For the purposes of this article, a motor vehicle is abandoned if the motor vehicle:
(1) 
Is inoperable, is more than five years old, and has been left unattended on public property for more than 48 hours;
(2) 
Has remained illegally on public property for more than 48 hours;
(3) 
Has remained on private property without the consent of the owner or person in charge of the property for more than 48 hours;
(4) 
Has been left unattended on the right-of-way of a designated county, state, or federal highway for more than 48 hours.
(Ordinance 587, sec. 2 (14-1), adopted 11/14/00)
(a) 
The police department may take into custody an abandoned motor vehicle, watercraft, or outboard motor found on public or private property.
(b) 
The police department may use agency personnel, equipment, and facilities or contract for other personnel, equipment, and facilities to remove, preserve, and store an abandoned motor vehicle, watercraft, or outboard motor taken into custody by the agency under this article.
(Ordinance 587, sec. 2 (14-2), adopted 11/14/00)
(a) 
The police department shall send notice of abandonment to:
(1) 
The last known registered owner of each motor vehicle, watercraft, or outboard motor taken into custody by the department; and
(2) 
Each lienholder recorded under chapter 501 [of the Transportation Code] for the motor vehicle or under chapter 31, Parks and Wildlife Code, for the watercraft or outboard motor.
(b) 
The notice under subsection (a) must:
(1) 
Be sent by certified mail not later than the 10th day after the date the agency:
(A) 
Takes the abandoned motor vehicle, watercraft, or outboard motor into custody; or
(B) 
Receives the report under section 683.031 of the Texas Transportation Code;
(2) 
Specify the year, make, model, and identification number of the item;
(3) 
Give the location of the facility where the item is being held;
(4) 
Inform the owner and lienholder of the right to claim the item not later than the 20th day after the date of the notice on payment of:
(A) 
Towing, preservation, and storage charges; or
(B) 
Garagekeeper’s charges and fees under section 683.032; and
(5) 
State that failure of the owner or lienholder to claim the item during the period specified by subsection (4) is:
(A) 
A waiver by that person of all right, title, and interest in the item; and
(B) 
Consent to the sale of the item at a public auction.
(c) 
Notice by publication in one newspaper of general circulation in the area where the motor vehicle, watercraft, or outboard motor was abandoned is sufficient notice under this section if:
(1) 
The identity of the last registered owner cannot be determined;
(2) 
The registration has no address for the owner; or
(3) 
The determination with reasonable certainty of the identity and address of all lienholders is impossible.
(d) 
Notice by publication:
(1) 
Must be published in the same period that is required by subsection (b) for notice by certified mail and contain all of the information required by that subsection; and
(2) 
May contain a list of more than one abandoned motor vehicle, watercraft, or outboard motor.
(Ordinance 587, sec. 2 (14-3), adopted 11/14/00)
The city shall collect reasonable storage fees:
(1) 
For not more than 10 days, beginning on the day the item is taken into custody and ending on the day the required notice is mailed; and
(2) 
Beginning on the day after the day the agency mails notice and ending on the day accrued charges are paid and the vehicle, watercraft, or outboard motor is removed.
(Ordinance 587, sec. 2 (14-4), adopted 11/14/00)
(a) 
If an abandoned motor vehicle, watercraft, or outboard motor is not claimed under section 683.012 of the Texas Transportation Code:
(1) 
The owner or lienholder:
(A) 
Waives all rights and interests in the item; and
(B) 
Consents to the sale of the item by public auction; and
(2) 
The police department may sell the item at a public auction or use the item as provided by section 683.016 of the Texas Transportation Code.
(b) 
Proper notice of the auction shall be given. A garagekeeper who has a garagekeeper’s lien shall be notified of the time and place of the auction.
(c) 
The purchaser of a motor vehicle, watercraft, or outboard motor:
(1) 
Takes title free and clear of all liens and claims of ownership;
(2) 
Shall receive a sales receipt from the law enforcement agency; and
(3) 
Is entitled to register the motor vehicle, watercraft, or outboard motor and receive a certificate of title.
(Ordinance 587, sec. 2 (14-5), adopted 11/14/00)
(a) 
The police department shall collect reimbursement from the proceeds of the sale of an abandoned motor vehicle, watercraft, or outboard motor for:
(1) 
The cost of the auction;
(2) 
Towing, preservation, and storage fees resulting from the taking into custody; and
(3) 
The cost of notice or publication.
(b) 
After deducting the reimbursement allowed under subsection (a), the proceeds of the sale shall be held for 90 days for the owner or lienholder of the vehicle.
(c) 
After the period provided by subsection (b), proceeds unclaimed by the owner or lienholder shall be deposited in an account that may be used for the payment of auction, towing, preservation, storage, and notice and publication fees resulting from taking other vehicles, watercraft, or outboard motors into custody if the proceeds from the sale of the other items are insufficient to meet those fees.
(d) 
The police department shall transfer funds in excess of $1,000.00 from the account to the municipality’s general revenue account to be used by the law enforcement agency.
(Ordinance 587, sec. 2 (14-6), adopted 11/14/00)
A junked vehicle means a vehicle that is self-propelled and:
(1) 
Does not have lawfully attached to it:
(A) 
An unexpired license plate; or
(B) 
A valid motor vehicle inspection certificate.
(2) 
Is wrecked, dismantled or partially dismantled, or discarded; or
(3) 
Is inoperable and has remained inoperable for more than:
(A) 
72 consecutive hours, if the vehicle is on public property; or
(B) 
30 consecutive days, if the vehicle is on private property.
(Ordinance 587, sec. 2 (14-7), adopted 11/14/00)
Consistent with the state Transportation Code, a junked vehicle or a part thereof that is visible from a public place or public right-of-way:
(1) 
Is detrimental to the safety and welfare of the public;
(2) 
Tends to reduce the value of the private property;
(3) 
Invites vandalism;
(4) 
Creates a fire hazard;
(5) 
Is an attractive nuisance creating a hazard to the health and safety of minors;
(6) 
Produces urban blight adverse to the maintenance and continuing development of municipalities; and
(7) 
Is a public nuisance.
(Ordinance 587, sec. 2 (14-8), adopted 11/14/00)
Maintaining a public nuisance as defined by this article is a misdemeanor offense punishable by a fine not to exceed $200.00.
(Ordinance 587, sec. 2 (14-9), adopted 11/14/00; Ordinance adopting Code)
(a) 
Motor vehicles, or a part thereof, constituting a public nuisance are subject to abatement pursuant to the following provisions:
(1) 
No junked vehicle, or a part thereof, removed from public or private property may be reconstructed or made operable after such removal.
(2) 
The provisions of this section shall be administered by the city administrator or his designee, except that any person may perform the actual removal of the vehicle.
(3) 
Any vehicle, or a part thereof, considered to be junked shall be tagged by affixing to its windshield or back glass a notice that such is considered to constitute a nuisance and that a public hearing for the purpose of securing an order to remove the vehicle will be held at a date and time certain in the municipal court and advising that any owner may appear to provide testimony. The city administrator or his designee shall attempt to determine the name and address of any owner or lienholder and shall, by United States mail, post a similar notice to those entities.
(b) 
The affixed notice and the posted notice shall be given 10 days in advance of the hearing, and by certified mail with a five-day return to:
(1) 
The last known registered owner of the nuisance;
(2) 
Each lienholder of record of the nuisance;
(3) 
The owner or occupant of:
(A) 
The property on which the nuisance is located; or
(B) 
If the nuisance is located on a public right-of-way, the property adjacent to the right-of-way.
(c) 
The notice must state that:
(1) 
The nuisance must be abated and removed no later than the 10th day after the date on which the notice was mailed; and
(2) 
Any request for a hearing must be made before that 10-day period expires.
(d) 
If the notice is returned undelivered or if the address is unknown, action to abate the nuisance shall be continued to a date not earlier than the 11th day after the return of the notice, on which date the hearing shall be held. If the address is unknown, the notice shall be placed on the nuisance or, if the owner is located, hand delivered.
(e) 
Within five days of the entry of an order for removal, the city administrator or his designee shall give to the state department of transportation notice identifying the vehicle or part thereof.
(Ordinance 587, sec. 2 (14-10), adopted 11/14/00)
A junked vehicle, or a part thereof, determined to be so after opportunity for a hearing may be removed to a scrap yard, a motor vehicle demolisher, or a site designated by the city.
(Ordinance 587, sec. 2 (14-11), adopted 11/14/00)
This article shall not apply to a vehicle or portion thereof that is:
(1) 
Lawfully situated within a building;
(2) 
Situated on private property as inventory of a vehicle dealer on an approved surface that is free of vegetation or in an automobile wrecking yard, or that is an antique or special interest vehicle stored by a collector on the collector’s property, and stored on private property and without an accumulation of trash in, around, or underneath, or in proximity to the motor vehicle if the weeds and vegetation are trimmed to a height not exceeding eight (8) inches underneath the vehicle and within ten (10) feet of the vehicle and screened from ordinary public view.
(Ordinance 587, sec. 2 (14-12), adopted 11/14/00)