(a) 
A junked vehicle that is located in a place where it is visible from a public place or public right-of-way is detrimental to the safety and welfare of the general public, tends to reduce the value of private property, invites vandalism, creates fire hazards, constitutes an attractive nuisance creating a hazard to the health and safety of minors, and is detrimental to the economic welfare of the state by producing urban blight adverse to the maintenance and continuing development of the city, and is a public nuisance.
(b) 
A person commits an offense if that person maintains a public nuisance as determined under this section.
(c) 
Any peace officer or official of the city may at any time cause to be filed a complaint in the municipal court for the violation of maintaining a public nuisance. A person who commits an offense under this section is upon conviction, guilty of a class C misdemeanor punishable by a fine not to exceed two hundred dollars ($200.00). Each day that a violation continues constitutes a separate offense. All remedies and penalties provided for in this article are in addition to any other enforcement remedies that the city may have under city ordinances and state law. Upon conviction, the court shall order removal and abatement of the nuisance.
(1987 Code, sec. 16-223)
(a) 
The procedures for the abatement and removal of a junked vehicle or a part of a junked vehicle as a public nuisance from private property, public property, or the public right-of-way are as follows:
(1) 
For a nuisance on private property, not less than ten (10) days’ notice must be given stating the nature of the public nuisance on private property, that it must be removed and abated within ten (10) days, and that a request for a hearing must be made before expiration of the ten-day period. The notice must be mailed, by certified mail with a five-day return requested, to the last known registered owner of the junked vehicle and any lienholder of record, and to the owner or occupant of the private premises on which the public nuisance exists. If any notice is returned undelivered by the United States Post Office, official action to abate the nuisance shall be continued to a date not earlier than eleven (11) days after the date of the return.
(2) 
For a nuisance on public property, not less than ten (10) days’ notice must be given stating the nature of the public nuisance on public property or on a public right-of-way, that the nuisance must be removed and abated within ten (10) days, and that a request for a hearing must be made before expiration of the ten-day period. The notice must be mailed, by certified mail with a five-day return requested, to the last known registered owner of the junked vehicle, any lienholder of record, and the owner or occupant of the public premises or the owner or occupant of the premises adjacent to the public right-of-way on which the public nuisance exists. If the notice is returned undelivered by the United States Post Office, official action to abate the nuisance shall be continued to a date not less than eleven (11) days after the date of the return.
(3) 
It shall be unlawful to reconstruct a vehicle or make the same operable after it has been removed.
(4) 
A public hearing is required before the removal of the junked vehicle or vehicle part as a public nuisance if requested by a person entitled to notice under this division not later than the date by which the nuisance must be abated and removed. The hearing request shall be in writing filed with the city secretary and addressed to the mayor. The hearing shall be held before the mayor or his designee and shall not be earlier than the 11th day after the date of the service of notice.
(5) 
If the persons entitled to notice herein fail to either remove and abate the nuisance or request a hearing within ten (10) days after service of the notice, then the city employee administering this division may upon showing proof to the judge of a court of competent jurisdiction in the county, and obtaining an order thereof, take possession of the vehicle and have it removed and disposed of in accordance with this division and in a manner provided by state law.
(6) 
An order issued pursuant to this division by the hearing official or by a court which requires the removal of a vehicle or vehicle part must include a description of the vehicle and the correct identification number and license number of the vehicle if the information is available at the site.
(7) 
Notice must be given to the state department of transportation not later than the fifth day after the date of removal. The notice must identify the vehicle or vehicle part. The department shall immediately cancel the certificate of title to the vehicle pursuant to chapter 501 of the Texas Transportation Code.
(b) 
The procedures set out in this section do not apply to a vehicle or vehicle part that is completely enclosed within a building in a lawful manner where it is not visible from the street or other public or private property, a vehicle or vehicle part that is stored or parked in a lawful manner on private property in connection with the business of a licensed vehicle dealer or junkyard, or an unlicensed operable or inoperable antique or special interest vehicle stored by a collector on the collector’s property, if the vehicle and the outdoor storage area are maintained in a manner so that they do not constitute a health hazard and are screened from ordinary public view by means of a fence, rapidly growing trees, shrubbery, or other appropriate means.
(c) 
The procedures set out in this section shall be administered by regularly salaried, full-time employees of the city, except that the removal of a vehicle or vehicle part from property may be by any duly authorized person.
(Ordinance 2018-10-23, secs. 3–4, adopted 10/23/18; 1987 Code, sec. 16-224)
A junked vehicle or vehicle part may be disposed of by removal to a scrap yard, demolisher, or any suitable site operated by the city, for processing as scrap or salvage. The process of disposal must comply with the provisions of section 8.04.062(a)(3) of this article. The city may operate a disposal site if the city council determines that commercial channels of disposition are not available or are inadequate, and it may make final disposition of the vehicles or vehicle parts, or the city may transfer the vehicles or vehicle parts to another disposal site if the disposal is only as scrap or salvage.
(1987 Code, sec. 16-225)
A person authorized by the city to administer the procedures authorized by this article may enter private property for the purposes specified in the abatement procedures set out in section 8.04.062 to examine a vehicle or vehicle part, obtain information as to the identity of the vehicle, and remove or cause the removal of a vehicle or vehicle part that constitutes a nuisance. The appropriate court in the city may issue orders necessary to enforce the procedures.
(1987 Code, sec. 16-226)