(a) There
is hereby created a building standards commission to be composed of
five (5) members and two (2) alternates who shall serve in the event
of the absence or resignation of any of the five (5) members of the
commission. The commission members and alternates shall be appointed
by the city council.
(b) The
commission shall elect a chairperson and vice chairperson and secretary
at their first regular meeting of each calendar year. The chairperson
of the commission may designate an alternate to serve in the event
of the absence or resignation of a regular member. Neither members
nor alternates shall be employees of the city. All such members and
alternates shall hold office for a period of two (2) years or until
their successors are appointed and qualified as required by law.
(c) Members
of the commission may be qualified in one (1) or more of the fields
of fire prevention, building construction, sanitation, health and
public safety. Failure of a person to be qualified in any of such
fields shall not prevent or disqualify that person from sitting on
the commission.
(d) The
commission shall serve as the board of appeals for building, mechanical,
electrical, plumbing, energy conservation, fire and fuel gas codes
as may from time-to-time be adopted by the city council.
(e) The
commission shall have such powers, duties and responsibilities as
shall be from time-to-time provided for and delegated to the city
by the legislature of the state, it being the intent of the city to
fully implement subchapter C of chapter 54 of the Local Government
Code and to further provide to the building standards commission,
as well as any other commission, officer or legal authority as provided
for under the provisions of state law, such powers, privileges and
rights as may be from time-to-time provided for by the legislature
of the state without restriction or limitation.
(Ordinance adopted 5/2/2017)
(a) The
city administrator shall designate a building official who shall perform
such duties as directed by the city council, the city administrator
and by orders of the building standards commission of the city, constituted
and acting pursuant to the provisions of chapter 214 of the Local
Government Code of the state. In addition, the building official shall
inspect all buildings or structures reported or believed to be substandard
and shall present preliminary reports to the commission. Further,
upon proper notice to property owners and occupants and upon direction
of the commission, the building official shall present testimony to
the commission in support of any allegations of substandard character
of buildings and structures.
(b) The
building official, in performance of the duties of said office, shall
give notices and shall take such actions as shall be from time-to-time
provided for and directed by the ordinances of the city of West and
the legislature of the state, as currently set out in the provisions
of chapter 214 of the Local Government Code, as well as any amendments
and changes which shall be made from time-to-time.
(Ordinance adopted 5/2/2017)
(a) The
building standards commission shall hear evidence and shall, upon
finding of the conditions and circumstances as hereinafter set out,
declare a building or structure substandard and may order its repair,
vacation or demolition as it may deem just, proper and appropriate
taking into consideration the circumstances and conditions found to
exist.
(b) A
building or structure may be found to be substandard if:
(1) Deteriorated building or structure.
A building or structure
has become deteriorated and unsafe through natural causes or by damage
as a result of exposure to the elements to the extent that the roof,
windows and doors or portions of the house, building or structure
which protect from the weather will no longer reasonably protect from
the elements thereby threatening the health, safety and well-being
of the residents, citizens and inhabitants of the city.
(2) Fire hazard.
A building or structure which, because
of its wiring, construction or present status, constitutes a fire
hazard.
(3) Pestilence.
A building or structure which constitutes
a menace to the health and safety of the residents, citizens and inhabitants
of the city because of the existence of conditions therein which are
conducive to the harboring of rats or mice or other disease-carrying
animals or insects reasonably calculated to spread disease.
(4) Structural deformities.
A building or structure which
has been built and constructed in such a manner as to be hazardous
in that the construction of the building or structure is of such a
nature that it has placed the same in jeopardy of collapse or that
the building or structure will not reasonably withstand customary
and ordinary exposure to the elements; a building or structure which,
because of the deficiency of its materials, methods or means of construction,
including the foundation, structural elements, wiring or apparatus,
plumbing and fixtures, entrances or exits, renders the building or
structure unsafe and dangerous.
(5) Inadequate fire safety provisions.
A building, structure
or improvements which, because of the materials used, types of construction
or design, warning devices, sprinklers or other fire suppression devices,
availability of water supply for extinguishing fires or location,
design or width of the entrances or exits, make the structure hazardous.
(6) Inadequately secured from unauthorized entry.
Regardless
of its structural condition, a building, structure, or improvement,
that is unoccupied by its owners, lessees, or other invitees, and
is unsecured from unauthorized entry, or which may have been boarded
up, fenced, or otherwise barricaded, but the means used to secure
the building, structure, or improvement are inadequate to prevent
unauthorized entry.
(7) Other.
The existence of such other conditions or circumstances
which may from time-to-time be delineated under the terms and provisions
of law and are within the scope of authority of the building standards
commission.
(Ordinance adopted 5/2/2017)
The procedure set out herein shall be the minimum necessary
for the building standards commission to enter a valid order concerning
any building or structure in the city. A case before the commission
may be commenced by the building official or by the commission on
its own initiative; in either case, the following procedures shall
apply:
(1) Upon
written report of the building official or recommendation of the building
standards commission, the commission shall establish a docket and
make inquiry into the present conditions and circumstances of any
building or structure alleged to be substandard under the criteria
set out herein. If, upon receipt of such information, the building
standards commission believes and concludes that there is a reasonable
basis upon which to investigate such preliminary allegations and findings,
then the commission shall proceed as herein provided.
(2) Notice
shall be provided to the property owners and all occupants and lienholders
of the property, identifying such property owners and occupants and
lienholders as can best be determined and further identifying the
property, its location and the improvements thought to be substandard.
A title examination should occur in order that all owners and lienholders
might be identified. The notice shall further state that the owner,
lienholder, or mortgagee will be required to submit at the hearing
any work that may be required to comply with the city’s ordinances,
and the time it will take to reasonably perform the work. The owners,
occupants and lienholders shall be given notice of an opportunity
to appear and show cause why said building, structure or improvements
should not be declared substandard and why the commission should not
enter appropriate orders to remedy the conditions determined to exist.
Such notice shall be delivered by certified mail, with return receipt
requested, or by delivery by the United States Postal Service using
signature confirmation service, to the known owners and occupants
and lienholders at their last-known business address or place of residence
and may also be personally delivered to the owners, tenants or occupants
residing upon the property. Notice to all unknown owners shall be
given by posting the same by nailing a copy to the front door or as
close to the front door as practicable on each structure situated
on the affected property. The notice shall be mailed and posted before
the tenth day before the date of the hearing before the commission
and must state the date, time and place of the hearing. In addition,
the notice must be published in a newspaper of general circulation
in the municipality on one (1) occasion before the tenth day before
the date fixed for the hearing.
(3) On
the day set in such notice to show cause, a hearing shall be held
before the building standards commission. The building official or
other designated individual appointed by the city administrator shall
present evidence before the commission, and the commission shall hear
any additional evidence or rebuttal that may be presented. Based upon
the evidence and solely under the criteria set forth in the city’s
ordinances, the commission shall then determine whether or not such
building or structure is a substandard building or structure.
(4) The
building standards commission shall have the power to order the demolition,
partial demolition, repair, renovation or remodeling of any structure
found to be substandard under the criteria herein provided. The commission
shall issue an order as to any decision made, and such order shall
specify the action to be taken and the time in which such action is
to be taken and shall make affirmative findings as to the name of
the property owner(s) and/or tenants and lienholders. Within ten (10)
days after the date the order is issued, a copy of the final order
of the commission shall be served upon the property owners and occupants
and lienholders in the same manner as provided for the service of
the notice herein required, the order shall be filed with the city
clerk, and a notice shall be published in a newspaper of general circulation
stating the street address or legal description of the property, the
date of the hearing, a brief summary of the results of the order,
and instructions stating where a complete copy of the order may be
obtained.
(5) In
the event any notice which is required herein to be served in person
or by certified mail cannot be served because neither the owner nor
occupant can be found, such notice shall be deemed to have been served
if the same is published in a newspaper of general circulation. Any
notice so published need not be the exact text of the notice intended
to be mailed but may be a synopsis thereof so long as the same is
of sufficient clarity and content to place all persons on notice as
to the intent thereof.
(6) Appeal
process. Either the owner and/or occupant of any building or structure
declared substandard by order of the building standards commission
or any other third party aggrieved by a decision of the building standards
commission may appeal the decision of the building standards commission
to a state district court pursuant to V.T.C.A., Local Government Code
chapter 214, as amended.
(Ordinance adopted 5/2/2017)
(a) When
it shall appear that a building or structure in the city is a substandard
building under the terms of this article and that such building or
structure or the manner of its use constitutes an immediate and serious
danger to life or property, the condition shall be deemed a condition
justifying the use of emergency measures. In such case, the building
standards commission, a majority of the commissioners or the building
official may, with the consent and approval of the city administrator,
order any of the following emergency measures to be taken:
(1) Immediate vacation of such building, structure and/or adjoining buildings
or structures;
(2) Vacation of the danger area around such building or structure;
(3) Such emergency shoring-up and bracing of walls, roofs and supports
as are required to render such building or structure safe;
(4) Destruction of such walls, roofs and supports or the entire structure
or so much thereof as cannot be braced or made secure with safety;
(5) Posting of notices on or near such building or structure or buildings
or structures notifying the public of such order and ordering all
persons to keep out of such building, buildings, structure or structures
and the areas of danger surrounding it or them.
(b) When
any of the above-mentioned measures are ordered to be taken, notice
of such order shall be given as follows:
(1) Such order shall be directed to the owner of such substandard building
or structure or his authorized representative if the same is known.
Where notification can be accomplished without increasing the danger
to life or property, notice shall be given by personal service on
the owner of the building or structure or his said representative;
(2) In the event that such notification would create such a delay as
would materially increase the danger to life or property, then such
notice need not be given.
(c) If
the owner or his representative shall fail or refuse to carry out
such order or shall fail to carry out such order satisfactorily, the
building standards commission or the building official may, upon approval
of the city administrator, proceed to carry out such orders either
by private contract or through an agency of the city, and the cost
thus incurred shall constitute a valid lien against the property.
(Ordinance adopted 5/2/2017)
It shall be the duty of the city council to enforce the orders
of the building standards commission by filing an action in the appropriate
court of this state seeking authority to enforce such orders by injunction,
where appropriate.
(Ordinance adopted 5/2/2017)