1976-010 NO ?&. ~ o
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STRUCTIOS ~D ~IN~N~ T~OF, PROHIBITING W~, DISPLAY OR
STOOGE O~SIDE OR ABO~ SUCH ENCLOSe, PROVIDING A PENALTY, PRO-
VIDING CERTAIN DEFINITIONS, ~ING OTHER FINDINGS ~D PROVISIONS
~LATIVE TO THE SU~ECT, PROVIDING A SE~BILITY CLAUSE, ~D DE-
CLUING ~ EFFECTI~ DATE
~E~AS, the Czty of Denton has ~der zts general polzce powers
the power to enact ordznances and regulatzons deemed necessary for
the preservation and zmprovement of the health, safety and welfare
of zts inhabiters, and
~E~AS, the City Co~cil of the Czty of Denton fznds that the
present conditions and methods of operatzon of automotzve wreckzng
~d salvage yards zn the City of Denton are to the materzal detrz-
ment of ,the health, safety and welfare of the znhabztants of the
Czty of Denton zn at least the followzng respects, to-wzt
(a) The potential exzsts contznually that a substantzal n~er
of fzres and explosions caused by the zgnztzon of fla~able liq~ds
from the gas tanks or engines of wrecked or 3unked automotzve wreck-
zng and salvage yards mn the Czty of Denton,
(b) Wrecked or J~ked automotzve vehzcles and the parts there-
from are placed, stacked or stored upon, or so near to the public
rzghts-of-way, maintained by the Czty of Denton for the safety and
convenzence of the traveling publzc, as to constztute a s~gnzficant
traffzc hazard,
(c) The present vzsibility and accesszbzlzty of wrecked or
3~ked automotive vehzcles and the parts therefrom upon and about
the premises of m~y automotive wreckzng and salvage yards zncrease
the frequency of thefts and burglarzes from such busznesses, thus
increaszng the costs of provzdzng adequate polzce protectzon to
prevent crzme and protect the lzves and propertzes of persons to
~d aro~d such business locations,
(d) The open and obvious use of land in the City of Denton for
the wrecking, storage, or display of wrecked or 3unked automotive
vehicles and the parts, accessories or components thereof has caused
a relative decline in the market value of lands in and about such
business locations, thus resulting in a loss in ad valorem tax re-
venue for the City of Denton,
(e) The open and obvious use of land in the City of Denton for
the wrecking, storage or display of wrecked or Junked automotive ve-
hicles or the parts therefrom has caused a relative decline in the
market value of property, the use and en3oyment of property, the en-
3oyment,of life, and the general welfare of those inhabitants of the
City oflDenton who live near such business locations,
(f) The present visibility and accessibility of wrecked auto-
motive vehicles and the parts therefrom upon and about the prem/ses
of many automotive wrecking and salvage yards in the City of Denton
is a hazard to the safety of children who are naturally attracted by
such cohdittons, now therefore
THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF DENTON, TEXAS, HEREBY ORDAINS
PART I
That the Code of Ordinances of the City of Denton, Texas, is
hereby amended by adding new Sections 20-2 through 20-10 to Chapter
20, Article I thereof, which shall hereafter read as follows
Section 20-2 FENCING OF AUTOMOTIVE WRECKING AND SALVAGE
YARDS DEFINITIONS
(a) The term "automotive wrecking and salvage yards" as used
herein shall mean any lot or tract of land whereon three or more
discarded, abandoned, J%mked, wrecked or worn-out automotive vehicles,
including, but not limited to autos, trucks, tractor-trailers, and
buses, are kept or stored for the purpose of disassembling, disman-
tling, cutting up, strippinE, or otherwise wrecking such automotive
vehicle9 to extract therefrom parts, components or accessories for
sale or for use in an a~tomotive repeir or rebuilding business
(b) The term "solid" as used herein shall mean constructed
and malntalned so that the outer surface thereof is continuous
and w~thout ~nterstices, §aps, spaces or holes This shall not
be construed to prohibit any spaces or §aps left by a properly
constructed and maintained chain link fence with strips or slats
as hereinafter provided
Section 20-3 DRAINAGE OF FLAMMABLE LIQUIDS REQUIRED
Before any Junked, wrecked, or abandoned vehicle shall be
placed in any automotive wreckinE and salvaEe yard, in the C~ty
of Denton, for the purpose of d~sassemblln§ or dlsmantltn§, cut-
t~ng up, strlpp~ng, or otherwise extracting parts therefrom, all
fuel tank or tanks must be removed and all gasoline and other
flarmnable liquids shall be cor~pletely drained and removed from
sa~d vehicle
Section 20-4 FENCING REQUIRED
Every automotive wrecking yard excluding the off.ce area,
in the City of Denton shall be surrounded by a fence as follows
(a) The fence shall be high enough to screen all 3unk and
3unked automotive vehicles from the view of the traveled way of the
public streets and highways, and shall be extended downward to with-
in three (3) inches of the ground
(b) It shall extend alone the frontage of the automotive
wrecking or salva§e yard parallel to the public street or highway
and perpendicular to the public street or highway alonE the sides
of the automotive wrecking and salvage yard to a d~stance so that
all Junk and wrecked vehicles w~ll be screened from v~ew of the
traveled way of said publlc street or highway
Section 20-5 CHARACTERISTICS OF FENCING
(a) The fence or wall shall be constructed of a permanent
material such as wood, masonry, corrugated sheet metal, chain
l~nk, or any combination thereof
(b) The fence must be neat in appearance and of a un~form
color and height If the fence ~s to be painted, it shall be of
a uniform color Bright, loud colors w~ll not be acceptable
(c) It zs not necessary that the fence be solzd If chazn lznk
fenczng zs used, wood or metal slats or strzps must be run through all
lznks of the chazn lznk fence However, the open spaces must be small
enough that the Junk materzal and vehzcles are substantzally screened
(d) The fence shall be mazntazned by the owner and/or operator
of salvage yard Should the fence become damaged or destroyed, zt must
be repaired within thzrty (30) days
(e) Ail fences or walls shall be constructed zn complzance wzth
applmcable provmsmons of the Bumlding Code of the Cmty of Denton
Sectmon 20-6 FENCE MAY INCLUDE SOLID WALLS AND DOORS
Any part of a fence or wall requmred by Sectmon 20-4 hereof may
conszst zn whole or zn part of a solmd wall and door, or walls and
doors of any completely enclosed buzldzng on sazd premzses, if such
wall or door meets all constructmon requmrements heremnabove set forth
Section 20-7 GATES REQUIRED
Opmnings mn the prescrzbed enclosure whmch are necessary to permmt
reasonable access to sazd automotmve wreckzng and salvage yards shall
be equmpped wmth a solmd gate or gates, constructed and mamntazned mn
accordance wzth the requmrements for a fence or wall hereznabove set
forth Such gates shall be closed and securely locked at all times
except during normal daytzme business hours
Sectzon 20-8 WORK RESTRICTIONS
It shall be unlawful for the owner, operator, hms agents or em-
ployees, to display, store, or work on any 3unked or wrecked automo-
tmve vehmcle, or the parts, accessormes or junk therefrom outsmde of
or above the herezn requmred fence or wall
Sectzon 20-9 PROPERTY SUBJECT TO INSPECTION
Ail automotive vehicles, parts and other matermals located mn or
on the premmses of any automotmve wreckmng or salvage yard mn the Czty
of Denton shall be so arranged to allow reasonable access to, and
spectmon of, the premmses by authormzed fmre, health, polzce and
bumldmng offmcmals of the City of Denton
Section 20-10 PENALTIES
(1) Failure to comply wmth any provzsmons of this ordmnance
shall be grounds for the revocatmon of, or the refusal to mssue or
renew any license required by the owner or operator of an automotive
wrecking and salvage yard pursuant to Section 20-33 et seq , or any
other section or sections of the Code of Ordinances of the City of
Denton Any violation of the provisions of this ordinance shall be
punishable by a fine of up to $200 00 Each day of violation shall
constit~te a separate offense
(2) The imposition of the penalties here~n prescribed shall not
preclude the City Attorney from instituting an appropriate action or
proceeding to prevent or discontinue an unlawful operation of an auto-
motive wrecking and salvage yard during the time such automotive
wrecking and salvage yard is in violation of any provision of this
ordinance, or to restrain, correct or abate a violation of said ordin-
ance, or prevent an illegal act, conduct, business or use in or about
any pre~tses
PART II
(1) If any provision, section, s~bsectlon, sentence, clause or
phrase of this ordinance, or the application of same to any person or
set of circumstances is for any reason held to be unconstitutional,
void or invalid, the validity of the remaining portions of this ordin-
ance or their application to other persons or sets of circumstances
shall not be affected thereby, it bezng the intent of the City Council
zn adopting this ordinallce that no portion thereof or provision or
regulation contained herein shall become inoperative or fail by rea-
son of any t~constitutionality of any other portion hereof and all
proviszQns of this ordinance are declared to be severable for that
purpose
(a) All ordinances or parts of ordinances in conflict herewith
are hereby repealed to the extent of such confllct only
That this ordinance shall become effective on and after the
1st day of ,AugUSt , 1976 and the City Secretary is hereby
directed to cause the caption of this ordinance to be published twzce
zu the Denton Record-Chronicle, the offzczal newspaper of the Czty
of Denton, Texas, within ten (10) days of the date of its passage
and approval
PA~SED AND APPROVED this the ~l~6th day of }~arch ,
1976
ATTEST
CITY OF DENTON, TEXAS
APPROVED AS TO LEGAL FORM
CITY OF DENTON, TEXAS