1972-041 No
AN ORDINANCE AMENDING THE CODE OF THE CITY OF DENTON, TEXAS, DE-
CLARING THE EXISTENCE OF JUNK VEHICLES WITHIN THE CITY LIMITS OF
DENTON, ITEXAS, TO BE A PUBLIC NUISANCE AND PROVIDING FOR THE ABATE-
MENT OF SAME, PROVIDING FOR THE ASSESSMENT OF COSTS, AND PROVISIONS
TO COLLECT SAME, PROVIDING A PENALTY, AND DECLARING AN EFFECTIVE
DATE
THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF DENTON, TEXAS, HEREBY ORDAINS
SECTION I
ThAt the Code of Ordinances of the Caty of Denton, Texas,
hereby amended by deletlng the ex~stang Sections 14-26 through and
including 14-32 of Chapter 14, Artlcle II, Davlslon II and substl-
tutlng therefor new Sections 14-26 through 14-32 to sa~d Code of
OrdinanCes which shall hereafter read as follows
SECTION 14-26 Definitions
Junked Vehlcle Any motor vehicle as defaned an Section 1 of
Artacle 827a. Vernon's Texas Penal Code, as amended, which
peratlve and whach does not have lawfully affaxed thereto both an
unexplred lacense plate or plates and a valad motor vehicle safetv
inspection certaf~cate and which ~s wrecked, dismantled, partially
dasmant~ed, or discarded The provasaons hereof shall not apply to
vehicles ~n operable condat~on specially adapted or constructed
for racing or operatlon on prlvately-owned drag straps or raceways,
vehlcleB retained by the owner for antaque collection purposes
rather than for salvage or for transportataon, nor vehicles stored
as the property of a member of the armed forces of the Unated States
who ls ~n actlve duty assignment outside the continental and terra-
torlal ~lmlts of the Un~ted States
Person Any and~v~dual, firm, partnership, assocaat~on, cor-
poratlo-~, company or organization of any kind
De.clasher Any person whose business as to convert a motor
vehicle~ into processed scrap or scrap metal, or otherwise to wreck
or d~smantle motor vehicles
SECTION 14-27 Vehacles Deemed Publac Nuasances, Exceptions
The location or presence of any junked vehacle, or junked ve-
hicles, on any lot, tract, parcel of land or portion thereof, occu-
pied o~ unoccupied, ~mproved or unimproved, within the City shall
be deemed a public nuisance and ~t shall be unlawful for any per-
son to Ima~ntaln such a public nuisance or to permit or allow the
same to ex~st on h~s or ~ts property or on the property of another,
provided that th~s Sectlon shall not apply with regard to junked
vehacle or junked vehicles in an enclosed building, or on the pre-
mlses df a buslness enterprlse operated in a lawful place and man-
ner, w~en necessary to the operation of such business enterprise.
or in ~n appropriate storage place or depository maantalned ~n an
lawful,place and manner by the City, or to vehicles an an operable
condlt%on specially adapted or constructed for racing or operation
on prlgate-owned drag strips or raceways, vehicles retained by the
owner for antique collection purposes rather than for salvage or for
transp0rtataon, nor vehicles stored as the property of a member of
the armed forces of the Un~ted States who is on active duty assign-
ment o~tslde the contlnental and territorial l~mlts of the Un~ted
States,
SECTION 14-28 Order to Abate Nuisance, Notice, Contents
Whenever any such public nuisance exists ~n the C~ty in v~o-
latlon of this Ordinance, the City Health Officer shall order
the owner and the occupant, if any, of the premises whereon such
public nuisance exists to abate or remove the same Such order
shall be in writing, shall state the nature of the public nuisance,
specify the correct measures required, stating that it must be re-
moved and abated within ten days from the date of receipt of sa~d
notice Such notice should further explain to the owner and/or
o¢cupant~ that the request for a hearing contesting the abatement
and/or removal of said alleged nuisance must be made to the C~ty
Health officer prior to the expiration of ten days from receipt of
said notice and/or order Such request must be in writing and de-
livered or mailed to the City Health Officer, City of Denton Copies
of the Order of Abatement shall be mailed, by certified or registered
mall with a f~ve day return requested, to the owner or occupant of
the premises whereupon such public nuisance exists If the not~ce
~s returned undel~vered by the United States Post Office, official
action to abate said nuisance shall be continued to a date not less
than ten days from the date of such return
SECTION 14-~9 Provision for Public Hearlng
If the City Health Officer of said C~ty receives a written re-
quest asking for a public hearing to contest the order or notice
of abatement received by the owner and/or occupant of the premises
on which the publlc nuisance exists, said request having been re-
ceived by the City Health Officer w~thln ten (10) days after service
of the not~ce to abate the nuisance, such a hearing shall be held
before the governing body of the C~ty or any other board, commission,
or offlclal of the City, as designated by the governing body, prior
to the removal of the vehicle or part thereof as a public nuisance
Any re~olut~on or order requiring the removal of a vehicle or part
thereof shall include a description of the vehicle, and the correct
identification nu/~ber and license number of the vehicle if available
at the site If said vehicle ls removed, pursuant to this Section,
· t shall not be reconstructed or made operable, and w~thln five days
after the date of removal of said vehicle, not~ce shall be given to
the Texas Highway Department identifying the vehlcle or part thereof,
to enable said Department to forthwith cancel the Certificate of
Title to such vehicle pursuant to Article 1436-1, Vernon's Texas Penal
Code, as amended
SECTION 14-30 Disposal of Junked Vehicles, Assessment of Costs
If the owner and/or occupant makes no request for a public hear-
lng or fails, neglects or refuses to obey any order Issued under the
provisions of the preceeding Sections, or ~f the premises are unoccupied,
and the owner or h~s agents cannot be served, pursuant to the preceding
Section, the City Health Officer shall abate such public nuisance by
removal of the junked vehlcles or parts thereof and disposal of same
to a scrapyard, demolishers, or any suitable s~te operated by the C~ty
for disposal or for processing of scrap or salvage and shall defray
the expenses thereof out of any mon~es ~n the C~ty Treasury available
for such purpose All expenses so incurred in the abatement of such
public nuisance shall be charged against the owner of the junked ve-
hicle, and a statement of the costs incurred by the C~ty to abate such
public nuisance shall be sent by registered mall, return receipt re-
quested, to the owner of such vehicles When mailed, the said costs
statement shall state that the amount due shall be paid within thirty
(30) days of such mailing In the event that sa~d costs statement is
returned undelivered, public notice of said costs statement shall be
g~ven and said notice shall state that the amount due shall be paid
within thirty (30) days from the giving of said notice In the event
that the amo%%nt due has not been pa~d w~th~n the applicable thirty
(30) days, the Finance Director of the City of Denton, Texas may
stitute su~t for recovery of any such expenditure and ~nterest in the
name of the City, and the statement so made, as aforesaid, or a copy
thereof shall be prima faeae proof of the amount expended in any
such abatement performed by the Caty
SECTION 14-31 Appllcataon
Nothang an this Artacle shall affect ordinances that permit
ammedaate removal of a vehacle left on public property which con-
statutes an obstructaon to traffac
SECTION 14-32 Authoraty to Enforce and Penalty Provisions
Any person authorazed by the Clty to admanaster the provisions
of th~s Ordinance may enter upon private property for the purposes
specified an sa~d Ordanance to examine vehicles or parts thereof,
obtaan lnformataon as to the ldentaty of vehicles and to remove or
cause the removal of a vehicle or parts thereof declared herein to
be a nuasance The Munac~pal Court of sa~d Caty shall have auth-
oraty to lssue all orders necessary to enforce sa~d ordinance
Any person who vaolates any provision of this Ordinance shall
be deemed gualty of a masdemeanor, and, upon conviction, shall be
punashed by fane not to exceed Two Hundred ($200 00) Dollars Each
day such vaolation shall continue or be permitted, shall be treated
as a separate offense
SECTION II
If any section, subseetion, paragraph, sentence, clause or
phrase of thas ordinance shall be declared anvalld for any reason
whatsoever, such decision shall not affect the remalnang portions
of this ordanance, whach remaans an full force and effect, and to
thas end the prov~saons of thas ordanance are hereby declared to
be severable
SECTION III
That thas ordanance shall become effective fourteen (14) days
from the date of ats passage, and the City Secretary ~s hereby
d~rected to cause the captaon of thas ordinance to be published
twace in the Denton Record-Chronacle wathan ten (10) days of the
date of its passage
PASSED AND APPROVED thas the 12th day of September, A D 1972
MAYOR
CITY OF DENTON, TEXAS
ATTEST
~RO~KS HOLT, CITY SECRETAR
CITY OF DENTON, TEXAS
App~~.TO LEGAL FORM
CITY OF DENTON, TEXAS