(a) In this section:
(1) DIRECTOR means the director of the department designated by the city manager to enforce and administer this section or the director’s authorized representative.
(2) PREMISES means the lot, plot, or parcel of land, plus the front or side parkway between the property line or sidewalk and the curb or traveled way, and the rear or side parkway between the property line and the center line of an adjacent alley.
(b) An owner, occupant, or person in control of private premises commits an offense if he places, deposits, or throws; permits to accumulate; or permits or causes to be placed, deposited, or thrown, solid waste material on those premises in a manner or location that is in violation of this article.
(c) City authorized to collect and remove solid waste materials. Upon the failure of the owner, occupant, or person in control of private premises to comply with Subsection (b) of this section, or upon the written request and authorization of the owner after notification under Subsection (d) of this section, or upon a determination by the city health officer that the conditions constitute an immediate health hazard, the director shall have the solid waste materials collected and removed from the premises.
(d) Notice to remove.
(1) Before removing illegally-deposited solid waste material from private premises, the director must notify the owner of the premises to remove the solid waste material within seven days. This notice must be in writing and may be served by handing it to the owner in person or by sending it United States regular mail, addressed to the owner at the owner’s address as recorded in the appraisal district records of the appraisal district in which the premises are located.
(2) If personal service to the owner cannot be obtained, then the owner may be notified by:
(A) publication at least once in the official newspaper adopted by the city council;
(B) posting the notice on or near the front door of each building on the premises to which the violation relates; or
(C) posting the notice on a placard attached to a stake driven into the ground on the premises to which the violation relates.
(3) If the director mails a notice to a property owner in accordance with Subsection (d)(1) and the United States Postal Service returns the notice as “refused” or “unclaimed,” the validity of the notice is not affected, and the notice is considered as delivered.
(4) In a notice provided under this section, the director may, by regular mail and by a posting on the property, inform the owner of the property on which the violation exists that, if the owner commits another violation of the same kind or nature that poses a danger to the public health and safety on or before the first anniversary of the date of the notice, the city may, without further notice, correct the violation at the owner’s expense and then assess the expense against the property. If a violation covered by a notice under this subsection occurs within the one-year period, and the city has not been informed in writing by the owner of a change in ownership of the property, then the city may, without notice, take any action permitted by Subsection (c) of this section and assess its expenses as provided in Subsection (e) of this section.
(3) Notice under this subsection is not necessary when the solid waste material is determined by the director to be an immediate health hazard.
(e) Charge to be levied and collected by the city for solid waste material collection and removal. If the city collects and removes solid waste materials from private premises at the request of the owner or upon failure of the owner to comply with the notice required under Subsection (d) of this section, charges in the amount of the total actual costs incurred by the city in performing the work will be collected from the owner or levied, assessed, and collected against the premises on which the work is performed. The charges will be collected by the city controller. The city controller shall file a statement by the director with the county clerk of the county in which the property is located setting out the total actual costs incurred by the city, the name of the property owner if known, and a legal description of the property, as required by state law. At the time the statement is filed, the city shall have a privileged lien on the premises involved, second only to tax liens and liens for street improvements, in the amount of the actual costs incurred, plus 10 percent interest on that amount from the date the costs were incurred. The city may file a suit in an appropriate court of law to foreclose upon its lien and recover its actual costs incurred plus interest. The suit must be filed in the name of the city. The statement filed under this subsection, or a certified copy of the statement, is prima facie proof of the amount of actual costs incurred by the city.
(f) The director may issue citations and prosecute persons for violating Subsection (b) regardless of whether a notice is issued under this section. (Ord. Nos. 16367; 17226; 19963; 20599; 21025; 22026; 22334; 22494; 25371; 27697)