2005-291
S:\Qur Documents\Ordinances\05\Chapter 6 Amended Animal Livestock Ord.doc
ORDINANCE NO. Z DO 5 - 2 q I
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF DENTON, TEXAS AMENDING THE PROVISIONS
OF CHAPTER 6 RELATING TO ANIMALS BY AMENDING SECTIONS 6-27
REGARDING THE KEEPING OF LIVESTOCK; PROVIDING FOR A SEVERABILITY
CLAUSE; PROVIDING A REPEALER CLAUSE; PROVIDING A SAVINGS CLAUSE;
PROVIDING FOR A PENALTY NOT TO EXCEED $500 FOR VIOLATIONS OF THIS
ORDINANCE; AND PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTNE DATE.
THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF DENTON HEREBY ORDAINS:
SECTION 1. That Chapter 6 of the Code of Ordinances of the City ("Animals") is
hereby amended by amending Section 6-27, which shall read as follows:
SECTION 6 - ANIMALS
ARTICLE I. IN GENERAL
Sec. 6-27. Livestock; sanitary conditions and registration requirements.
(a) It shall be unlawful for any person to keep or harbor any livestock within the
corporate limits ofthe city if the person does not have a parcel ofland at least one
acre in size.
(b) It shall be unlawful for any person to keep or harbor more than two head of
livestock within the corporate limits of the city if the person has a parcel of land
less than three acres in sizc.
( c) For every parcel of land greater than three acres, a person may have one
additional head of livestock for every acre over three acres.
(d) In addition to the requirements in subsections (a) through (c), it shall be unlawful
for any person to feed or keep any species of swine in any lot, pen,' building,
stable, or other enclosure in the city, any part of which lot, pen, building, stable or
other enclosure is nearer than one-thousand (1,000) feet to any building. If a
person is in compliance with this subsection, future changes to adjacent property
owned by another will be a defense to prosecution under this ordinance.
(e) It shall be unlawful for any person to keep or harbor any livestock within the
corporate limits of the city, where there is less than ten thousand (lO,OQO) square
feet for each head of cattle or horse and three thousand (3,000) square feet for all
other types of livestock.
S:\Our Documcnts\Ordinanccs\05\Chaptcr 6 Amended Animal Livestock Ord.doc
(f) It shall be unlawful for any owner or person in control of any livestock to
maintain yards, pens, stables, sheds, or other enclosures in which such animals are
confined in such a manner as to give off odors offensive to persons of ordinary
sensibilities residing in the vicinity, or to breed or attract flies, mosquitoes or
other noxious insects or rodents, or in any manner to endanger the public health,
safety or welfare, or to create a public nuisance.
(g) Manure and droppings shall be removed from pens, stables, yards, coops and
other enclosures weekly and handled or disposed of in such a manner as to keep
the premises free of any nuisance.
(h) Mound storage of droppings of manure between such removals shall be permitted,
only under such conditions as to protect against the breeding of flies, rodents, and
to prevent the migration of fly larvae (maggots) into the surrounding soil.
(i) The feeding of vegetables, meat scraps or garbage to livestock shall be done only
in impervious containers or on an impervious platform.
(j) Watering troughs or tanks shall be provided, which shall be equipped with
adequate facilities for draining the overflow so as to prevent the breeding of flies,
mosquitoes or other insects.
(k) No putrescible material shall be allowed to accumulate on the premises; and all
such material used to feed, which is unconsumed, shall be removed and disposed
of by burial or other sanitary means.
(I) Registration requirements. Persons maintaining livestock within the city limits
shall annually rcgister with the City of Denton Animal Services Department. The
registration shall include a designation by the owner of the use of the property for
livestock, proof of the acreage of the parcel ofland, the distance requirements for
swine if applicable, and the number and type of livestock kept on the parceL
There shall be no fee for this registration. It shall be unlawful for a person to add
additional heads of livestock without amending the registration within thirty days
of acquiring the additional livestock
SECTION 2. Any person found guilty of violating this ordinance by a court of
competent jurisdiction shall be fined a sum not to exceed five hundred dollars ($500) per day.
Each day that a provision of this ordinance is violated shall constitute a separate offense.
SECTION 3. If any section, subsection, paragraph, sentence, clause, phrase, or word in
this ordinance, or application thereof to any pcrson 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, the City Council of the City of Denton, Texas, hereby declares that they would
have enacted such remaining portions despite any such invalidity. .
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S:\Our Documents\Ordinances\05\Chapter 6 Amended Animal Livestock Ord,doc
SECTION 4. Save and except as amended hereby, all the provlslOns, sections,
subsections, paragraphs, sentences, clauses, and phrases of the Code of Ordinances shall remain
in full force and effect
SECTION 5. This ordinance providing for a penalty 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 6J;Ot;b day ode,,~..;n/;f'V ,2005.
c~dvclL
EULINE BROCK, MAYOR
ATTEST:
JENNIFER WALTERS, CITY SECRETARY
BY: CfM; ~(1j"udJ.JJ11~1 !1JIt:
APPROVED AS TO LEGAL FORM:
EDWIN M. SNYDER, CITY ATTORNEY
BY:
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