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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1999-2389 - Ordinance - 05/27/1999ORDINANCE NO. 23 S 9 AN ORDINANCE AMENDING CHAPTER 7 "HEALTH & SANITATION", OF THE CODE OF ORDINANCES OF THE CITY OF COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS, BY AMENDING CERTAIN SECTIONS AS SET OUT BELOW; PROVIDING A SEVERABILITY CLAUSE; AND DECLARING A PENALTY. BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS: PART 1: That Chapter 7, "Health & Sanitation", of the Code of Ordinances of the City of College Station, Texas, be amended as set out in Exhibit "A", attached hereto and made a part of this ordinance for all purposes. PART 2: That if any provisions of any section of this ordinance shall be held to be void or unconstitutional, such holding shall in no way effect the validity of the remaining provisions or sections of this ordinance, which shall remain in ~ull force and effect. PART 3: That any person, finn, or corporation violating any of the provisions of this chapter shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof shall be punishable by a fine of not less than Twenty-five Dollars ($25.00) nor more than Two Thousand Dollars ($2,000.00). Each day such violation shall continue or be permitted to continue, shall be deemed a separate offense. Said Ordinance, being a penal ordinance, becomes effective ten (10) days aider its date of passage by the City Council, as provided by Section 35 of the Charter of the City of College Station. PASSED, ADOPTED and APPROVED this ATTEST: APPROVED: 27th day of g~Y ,1999. APPROVED: LYN'N McILHANEY, Mayo7 js~c:k, ny documents~ordman~weeds, doc $/J 9/99 ORDINANCE NO. 2389 PAGE 2 EXHIBIT "A" That Chapter 7, Section 1, of the Code of Ordinances of the City of College Station, Texas, is hereby amended to read as follows: "SECTION 1: STAGNANT WATER, TRASH, GRASS, ETC. A. PROHIBITED CONDITIONS DESIGNATED - STAGNANT WATER It shall be unlawful for any person who owns or occupies any lot in the City to permit or allow holes or places where water may accumulate and become stagnant to be or to remain on such lot or to permit or allow the accumulation of stagnant water thereon or to permit the same to remain thereon. Bo PROHIBITED CONDITIONS DESIGNATED - ACCUMULATION OF TRASH, CARRION, FILTH, ETC. It shall be unlawful for any person who owns or occupies any house, buildinF, establish- ment, lot, or yard in the City to permit or allow any trash, rubbish, carrion, filth, or other impure or unwholesome matter to accumulate or remain thereon or therein. PROHIBITED CONDITIONS DESIGNATED - Wi::.F. DS AND OTIqFR UNSIGHTLY VEGETATION It shall be unlawful for any person owning, claiming, occupying, or having supervision or control of any real property within the City to permit weeds, brush, or any objectionable or unsightly vegetation to grow due to lack of vegetation management upon any such real property within one hundred feet (100') of any property line or within fifty feet (50') of any structure. It shall be the duty of such person to keep the area from the line of his property to the curb line adjacent to it free and clear of matter referred to above. Objectionable or unsightly vegetation includes all weeds and grasses which exceed twelve inches (12") in height. Exempted from the provisions of this subsection are the following: (1) (2) O) State highway rights-of-way. Agricultural areas, agricultural meaning crop production and/or grazing. Heavily wooded areas filled with uncultivated underbrush. (4) The cultivation of concentrated wildflowers from March 1 until June 15 of each year in areas where grasses and weeds do not exceed eighteen inches (18") in height. j. vlc: lmy documentslordinanlweeds, doc 6/2/99 ORDINANCE NO. 2389 PAGE 3 (5) Areas that are zoned A-O, A-OX or A-OR. In the event that any person owning, claiming, occupying, or having supervision or control of any real property permits any condition to exist thereon in violation of this section, the City may notify the owner of such property ("Owner") of the failure to comply with this section and direct the Owner to correct, remedy, or remove such condition within ten (10) days aider such notice is received. Such notice shall be sent to the Owner at his post office address by Certified Mail - Return Receipt Requested. If the Owner's address is unknown or if notification may not be obtained by letter, then notice may be given by pub- lication in any two issues within ten (10) consecutive days in any daily, weekly, or semi- weekly newspaper in the City. The City in said notice of a violation may inform the Owner by Certified Mail - Return Receipt Requested, that if another violation of the same kind or nature that poses a danger to the public health and safety occurs within six (6) calendar months of the 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. If a violation covered by a notice under this subsection occurs within the six (6) month period, and the City has not been informed in writing of an ownership change, then the City may take any action permitted under this section and assess its expenses as provided herein. If, however, the City is informed in writing of a change of ownership within the six (6) month period and a violation of this section occurs, the City shall notify the new property owner of the violation and take such other steps as are provided in this section. In the event that the person disputes a notice of violation under this Subsection C, he may appeal that determination within five (5) days of the receipt of the notice of violation to the Zoning Board of Adjustment by filing a written notice of appeal with the Building Official. If the notice is not appealed, it shall be unlawful for any person to fail or refuse to comply with such notice. The Zoning Board of Adjustment shall provide a hearing. The code enforcement official shall make a presentation as to the violation and the appel- lant may appear, present evidence, and cross-examine witnesses. The Zoning Board of Adjustment shall thereafter close the hearing and may reverse, affirm or modify in any regard the notice of violation. Such hearing shall be held within thirty (30) days of the receipt of notice. The Zoning Board of Adjustment shall issue its decision within five (5) days of the hearing. In the event that the appeal is not filed within the required time as specified herein, the appellant may request a waiver of such requirement by the Zoning Board o. fAdjustment if it finds unusual circumstances and, in the exercise of its discretion, may wmve such requirement. It shall be unlawful for any person who has filed an appeal to fail or refuse to comply with an order of the Zoning Board of Adjustment. The appeal procedure provided for above shall not be available under subsections A, B or D of this section or when the notification is based on weeds, grasses over eighteen inches (18") in height, and the notification occurs after June 15th of that year." jsic:tm.y document$1ord~nanlv~Is, doc 6/2/99 ORDINANCE NO. 2389 PAGE 4 Do Eo OBSTRUCTION OF VIEW OF TRAFFIC BY TR~S, SHRUBS, ETC. Trees, shrubs, bushes, plants, grass, or weeds growing at or near intersections in such manner as to obstruct the view of approaching traffic from the right or left are hereby declared to be a nuisance, and the City Manager is hereby authorized to remove the same. CORRECTION OR REMOVAL OF CONDITION BY CITY If any person notified as provided in subsection E fails or refuses to correct, remedy, or remove the condition specified in such notice within ten (10) days after the date of notifi- cation by letter or within ten (10) days after the date of the second publication of notice in the newspaper, the City may go upon the property and do such work or make such im- provements as are necessary to correct, remedy, or remove such condition. The expense incurred pursuant to this subsection in correcting the condition of such property, and the cost of notification shall be paid by the City and charged to the owner of such property. In the event that the owner fails or refuses to pay such expense within thirty (30) days after the first (1 st) day of the month following the one in which the work was done, the City shall file with the County Clerk a statement of the expense incurred. When such statement is filed, the City shall have a privileged lien on such property, second only to tax liens and liens for street improvements, to secure the payment of the amount so expended. Such amount shall bear interest at the rate of ten percent (10%) from the date the City incurs the expense. For any such expense and interest, suit may be instituted and recovery and foreclosure had by the City. The statement of expense filed with the County Clerk or a certified copy thereof shall be prima facie proof of the amount expended in such work, all as more particularly specified in Chapter 342, Vernon's Annotated Texas Civil Statutes, which is hereby adopted." Jslc:lmy docurnentsiordlnanivm~ds, doc 6/2/99