(a) 
For the purposes of this article, the following terms shall have the following definitions:
Agricultural property
means property, whether cultivated or uncultivated, that has been granted a property tax exemption, by the county central appraisal district, or equivalent authority, pursuant to the Texas Property Tax Code or Texas Constitution, for agricultural land.
Brush
means scrub vegetation or dense undergrowth.
Carrion
means dead and putrefying flesh of any animal, fowl, or fish.
Filth
means any matter in a putrescent state.
Garbage
means decayable waste, including, but not limited to, vegetable, animal and fish offal, animal and fish carcasses.
Impure or unwholesome matter
means a putrescible or nonputrescible condition, object or matter which tends, may, or could produce injury, death, illness or disease to human beings.
Junk
means all worn out, worthless, or discarded material, including, but not limited to, old iron or other metal, glass, and cordage.
Objectionable, unsightly, or unsanitary matter
means any matter, condition, or object which is or should be objectionable, unsightly, or unsanitary to a person of ordinary sensitivities.
Occupant
means any person claiming or having possessory control of any property.
Owner
means a person having record title to real property.
Person
means any individual, firm, partnership, association, business, corporation, or other entity.
Refuse
means a heterogeneous accumulation of worn out, used up, broken, rejected, or worthless materials and includes, but is not limited to, garbage, rubbish, paper, or litter and other decayable or nondecayable waste.
Rubbish
means trash, debris, rubble, stone, useless fragments of building materials, or other miscellaneous useless waste or rejected matter.
Sidewalk
means that portion of a dedicated right-of-way or easement improved and intended for pedestrian use only.
Trash and debris
means mounds of dirt; piles of leaves, grass, and weed clippings; paper trash; useless fragments of building materials; rubble; furniture other than furniture designed for outdoor 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; and other miscellaneous wastes or rejected matter.
Weeds
means vegetation that because of its height is objectionable, unsightly, or unsanitary, but excluding shrubs, bushes, and trees, cultivated flowers, and cultivated crops.
(b) 
Any word not defined herein shall be defined in the context used and by ordinary interpretation.
(Ordinance 04-118, § 2, adopted 12/21/2004; Ordinance 2024-55 adopted 8/13/2024)
(a) 
The owner or occupant of any property or a portion thereof, occupied or unoccupied, shall not keep, store, allow, maintain, permit, or accumulate upon any property any refuse, trash and debris, stagnant water, filth, carrion, junk, garbage, impure or unwholesome matter, or objectionable, unsightly, or unsanitary matter that:
(1) 
Is visible from a street or alley;
(2) 
Creates or may create an unsanitary condition likely to attract or harbor mosquitoes, rodents, vermin, or disease carrying pests; or
(3) 
Emits a noxious odor.
(b) 
The owner or occupant of any property or a portion thereof, occupied or unoccupied, within the town, shall not allow, maintain, or permit upon any property grass, weeds, brush, or other unsightly vegetation to grow thereon to a height greater than 12 inches. Such property shall include the area between the property and the curb or edge of pavement of any adjacent street or alley. With respect to uncultivated or agricultural properties, the owner or occupant of such property shall be required to maintain grass, weeds, brush, or other unsightly vegetation to a height less than 12 inches only within 100 feet of any adjacent street, alley, or property of different ownership.
(c) 
A violation of this section 6.03.002 is hereby declared to be a nuisance if it exists within the corporate limits of the town or within 5,000 feet of such limits. It shall further be unlawful for a person who owns, manages, or controls a property to allow such property to be used in a manner that violates this section.
(Ordinance 04-118, § 3, adopted 12/21/2004; Ordinance 10-068, adopted 7/27/2010; Ordinance 2026-15 adopted 3/24/2026)
(a) 
In the event that any owner or occupant of any property, occupied or unoccupied, within the town, fails to comply with the requirements of section 6.03.002 of this article, the Town Administrator or his/her designee shall give notice of the violation to the owner as follows:
(1) 
Personally to the owner in writing;
(2) 
By letter addressed to the owner at the owner's address as recorded in the appraisal district records of the appraisal district in which the property is located; or
(3) 
If personal service cannot be obtained:
(A) 
By publication at least 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) 
By posting the notice on a placard attached to a stake driven into the ground on the property to which the violation relates.
(b) 
If the town mails a notice to the property owner in accordance with subsection (a) and the United States Postal Service returns the notice as "refused," "unclaimed" or if the address required by subsection (a)(2) was used and the notice is returned as "not deliverable as addressed" (or an equivalent marking), the validity of the notice is not affected, and the notice is considered as delivered.
(c) 
The owner or occupant of any property or a portion thereof, occupied or unoccupied, within the town, shall not allow, maintain, or permit upon any sidewalk on property any grass, weeds, brush, or other unsightly vegetation to grow thereon or onto a sidewalk. The sidewalk shall remain passable, and the owner shall be responsible for mowing, edging and/or removing the grass, weeds, brush, or unsightly vegetation on any sidewalk so as not to create an unsightly appearance or impede safe passage upon sidewalks by those residents who traverse the sidewalks.
(d) 
The owner or occupant of any property or a portion thereof, occupied or unoccupied, within the town, shall not allow, maintain, or permit upon any curb associated with such property any grass, weeds, brush, or other unsightly vegetation to grow thereon or onto a curb. The gutter associated with such curb shall remain passable for the flow or passage of water, and the owner shall be responsible for mowing, edging and/or removing the grass, weeds, brush, or unsightly vegetation on any curb so as not to create an unsightly appearance or impede the flow or passage of water into any gutter associated with such property.
(e) 
In a notice provided under this section, the town may inform the owner, by 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 the notice, the town without further notice may correct the violation at the owner's expense and assess the expense against the property. If a violation covered by a notice under this subsection occurs within the one-year period, and the town has not been informed in writing by the owner of an ownership change, then the town may, without notice, take any action permitted in this article and assess its expenses as provided in this article.
(f) 
If the owner or occupant of a property does not comply with the requirements of this article within seven days of notice of violation, the town may:
(1) 
Issue a citation to the owner or occupant for every day that the violation continues to exist;
(2) 
Do the work or make the improvements required to abate the violation; and/or
(3) 
Pay for the work done or the improvements made and charge the expenses to the owner of the property.
(g) 
In the event that the Town must do the work or make the improvements required to abate any violation or pay for the work done or the improvements made, the Town may impose an Abatement Administrative Fee, as set forth in the Fee Schedule, Appendix A, to the Town's Code of Ordinances, as amended.
(Ordinance 04-118, § 4, adopted 12/21/2004; Ordinance 2024-55 adopted 8/13/2024; Ordinance 2025-50 adopted 9/16/2025)
(a) 
The town may assess expenses incurred under this article against the real estate on which the work is done or improvements made.
(b) 
In the event that the owner fails or refuses to pay the expense incurred under § 6.03.003(d) within 30 days after the first day of the month following the month in which the work was done, the Town Administrator or his/her designee shall obtain a lien against the property by filing a statement of expenses incurred in abating the violation with the County Clerk [of the county] in which the subject property is located. The statement must also state the name of the owner, if known, and the legal description of the property. The lien attaches upon the filing of the statement with the County Clerk.
(c) 
The lien is security for the expenditures made and interest accruing at the rate of ten percent per annum on the amount due from the date of payment by the town.
(d) 
The town's lien shall be privileged and shall be inferior only to tax liens and liens for street improvements.
(e) 
The town may bring a suit for foreclosure in the name of the town to recover the expenditures and interest due. The statement of expenses or a certified copy of the statement is prima facie proof of the expenses incurred by the town in doing the work or making the improvements.
(f) 
The remedy provided by this section is in addition to the remedy provided by § 6.03.006 below.
(Ordinance 04-118, § 5, adopted 12/21/2004)
(a) 
Notwithstanding any of the foregoing sections, the town may abate, without notification, weeds that:
(1) 
Have grown higher than 48 inches; and
(2) 
Are an immediate danger to the health, life, or safety of any person.
(b) 
The town must give notice, in the manner provided in § 6.03.003, to the property owner no later than the tenth day after the date the town abates weeds under this section. The notification 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 town abated the weeds; and
(4) 
An explanation of the property owner's rights to request an administrative hearing regarding the town's abatement of the weeds.
(c) 
The town, by and through its Town Administrator or his/her designee, shall conduct an administrative hearing 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 owner files a written request for a hearing with the town.
(d) 
The town shall conduct the administrative hearing not later than the 20th day after the date a request for hearing is filed. At the administrative hearing, the owner may testify or present any witnesses or written information relating to the town's abatement of the weeds.
(e) 
The town may assess expenses and create liens under this section in the same manner and subject to the same conditions as set forth in § 6.03.004 above.
(f) 
The authority granted the town by this section is in addition to the authority granted by § 6.03.003.
(Ordinance 04-118, § 6, adopted 12/21/2004)
Any person, firm, corporation or business entity violating this article, or as amended, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined as provided in § 1.01.009 of this Code. Each continuing day's violation under this article shall constitute a separate offense. The penal provisions imposed under this section shall not preclude the town from filing suit to enjoin the violation. The town retains all legal rights and remedies available to it pursuant to local, state and federal law.
(Ordinance 04-118, § 7, adopted 12/21/2004)