of this division fails to comply with the notice within ten days after notice is given, the city may do such work or make such improvements as are necessary to correct, remedy or remove the condition which is the subject of the notice, or cause the work to be done, and pay for the work and charge the fees and expenses incurred to the owner of such lot. Such fees and expenses shall be assessed against the lot or real estate upon which the work was done, or the improvements made. The fees and expenses for cutting shall be billed to the owner of the premises at a rate determined by the public works director but in no event less than one hundred dollars ($100.00) for a cutting. The doing of such work by the city shall not relieve such person from prosecution for failure to comply with such notice in violation of section 6.02.064.
(Ordinance 1-95, sec. 2(E), adopted 7/18/1995; 1999 Code, sec. 102-5); Ordinance 04-2022 adopted 4/19/2022
(a) 
Whenever the city shall have performed work under the provision of section 6.02.065 and paid all necessary expenses in connection with such work, it shall be the duty of the city secretary to immediately prepare and deliver or mail to the owner an itemized statement in the form of an affidavit, duly sworn to, of all such work performed and all costs and expenses incurred and paid by the city in connection with such work.
(b) 
Upon delivery or mailing of the statement and affidavit, the city shall be entitled to the payment of the aggregate amount so expended, or reasonable charges for city work, or costs paid, as set forth. Should the owner or agent fail or refuse to pay the amount due within 30 days thereafter, the statement of expenses and affidavit shall be signed by the city secretary and filed with the county clerk. Such statement, when filed, shall constitute a lien upon the property on which the expense was incurred, second only to tax liens and liens for street improvements, and the amount remaining unpaid shall accrue interest at the rate of ten percent per annum from the date of expenditure by the city.
(Ordinance 1-95, sec. 2(F), adopted 7/18/1995; 1999 Code, sec. 102-6)
(a) 
The city may abate, without notice, weeds that have grown higher than forty-eight (48) inches and are an immediate danger to the health, life, or safety of any person.
(b) 
Not later than the 10th 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 342.006 of the Health and Safety Code.
(c) 
The notice shall contain:
(1) 
Identification, which is not required to be a legal description, of the property;
(2) 
A description of the violations of this article 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 related to the city’s abatement of the weeds.
(d) 
The city 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 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 may assess expenses and create liens under this section as it assesses expenses and creates liens under section 342.007 of the Health and Safety Code. A lien created under this section is subject to the same conditions as a lien created under section 342.007 of the Health and Safety Code.
(g) 
The authority granted a city by this section is in addition to the authority granted by Health and Safety Code, section 342.006.
(Ordinance adopting 2018 Code)