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O-74-249 - 2/7/1974NO; 249 AN ORDINANCE PROVIDING THAT THIS ORDINANCE MAY BE CITED AS THE JUNKED MOTOR VEHICLE ORDINANCE: ADOPTING PART OF THE TEXAS ABANDONED MOTOR VEHICLE ACT: DECLARING THE PRESENCE OF ANY JUNKED MOTOR VEHICLE WITHIN THE CITY OF ROUND ROCK TO BE A PUBLIC NUISANCE, WITH CERTAIN EXCEPTIONS: PROVIDING FOR NOTIFICATION TO OWNER OR OCCUPANT TO ABATE PUBLIC NUISANCE ON OCCUPIED PREMISES: PROVIDING FOR PRELIMINARIES TO HEARING IN MUNICIPAL COURT: PROVIDING FOR HEARING IN MUNICIPAL COURT: PROVIDING FOR REMOVAL OF JUNKED MOTOR VEHICLES: PROVIDING FOR REMOVAL FROM UNOCCUPIED PREMISES BY ORDER OF MUNICIPAL COURT: PROVIDING FOR AUTHORITY TO ENFORCE: PROVIDING FOR A PENALTY: PROVIDING FOR NOTICE TO OWNER TO ABATE PUBLIC NUISANCE ON UNOCCUPIED PREMISES: PROVIDING FOR A SAVINGS CLAUSE: PROVIDING FOR EFFECT OF ACT ON OTHER ORDINANCES AND STATUTES. BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF ROUND ROCK, TEXAS: (a) Short Title This Ordinance may be cited as the "Junked Motor Vehicle Ordinance and shall hereinafter read as follows: (b) Texas Abandoned Motor Vehicle Act Adopted. (1) All provisions of the Texas Abandoned Motor Vehicle Act (Article 1436-3, V.P.C. and any amendments thereto) governing junked vehicles including the use of definitions made therein, are hereby expressly incorporated into this ordinanee and adopted. (2) All references to the "Texas Abandoned Motor Vehicle Act" shall mean The Texas Abandoned Motor Vehicle Act as codified in Vernon's Ann. P.C. Art. 1436-3 and any and all amendments thereto. (c) Junked Vehicles Declared a Public Nuisance (1) Junked Vehicles as defined and referred to in the Texas Abandoned Motor Vehicles Act are hereby declared to be a Public Nuisance. (d) Exceptions (1) The provisions of this Ordinance shall not apply to: (A) Any Vehicle or part thereof which is completely enclosed within a building in a lawful manner where it is not visible from a street or other public or private property; (B) Any Vehicle or part thereof which is stored or parked in a lawful manner on private property in connection with the business of a licensed vehicle dealer or a junk yard; (C) Unlicensed, operable or inoperable antique and special interest vehicles stored by Collector on his property provided that the vehicles and outdoor storeage areas are main- tained in such a manner as they do not constitute a health hazard and are screened from ordinary public view by means of a fence, rapidly growing trees, shrubbery, or other appropriate means; (e) Notification (1) Whenever any such public nuisance is within the City in violation of this Ordinance, the City Manager or any duly authorized person shall order the owner or the occupant of the premises to abate or remove the same. Such order shall: (A) Be in writing; (B) Specify the nature of the public nuisance on public property or on.a public right of way and its location; (C) Specify that it must be removed and abated within ten (10) days; (0) Specify that a request for hearing must be made before the expiration of said ten day period; (E) Be mailed by certified or registered mail with a five day return requested, to the owner or occupant of the public premises or to the owner or occupant of the premises adjacent to the public right of way whereupon such public nuisance exists; (2) If the above notice is returned undelivered by the U.S. Post office, official action to abate said nuisance shall be continued to a date not less than ten (10) days from the date of such return. After the expiration of said ten (10) days period the Municipal Judge shall have the power to order the removal of the vehicle. -2- (f) Preliminaries to Hearing (1) In the event that an owner or occupant of the public or private premises or the owner or occupant of the premises adjacent to the public right of way on which the vehicle is located desires the hearing provided for in the Ordinance, he shall present such request to and in writing, to the Clerk of the Municipal Court of Round Rock and said Clerk shall set a date and time when said owner, etc., may appear before a Judge of the Municipal Court for a hearing in accordance with Paragraph (g) below to determine whether or not he is in violation of this ordinance. Said time of said hearing to be within ten days after service of notice to abate the nuisance. (g) Hearing (1) Upon receiving a request for hearing the Clerk of the Municipal Court shall set a date and time for such hearing on the Court Docket. The Clerk of the Municipal Court shall notify the City Attorney of the date and time of such hearing. The City Attorney shall cause to be prepared, filed and served on the Defendant, a written complaint charging that the owner or occupant of the premises, as the case may be, has violated this Ordinance. After service, such complaint shall be on file with the Clerk of the Municipal Court not less than five days prior to the date of hearing. (2) The Judge of the Municipal Court shall hear any case brought before said Court, as set out herein, and shall determine whether or not the Defendant is, in fact, in violation of this Ordinance. If the addressee of the above letter does not properly request trial in Municipal Court, then said omission shall be deemed an admission that the automobile or part thereof, in question, is a Public Nuisance. Upon finding that said Defendant is in violation of this Ordinance, said Defendant shall be deemed -3- guilty of a misdemeanor and subject to a 'fine in accordance with the penalty provision hereinafter set forth. The Judge of said Court shall further order said Defendant to remove and abate said nuisance within ten (10) days. If the Defendant shall fail and refuse within said ten (10) days to abate or remove the nuisance the Judge of the Municipal Court may enter an order directing the City Manager to have the same removed, and the City Manager or any duly authorized person shall take possession of said junked motor vehicle and remove it from the premises. Any resolution or order requiring the removal of a vehicle or part thereof shall include a description of the vehicle and the correct identification number and license number, if available at the site. The City Manager or any duly authorized person shall thereafter dispose of said junked motor vehicle in accordance with this Ordinance. If, after the expiration of such ten (10) day period, the Defendant has not caused or allowed the said vehicle to be removed from the premises, he shall be in violation of this Ordinance and be subject to a different penalty for each day thereafter. (h) Removal of Junked Motor Vehicles (1) If with n ten (10) days of receipt of notice from the City Manager or any duly authorized person, to abate or remove a nuisance, the owner or occupant of the premises shall give his written permission to the City manager or any duly authorized person for removal of the junked motor vehicle from the premises, the giving of such permission shall be considered compliance with the provisions of this Ordinance. (2) In no event will a removed junked motor vehicle be reconstructed or made operable. (3) The City Manager of any duly authorized person shall give notice to the Texas Highway Department within five (5) days after the date of the removal and identify the vehicle or part thereof. -4- (4) Junked vehicles or parts thereof may be disposed of by removal to a scrap yard, demolisher, or any suitable site operated by the City for processing as scrap or salvage, which process shall be consistent with Section 10, Subdivision C of the Texas Abandoned Motor Vehicle Act. The City may operate such a disposable site when its City Council determines that commercial channels of disposition are not available or are inadequate, and it may make final disposition of such vehicles or parts, or the City may trans- fer such vehicles or parts to another, provided such disposal shall be only as scrap or salvage, consistent with Section 10, Subdivision C of the Texas Abandoned Motor Vehicle Act. (i) Authority to Enforce (1) The City Manager of the City of Round Rock shall have full responsibility for administration of this Ordinance by its regularsalaried, full time employees, except that the removal of junked motor vehicles or parts thereof from property may be by any other duly authorized person. (2) The City Manager of the City of Round Rock or any of his duly authorized employees or agents are authorized to administer the provisions of this Ordinance and they are hereby given authority to enter upon private property for the purposes specified in the Ordinance to examine vehicles or parts thereof, obtain information as to the identity of vehicles and remove or cause the removal of a motor vehicle or parts thereof declared to be a nuisance pursuant to the procedures of this Ordinance. The Municipal Court of the City of Round Rock enacting such procedures of the Ordinance as pro- vided herein, shall have authority to issue all orders necessary to enforce such procedures of the Ordinance. (3) Nothing in this Ordinance shall be construed to affect statutes that permit immediate removal of a motor vehicle left on public property which constitutes an obstruction to traffic. (j) Penalty (1) Any person violating any of the provisions of this Ordinance shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction shall be subject to a fine of not more than Two Hundred ($200.00) Dollars. -5- (A) Each transaction in violation of any of the provisions hereof shall be deemed a separate offense. (B) Each day a public nuisance is allowed to continue after it has been duly determined to be such, shall constitute a separate violation. (k) Removal from Unoccupied Premises by Order of Municipal Court. (1) If there is a junked motor vehicle on premises that are unoccupied and neither the owner of the premises nor the owner of said vehicle can be found and notified to remove same, then, upon a showing of such facts to the Judge of the Municipal Court, the Court may issue an order directing the City Manager or any duly authorized person to have the same removed, and the City Manager or any duly authorized person shall take possession of said junked motor vehicle and remove it from the premises in the procedure provided for by this Ordinance. (1) Savings Clause. (1) It is hereby declared to be the intention of the City Council of the City of Round Rock that the sub -sections, paragraphs, sentences, clauses and phrases of this Ordinance are severable, and if any of them shall be declared unconstitutional or invalid by the valid judgment or decree of any Court of competent jurisdiction, such unconstitutionality or invalidity shall not affect any of the remaining sub -sections, paragraphs, sentences, clauses or phrases of this Ordinance since the same would have been enacted by the City Council of the City of Round Rock without the incorporation of this Ordinance of any unconstitutional or invalid sub -sections, paragraphs, sentences, clauses or phrases. (m) Ordinance No. 228 adopted by the City Council of the City of Round Rock on February 14, 1967, is expressly repealed as are any other Ordinances or parts of Ordinances in conflict herewith. -6- 1974. ATTEST: READ, PASSED AND ADOPTED this 7 day of February, CITY ECRETARY RAYS LITTON, MAYOR CITY OF ROUND ROCK, TEXAS