HomeMy WebLinkAbout2002-2592 - Ordinance - 11/21/2002ORDINANCE NO. 2592
AN ORDINANCE AMENDING CHAPTER 7 SECTION 1, "STAGANT WATER,
TRASH, GRASS, ETC.", OF THE CODE OF ORDINANCES OF THE CITY OF
COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS, BY AMENDING IN ITS ENTIRETY AS SET OUT
BELOW; PROVIDING A SEVERABILITY CLAUSE; DECLARING A PENALTY;
AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE.
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF COLLEGE
STATION, TEXAS:
PART 1'
That Chapter 7, Section 1, "Stagnant Water, Trash, Grass, etc.", 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 full force and effect.
PART 3:
That any person, firm, 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 Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00). 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 after 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 21st day of November, 2002.
ATTEST:
APPROVED:
Ron SilviaflVl~,or
Cofinie Hooks; City Secrefiffy-
APPROVED:
City Attorney
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Ordinance No. 2592 Page 2
EXHIBIT "A"
That Chapter 7, "Health and Sanitation", Section 1, "Stagnant Water, Trash, Grass, etc.",
of the Code of Ordinances of the City of College Station, Texas, is hereby amended, in its
entirety, as set out hereafter 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.
PROHIBITED CONDITIONS DESIGNATED - ACCUMULATION OF
Co
TRASH, CARRION, FILTH, ETC.
It shall be unlawful for any person who owns or occupies any house, building,
establishment, 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 - WEEDS AND OTHER
UNSIGHTLY VEGETATION
It shall be unlawful for any person owning, claiming, occupying, or having super-
vision 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. 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 that exceed twelve inches (12") in height.
Exempted from the provisions of this subsection are the following:
(1) State highway rights-of-way.
(2) Agricultural areas, agricultural meaning crop production and/or grazing.
(3) Heavily wooded areas filled with uncultivated underbrush.
(4)
The cultivation of concentrated wildflox~ ers fi'om March 1 until June 15 of
each year in areas where grasses and weeds do not exceed eighteen inches
(18") in height.
(5) Areas that are zoned A-O or A-OR.
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Ordinance No. 2592 Page 3
Notice. 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 and occupant of such
property of the failure to comply with this section and direct the owner and
occupant to correct, remedy, or remove such condition within seven (7) days at~er
such notice is received. Such notice shall be sent to the occupant at the post
office address of the property and to the owner at the post office address as
recorded with the Brazos County Appraisal District by United States Mail. If
personal service cannot be obtained notice may be given by: publication at least
once; by posting the notice on or near the front door of each building on the
property to which the violation relates; or by posting the notice on a placard
attached to a stake driven into the ground on the property to which the violation
relates.
If the City mails a notice to the owner or occupant in accordance with this section
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.
The City in said notice of a violation may inform the owner and occupant by
regular mail and posting notice on the property, or by personally delivering the
notice, 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 prope~y.
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.
OBSTRUCTION OF VIEW OF TRAFFIC BY TRFES, SHRUBS, ETC.
Trees, shrubs, bushes, plants, grass, or weeds grow;ng 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 C fails or refuses to correct,
remedy, or remove the condition specified in such notice within seven (7) days
after the date of notice by letter or within seven (7) days after the date of
publication of notice in the newspaper, the posting of the notice on or near the
front door of each building on the property to which t',¢ violation relates, or the
posting of the notice on a placard attached to a stake driven into the ground on the
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Ordinance No. 2592
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property to which the violation relates, the City may go upon the property and do
such work or make such improvements 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
(lst) day of the month following the one in which the work was done, the City
shall file with the Brazos County Clerk a statement of the expenses incurred.
Such statement shall state the name of the owner, if known, and a legal
description of the property. From the date the statement is filed, the City shall
have a privileged lien on such property~ second onl,' to tax liens and liens for
street improvements, to secure the payment of the tttnount 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."
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