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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1983-008262L NO O.=F-O AN ORDINANCE REPEALING ARTICLE V OF CHAPTER 12 ("WEEDS ON PRIVATE PREMISES ) OF THE CODE OF ORDINANCES OF THE CITY OF DENTON AND ENACTING A NEW ARTICLE V REGULATING THE HEIGHT OF, AND REQUIRING THE CUTTING OF CERTAIN WEEDS, GRASS AND UNCULTIVATED VEGETATION, PROVIDING FOR NOTICE OF VIOLATIONS, ABATEMENT BY THE CITY, ASSESSMENT OF AN ADMINISTRATIVE FEE AND COLLECTION OF COSTS, PROVIDING FOR A LIEN FOR DELINQUENT COST, INTEREST THEREON AND FORECLOSURE THEREOF, PROVIDING FOR A PENALTY NOT TO EXCEED TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS ($200 00) FOR VIOLATIONS THEREOF, REPEALING ALL ORDINANCES IN CONFLICT, PROVIDING FOR A SEVERABILITY CLAUSE AND DECLARING AN EFFECTIVE DATE THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF DENTON HEREBY ORDAINS SECTION I That the Code of Ordinances of the City of Denton, Texas is hereby amended by repealing in its entirety Article V of Chapter 12 of said Code and enacting a new Article V of Chapter 12 which shall hereafter read as follows ARTICLE V GRASS AND WEEDS Section 12-26 Height limitations on certain weeds, grass and uncultivated vegetation A It shall be unlawful for any person, firm, corporation, partnership, association, owner, agent, lessee, occupant or anyone having control or supervision of any lot, tract, or parcel of land, or portion thereof, occupied or unoccupied, improved or unimproved, within the corporate limits of the City to suffer or permit grass or weeds or other vegetation, except agricultural crops, trees, shrubs, flowers or other decorative or ornamental plants under cultivation, to grow on an average to a greater height then twelve inches (12") upon said premises, or to leave such weeds or grass upon any premises after the same have been cut B With respect to lots, tracts or parcels of land of two or more acres under single ownership, the provisions of this section shall not be applicable to the area in excess of one hundred feet (100') from any open public street or way, or to the area in excess of one hundred feet (100') from any ad3acent PAGE 1 property under different ownership on which habitable dwellings are located C The provisions of this Article shall be applicable to all railroad rights -of -way within the City D It shall be the duty of any person, firm, corporation, partnership, association, owner, agent, lessee, occupant or anyone having supervision or control of any lot, tract, parcel of land or portion thereof, occupied or unoccupied, improved or unimproved, within the corporate limits of the City to cut, or cause to be cut, and remove, or cause to be removed, if necessary, to comply with this section, all such grass, weeds, and/or other vegetation as often as may be necessary to comply with the provisions of this section Section 12-27 Notice to Owner of Violations, Abatement by City, Collection of Costs In the event that the owner of any lot, tract or parcel of land or portions thereof shall fail or refuse to comply with Section 12-26, then the City Manager or his designee shall notify such owner by letter addressed to him at his post office address, or by publication as many as two (2) times within ten (10) consecutive days, if personal service may not be had as aforesaid or if the owner's address be not known, and at the expiration of ten (10) days after notification as provided herein, the City may enter upon such premises and may do such work as necessary, or cause the same to be done, in order that the premises may comply with the requirements of this Article A statement of the cost incurred by the City to abate such condition shall be mailed to the owner of said premises, which statement shall be paid within thirty (30) days of the date of the mailing thereof Such cost shall include an administrative fee of Thirty -Five Dollars ($35 00), in addition to the actual cost of cutting or removing such vegetation In the event that said statement has not been paid within such period, the City Manager or his designee may file a statement with the County PAGE 2 Clerk of the expenses incurred to abate such condition on said premises, and the City shall have a privileged lien on any lot, tract or parcel of land upon which such expense is incurred second only to tax liens and liens for street improvements, together with ten (10%) percent on the delinquent amount from the date such payment is due For any such expenditure and interest, as aforesaid, suit may be instituted and recovery and foreclosure had in the name of the City and the statement so made, as aforesaid or a certified copy thereof shall be prima facie proof of the amount expended in any such work performed by the City Section 12-28 to 12-30 Reserved SECTION II That any person violating any of the provisions of this ordinance shall, upon conviction, be fined a sum not less than Ten Dollars ($10 00) nor exceeding Two Hundred Dollars ($200 00), and each day and every day that the provisions of this ordinance are violated shall constitute a separate and distinct offense This penalty is in addition to and cumulative of, any other remedies as may be available at law and equity SECTION III All ordinances or parts of ordinances in force when the provisions of this ordinance become effective which are inconsistent or in conflict with the terms or provisions contained in this ordinance are hereby repealed to the extent of any such conflict SECTION IV That if any section, subsection, paragraph, sentence, clause, phrase or word in this ordinance, or application thereof to any person or circumstance is held invalid by any court of competent jurisdiction, such holding shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of this ordinance, and the City Council of the City of Denton, Texas, hereby declares it PAGE 3 would have enacted such remaining portions despite any such invalidity SECTION V That this ordinance shall become effective fourteen (14) days from the date of its passage, and the City Secretary is hereby directed to cause the caption of this ordinance to be published twice in the Denton Record -Chronicle, the official newspaper of the City of Denton, Texas, within ten (10) days of the date of its passage PASSED AND APPROVED this the _� day of 19- ,� CITY DENTON, TEXAS ATTEST CHARLOTTE ALLEN, CITY SECRETARY CITY OF DENTON, TEXAS APPROVED AS TO LEGAL FORM C J TAYLOR, JR , CITY ATTORNEY CITY OF DENTON, TEXAS BY PAGE 4