For the purpose of this article, the following definitions shall
apply unless the context clearly indicates or requires a different
meaning, and any words not herein defined shall be construed in the
context used and by ordinary interpretation and not as a word of art:
Brush.
Scrub vegetation or dense undergrowth.
Carrion.
The dead and putrefying flesh of any animal, fowl or fish.
City.
The City of Pecan Hill, Texas, or its agents.
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
that may, could or tends to 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 sheetmetal, structural steel and/or
chain not currently in use; used and/or inoperable vending machines,
radios and/or televisions not currently in use; 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 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 or uncovered (including unsecured
covered) 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,
and any objectionable, unsightly, or unsanitary matter of whatever
nature.
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 materials, 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 period of time, tree and brush
trimmings, dead standing or fallen trees, and other miscellaneous
wastes or rejected matter.
Weeds.
Any vegetation that because of its height is objectionable,
unsightly or unsanitary, excluding shrubs, bushes, trees, cultivated
flowers and cultivated crops.
(Ordinance 07-06, sec. 1, adopted 6/19/07; Ordinance 09-07, sec. 1, adopted 7/21/09)
(a) It
shall be 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, refuse, trash, debris, junk, garbage,
impure or unwholesome matter of any kind, or other 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 all persons 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 that 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.
(Ordinance 07-06, sec. 2, adopted 6/19/07; Ordinance 09-07, sec. 2, adopted 7/21/09)
(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 or
any objectionable or unsightly matter to grow to a height greater
than ten inches (10") upon such real property within 200 feet of any
property line that 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 next 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 that has been granted an agricultural property
tax exemption on the most recent tax roll as certified by the county
appraisal district in the county in which the property is located),
except regularly cultivated row crops, that exceeds ten inches (10")
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 such crops 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 (5) or more acres,
the provisions of this section shall not apply to any area situated
more than 200 feet from any open public street or thoroughfare, as
measured from the right-of-way line of said street or thoroughfare,
and situated more than 200 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.
(Ordinance 07-06, sec. 3, adopted 6/19/07; Ordinance 09-07, sec. 3, adopted 7/21/09)
(a) For
purposes of ascertaining whether violations of this article exist,
the mayor, or his/her designee, is authorized to inspect the exterior
of a structure and premises that contain no structure.
(b) If
entry onto the property is refused, the mayor, or his/her designee,
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 mayor, or his/her designee, shall be authorized to
enter the property to the extent allowed by law.
(Ordinance 07-06, sec. 4, adopted 6/19/07; Ordinance 09-07, sec. 4, adopted 7/21/09)
It shall be the duty of any person owning, claiming, occupying or having supervision or control of any real property, occupied or unoccupied, as described in sections
6.02.002 and
6.02.003, to remove, drain and/or fill all prohibited matter or conditions and to cut and remove all weeds, brush, vegetative growth, and other objectionable or unsightly matter as on as may be necessary to comply with sections
6.02.002 and
6.02.003 and to use every precaution to prevent the same from occurring or growing on such property. Failure to so comply shall be a violation of this article.
(Ordinance 07-06, sec. 5, adopted 6/19/07; Ordinance 09-07, sec. 5, adopted 7/21/09)
(a) If
such person violating the terms of this article fails or refuses to
comply with the demand for compliance contained in the aforementioned
notice within seven (7) days after the date of notification as provided
herein, the city shall have the authority as provided by law to enter
upon such property and do or cause to be done the work necessary to
obtain compliance with this article. All reasonable costs, charges
and expenses (hereinafter “charges”) incurred in doing
or in having such work done shall be a charge to, and be a personal
liability of, such person.
(b) It
shall be the duty of the mayor, or his/her designee, to give a minimum
of seven (7) 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 article:
(1) By delivering it to him or her in person;
(2) By forwarding or sending a letter or written notice addressed to
such person at the person’s address as recorded in the Ellis
County appraisal district 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) By publication at least once within seven (7) consecutive days 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) If the city mails a notice to the property owner in accordance with subsection
(b) herein and the United States Postal Service returns the notice as “refused” or “unclaimed,” the validity of the notice is not affected, and the notice shall be considered as delivered.
(d) The city, in the notice provided herein, may inform the owner by certified mail, return receipt requested, or 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 such notice, the city, without further notice, may correct the violation at the owner’s expense and assess the expense 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) herein, and assess its reasonable expenses incurred as provided by section
6.02.008 below.
(Ordinance 07-06, sec. 6, adopted 6/19/07; Ordinance 09-07, sec. 6, adopted 7/21/09)
(a) The
city may abate, without notice, weeds that:
(1) Have grown higher than 24 inches; and
(2) 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
6.02.006 herein. The notice shall contain:
(1) An identification, which is not required to be a legal description,
of the property;
(2) A description of the violation(s) 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 about the city’s abatement of the weeds.
(c) The
city shall conduct an administrative hearing before the city council
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. 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.
(d) The city may assess reasonable expenses and create liens under this section as it assesses expenses and creates liens under section
6.02.008. A lien created under this section is subject to the same conditions as a lien created under section
6.02.008. The authority granted the city by this section is in addition to the authority granted by section
6.02.008.
(Ordinance 07-06, sec. 7, adopted 6/19/07; Ordinance 09-07, sec. 7, adopted 7/21/09)
(a) If
a notice as provided for herein is delivered to the owner of such
real property, and he or she fails or refuses to comply with such
demand for compliance within the seven (7) day time period established
herein, the aforementioned charges 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. In order to perfect such lien, the chief of police or code
enforcement officer, or his/her designee, first shall give such owner
written notice of demand for payment of such charges. Such written
notice may be given by any one of the methods provided for herein
for the giving of the initial notice demanding compliance with the
terms of this article.
(b)
(1) If such owner fails or refuses to make complete payment of said charges
within thirty (30) days of his or her receipt of said notice, the
mayor, municipal health authority or other municipal official designated
by the mayor shall file a written statement of such charges with the
county clerk for filing is the county land and deed records. Said
statement shall be deemed sufficient if it contains the following
minimum information; however, it also may contain such other additional
information deemed appropriate by the mayor, or his/her designee or
duly appointed representative:
(A) The name of the owner of the real property, if known;
(B) A legal description of the real property;
(C) 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
(D) A notarized affidavit executed by the mayor, or his/her designee,
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.
(2) The lien attaches upon the filing of the lien statement with the
county clerk.
(c) All
such charges shall bear interest at the rate of ten percent (10%)
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.
(d) This
remedy is in addition to any penal provision provided herein.
(Ordinance 07-06, sec. 8, adopted 6/19/07; Ordinance 09-07, sec. 8, adopted 7/21/09)
The provisions of this article shall be enforced by the mayor,
or his/her designee, and it shall be unlawful for any person to interfere
with or hinder the mayor, or his/her designee, in the exercise of
their duties under this article. Notwithstanding any provisions contained
herein to the contrary, the mayor, or his/her designee, is hereby
granted the authority to issue immediate citations to persons violating
any provision of this article in their presence.
(Ordinance 07-06, sec. 9, adopted 6/19/07; Ordinance 09-07, sec. 9, adopted 7/21/09)
(a) Any person violating or failing to comply with any provision or requirement of this article, who continues to violate or fail to comply with same within seven (7) days after notice is given and received as set forth in section
6.02.006, shall also be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined in accordance with the general penalty provided in section
1.01.009 of this code, such offense being a violation 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 that
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
provides for the enforcement of municipal ordinances.
(d) Allegation
and evidence of a culpable mental state is not required for the proof
of an offense defined by this article.
(Ordinance 07-06, sec. 10, adopted 6/19/07; Ordinance 09-07, sec. 10, adopted 7/21/09; Ordinance
adopting 2017 Code)