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Home My Public Portal AboutOrdinance No. 577-88 02-22-1988 • ORDINANCE NO. 5 7 7 AN ORDINANCE AMENDING SUBSECTIONS "A", 'B" AND "C" OF SECTION 9, "JUNKED VEHICLES" OF CHAPTER 7, "OFFENSES AND NUISANCES" OF THE CODE OF ORDINANCES, CITY OF RICHLAND HILLS, TEXAS; REVISING THE DEFINITION OF A JUNKED VEHICLE AND CLARIFYING EXCEPTIONS THERETO; CLARIFYING CIRCUMSTANCES WHERE JUNKED VEHICLES CONSTITUTE A PUBLIC NUISANCE; REVISING PROCEDURES FOR NOTICE, PUBLIC HEARING, ABATEMENT AND REMOVAL OF JUNKED VEHICLES; PROVIDING A PENALTY OF UP TO $1,000.00 PER DAY FOR VIOLATION HEREOF; PROVIDING A SEVERABILI;TY CLAUSE; PROVIDING A SAVING CLAUSE; AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE. WHEREAS, the Texas Legislature has recently changed state law to reduce the period of time a motor vehicle must remain inoperable to be classified as a "junked vehicle"; and WHEREAS, the City Council has determined that it is in the best interests of the citizens of the City of Richland Hills to reduce the period of time allowed by city ordinance for a vehicle to remain inoperable as now allowed by state law. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED by the City Council of the City of Richland Hills, Texas: I. That Subsections "A", "B" and "C" of Section 9, "Junked Vehicles" of Chapter 7, "OFFENSES & NUISANCES" of the Code of Ordinances, City of Richland Hills, Texas, as amended, are hereby amended to hereafter be and read as follows: A. DEFINITIONS. (1) Junked Vehicles. For the purposes of this section, "junked vehicle" means any motor vehicle as defined in Section 1 of Article 6701d-11, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes, as amended, which: (a) is inoperative; and (b) either (i) does not have lawfully affixed to it either an unexpired license plate or a valid motor vehicle inspection certificate; or ORDINANCE NO. Page 1 • (ii) is wrecked, dismantled or partially dismantled; or (iii) is discarded; or (iv) remains inoperable for a continuous period of more than forty-five (45) days. (2) Person. Any individual, firm, partnership, association, corporation, company or organization of any kind. (3) Director. The City Manager of the City of Richland Hills, Texas, or his designee as hereinafter provided. B. JUNKED VEHICLES DEEMED PUBLIC NUISANCES• VIOLATIONS• PENALTY. (1) Any junked vehicle or part thereof on public property, public rights-of-way or private property is hereby declared to be a public nuisance, unless such vehicle or part thereof shall be: (a) Stored or parked in a lawful manner where it is not visible from the street or other public or private property; . (b) Stored or parked in a lawful manner on private property in connection with the business of a licensed vehicle dealer or a junkyard; or (c) An unlicensed, operable or inoperable antique or special interest vehicle stored by a collector on his property provided that the vehicles or parts thereof and the outdoor storage areas are maintained in such a manner that 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. (2) Any person, firm or corporation which shall fail to abate or remove any public nuisance defined in this article upon the expiration of ten (10) days from receipt of the notice herein provided for or within the period provided by any order of the Director following hearing as herein provided for shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined in an amount not to exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000.00). Each such violation shall be deemed a separate offense and shall be punishable as such hereunder. The court, upon determination of guilt of maintaining a public nuisance as defined in this section, shall further order removal and abatement of the public nuisance in the event same shall not have been theretofore abated or removed. • ORDINANCE NO. 5 7 7 Page 2 C. NOTICES• PUBLIC HEARING• ABATEMENT AND REMOVAL OF NUISANCE. (1) The owner or the occupant of the private or public premises whereupon such public nuisance exists or the owner or occupant of the premises adjacent to the public right-of-way whereupon such public nuisance exists shall, within ten (10) days from the date of receipt of the notice hereinafter provided for, abate such nuisance and/or remove such junked vehicle or part thereof from such private or public premises or public rights-of-way. (2) The notice herein provided shall be in writing, shall state the nature of the public nuisance on the private or public premises or on the public right-of-way and shall state that such public nuisance must be removed or abated within ten (10) days from the receipt of such notice. Such notice shall be sent by certified or registered mail with a five (5) day return requested to the owner or the occupant of the private or public premises whereupon such public nuisance exists or, to the owner or occupant of the premises adjacent to the public right-of-way whereupon such public nuisance exists, and also to the last known registered owner of the junked vehicle and to any lien holder of record. If any such notice is returned undeliverable by the United States Post Office, action by city officials to abate such nuisance shall be continued to a date not less than ten (10) days from the date of such return. Such notice shall further state that such • public nuisance shall be the subject of removal by the City of Richland Hills unless such public nuisance be abated or removed by the addressee within the ten (10) day period required. Such notice shall further advise the addressee that in the event the City of Richland Hills shall be required to remove a vehicle to abate such nuisance, such vehicle may not thereafter be reconstructed or made operable. Such notice shall further advise the addressee that the addressee may request a public hearing prior to the removal of such vehicle or part thereof as a public nuisance by the City of Richland Hills, provided a formal request for such public hearing be made by the addressee within such ten (10) day period provided for in such notice to the Director. Such hearing shall be a public hearing before the Director for the purpose of determining whether or not such junked vehicle or part thereof which is the subject of such notice shall be within the provisions of this section and subject to abatement or removal. Upon hearing the Director shall issue an order indicating whether or not such junked vehicle or part thereof which was the subject of such notice is a public nuisance as defined in this section and, if same be so found, he shall order the removal and abatement of such public nuisance. In such event the order requiring the removal or abatement of such nuisance shall include a description of the vehicle or part thereof and the correct identification number and license number of the vehicle or part thereof, if available from inspection of same at the site of its location. • ORDINANCE NO. 5 7 7 Page 3 • (3) Within five (5) days after the hearing the Director may order the public nuisance abated. If the junked vehicle has not been removed within five (5) days after the order, the Director or his designee shall be empowered to remove same. (4) Within five (5) days after the date of removal of such junked vehicle the Director shall deliver to the State Department of Highways and Public Transportation notice identifying the vehicle or part thereof. Any such junked vehicle removed under the provisions of this section shall not thereafter be reconstructed or made operable. II. SAVING CLAUSE. That Chapter 7 of the Code of Ordinances, City of Richland Hills, Texas, as amended, shall remain in full force and effect, save and except as amended by this ordinance. III. SEVERABILITY CLAUSE. That it is hereby declared to be the intention of the City Council that the sections, paragraphs, sentences, clauses and phrases of this ordinance are severable, and if any phrase, clause, sentence, paragraph or section of this ordinance shall be declared invalid or unconstitutional by the valid judgment or decree of any court of competent jurisdiction, such invalidity or unconstitutionality shall not affect any of the remaining phrases, clauses, sentences, paragraphs and sections of this ordinance, since the same would have been enacted by the City Council without the incorporation in this ordinance of any such invalid or unconstitutional phrase, clause, sentence, paragraph or section. IV. EFFECTIVE DATE. This ordinance shall be in full force and effect from and after its passage and publication as provided by the Richland Hills City Charter and the laws of the State of Texas. PRESENTED, GIVEN FIRST READING AND APPROVED at a regular meeting of the Richland Hills City Council on the ? ~ndday of FebruarYi988; by a vote of 4 ayes, ~ nays ands abstentions. APP.• VED: Paul Daniels, Mayor AT E Paulene Kempe, City Sec etary D AST ORM: • , P ul F. Wieneskie, City Attorney 0072a/bac/22488 ORDINANCE NO. 5 ~ ~ Page 4