If the required repair or demolition has not been commenced within 15 days from the date of any notice served pursuant to this subchapter, or if required action has not been completed within 90 days or as required by such notice, the Building Official shall commence proceedings as follows:
(A) The Building Official shall cause such building to be vacated by posting at each entrance thereto a notice reading:
SUBSTANDARD BUILDING
It is a Misdemeanor to Occupy this Building
or to Remove or Deface this Notice
Building Official
Town of Lakeside, Texas
(B) The City Council shall be notified and requested to consider holding a public hearing to decide whether to order the repair, removal or demolition specified in such notice to be done and whether to cause the cost of such work to be paid and levied as a special assessment against the property.
(C) The City Council may set a date and time for a public hearing to consider ordering the improvement and assessment of any property the owner has failed to improve as required by notices described in this subchapter. Such public hearing shall be held not less than 15 nor more than 60 days from the date such hearing is set.
(D) (1) A title search shall be conducted to discover each owner, mortgagee and lienholder, and notice of the public hearing to be held before the City Council shall be given by causing a notice thereof to be served on the owner of such property and upon each mortgagee and lienholder having an interest in the building or in the property on which the building is located. A diligent search shall be made by searching the following records:
(a) County real property records;
(b) Appraisal district records;
(c) Records of the Secretary of State;
(d) Assumed name records of the county;
(e) Tax records of the city; and
(f) Utility records of the city.
(2) Such notice shall be mailed to such owner, mortgagee and lienholder by certified mail, return receipt requested. The notice shall include the date, time and place of such hearing and shall state that the owner, lienholder or mortgagee will be required to submit proof of the scope of any work that may be required to comply with this subchapter and the time it will take to reasonably perform the work together with:
(a) The name and address of the record owner;
(b) The street address of the premises;
(c) An identification, which is not required to be a legal description, of the building and the property on which it is located;
(d) A description of the violation of city standards that is present at the building; and
(e) A statement that the city will vacate, secure, remove, or demolish the building or relocate the occupants of the building if the ordered action is not taken within a reasonable time.
(E) The Town Secretary shall, at the time notices are mailed, file a notice of the hearing in the County Clerk’s office, stating the name and address of the owner, if such can be determined, and a legal description of the land, and stating the purpose, time and place of the hearing.
(F) After conducting a hearing authorized under this section, if the Council finds that the allegations are true, the Council shall require the owner, lienholder, or mortgagee of the building to, within 30 days:
(1) Secure the building from unauthorized entry; or
(2) Repair, remove, or demolish the building, unless the owner or lienholder establishes at the hearing that the work cannot reasonably be performed within 30 days.
(G) If the Council allows the owner, lienholder, or mortgagee more than 30 days to repair, remove, or demolish the building, the Council shall establish specific time schedules for the commencement and performance of the work and shall require the owner, lienholder, or mortgagee to secure the property in a reasonable manner from unauthorized entry while the work is being performed, as determined by the Council.
(H) The owner, lienholder, or mortgagee shall not be allowed more than 90 days to repair, remove, or demolish the building or fully perform all work required to comply with the order unless the owner, lienholder, or mortgagee:
(1) Submits a detailed plan and time schedule for the work at the hearing; and
(2) Establishes at the hearing that the work cannot reasonably be completed within 90 days because of the scope and complexity of the work.
(I) If the Council allows the owner, lienholder, or mortgagee more than 90 days to complete any part of the work required to repair, remove, or demolish the building, the owner, lienholder, or mortgagee shall be required to regularly submit progress reports to the city to demonstrate that the owner, lienholder, or mortgagee has complied with the time schedules established for commencement and performance of the work. The order may require that the owner, lienholder, or mortgagee appear before the Council or its designee to demonstrate compliance with the time schedules.
(J) In a public hearing to determine whether a building complies with the standards set out in this subchapter, the owner, lienholder, or mortgagee has the burden of proof to demonstrate the scope of any work that may be required to comply with this subchapter and the time it will take to reasonably perform the work. The Council shall specify a reasonable time for the building to be vacated, secured, repaired, removed or demolished by the owner or for the occupants to be relocated by the owner and an additional reasonable time for the ordered action to be taken by the mortgagees or lienholders in the event the owner fails to comply with the order within the time provided for action by the owner.
(K) The Council’s requirement shall be reduced to writing and shall be considered an order. Within ten days after the date that the order is issued, the City Secretary shall:
(1) File a copy of the order in the office of the municipal secretary or clerk; and
(2) Publish in a newspaper of general circulation in the municipality in which the building is located a notice containing:
(a) The street address or legal description of the property;
(b) The date of the hearing;
(c) A brief statement indicating the results of the order; and
(d) Instructions stating where a complete copy of the order may be obtained.
(L) After the hearing, the City Secretary shall promptly mail by certified mail, return receipt requested, a copy of the order to the owner of the building, and if the owner does not take the ordered action within the allotted time, the municipality shall promptly mail by certified mail, return receipt requested, a copy of the order to any lienholder or mortgagee of the building.
(Ord. 418, passed 5-13-2021)