(a) A person
may not cause, permit or allow a public nuisance under this article
on any premises.
(b) A public
nuisance is:
(1) keeping, storing or accumulating refuse on premises in a neighborhood
unless the refuse is entirely contained in a closed receptacle;
(2) keeping, storing or accumulating rubbish, including but not limited
to, newspapers, abandoned vehicles, automobile or machine parts, refrigerators,
stoves, furniture, tires and cans on premises in a neighborhood for
10 days or more, unless the rubbish or object is completely enclosed
in a building or is not visible from a public street;
(3) maintaining premises in a manner that creates an unsanitary condition
likely to attract or harbor mosquitoes, rodents, vermin or disease-carrying
pests;
(4) maintaining on abandoned and unoccupied property a swimming pool
that is not protected with:
(A) a fence that is at least four feet high and that has a latched gate
that cannot be opened by a child; or
(B) a cover over the entire swimming pool that cannot be removed by a
child; or
(5) maintaining a flea market in an area that constitutes a fire hazard.
(c) This
article does not apply to a site or facility that is permitted and
regulated by a state agency.
(Ordinance 6-93 adopted 5/3/93; Ordinance adopting Code)
Whenever a person causes, permits or allows a public nuisance under Section
8.1101 to exist on any premises in the city as prohibited by said section and make a determination whether or not such is sufficient to constitute a public nuisance as herein defined, and if it so finds, it shall cause the city manager to give the responsible party notice in accordance with the requirements set forth in Section
8.1103 of this article.
(Ordinance 6-93 adopted 5/3/93)
(a) Notice.
Whenever the city manager or the city council determines that
any premises are a public nuisance as defined herein, the city manager
shall give written notice to the owner, lessee, occupant, agent or
person in charge of the premises. The notice must state:
(1) The specific condition that constitutes a nuisance;
(2) That the person receiving notice shall abate the nuisance before
the 31st day after the date on which notice
is served;
(3) The failure to abate the nuisance may result in abatement by the
city, assessment of cost and a lien against the property an which
the nuisance exists; and
(4) That the owner, lessee, occupant, agent or person in charge of the
premises is entitled to submit, before the 31st day after the date on which the notice is served, a written request
for hearing.
(5) The notice must be given:
(A) By service in person or by registered or certified mail, return receipt
requested; or
(B) If personal service cannot be obtained or the address of the owner,
lessee, agent or person in charge of the property is unknown, by posting
a copy of the notice on the premises to which the nuisance exists
and by publishing the notice in the newspaper with general circulation
in the county two (2) times within ten (10) consecutive days.
(C) After the public hearing, the city council shall make such findings
and orders as it shall deem appropriate.
(D) After the public hearing, if the premises are found in violation of the standards as set forth in Section
8.1101, the Code of Ordinances of the City of Tahoka, Texas, the city council may order that the property be vacated, secured, repaired, removed, demolished, mowed or abated within a reasonable time. If the responsible party does not take the ordered action within the allotted time, the city council shall make a diligent effort to discover each mortgagee and lienholder having an interest in said premises or in the property located on said premises. The city secretary shall send each identified mortgage and lienholder a notice containing:
(i) an identification and address of the premises of the property on
which it is located;
(ii)
a description of the violation of the code of ordinances that
is present at the premises.
(E) As an alternative to the procedure prescribed by subsection
(D) described above, the city council shall make a diligent effort to discover each mortgagee and lienholder before conducting the public hearing and shall give them not less than ten (10) days prior to the date of said hearing, notice of and an opportunity to comment at the hearing. If the city proceeds under this subsection, the order issued by the city council shall specify a reasonable time for the public nuisance to be vacated, secured, repaired, removed, demolished, mowed or abated and an additional reasonable time. for the ordered action to be taken by any of the mortgagees or lienholders in the event the responsible party fails to comply with the order within the time provided for action by the responsible party. Under this subsection, the city is not required to furnish any notice to a mortgagee or lienholder other than a copy of the order in the event the responsible party fails to timely take the ordered action.
(F) If the premises are not vacated, secured, repaired, removed, demolished,
mowed or abated within the allotted time, the city may vacate, secure,
remove, demolish, mow or abate the nuisance at its own expense.
(G) If the city incurs expenses under subsection
(F), the city may assess the expenses on and the city has a lien against, unless it is a homestead as protected by the Texas Constitution, the property on which the building was or is located. The lien is extinguished if the property owner or another person having an interest in the legal title to the property reimburses the city in full for said expenses. The lien arises and attaches to the property at the time the notice of the lien is recorded and indexed in the office of the Lynn County Clerk. The notice must contain the name and address of the owner if that information can be determined with reasonable effort, a legal description of the real property on which the nuisance was located, the amount of expenses incurred by the city and the balance due.
(H) If the notice is given and the opportunity to vacate, secure, repair, remove, demolish, mow or abate said nuisance is afforded to each mortgagee and lienholder as authorized by subsection
(D) or
(E), the lien is a privileged lien subordinate only to tax liens and all previously recorded bona fide mortgage liens attached to the real property to which the city’s lien attaches.
(b) Public
Hearing.
(1) The responsible party may request a public hearing. The purpose of the same shall be to determine whether or not the premises is a public nuisance in accordance with the standards as set forth and Section
8.1101 of the Code of Ordinances of the City of Tahoka.
(2) The matter shall be set for hearing before the city council at the
earliest practical date and notice of said hearing shall be served
on the responsible party by the city secretary not less than (10)
days prior to the date of said hearing. All interested persons shall
have the opportunity to be heard and may introduce evidence to the
city council for its members’ consideration.
(Ordinance 6-93 adopted 5/3/93)
(a) The
city may:
(1) assess the cost of abating the nuisance, the cost of legal notification
by publication and administrative fee of not more than $100.00 on
the owner, lessee or occupant of the premises on which the nuisance
exists; or
(2) by resolution or order assess the cost of abating the nuisance, the
cost of legal notification by publication and administrative fee of
not more than $100.00 against the property on which the nuisance exists.
(b) The
city is entitled to accrue interest beginning on the 31st day after the date of assessment against the property
at the rate of ten percent (10%) a year.
(c) The
statement of cost or a certified copy of the statement of cost is
prima facie proof of the costs incurred to abate the nuisance and
is all that will be required of the city concerning costs.
(d) In
any judicial proceeding regarding enforcement of this article, the
city is entitled to recover a reasonable attorney fee.
(Ordinance 6-93 adopted 5/3/93)
(a) In
the event the city council makes a determination after the public
hearing that the premises are a public nuisance, the city manager
shall cause to be posted to such premises a notice reading as follows:
DANGER
|
DO NOT ENTER
|
THIS PROPERTY HAS BEEN DECLARED
|
A PUBLIC NUISANCE BY THE CITY OF TAHOKA
|
(b) Such
notice shall remain posted until required repairs, removal, demolition,
moving or abatement is completed and such premises have been rendered
no longer a public nuisance.
(Ordinance 6-93 adopted 5/3/93)
In addition to the above powers and authorities, the city shall
have all of the rights granted by Section 342.003 through Section
342.004 of the Health and Safety Code of the State of Texas, as it
exists as of this date or as it may be amended from time to time.
(Ordinance 6-93 adopted 5/3/93)
(a) A city
official, agent or employee charged with the enforcement of health,
environmental safety or fire laws may enter any premises in the incorporated
area of the city at any reasonable time to inspect, investigate or
abate a nuisance or to enforce this article.
(b) Before
entering the premises, the official, agent or employee must exhibit
proper identification to the occupant, manager or other appropriate
person.
(Ordinance 6-93 adopted 5/3/93)
(a) A person
commits an offense if:
(2) the nuisance remains unabated after the expiration of the time ordered
by the city council to abate the nuisance.
(b) An offense under this article is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine in accordance with the general penalty provision found in Section
1.109 of this code.
(c) If
it is shown on the trial of the defendant that the defendant has been
previously convicted of an offense under this article, the defendant
is punishable by a fine of not less than $200.00 or more than $1,000.00,
confinement in jail for not more than six months, or both.
(d) Each
day a violation occurs is a separate offense.
(e) The
court shall order abatement of the nuisance if the defendant is convicted
of an offense under this article.
(Ordinance 6-93 adopted 5/3/93)