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A. Designations: Designation of street classifications shall be as follows:
1. Arterials:
Alamo Road
Earling Road
FM 495
Loop 374 (Business 83)
Morningside Road
Ridge Road
Tower Road
2. Collectors:
Alamo Road
Border Road
Crockett/De Soto Avenue
Duranta Avenue
Eldora Road
Moore Road
Morningside Road
Nebraska Road
Sioux Road
Tower Road
Unnamed street midway between Alamo Road and Tower Road
Unnamed street midway between Morningside and Alamo Road
Unnamed street midway between Tower Road and Border Road
3. Local Roads: All streets not on the arterial or collector system.
B. New Developments:
1. New developments shall provide rights of way that are in line with existing arterial and collector streets even if the arterial or collector is not currently developed or dedicated on adjacent properties. (Ord. 87-09, 3-3-1987)
2. The rights of way in all new developments and the design specifications for all streets within the City and its statutorial jurisdiction shall be as set out in subsection 11-3-4J of this Code. (Ord. 2-18-97A, 2-18-1997)
3. Roadway standards shall be as follows measured from back of curb to back of curb:
Arterials | 64 feet | |
Collectors | 52 feet | |
Locals | 32 feet |
(Ord. 87-09, 3-3-1987; amd. Ord. 2-18-97A, 2-18-1997)
C. Thoroughfare Map: The City Engineer shall develop an official thoroughfare map indicating the above designated streets and the required rights of way. (Ord. 87-09, 3-3-1987)
A. Encroachments Prohibited: Except for typical paved driveways or other common improvements, e.g., mailboxes, etc., no person may erect, construct, or permit to place any structure, obstruction, fence/wall (or portion thereof), or other private object(s), in public rights of way (ROW), streets, or alleys owned or controlled by the City of Alamo, Texas.
B. Exceptions: The City may issue building permits granting exceptions to the above through the City of Alamo’s Board of Commissioners. During this application process of requesting encroachment of private improvements on/over public ROW, it is expected that the city will discuss, dissect, and discern what is in the City’s best interests; but being allowed to factor in unique private conditions that, should the permit be issued, would improve the personal circumstances of the applicant; though for a limited period of approved tenure.
C. Definition of Applicant: Applicant means the person making application for a building permit hereunder.
D. Application for Permit:
1. The applicant for the building permit shall submit to the City’s Community Planning and Development (CPD) Department the completed building permit application along with detailed plans and specifications as are necessary to fully explain the intent of the private improvement; accompanied by a written summary on why it is perceived as ‘needed’-r and also stating that if it is not approved, what would the repercussions be. The filing of such application requires a permit administration processing fee of $75 (non-refundable).
2. Should the proposed private improvements affect drainage in any degree, then said plans, specifications and application must conclusively show, or substantially show, that the proposed private improvements will in no way interfere with the City of Alamo’s public use or purpose of its right of way, street, or alley.
E. (Conditional) Approval Board of Commissioners shall then approve or reject the permit, or modify the plans and specifications to allow a permit to be conditionally issued.
F. Permit Fee: If the permit is (conditionally) granted, the applicant shall pay the building permit fee pursuant to the typical permit fee rate schedule, as if it was to be on private property. However, if there is no set fee for the unique private improvement, then the fee shall be not less than $50 nor more than $200 (dependent on its scope), as determined by the CPD Director.
G. If the building permit is conditionally approved, the CPD Director shall then inform the applicant within 2 working days after action is taken of the City’s terms of approval, inclusive of any encumbrance agreement (or similar document such as a Hold Harmless Agreement where the City of Alamo is indemnified) that needs to be signed, notarized, and/or recorded at the County of Hidalgo with recording costs fully borne by the applicant.
H. Terms and Conditions: The permit shall be subject to the following non all- inclusive list of terms and conditions:
1. If applicable, the applicant will provide adequate traffic-safety protection measures before, during, and if necessary, after the work involved is completed; such measures will be discussed and agreed-upon with the Public Works Department before the work commences. Compliance monitoring by the City of Alamo will be expected; if violation is evident, immediate compliance will be imposed. Should continued disobedience be evident and documented, then the CPD Director may suspend the permit, but understanding that said permit be reinstated upon clear compliance efforts.
2. Issuance of a permit grants the applicant permission to work within the right of way, street, or alley, or other public place, for the purpose of building/erecting a private improvement. It is always the inherent duty and responsibility of the applicant or his agents to contact all utility companies to determine the location of all utility lines that may be affected by the proposed private improvements; and to make any necessary adjustments to their scope of work to safeguard said utility infrastructure. In the event damage occurs to said lines, it is the duty and full responsibility of the applicant to immediately pay for the repair work involved, as determined by the affected utility company, including any and all punitive/administrative/legal costs involved.
3. Any damage to the right of way, street, or alley shall be repaired by the City but the applicant shall immediately reimburse the City for the materials cost thereof; and inclusive of calculated administrative costs, equipment costs, labor costs, plus any other associated costs involved.
4. Maintenance of the permitted private improvements on public ROW shall be the sole and perpetual responsibility of the applicant. The City of Alamo shall not be responsible, in any degree, for any private improvement’s repair and upkeep. Permitted private improvements shall and must always be properly maintained by the applicant at all times.
5. All private work approved by the building permit, once issued, shall be completed within ninety (90) calendar days from the date of issuance, though the CPD Director may factor-in documented inclement weather days to fairly provide for its completion.
6. If the private work done, as approved by the building permit interferes and/or hampers with the City’s right of way, street or alley maintenance and/or construction, the applicant, the authorized agent, and/or his successors shall remove the private improvement(s) at his expense; and return the public property’s condition back in a like manner as it was before construction, or in a better condition than before the work involved.
7. All work authorized by the approved building permit shall be done during dry weather.
8. All pre-existing trees and shrubbery shall remain undisturbed, but unnecessary native shrubbery may be removed under the authorized supervision of the City. Any shrubbery removed must be disposed of, and will not be authorized to be re-planted or sold for private purposes.
9. Upon completion of the approved private work, the applicant shall remove all excess earth and debris; and leave the right of way in a neat, clean condition.
I. Term of Permit: All permits shall be valid for no longer than six (6) months; work must commence within three (3) months; and be fully complete within the 6-month validation tenure. The CPD Director is authorized to provide one extension period of no more than three (3) consecutive months; after this period, there will be no further extensions wherein if the work is not completed, then the permit is automatically revoked.
J. Revocation of Permit:
1. The permit may be revoked at any time by the City for just cause which is (photo) documented. Such revocation will be tendered by the CPD Director; although he/she may, if deemed necessary, first confer with the City Manager’s office for direction.
2. Failure of the applicant or his/her agent(s) to comply with any of the City’s requirements and imposed conditions shall automatically void such permit; especially after the City alerted the applicant/agent of its non-compliant circumstance.
3. At any time the permit is no longer valid, the applicant and/or his agent(s) shall immediately replace and repair City’s the right of way, street and alley to the condition in which it was at the time of issuance of the permit; or the City may perform such work and the applicant must immediately pay the City the cost of such repair. The city will not be responsible for any incidental during such demobilization efforts.
K. Penalties: The violation or breach by any person of any condition or subsection of this Section shall be subject to penalty as provided in Section 1-4-1
of this Code. Each day in which a violation or breach occurs may be considered a separate offense. (Ord. 536; 1994 Code; amd. Ord. 140-10-24, 10-15-2024)
A. Prohibited Advertisements: It shall be unlawful for any person to throw on any street in the City, or nail or tack upon the board or telephone or electric light pole on any street, sidewalk or alley in the City, or distribute in automobiles or other vehicles which may be parked on any streets, any form of advertising. (Ord. 26, 7-3-26)
B. Penalty: Any person violating the terms of this Section shall, upon conviction, be subject to penalty as provided in Section 1-4-1 of this Code. (Ord. 26, 7-3-26; 1994 Code)
A. When a request is made by a property owner, their agent, or assigned representative to have the City of Alamo consider, in essence, conveying a portion of its public right-of-way (ROW) to a private party, the following process shall be activated:
1. Any request for partial ROW conveyance shall be done in a completed and signed application form; said application form being provided by the City of Alamo. A property owner may attach an additional, but brief, narrative citing the reason(s) why they desire the surplus ROW, or other relevant data thereto. Due to several department directors needing to perform extensive file and field research of such requests, it is reasonable to levy a nominal application fee of fifty dollars ($50.00) to activate the examination process. This fee is non-refundable. It is further stated that the City shall not be responsible to reimburse any applicant for any incidental cost(s) incurred during any tenure of this process should he/she suspend, terminate, or cancel the process.
2. The written request shall then be fully examined by City Staff, including the Planning Director, the Public Works Director, the City Engineer, and the City Manager or his/her designee. The examination may include visiting with the inquiring party at the site, and may also include discussing the matter with other utility franchise holders that may have a subsurface interest in the subject ROW.
3. It is hereby declared that the City Manager or his/her designee shall be integral to the ROW Conveyance Process and Policy; and as such, is hereby delegated the authority to act justly on behalf of the Board of Commissioners to pursue the needed and negotiating tasks incidental to this policy's approved requests. It is further ordained that on all conveyance applications, the City Manager's office or his/her designee shall submit an annual report to the Board of Commissioners with Staff's specified justifications to either approve or deny the request. The report, reflecting full transparency and accountability, shall be provided within the first quarter of each calendar year at a regular meeting of the Board of Commissioners. If there are no requests for partial ROW conveyance in the previous reporting year, then Management shall so indicate this in his/her annual report.
4. Criteria that shall be considered by the City in the vetting process shall include, but not be limited to, the following: confirming that the subject property is indeed recorded and publicly dedicated right-of-way; location of any existing utility infrastructure; the likelihood of still needing the ROW for city services; the location of existing utility lines of legitimate franchise holders; or other similar or potential uses. Staff shall always be cognizant of what is in the city's best interests in such deliberations. In this regard, it is firmly noted that in no case shall any ROW be considered for conveyance if doing so will land-lock any adjoining properties; or severely constrain public access onto said adjoiners. Also, if the full ROW of a 'paper street' (a recorded street ROW but not paved/developed as such) is requested by only one of the adjoining property owners, the City shall first confer with the other adjoiner to ascertain their interest (or not) on possible conveyance. If there is an interest by the other adjoining party to purchase, then this may also be considered by the City of Alamo in its examination.
5. After City Staff has concluded their internal assessment and a consensus on the merits of the requested conveyance, the applicant shall be informed, in writing, of the City's verdict.
a. Not Favored; Right To Appeal: If the verdict is to 'not convey', then the applicant can accept the decision; or he/she may desire to appeal the matter to the Board of Commissioners. Any and all appeals shall be in writing with the applicant's justification as to why he/she feels that such a denial is un-just and would not jeopardize the city's best interests. The fee to file an appeal shall be a non-refundable fee of twenty-five dollars ($25.00). Once a written and complete appeal is received, the matter will be presented to the Board of Commissioners for their review, assessment, and final action. If the Board of Commissioners sustains the appeal, the Board shall specify the conditions of conveyance. If the Board denies the appeal, the matter is closed. No denied appeal shall be reconsidered by the Board of Commissioners until twenty-four (24) consecutive months shall have first elapsed.
b. Favored: If the verdict by staff is 'to convey', then the following measures shall be conditions of all approved conveyances:
(1) The applicant shall be informed that the City's ROW is a (taxpayer) real estate asset to be purchased on a square footage basis. The selling price shall be thirty percent (30%) of the HCAD-appraised price/square foot of the applicants' adjoining property (improvements not factored-in). The property's real estate appraised value per square foot that will be used shall be identical as shown on the most prevailing Hidalgo County Appraisal District's (HCAD's) records. This thirty percent (30%) of the appraised value shall be the selling price, regardless if a utility easement, or other encumbrance, is conditionally imposed on the surplus ROW.
(2) The applicant shall be informed that if there are delinquent ad valorem city taxes (in arrears) applicable to his/her subject property wherein the surplus ROW tract would abut, then all due property taxes shall first be paid prior to any deed of conveyance is recorded. This required condition shall be expressed in the Application form; thus, attesting full disclosure and agreement by the applicant to abide thereby.
(3) The applicant shall privately engage a Registered Public Land Surveyor (RPLS) to provide a hard-copy survey map with accompanying signed/sealed metes and bounds description. The RPLS and the applicant shall meet with a duly authorized City Staff representative in the field to properly coordinate and confirm the extent of agreed conveyance.
(4) There will be legal fees incurred for correlating legal services during the transaction process. As such, these costs will be borne by the applicant. In this regard, the City Manager or his/her designee shall provide the applicant with an estimated cost for the City Attorney's service fees. This may be considered as an (initial) invoice. The applicant is to pre-pay for the city's legal services in their quest for requested conveyance; thus, the applicant shall pay the entire amount of the invoice prior to the city activating the next step, being sub-section 5 below. If this service fee is not pre-paid, the process shall be held in abeyance until full payment is received by certified check or money order. If no payment is received within one-hundred and twenty (120) calendar days from having received the estimated legal costs, then the matter will be officially 'closed'. Any desire to resurrect the same lapsed request shall require the applicant to start anew.
(5) Once the RPLS documents are provided to the City Manager's office in three (3) hard copies and one (1) electronic file format, they will be reviewed as to authenticity and accuracy, and in consultation with various department directors. If in order, then the City will prepare the final conveyance deed instrument. In promoting a streamlined process, the City Manager's Office is highly encouraged to prepare and use any administrative form(s) necessary to complete this conveyance process; and to structure same in the most economical way possible for all parties involved.
(6) In the conveyance deed instrument, it is hereby declared that the City of Alamo shall always have the inherent right to reserve most, if not all, of the property being conveyed as a public utility easement. Furthermore, other reasonable measures may also be imposed to retain and maximize the city's best interests; such measures may include, but not be limited to, a specified fence setback; a specified front setback (e.g., as to an open carport, etc.); not having a permanent structure thereon (as to residential occupancy); imposing indemnification unto the City for (non-living) structures; requiring hold harmless protection unto the City and its franchise holders to continue using the reserved easement but who may incidentally damage private improvements by needful maintenance and/or replacement of buried infrastructure, etc. In benefit to the applicant, the City of Alamo hereby exempts conveyed surplus ROW tracts from the subdivision process should said surplus tract only have minor non-occupancy structures, such as an open carport. However, should there ever be a circumstance where there will be a structure on the conveyed tract where part or all of it will include a living area, then the subdivision ordinance will be fully complied with prior to building permit issuance.
(7) Should surplus ROW be conveyed to an applicant who does not (yet) hold a clear title of his/her adjoining property, i.e., the property has a primary lien from a financial institution, the conveyed surplus ROW property shall revert immediately back to the City of Alamo, Texas once the foreclosure is completed. It is declared that any private structure(s) that may be existing on the City's re-gained right-of-way tract shall be the property of the City of Alamo as incidental collateral. The City of Alamo, through the City Manager's Office, may undertake reasonable and fair measures to convey said structures to others, inclusive of the new 'owner' of the foreclosed abutting property.
(8) In general, no surplus ROW tract shall be conveyed without an explicit legal provision of having a driveway access easement perpetually encumbered thereon.
(9) Once the deed instrument is administratively finalized, it will be provided to the applicant who shall be given ample opportunity to review it and/or forward it to his/her legal counsel. Once the applicant has satisfactorily vetted the deed instrument, it may be executed by the appropriate parties.
(10) Once the deed document is executed by the notarized signature(s), the City will hold the signed document until all pending city fees, and/or delinquent city taxes, if any, have been fully paid. This shall include recording fees, postage fees, any lingering reimbursement service fees, etc. Once the City is satisfied that all fees have been paid, the deed instrument shall be sent to the County of Hidalgo for recordation.
(Ord. 18-04-21, - -2021; amd. Ord. 77-1-24, 1-16-2024)
The Board of Commissioners hereby delegates its authority to the office of the City Manager to review proposals by property owners desiring to dedicate public ways in the form of public utility easements and/or Right-of-ways; and if such requests are deemed to be in the City of Alamo’s best interests, then the City Manager is hereby authorized and empowered to accept said proposals as ROW and/or public easements. The City Manager is expected to consult with the City’s consulting engineering firm and/or the Planning Director to help discern the interest involved. If the proposal is determined to ‘not’ be in the city’s best interests, then the request will be ‘Denied1 with the owner/agent being promptly informed; whereafter, should the owner and/or agent desire to present their proposal directly to the Board of Commissioners, then a filing fee of $50 shall be paid prior to the item appearing on the Commission’s agenda. The Board of Commissioners will then review the proposal, and their action shall be final and conclusive. The Board of Commissioners expresses that this delegation of ‘Acceptance’ authority bestowed to the City Manager’s Office shall be deemed retroactive to previous acceptance actions by former or the current City Manager to ROWs and/or public easements already dedicated of which the City is the steward thereof. (Ord. 137-10-2024, 10-1-2024)