HomeMy Public PortalAboutOrdinance 791ORDINANCE NO. 791
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE
CITY OF BEAUMONT DECLARING UNLAWFUL THE FAILURE
TO MAINTAIN PRIVATE LANDSCAPING AND ESTABLISHING
CRIMINAL PENALTIES THEREFOR
The City Council of the City of Beaumont hereby ordains as
follows:
Section 1: Findings
The City Council finds and determines as follows:
a. Property values and the general welfare of the City
of Beaumont are founded, in part, upon the appearance and
maintenance of private and public property located within the
City.
b. The lack of maintenance of landscaping and sanitation
on both private and public properties, including overgrown,
dead, or decayed vegetation and weeds and the accumulation of
rubbish and debris, is a condition which is injurious to the
public health, safety and welfare of the residents of the City
of Beaumont and contributes substantially and increasingly to
the deterioration of the City.
c. Unless corrective measures, as established herein,
are undertaken to alleviate such existing conditions and to
assure the avoidance of future problems in this regard, the
public health, safety and general welfare, specifically
aesthetic, social and economic standards, will be depreciated.
d. The uses and abuses of property as described herein
are reasonably related to the proper exercise of the police
power to protect the health, safety and general welfare of the
public.
Section 2: Duty to Maintain Landscaping
a. It shall be unlawful for any owner and/or occupant of
property used for commercial, office or industrial purposes for
which landscaping standards or requirements were established by
the City of Beaumont to fail to maintain such landscaping in
accordance with such conditions of approval imposed thereon and
generally recognized horticultural standards.
b. It shall be unlawful for any owner and/or occupant of
any property used for commercial, office or industrial purposes
to:
(1) Permit or allow on such property overgrown
vegetation including trees, shrubbery, groundcovers, lawns
and other plantings which from the overall appearance
results in the diminution of the appearance of the subject
property as compared to adjacent properties.
(2) Permit or allow on such property dead, decayed
or diseased trees, shrubs, or other vegetation which is
otherwise in need of landscape maintenance.
(3) Maintain such property with a lack of vegetation
so as to render the yard areas unsightly and which, from
the overall appearance results in a diminution of the
appearance of the subject property as compared with
adjacent properties.
c. Owners and/or occupants of properties fronting on, or
adjacent to, any portion of a street shall comply with the
provisions of Subsection b of this Section 2 as well as Chapter
12 of the Beaumont Municipal Code for any landscaping along
said street or within the street right-of-way adjacent to their
property fronting on, or adjacent to, any portion of the
street.
Section 3: Notice
a. Notification: Prior to being issued a citation
pursuant to this Ordinance, owners and occupants of any
property charged with being in violation thereof shall receive
the following notifications:
(1) Notice of Violation
(2) Notice of Intent to Issue a Citation.
These notices shall provide a reasonable description of
the violation and specify what corrective measures must be
taken to achieve compliance.
b. Notification Deadlines:
(1) Upon receiving a "Notice of Violation", the
property owner and/or occupant of the property shall have
fourteen (14) days to begin the necessary corrections to
achieve compliance.
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(2) Upon receiving a "Notice of Intent to Issue a
Citation", the property owner and/or occupant shall have
fourteen (14) days to complete the necessary corrections
to achieve compliance.
c. Manner of Notification: Notifications shall be
either:
(1) Personally served upon the owner and occupant of
the property; or
(2) Delivered by regular mail addressed to the owner
and occupant, at the address(es) shown on the last
available assessment roll or as otherwise known.
Section 4: Penalty
Any individual violating any provision of this Ordinance shall
be deemed guilty of an infraction or misdemeanor as hereinafter
specified. Such individual shall be deemed guilty of a separate
offense for each and every day or portion thereof during which any
violation of any of the provisions of this Ordinance is committed,
continued, or permitted. Any individual convicted of a violation of
this Ordinance shall be:
a. Guilty of an infraction offense and punished by a
fine not exceeding One Hundred Dollars ($100.00) for a first
violation;
b. Guilty of an infraction offense and punished by a
fine not exceeding Two Hundred Dollars ($200.00) for a second
violation of the same ordinance provision and perpetrated by
the same individual.
The third and any additional violations of the same ordinance
provision and perpetrated by the same individual shall constitute a
misdemeanor offense and shall be punishable by a fine not exceeding
One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00).
Notwithstanding the above, a first offense may be charged and
prosecuted as a misdemeanor.
Payment of any penalty herein shall not relieve an individual
from the responsibility for correcting the violation.
Any person who removes any notice or order posted on the
subject property is guilty of an infraction.
In addition to the penalty, the individual shall also be liable
for the payment of restitution to the City of Beaumont, in a sum not
to exceed Two Hundred Fifty Dollars ($250.00).
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Section 5: Severability
If any section, subsection, sentence, clause or phrase of
Section 1 through 4 hereof is for any reason held to be invalid or
unconstitutional by decision of any court of competent jurisdiction,
such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining
portions. The City Council hereby declares that it would have
passed those sections, subsections, clauses and phrases,
irrespective that one or more may be declared invalid or
unconstitutional.
Section 6: Effective Date
This Ordinance shall become effective 30 days after it is
adopted.
PASSED, APPROVED AND ADOPTED on this 27th day of July, 1999.
CITY OF BEAUMONT
AYES:
NOES:
ABSTAIN:
ABSENT:
J dIICE C. LEJA, Mayor(/
Leja, Zeller, Berg, and Westcot
None
DeForge
None
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