HomeMy WebLinkAboutORD 78-16 - Junk Motor VehicleNo.�— I
AN ORDINANCE AMENDING THE . . , STANDARD HOUSING CODE AND
PROVIDING THAT THIS ORDINANCE MAY BE CITED AS "THE JUNKED
MOTOR VEHICLE ORDINANCE:" ADOPTING PART OF THE TEXAS ABANDONED
MOTOR VEHICLE ACT: DECLARING THE PRESENCE OF ANY JUNKED MOTOR
VEHICLE WITHIN THE CITY OF GEORGETOWN TO BE A PUBLIC NUISANCE,
WITH CERTAIN EXCEPTION: PROVIDING FOR NOTIFICATION TO OWNER OR
OCCUPANT TO ABATE PUBLIC NUISANCE ON OCCUPIED PREMISES: PROVIDING
FOR PRELIMINARIES TO HEARING BY BUILDING OFFICIAL: PROVIDING FOR
HEARING BY HOUSING BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT AND APPEALS: PROVIDING
FOR FILING OF COMPLAINT AND TRIAL IN MUNICIPAL COURT: PROVIDING
FOR REMOVAL OF JUNKED MOTOR VEHICLES: PROVIDING FOR REMOVAL
FROM UNOCCUPIED PREMISES BY ORDER OF MUNICIPAL COURT OR HOUSING
BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT: PROVIDING FOR AUTHORITY TO ENFORCE:
PROVIDING FOR A PENALTY: PROVIDING FOR NOTICE TO OWNER TO ABATE
PUBLIC NUISANCE ON UNOCCUPIED PREMISES: PROVIDING FOR A SAVINGS
CLAUSE: PROVIDING FOR EFFECT OF ACT ON OTHER ORDINANCES AND
STATUTES.
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF GEORGETOWN,
TEXAS:
(a) Short Title
This ordinance may be cited as the "Junked Motor Vehicle Ordinance"
and shall hereinafter read as follows:
(b) Texas Abandoned Motor Vehicle Act Adopted.
(1) All provisions of the Texas Abandoned Motor Vehicle Act
(Article 6687-9, V.C.S. and any amendments thereto) governing junked
vehicles including the use of definitions made therein, are hereby
expressly incorporated into this ordinance and adopted.
(2) All references to the "Texas Abandoned Motor Vehicle Act"
shall mean The Texas Abandoned Motor Vehicle Act as codified in Vernon's
Ann. Civil Statutes Art. 6687-9 and any and all amendments thereto.
(c) Junked Vehicles Declared a Public Nuisance
(1) Junked Vehicles as defined and referred to in the Texas
Abandoned Motor Vehicles Act are hereby declared to be a Public Nuisance.
(d) Exceptions
(1) The provisions of this Ordinance shall not apply to:
(A) Any vehicle or part thereof which is completely
enclosed within a building in a lawful manner where it is not visible
from a street or other public or private property;
(B) Any vehicle or part thereof which is stored or parked
in a lawful manner on private property in connection with the business
of a licensed vehicle dealer or a junk yard;
(C) Unlicensed, operable or inoperable antique and
special interest vehicles stored by Collector on his property provided
that the vehicles and outdoor storage areas are maintained in such a
manner as they do not constitute a health hazard and are screened from
ordinary public view by means of a fence, rapidly growing trees, shrubbery,
or other appropriate means;
(e) Notification
(1) Whenever any such public nuisance is within the City in
violation of this Ordinance, the City Building Official shall order the
owner or the occupant of the private or public premises on which such
public nuisance is located, or when such public nuisance is located on
a public right-of-way, then the owner or occupant of the adjacent premises,
to abate or remove the same. Such order shall:
(A) Be in writing;
(B) Specify the nature of the public nuisance on private
property, public property, or on a public right-of-way as the case may
be, and its location;
ten (10) days;
(C) Specify that it must be removed and abated within
(D) Specify that a request for hearing must be made
before the expiration of said ten day period;
(E) Be mailed by certified or registered mail with a
five day return requested, to the owner or occupant of the private or
public premises or to the owner or occupant of the premises adjacent to
the public right-of-way whereupon such public nuisance exists;
(2) If the above notice is returned undelivered by the
U. S. Post Office, official action to abate said nuisance shall be
continued to a date not less than ten (10) days from the date of such
return. After the expiration of said ten (1 0) days period the Building
Official shall issue a citation and file a complaint in Municipal Court.
(f) Preliminaries to Hearing
(1) In the event that an owner or occupant of the public or
private premises or the owner or occupant of the premises adjacent to
the public right -of' -way on which the vehicle is located desires the
hearing provided for in this Ordinance, he shall present such request
in writing to the City Building Official. Said official shall set a date
and time when said owner, etc., may appear before the Housing Board of
Adjustment and Appeals for a hearing in accordance with Paragraph (g)
below to determine whether or not he is in violation of this ordinance.
(g) Hearing
(1) When such hearing is before the Housing Board of
Adjustment and Appeals:
(A) Upon receiving a request for a hearing, the Building
Official shall set a date and time for such hearing and notify the owner
or occupant of the premises, as the case may be, of said date, time and
place of hearing. Such hearing shall not be less than five days after
request for hearing is received by City.
(B) The Board of Adjustment and Appeals shall hear any
case brought before it and shall determine whether or not the owner or
occupant, etc., is, in fact, in violation of this Ordinance. If the
addressee of the notice set out in paragraph (e) does not properly
request a hearing, then the Building Official shall file a complaint with
the Municipal Court and said omission shall be deemed an admission that
the automobile or part thereof, in question, is a public nuisance.
(C) Upon finding that said person is in violation of this
Ordinance, the Board shall order such owner or occupant, etc., to remove
and abate said nuisance within ten (10) days. If the owner or occupant, etc.,
shall fail and refuse to remove and abate said nuisance within said ten (10)
days the Board shall order the Building Official to have the same removed,
and the Building Official shall take possession of said junked motor
vehicle and remove it from its location. If! after the expiration of such
ten (10) day period, the owner or occupant has not caused or allowed the
said vehicle to be removed from the premises, the Building Official shall
cause a complaint to be filed in Municipal Court.
(h) Trial before Municipal Court
(1) Upon receiving a complaint from the Building Official the
Clerk of the Municipal Court shall set a date and time for such hearing
on the Court Docket. The Clerk of the municipal Court shall notify the
City Attorney of the date and time of such hearing. Such complaint shall
be on file with the Clerk of the Municipal Court not less than five days
prior to the date of the trial.
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(2) The Judge of the Municipal Court shall hear any case
brought before said Court, as set out herein, and shall determine
whether or not the Defendant is, in fact, in violation of this Ordinance.
(3) Upon finding that said Defendant is in violation of this
Ordinance, said Defendant shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and
subject to a fine in accordance with the penalty provision hereinafter
set forth. The Judge of said Court shall further order said Defendant
to remove and abate. said nuisance within ten (10) days. If the Defendant
shall fail and refuse within said ten (10) days to abate or remove the
nuisance the Judge of the Municipal Court may enter an order directing
the Building Official to have the same removed, and the Building Official
shall take possession of said junked motor vehicle and remove it from
its location. If, after the expiration of such ten (10) day period, the
Defendant has not caused or allowed the said vehicle to be removed from
the premises, he shall be. in violation of this Ordinance and be subject
to a different penalty for each day thereafter.
('i) Removal of Junked Motor Vehicles
(1) If within ten (10) days of receipt of notice from the
Building Official or any duly authorized person, to abate or remove a
nuisance, the owner or accupant of the premises shall give his written
permission to the Building Official for removal of the junked motor
vehicle from the premises, the giving of such permission shall be considered
compliance with the provisions of this Ordinance.
(2) In no event will a removed junked motor vehicle be recon-
structed or made operable.
(3) The Building Official shall give notice to the Texas Highway
Department within five (5) days after the date of the removal and identify
the vehicle or part thereof.
(4) Junked vehicles or parts thereof may be disposed of by
removal to a scrap yard, demolisher, or any suitable site operated by
the City for processing as scrap or salvage, which process shall be
consistent with Section 10, Subdivision C of the Texas Abandoned Motor
Vehicle Act. The City may operate such a disposal site when its City
Council determines that commercial channels of disposition are not
available or are inadequate, and it may make final disposition of such
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vehicles or parts, or the City may transfer such vehicles or parts to
another, provided such disposal shall be only as scrap or salvage,
consistent with Section 10, Subdivision C of the Texas Abandoned
Motor Vehicle Act.
(j) Authority to Enforce
(1) The Building Official of the City of Georgetown shall
have full responsibility for administration of this Ordinance by its
regular salaried, full time employees, except that the removal of junked
motor vehicles or parts thereof from property may be by any other duly
authorized person.
(2) The. Building Official of the City of Georgetown or any
of his duly authorized employees or agents are authorized to administer
the provisions of this Ordinance and they are hereby given authority to
enter upon private property for the purposes specified in the Ordinance
to examine vehicles or parts thereof, obtain information as to the
identity of vehicles and remove or cause the removal of a motor vehicle
or parts thereof declared to be a nuisance pursuant to the procedures
of this Ordinance. The Municipal Court and the Housing Board of
Adjustments and Appeals of the City of Georgetown enacting such procedures
of the Ordinance as provided herein, shall have authority to issue all
orders necessary to enforce such procedures of the Ordinance.
(3) Nothing in this Ordinance shall be construed to affect
statutes that permit immediate removal of a motor vehicle left on public
property which constitutes an obstruction to traffic.
(k) Penalty
(1) Any person violating any of the provisions of this
Ordinance shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction in
Municipal Court shall be subject to a fine of not more than Two Hundred
($200.00) Dollars.
(A) Each transaction in violation of any of the provisions
hereof shall be deemed a separate offense.
(B) Each day a public nuisance is allowed to continue
after it has been duly determined to be such, shall constitute a separate
violation.
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(1) Removal from Unoccupied Premises by Order of Housing Board of
Adjustment and Appeals
(1) If there is a junked motor vehicle on premises that are.
unoccupied and neither the owner of the premises nor the owner of said
vehicle can be found and notified to remove same, then, upon a showing of
such facts to the Housing Board of Adjustment and Appeals, the Board
may issue an order directing the Building Official to have the same
removed, and the Building Official shall take possession of said junked
motor vehicle and remove it from the premises in the procedure provided
for by this Ordinance.
(m) Savings Clause
(1) It is hereby declared to be the intention of the City
Council of the City of Georgetown that the subsections, paragraphs,
sentences, clauses and phrases of this Ordinance are severable, and if
any of them shall be declared unconstitutional or invalid by the valid
Judgment or decree of any Court of competent jurisdiction, such
unconstitutionality or invalidity shall not affect any of the remaining
subsections, paragraphs, sentences, clauses, or phrases of this
Ordinance since the same would have been enacted by the City Council
of the City of Georgetown without the incorporation of this Ordinance
of any unconstitutional or invalid subsections, paragraphs, sentences
clauses or phrases,
(n) Ordinance No, adopted by the City Council of the City
of Georgetown on April 8`, 1974,.is expressly repealed as are any other
Ordinances or parts of Ordinances in conflict herewith.
READ, PASSED AND ADOPTED this day of
1978, on the first reading and read, passed, and adopted on this the
Z,!&�ay of , 1978, on second reading.
HN DO RFIE MAYOR
TY OF GEOR ETOWN
ATTEST.
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