ORD 1985-17C� : � ► ��i
TOWN OF TROPHY CLUB, TEXAS
ORDINANCE NO. 85-17
AN ORDINANCE OF THE TOWN OF TROPHY CLUB, TEXAS
REGULATING AND RESTRICTING THE ALLOWANCE OF
ABANDONED AND JUNKED VEHICLES TO REMAIN ON PRIVATE
PROPERTY; DEFINING CERTAIN TERMS HEREIN; PROVIDING
FOR THE ENFORCEMENT OF THE ORDINANCE; DECLARING A
PUBLIC NUISANCE; PROVIDING FOR THE NOTIFICATION TO
THE OWNER OF THE PREMISES ON WHICH AN ABANDONED OR
JUNKED CAR IS LOCATED;• PROVIDING FOR THE SALE OR
DISPOSITION OF ABANDONED OR JUNKED MOTOR VEHICLES;
PROVIDING FOR A PUBLIC HEARING PRIOR TO THE REMOVAL
OF AN ABANDONED OR JUNKED MOTOR VEHICLE; PROVIDING
FOR EXCEPTIONS; PROVIDING FOR AUTHORITY OF OFFICES;
PROVIDING A SEVERABILITY CLAUSE; PROVIDING FOR A
PENALTY; PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE AND DECLARING
AN EMERGENCY
WHEREAS, this ordinance is adopted pursuant to the authority conferred
by Article 6687.9, Vernon's Annotated Civil Statutes ("V.A.C.S.").
WHEREAS, the Town desires to establish a procedure for the removal of
abandoned or junked motor vehicles within the town limits.
WHEREAS, the Town Council does hereby find and determine that the
adoption of this ordinance is in the best interest of the public health, safety,
morals and general welfare of the Town.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE TOWN COUNCIL OF THE
TOWN OF TROPHY CLUB, TEXAS:
A. Definitions. For purposes of this ordinance, the following
definitions apply, to wit:
Abandoned motor vehicle means a motor vehicle that is inoperable and
more than eight 8 years old and left unattended on public property for more
than forty-eight (48) hours, or a motor vehicle that has remained illegally on
public property for a period of more than forty-eight (48) hours, or a motor
vehicle that has remained on private property without the consent of the owner
or person in control of the property for more than forty-eight (48) hours, or a
motor vehicle left unattended on the right-of-way of a designated county, state,
or federal highway within the town for more than forty-eight (48) hours.
Antique auto means a passenger car or truck that was manufactured in
1925 or before or a passenger car or truck that is at least thirty-five (35) years
old.
Collector means the owner of one or more antique or special interest
vehicles who collects, purchases, acquires, trades, or disposes of special interest
or antique vehicles or parts of them for personal use in order to restore,
preserve, and maintain an antique or special interest vehicle for historic
interest.
Demolisher means a person whose business is to convert a motor vehicle
into processed scrap metal or to otherwise wreck or dismantle a motor vehicle.
Gara ekeeper means an owner or operator of a parking place or
establishment, motor vehicle storage facility, or establishment for the servicing,
repair or maintenance of a motor vehicle.
Junked vehicle means a motor vehicle as defined in Article fi701d-11,
Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes, that is inoperative, does not have lawfully affixed
to it both an unexpired license plate and a valid motor vehicle safety inspection
certificate, and that is wrecked, dismantled, partially dismantled, or discarded;
or that remains inoperable for a continuous period of more than one hundred
twenty (120) days.
Motor vehicle means a motor vehicle subject to registration under Article
6687-1, Vernon's as Civil Statutes, the Certificate of Title Act.
Marshal means the Town Marshal of the Town of Trophy Club, Texas.
Special interest vehicle means a motor vehicle of any age that has not `
been altered or modified from original manufacturer's specifications and,
because of its historic interest, is being preserved by hobbyists.
Storage facility means a garage, parking lot, or any type of facility or
establishment for the servicing, repairing, storing, or parking of motor vehicles.
B. Authority to take possession of abandoned motor vehicles. The
police department may take into custody an abandoned motor vehicle found on
public or private property. The police department may employ its own
personnel, equipment, and facilities, or when specifically authorized by the town
council, hire persons, equipment, and facilities to remove, preserve and store an
abandoned motor vehicle it takes into custody.
The procedures of this division must be administered by the Town Marshal
of the Town of Trophy Club, Texas, except for the removal of the vehicle or
vehicle part from property as authorized above.
C. Declaration of public nuisance. That junked vehicle that is
located in a place where it is visible from a public place or public right -of --way
is detrimental to the safety and welfare of the general public, tends to reduce
the value of private property, invites vandalism, creates fire hazards, constitutes
an attractive nuisance creating a hazard to the health and safety of minors, and
is detrimental to the economic welfare of the town by producing urban blight
adverse to the maintenance and continuing development of the town, and is a
public nuisance. A person commits an offense under this division if he maintains
such a public nuisance on property owned by him or under his control.
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D. Procedure for abating nuisance.
(a) In the event a junked vehicle constituting a public nuisance under
this division is found on private property, the police department or other
designated employee of the town shall notify the owner or occupant of the
private premises on which the public nuisance exists, in writing by certified mail
with a five-day return requested, that such public nuisance must be removed and
abated from such private property within ten (10) days, and that a request for
a hearing must be made before expiration of the ten-day period. If the notice
is returned undelivered by the United States Post Office, official action to abate
the nuisance shall be continued to a date not less than ten (10) days after the
date of the return.
(b) In the event a public nuisance as defined herein is found on public
property, notice in writing must be mailed, by certified 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 on which
the public nuisance exists, that the nuisance must be removed and abated from
the public property or public right-of-way within ten (10) days, and that a
request for hearing must be made before expiration of the tens -day period. If
the notice is returned undelivered by the United States Post Office, official
action to abate the nuisance shall be continued to date not less than ten (10)
days after the date of the return.
(c) In the event the police department takes into custody an abandoned
motor vehicle, it shall notify, not later than the tenth day after taking the
motor vehicle into custody, by certified mail, the last known registered owner
of the motor vehicle and all lien holders of record pursuant to the Certificate
of Title Act, that the vehicle has been taken into custody. The notice shall
describe the year, make, model, and vehicle identification number of the
abandoned motor vehicle, set forth the location of the facility where the motor
vehicle is being held, inform the owner and any lien holders of their right to
reclaim the motor vehicle not later than the twentieth day after the date of the
notice, on payment of all towing, preservation, and storage charges resulting
from placing the vehicle in custody, or garagekeeper's charges, if applicable.
The notice shall also state that- the failure of the owner or lien holders to
exercise their right to reclaim the vehicle within the time provided constitutes
a waiver by the owner and lien holders of all right, title, and interest in the
vehicle and their consent to the sale of the abandoned motor vehicle at a public
auction. If the identity of the last registered owner cannot be determined, if
the registration contains no address for the owner, or if it is impossible to
determine with reasonable certainty the identify and address of all lien holders,
notice by one publication in one newspaper of general circulation in the city is
sufficient notice. The notice by publication may contain multiple listings of
abandoned vehicles, shall be published within the time requirements prescribed
for notice by certified mail, and shall have the same contents required for a
notice by certified mail.
(d) In the event of removal of an abandoned motor vehicle as provided
herein, notice shall be given to the state department of highways and public
transportation not later than the fifth day after the date of removal. Such
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notice must identify the vehicle or vehicle part.
E. Sale or other disposition of abandoned or junked motor vehicles.
(1) if an abandoned motor vehicle has not been reclaimed as provided,
the Police Department shall sell the abandoned motor vehicle at a public
auction. Such auction shall be held as required by the provisions of section 5,
Article 6687-9, V.A.C.S.
(2) The disposition of abandoned motor vehicles left in storage
facilities by garagekeepers shall be as set out in section 6 of Article 6687-9,
V.A.C.S.
(3) The disposition of abandoned motor vehicles to a demolisher and
the duties of a demolisher with regard thereto shall be set out in section 7 of
Article 6687-9, V.A.C.S.
(4) When a junked vehicle is declared a public nuisance by the
authorized official of the town and is ordered to be removed, it shall not be
reconstructed or made operable after it has been removed.
F. Public Hearing.
(1) Upon request of any person as provided above, a public hearing
shall be held before the municipal judge of the town before the removal of a
vehicle or vehicle part declared to be a public nuisance. If, after such public
hearing, the municipal judge determines that the vehicle or vehicle part is a
public nuisance as defined herein, he shall enter an order requiring the removal
of such vehicle or vehicle part and shall in such order include a description of
the vehicle and the correct identification number and license number of the
vehicle, if the information is available at the site.
(2) if the nuisance defined herein is not removed and abated and a
hearing is not requested within the ten-day period provided above, a complaint
concerning such public nuisance shall be filed in an appropriate court, either
under the penal provisions of this division or in a civil court to require removal
and abatement of such public nuisance by injunctive relief.
G. Exceptions. The procedures of this division shall not apply to a
vehicle or vehicle part that is completely enclosed within a building in a lawful
manner where it is not visible from the street or other public or private
property, a vehicle or vehicle part that is stored or parked in a lawful manner
on private property in connection with the business of a licensed vehicle dealer
or junkyard, or an unlicensed, operable, or inoperable antique or special interest
vehicle stored by a collector on the collector's property, if the vehicle and the
outdoor storage area are maintained in a manner so that 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.
H. Authority of officers. Any person authorized by the city to
administer the procedures authorized by this division may enter private property
for the purposes specific herein to examine a vehicle or vehicle part, obtain
information as to the identity of the vehicle, and remove or cause the removal
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of a vehicle or vehicle part that constitutes a nuisance. The municipal court
shall be authorized to issue orders necessary to enforce the procedures of this
division.
Section 2. That the procedures for removal of junked or abandoned
motor vehicles as herein established have been made for the purpose of
promoting the health, safety, morals and the general welfare of the community.
Section 3. That this ordinance shall be cumulative of all other
ordinances of the Town affecting zoning and shall not repeal any of the
provisions of said ordinances except in those instances where provisions of those
ordinances are in direct conflict with the provisions of this ordinance.
Section 4. If any section, article, paragraph, sentence, clause, phrase or
word in this ordinance, or application thereof to any person or circumstance, is
held invalid or unconstitutional by a Court of competent jurisdiction, such
holding shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of the ordinance,
and the Town Council hereby declares it would have passed such remaining of
the ordinance despite such invalidity, which remaining portions shall remain in
full force and effect.
Section 5. Any person violating any of the provisions of this ordinance
shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction thereof shall be
fined in a sum not to exceed Two Hundred Dollars {$200.00} for each offense and
a separate offense shall be deemed committed upon each day during or on which
a violation occurs or continues.
Section 6. The fact that the present zoning ordinance and regulations
of the Town are inadequate to properly safeguard the health, safety, morals,
peace and general welfare of the inhabitants of the Town creates an emergency
for the immediate preservation of the public business, property, health, safety
and general welfare of the public which requires that this ordinance shall
become effective from and after the date of its final passage and publication as
providied by law, and it is accordingly so ordained.
PASSED AND APPROVED on the 24 day of
ATTEST:
.lune , 1985.
w Secretary, Town of Trophy Club, Texas
[SEAL]
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
Town Attorney, Town of f ophy - lub; 3Pexas