References to Code Violations

The code enforcement officer strives for voluntary compliance, if corrective action is not completed in a reasonable manner or time, the code enforcement officer will take criminal and/or civil action. The primary goal is to resolve the code violation through voluntary compliance, and the vast majority of cases are resolved in this manner.

Building & Structures in Need of Repair

Code enforcement has the responsibility for finding and removing substandard and dangerous structures. These are structures that are a health and/or safety issue for the people in the community. The city works with owners / occupants to ensure that all buildings in the city are kept in safe condition.

Junk, Weeds, & Other Unsanitary Matter

Greenery and weeds can become a problem if not checked and maintained. Code enforcement responds to complaints and makes random checks of property conditions for violations. Weeds are a health and a safety concern. Weed removal is required by city ordinance. Property owners are required to keep their property free of junk, weeds, rubbish, brush, and other objectionable, unsightly, or unsanitary matter. Vacant lots must also be kept free of weeds, which hide and attract debris.

Residents and business owners are reminded to keep shrubs trimmed low, below windows and away from doors. Overgrown hedges, bushes, and shrubs near ground floor windows and doors are good hiding places for burglars seeking cover as they enter and exit windows and doors.

Property owners may be contacted and warned to remove the weeds on their property. Owners who do not comply with removal can be cited, fined, and/or assessed the cost of weed removal by city crews with a lien placed against the property. Weeds that have grown higher than 48 inches and are deemed as an immediate danger to the health, life, or safety of others; the city may abate without the notice.

Junk, Wrecked, & Abandoned Property

All vehicles parked or stopped on the street, or any public or private parking area, must be in running condition and have a current vehicle registration. Vehicles cannot block a street, driveway, sidewalk, or other vehicle or any public right-of-way. If the vehicle is not able to drive safely or is not in running condition (e.g., missing wheels, windshield, windows, engine, lights or other parts, or has no proof of current registration, etc.), they can be towed away by officers.

Law enforcement may take into custody an abandoned motor vehicle, watercraft, or outboard motor found on public or private property.

Abandoned Vehicles Defined

An abandoned vehicle is defined as:

• Inoperable, more than five years old, and was left unattended on public property for more than 48 hours.
• Has remained illegally on public property for more than 48 hours.
• Has remained on private property without the consent of the owner or person in charge of the property for more than 48 hours.
• Has been left unattended on the right-of-way of a designated county, state, or federal highway for more than 48 hours or on a turnpike project constructed and maintained by the Texas Turnpike Authority for more than 12 hours.

A major part of code enforcement involves problems with discarded, abandoned, or neglected personal property such as old cars. These old cars go ignored by their owners and are left to decay posing a health and safety risk in violation of state laws and/or city ordinances.

The never-ending repair or restoration project cannot stay in your yard. Cars that people cannot drive go neglected and unregistered. Most people are well meaning and plan to get around to it, fixing or registering their vehicles soon. Others simply store their cars wherever they can. Some of the parked cars we notice for abatement have been motionless and a hazard for many years.

Abandoned & Stored Vehicles

Abandoned and stored cars become a target for vandals. They are also dangerous to children and a home to rodents, stray animals, and illegal activity. They usually have some amounts of old gasoline and oil, often leaking onto the ground and into ground water posing a risk of fire or explosion if accidentally exposed to flame.

Signs

The placing of garage sale signs on city property, including utility poles and right-of-way, is specifically prohibited.

Junk, Weeds, or Other Unsanitary Matter

The owner of a premises in the city shall keep the premises free from junk, weeds, rubbish, brush, and other objectionable, unsightly, or unsanitary matter.

Noise Violations

It shall be presumed that a noise does in fact annoy, distress, or disturb the quiet, comfort, or repose of persons of reasonable nervous sensibilities, and therefore violates this article, when any of the following exists or occurs:

Noise is made on property that is zoned as residential and/or multi-family districts, as those districts are defined by the city's zoning ordinance, which exceeds the decibel level hereafter stated, when the noise level is measured from a property line that is under separate ownership or occupancy.

Seventy decibels in the daytime; Seventy decibels in the evening; and Sixty-three decibels in the nighttime.

Noise is made on property that is zoned for any type of district other than residential or industrial districts, as those districts are defined by the city's zoning ordinance, which exceeds the decibel level hereafter stated, when the noise level is measured at a distance of 200 feet from the source of noise (for example, loudspeakers, boomboxes, bullhorns, etc.)

Eighty-five decibels in the daytime; eighty-five decibels in the evening; and Eighty-five decibels in the nighttime.

Noise is made on property that is zoned for industrial districts, as those districts are defined by the city's zoning ordinance, which exceeds the decibel level hereafter stated, when the noise level is measured at a distance of 200 feet from the source of noise (for example, loudspeakers, boomboxes, bullhorns, etc.)

Eighty-five decibels in the daytime; Eighty-five decibels in the evening; and eighty-five decibels in the nighttime.

See Municipal Codes for full City Ordinance