Brush.
Scrub vegetation or dense undergrowth.
Costs.
The actual cost the city incurs in abating or causing to be abated a nuisance, including without limitation, the cost of mowing, weeding, and removing objectionable junk, trash, rubbish or other unsightly, or unsanitary matter, etc.
Cultivated.
Vegetation that is deliberately grown and currently and continuously maintained by the owner, occupant, or agent of the property.
Director.
The director of public works for the city.
Expenses.
The total of any administrative fees and the costs incurred by the city in abating or causing to be abated a nuisance.
Filth.
Any matter in a putrescent state.
Garbage.
All decayable waste.
Impure or unwholesome matter.
Any putrescible or nonputrescible condition, object, or matter that tends to, may, or could produce injury, death, or disease to human beings.
Junk.
All worn out, useless, worthless, discarded, or scrap material, including, but not limited to, odds and ends, old metal, scrap lumber, concrete, building debris or old building materials, used tires, vehicle parts, and other items no longer used in the manner in which they were intended, including, but not limited to, upholstered furniture, working and non-working appliances, vehicles, old boats, tractors, and machinery and parts thereof.
Maintained.
Watered, pruned, trimmed, treated, and controlled in such a manner as to enhance the use or enjoyment of one’s property, without interfering with the enjoyment or use of neighboring property or public access.
Mayor.
The mayor of the city, or his designee.
Nuisance.
Anything that which is injurious to the health or morals, or indecent or offensive to the senses, or an obstruction to the free use of property so as to interfere with the comfortable enjoyment of life or property.
Objectionable, unsightly, or unsanitary matter.
Any matter, condition, or object that is or should be objectionable, unsightly, or unsanitary to a person of ordinary sensitivities.
Owner.
A person having title to real property.
Person.
A firm, association, organization, partnership, trust, company, or corporation, as well as an individual.
Rubbish.
Both garbage and trash, and shall include all animal, vegetable and inorganic matter subject to discard that is generated from within a household, residence, or business, such as, but not limited to, coffee grounds, tin cans, paper bags, boxes, glass, and food articles. It shall also include all animal, vegetable, and inorganic matter subject to discard that is not typically generated from within a household, residence, or business, such as, but not limited to, shrubbery, grass clippings, brush, yard cleaning materials, leaves, tree trimmings, stoves, refrigerators, iceboxes, pieces of metal scrap, feathers, furniture, dead animals, rocks, shingles, building materials, junk, trash, refuse, and other worn-out, wrecked or dismantled machinery, tractors, automobiles, and other similar wastes.
Trash.
All non-decayable waste.
Vegetation.
Any grass, weeds, shrubs, trees, brush, bushes, or vines.
Weeds.
Vegetation that because of its height is objectionable, unsightly or unsanitary, but excluding cultivated crops, shrubs, bushes, trees, flowers, and vines.
(Ordinance 0404-00 adopted 4/24/00)
(a) 
It is an offense for any person owning, leasing, claiming, occupying, or having supervision or control of any real property within the city, to suffer, permit, or allow:
(1) 
Except as provided in subsection (b), grass, weeds, vegetation, brush, or any plant which is not cultivated to grow to a height greater than 12 inches on average or to grow in rank profusion upon such premises, including along the sidewalk or street adjacent to the premises between the property line and the curb or, if there is no curb, between the property line and the driving surface; or
(2) 
Rubbish, junk, trash, garbage, discarded items, filth, stagnant or unwholesome water or any other unsightly or unsanitary matter which would offend to a person of ordinary sensitivities to accumulate or remain upon the premises.
(b) 
The following exceptions shall apply to the mowing requirement for tracts of land in excess of one (1) acre:
(1) 
Only the first fifty (50) feet of the property adjacent to all property lines and any public or private street or right-of-way must be mowed to a height no greater than twelve (12) inches; provided however, the remaining uncultivated grass, weeds or vegetation shall be maintained at a height not exceeding eighteen (18) inches on average.
(2) 
Vegetation within five (5) feet from the water’s edge around stock tanks, ponds or similar water features shall be maintained at a height not exceeding forty-eight (48) inches on average.
(3) 
The minimum areas to be mowed set forth in subsections (b)(1) and (b)(2) above may be increased on a case-by-case basis when deemed necessary by the fire marshal to insure adequate fire safety of adjacent property containing structures or equipment.
(c) 
The city may immediately abate the nuisances of weeds in excess of forty-eight (48) inches in height which are an immediate danger to the health, life or safety of any person.
(Ordinance 002-2014 adopted 11/17/14)
It shall be the duty of any person owning, leasing, claiming, occupying, or having supervision or control of any real property within the city to cut or cause to be cut, grass, vegetation, weeds and brush, and to remove or cause to be removed, rubbish, junk, trash, garbage, discarded items, filth, or other unsightly or unsanitary matter as often as necessary to comply with the requirements of this article, and to otherwise maintain that property in full compliance with this article.
(Ordinance 0404-00 adopted 4/24/00)
(a) 
All grass, weeds, vegetation, or brush not regularly cultivated and which exceed 12 inches in height shall be presumed to be objectionable, unsightly, and unsanitary, and are hereby declared a public nuisance.
(b) 
The accumulation of rubbish, junk, trash, garbage, filth, or other unsightly or unsanitary matter shall be presumed to be unsanitary and constitute a public nuisance.
(c) 
The accumulation of garbage, trash or rubbish, or woods or grass to the extent that its height and/or other circumstances cause it to risk possible fire or otherwise endanger any adjoining property or buildings, or so that same may be calculated to communicate fire to any adjacent premises, shall constitute a fire hazard and shall be deemed a public nuisance.
(Ordinance 0404-00 adopted 4/24/00; Ordinance 001-2024 adopted 1/16/2024)
(a) 
Notice required.
If the owner of land fails to comply with the requirements of this article, the director may cause the property owner to be notified to cut the grass, weeds, vegetation or brush or to remove the rubbish, junk, trash or other unsanitary or unsightly matter within 10 days of the date of the notice.
(b) 
Method of notice.
The notice shall be given:
(1) 
Personally to the owner in writing; or
(2) 
Sent by certified mail, return receipt requested, addressed to the owner at the owner’s address as recorded in the appraisal district records of the county appraisal district; or
(3) 
If personal service cannot be obtained or the owner’s address is unknown:
(A) 
By publication in the city’s official newspaper once;
(B) 
By posting the notice on or near the front door of each building on the property to which the violation relates; or
(C) 
If the property contains no buildings, by posting the notice on a placard attached to a stake driven into the ground on the property to which the violation relates.
(c) 
Unclaimed notice.
If notice is mailed to a property owner in accordance with subsection (b) above, and the United States Postal Service returns the notice as “refused” or “unclaimed,” the validity of the notice is not affected, and the notice is considered delivered.
(d) 
Work to be performed.
If the owner does not cut the weeds, grass, vegetation or brush, or remove the rubbish, junk, trash, unsightly or unsanitary matter within 10 days of the notice, the city may go on such property or authorize another to go on such property, and do or cause the work to be done and charge the expenses incurred to the owner of the property and assess the expenses against the real estate on which the work is done. The remedy provided in this section is in addition to any criminal penalties or other remedies authorized by this article or other law.
(e) 
Additional violations.
Although it is not required, if the notice is given by certified mail, return receipt requested, then the city may:
(1) 
Inform the owner by regular mail and a posting on the property that if the owner commits another violation of the same kind on or before the first anniversary of date of the notice, the city without further notice may correct the violation at the owner’s expense and assess the expenses against the property; and
(2) 
If a violation occurs within the 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 corrective action and assess the expenses against the owner and the property.
(f) 
Contents of notice.
The notice shall contain:
(1) 
The name and address of the record owner;
(2) 
An identification, which is not required to be a legal description, of the property upon which the violation is located;
(3) 
A statement describing the violation and the work necessary to correct the violation;
(4) 
A statement advising the owner that if the work is not completed within 10 days, the city will complete the work and charge the expenses to the owner; and
(5) 
A statement that if the city performs the work and the owner fails to pay the expenses, a priority lien may be placed on the property.
(Ordinance 0404-00 adopted 4/24/00)
(a) 
Notice.
In assessing the expenses incurred against the property on which the work is done or improvements made, the city shall send the owner of the property upon which the work was done a notice that shall include:
(1) 
Identification of the property;
(2) 
A description of the violation;
(3) 
A statement that the city abated the condition;
(4) 
A statement of the city’s expenses in abating the condition;
(5) 
An explanation of the property owner’s right to request a hearing within 10 days of the date of the letter; and
(6) 
A statement that if the owner fails or refuses to pay the expenses within 30 days of the date of the notice, the director shall place a lien against the property by filing with the county clerk a notice of lien and statement of expenses incurred.
(b) 
Method.
The notice shall be sent in the same manner as provided above for notice of a violation prior to abatement.
(c) 
Hearing.
The director will conduct a hearing if the property owner submits a written request within 10 days of the date of the notice. At the hearing:
(1) 
The owner and the city may testify or present witnesses or written information related to the city’s abatement of the condition.
(2) 
The city has the burden to show that a violation of this article existed, that notice was given in substantial compliance with this article, and that expenses were incurred to abate the violation.
(3) 
At the close of the hearing, the director may find, based upon a preponderance of the evidence, that the expenses are valid, or that they are erroneous and he may adjust them.
(d) 
Placement of lien.
If no hearing is requested, or a hearing is held and the expenses are determined to be valid or are otherwise appropriately adjusted, and the owner fails or refuses to pay the expenses within 30 days after written notification to pay, the director shall place a lien against the property by filing with the county clerk a notice of lien and statement of expenses incurred.
(e) 
Security.
The lien is security for the expenses and interest. Interest shall accrue at the rate of 10% per annum from the date the work was performed or the expenses were incurred by the city.
(f) 
Filing.
When the statement is filed, the city shall have a privileged lien on that property, second only to tax liens and liens for street improvements.
(g) 
Suit.
The city may institute suit to recover the expenses, with interest, and may foreclose on the property. The original or a certified copy of the statement of expenses is prima facie proof of the expenses incurred by the city in doing the work or making the improvements.
(Ordinance 0404-00 adopted 4/24/00)
(a) 
Abatement.
The city may abate, without prior notice, weeds that have grown higher than 48 inches, and are an immediate danger to the health, life, or safety of any person.
(b) 
Notice.
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 same manner provided above for notice of a violation prior to abatement.
(c) 
Hearing.
The director shall conduct an administrative hearing 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. The director shall conduct the hearing not later than the 20th day after the date a request for hearing is filed. At the hearing:
(1) 
The owner and the city may testify or present witnesses or written information related to the city’s abatement of the nuisance.
(2) 
The city has the burden to show that a violation of this article existed, that notice was given in substantial compliance with this article, and that expenses incurred to abate the violation were reasonable.
(3) 
The director may approve the expenses, deny the expenses, or adjust the amount of the expenses and approve them as adjusted.
(Ordinance 0404-00 adopted 4/24/00)
Any person, firm or corporation who violates, disobeys, omits, neglects or refuses to comply with or who resists the enforcement of any of the provisions of this article shall be fined in accordance with the general penalty provision found in section 1.01.009 of this code. Each day that a violation is permitted to exist shall constitute a separate offense.
(Ordinance 0404-00 adopted 4/24/00)