1966-029 AN ORDINANCE AMENDING CHAPTER ELEVEN OF THE CODE OF
ORDINANCES OF THE CITY OF DENTON, TEXAS, BY ADDING
THERETO ARTICLE 11 091 ENTITLED "JUNKED VEHICLES",
PROVIDING DEFINITIONS, DECLARING THAT THE LOCATION
OR PRESENCE OF JUNKED VEHICLES WITHIN THE CITY SHALL
BE PUBLIC NUISANCES, WITH CERTAIN EXCEPTIONS, PROVID-
ING FOR THE ABATEMENT OF SUCH PUBLIC NUISANCES,
PROVIDING FOR THE ASSESSMENT OF COSTS OF ABATEMENT
IN CERTAIN CIRCUMSTANCES, PROVIDING FOR THE FIXING OF
A LIEN FOR THE COSTS OF ABATEMENT IN CERTAIN CIRCUM-
STANCES AND PROVIDING FOR THE DISPOSITION OF ANY JUNK-
ED VEHICLES IMPOUNDED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE TERMS
HEREOF; PROVIDING A SEVERABILITY CLAUSE, MAKING THIS
ORDINANCE CUMULATIVE OF ALL THE PROVISIONS OF THE CITY
CODE, REPEALING ALL ORDINANCES IN CONFLICT HEREWITH,
PROVIDING A PENALTY, AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE
WHEREAS, there are or may be in the future ]unked vehicles
left about the City other than ]unk yards or other appropriate
places, and
WHEREAS, such condition tends to interfere with the en]oy-
ment of and reduce the value of private property, invite plund-
ering, create fire hazards and other safety and health hazards
to children as well as adults, interfere with the comfort and
well-being of the public, and create, extend, and aggravate
urban blight, and
WHEREAS, adequate protection of the public health, safety
and welfare requires that such condition be abated,
NOW, THEREFORE, THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF DENTON HEREBY
ORDAINS
SECTION I.
That Chapter Eleven of the Code of Ordinances of the City
of DeDton, as amended, be, and ~s hereby, amended by addzng
new Article ll 091 to said Code which shall hereafter read as
follows
Article ll 091 - Junked Vehicles
Section (a) - Definitions
In addition to the terms defined in Chapter Thirteen,
whenever the following terms are used in this Article they
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~hall have the meanings respectively ascribed to them ~n th~s
section
JUNKED VEHICLE
Any vehicle which does not have lawfully affixed
thereto both a valid Texas license plate or plates
and a valid Texas Department of Public Safety motor
vehicle ~nspectlon cert~flcate, and the cond~tlon
of which is one or more of the following wrecked,
dismantled, ~noperatlve, abandoned, and/or d~scarded,
~ncludlng component parts thereof
PERSON
Any ~ndlvldual, f~rm, partnership, assoclat~on, cor~
potation, company or organization of any k~nd
SECTION (b) PUBLIC NUISANCE EXCEPTIONS
The location or presence of any 3unked vehicle or junked
vehicles on any lot, tract, parcel of ~nd or portion thereof,
occupied or unoccupied, improved or unimproved, within the
C~ty shall be deemed a public nuisance and it shall be unlawful
for any person to maintain such a public nuisance or to permit
or allow the same to ex~st on h~s or 1ts property or on the pro-
perty of another, provided that th~s Article shall not apply
w~th regard to a junked v~hlcle or junked vehicles ~n an enclos-
ed building, a junked vehicle or junked vehicles on the premises
of a bus.ness enterprise operated in a lawful place and manner,
when necessary to the operation of such bus.ness enterprise, a
junked vehicle or junked vehicles in an appro~rlate storage
place or depository maintained ~n a lawful place and manner by
the Clty, or to vehicles in operable condition specially adapted
or constructed for racing or operation on privately-owned drag
strips or raceways, vehicles retained by the owner for antique
collection purposes rather than for salvage or for transportation,
nor vehicles stored as the property of a member of the armed
forces of the Un.ted States wh~ is on active duty assignment
outside the continental and territorial l~m~ts of the United
States
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SECTION (c) ORDER TO ABATE
Whenever any such publmc numsance exmsts in the Cmty mn
vmolatmon of this Ordinance, the Health & Safety Inspector
shall order the owner and the occupant, if any, of the pre-
mmses whereon such public nuisance exmsts to abate or remove
the same Such order shall be in wrltmng, shall speomfy the
publmc nuisance and its location, shall ~peomfy the correc-
tmve measures required and shall provmde a reasonable time for
compllanoe Copmes of the order shall be served upon the
owner and the occupant, mf any, by serving hmm or them person-
ally or by sending the copies by registered mall, return reoempt
requested, to the last known address of such person or persons
One manner of servmce may be employed with respect to the owner
and the other manner wmth respect to the occupant, if any
SECTION (d) IMPOUNDING, COST, LIEN
If the owner and/or the occupant falls, neglects or refuses
to obey any order issued under the provisions of the preceding
section, or if the premises are unoccupied, and the owner or
his agent cannot be found, the Health & Safety Inspector shall
abate such public nuisance by lmpomnd~mg, the junked vehmcle or
]unke~ vehicles and shall defray the expenses thereof out of
any moneys in the City Treasury available for such purpose
Ail expenses so incurred in the abatement of such publmc nui-
sance shall be charged against the owner of the ]unked vehicle,
and a statement of the cost incurred by the City to abate such
public nuisance shall be sent by registered mall, return recempt
requested, to the owner of such vehicles When thereby mailed,
the samd cost statement shall state that the amount due shall be
pamd within thmrty days of such mallmng In the event that said
cost statement ms returned undelivered, publmc notmce of said
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cost statement shall be gaven and saad notate shall state that
the amount due shall be paid within thirty days from the glv~ng
of sa~d not,ce In the event that the amount due has not been
paid within the applicable thirty day period, the Health & Safety
Inspector may file a statement wlth the County Clerk of Denton
County of the expenses ~ncurred to abate such publlc nuisance,
and the C~ty shall have a privileged l~en on such ~unked vehicle
or vehicles, together wath ten per cent (10%) on the delinquent
amount from the date such payment ~s due For any such expendi-
ture and ~nterest, as aforesaid, suit may be ~nst~tuted and re-
covery and foreclosure had in the name of the C~ty, and the
statement so made, as aforesaid, or a copy thereof shall be prima
facle proof of the amount expended ~n any such abatement perform-
ed by the City
SECTION (e) OWNER MAY ACQUIRE POSSESSION
~he bona fade owner of any such 3unked vehicle or 3unked
vehicles whach have been ~mpounded an accordance w~th the provis-
ions of th~s Ordinance may acquire possession of such ~unked
vehicle or ~unked vehicles by paying the costs of abatement as
shall have been computed an accordance with the preceding section
and by paying a reasonable storage charge ~sed upon the per~od
of t~me such 3unked vehicle or ~unked vehicles have been ~mpounded
SECTION (f) ABANDONMENT AND SALE
In the event that possession by the bona f~de owner there-
of cf any junked vehlcle or junked vehicles impounded in accor~
dance w~th the provldlons hereof ~s not acquired within ninety
(90) days fromL~he date of the receipt of the registered letter
or of g~v~ng public not~ce of the costs of abatement, such 3unk-
ed vehicle or 3unked vehicles shall be deemed to have been aban-
doned and may be sold by the C~ty The proceeds from any such
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sale shall first be applied to reduce or satisfy the storage
charges computed ~n accordance w~th the above section, and any
amount of such proceeds then remalnang shall be applied to re-
duce or satisfy the laen perfected Such l~en shall remain an
full force and effect w~th respect to any portion of the costs
of abatement rema~nang unsatisfied
SECTION II.
That ~f any section, subsectaon, sentence, clause or phrase
of th~s ordinance ~s for any reason held to be unconstitutional,
such holding shall not affect the val~daty of the remaan~ng
portions of this ordlnance, and all of the remalnder of this
ordinance not so held to be unconstitutional shall contanue to
be an full force and effect
SECTION III.
That th~s ordinance shall be and Ks hereby declared to be
cumulative of all provisions of the Code of the Caty of Denton,
and amendments thereto, except an those ~nstances where the
provisions of th~s Ordinance are an darect conflict wath such
Code, ~n which ~nstances said conflicting provas~ons of such
Code are hereby repealed
That the v~olatlon of any provision of th~s Ordinance re-
lating to the maantaan~ng of a publac nuasance as described
here~n or in permitting or allowing such public nuisance to
exlst shall be punished by a f~ne of not exceeding ~wo Hundred
($~00 00) Dollars, and each ~olat~on thereof shall be and ~s
hereby declared to be a dlstanct and separate offense and pun-
lshable as such, provided, however, ~f the maximum penalty
provided by th~s Ordlnance for any such offense is greater than
the maximum penalty provided for the same or a s~mllar offense
under the laws of the State, then the maximum penalty for vlo-
lateen as provided by State statute shall be the maximum pen-
alty under th~s Ordinance
SECTION V
That th~s ~rdlnance shall become effective and be ~n full
force and effect from and after lts passage and publication
as requlred by law, and it Ks so ordained
PASSED AND APPROVED th~s 23rd day of August, 1966
Warren Wh~tson, Jr , Mayor
Clty of Denton, Texas
ATTEST
B~ooks Holt, C~ty Secretary
City of Denton, Texas
APPROVED AS TO LEGAL FORM
~ty of Denton, Texas
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