(a) The
city administrator-secretary is hereby designated as the officer responsible
for the administration and enforcement of the provisions of this article.
(b) The
city administrator-secretary shall perform the duties required by
the provisions of this article, state law, and other city ordinances,
rules and regulations to keep the city in clean and sanitary condition.
(Ordinance 967A, art. I, sec. 1,
adopted 1/2/1980; 1994 Code, sec.
6.101)
(a) Stagnant water.
It shall be unlawful for the owner of
any lot or other premises in the city to allow or permit holes or
places where water may accumulate and become stagnant to be or remain
on such lot or premises, or to allow or permit the accumulation of
stagnant water thereon, or to permit the same to remain thereon.
(b) Accumulation of carrion, filth, etc.
It shall be unlawful
for the owner of any lot, building, house, establishment, or premises
in the city to allow or permit any carrion, filth, or any other impure
or unwholesome matter of any kind to accumulate or to remain thereon.
(c) Growth or accumulation of weeds and rubbish.
It shall
be unlawful for the owner of any lot or premises in the city to permit
or allow weeds, tall grass, rubbish, junk, brush, or any other unsightly,
objectionable, or unsanitary matter of whatever nature to accumulate
or remain on such lot or premises. Weeds or grass growing to the height
of twelve (12) inches or more will be deemed unsightly, objectionable,
and unsanitary.
(Ordinance 967A, art. II, sec. 1,
adopted 1/2/1980; 1994 Code, sec.
6.102)
(a) Prohibited conditions.
(1) It shall be unlawful for any person having supervision or control
of any lot, tract, parcel of land or portion thereof, occupied or
unoccupied, improved or unimproved, within the corporate limits of
the city, to suffer or permit grass, weeds, trees, or any plant, cultivated
or not cultivated, to grow in, upon, or across the sidewalk or street
adjacent to the lot or property in such a manner as to create a hazard
to pedestrians or motorists to:
(A) See approaching traffic, or that obscures traffic-control signs or
signals for a distance of 100 feet.
(B) Use the street or sidewalk in a free flowing and unobstructed manner.
(2) The following are declared to be hazards:
(A) Any bush, tree or other vegetation within the parkway which exceeds
a height of two and one-half (2-1/2) feet above the gutter elevation
of the adjacent street or which overhangs a sidewalk, except single
trunk trees which are pruned to eliminate all leaves and branches
as follows:
(i)
Below seven (7) feet in height above the ground beneath the
tree;
(ii)
Below eight (8) feet in height above a sidewalk beneath the
tree; or
(iii)
Which would tend to obstruct the view of a traffic-control
device.
(B) Any bush, tree or vegetation which hangs over any street or alley
which is not pruned as follows:
(i)
To eliminate all leaves and branches below a height of thirteen
and one-half (13-1/2) feet above the street or alley; or
(ii)
To eliminate all leaves or branches which would tend to obstruct
the view of a traffic-control device.
(b) Responsibility for compliance.
Supervision and control
shall be determined as follows:
(1) The present occupant of the premises shall give rise to prima facie
presumption of supervision and control.
(2) If the property is unoccupied, then supervision and control shall
be presumed to be in the owner as determined by the current tax roll.
(Ordinance adopting 2024 Code)
(a) In
the event that any person owning, claiming, occupying or having supervision
or control of any real property, occupied or unoccupied, within the
corporate limits of the city fails to comply with the provisions of
this article, it shall be the duty of the person designated by the
city council to enforce the provisions of this article to give seven
(7) days' notice to such person in accordance with the provisions
of V.T.C.A., Health and Safety Code chapter 342, section 342.006.
(b) In
the notice herein provided for, the city shall have the right to inform
the property owner that if he or she commits another violation of
the same kind or nature on or before the first anniversary of the
date of the notice, the city may, without further notice, correct
the violation at the owner's expense and assess the expense against
the property.
(Ordinance adopting 1994 Code; 1994
Code, sec. 6.103; Ordinance adopting 2024 Code)
In the event that the owner of any lot or premises upon which
a condition described in this article exists fails to correct, remedy,
or remove such condition within seven (7) days after notice to do
so is given in accordance with this article, the city may do such
work or make such improvements as are necessary to correct, remedy,
or remove such condition, or cause the same to be done and pay therefor,
and charge the expenses incurred thereby to the owner of such lot.
Such expenses shall be assessed against the lot or real estate upon
which the work was done or the improvements were made. The doing of
such work by the city shall not relieve such person from prosecution
for failure to comply with such notice in violation of this article.
(Ordinance 967A, art. II, sec. 4,
adopted 1/2/1980; 1994 Code, sec.
6.104; Ordinance adopting 2024 Code)
Whenever any work is done or improvements are made by the city under the provisions of section
7.03.005, the mayor or health officer, on behalf of the city, shall file a statement of the expenses incurred thereby with the county clerk. Such statements shall give the amount of such expenses, the date or dates on which the work was done or the improvements were made, and a legal description of the property.
(Ordinance 967A, art. II, sec. 5,
adopted 1/2/1980; Ordinance adopting
1994 Code; 1994 Code, sec. 6.105)
After the statement provided for in section
7.03.006 is filed, the city shall have a privileged lien on the lot or real estate upon which the work was done or improvements were made to secure the expenses thereon. Such lien shall be second only to tax liens and liens for street improvements, and the amount thereof shall bear interest at the rate of ten percent (10%) per annum from the date the statement was filed. For any such expenditures and interest, suit may be instituted and recovery and foreclosure of the lien may be had in the name of the city, and the statement of expenses made in accord with this article, or a certified copy thereof, shall be "prima facie" proof of the amount expended for such work or improvements.
(Ordinance 967A, art. II, sec. 6,
adopted 1/2/1980; 1994 Code, sec.
6.106)
Any person violating any of the provisions of this article shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction shall be subject to a fine in accordance with the general penalty provision found in section
1.01.009 of this code. Each transaction in violation of any of the provisions hereof shall be deemed a separate offense.
(Ordinance 967A, art. III, sec.
1, adopted 1/2/1980; 1994 Code,
sec. 6.107)