(A) The City Council hereby establishes procedures for the abatement and removal of a junked vehicle or a part of a junked vehicle as a public nuisance, from private property, public property, or public rights-of-way.
(B) The City Administrator or other designee of the City Council shall provide not less than ten days' notice stating the nature of the public nuisance on private property, that it must be removed and abated within ten days, and that a request for a hearing must be made before expiration of the ten-day period. The notice shall be personally delivered, sent by certified mail with a five-day return requested, or delivered by the United States Postal Service with signature confirmation service to the last known registered owner of the junked vehicle, each lienholder of record of the junked vehicle, and the owner or occupant of the premises on which the junked vehicle is located, or if the junked vehicle is on a public right-of-way, the property adjacent to location on the right-of-way. If any 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 11 days after the date of the return. If the post office address of the last known registered owner of the junked vehicle is unknown, notice shall be placed on the junked vehicle.
(C) A public hearing shall be held before the removal of the junked vehicle. The hearing shall be held before the City Council or its designee, if a hearing is requested by a person to whom notice is required to be given within ten days after service of notice to abate the nuisance. At the hearing, the junked vehicle shall be presumed to be inoperable unless demonstrated otherwise by the owner of the junked vehicle.
(1) A resolution or order requiring the removal of a junked vehicle that is a motor vehicle must include a description of the vehicle and the correct identification number and license number of the vehicle, and the license plate number, if the information is available at the site of the junked vehicle.
(2) A resolution or order requiring the removal of a junked vehicle that is an aircraft must include a description of the vehicle and the federal aircraft identification number as described by Federal Aviation Administration aircraft registration regulations in 14 C.F.R. Part 47, if the information is available at the site of the junked vehicle.
(3) A resolution or order requiring the removal of a junked vehicle that is a watercraft must include a description of the vehicle and the identification number, as set forth in the watercraft's certificate number, if the information is available at the site of the junked vehicle.
(D) The City Administrator or other designee of the City Council shall give notice to the State Department of Transportation not later than the fifth day after the date of removal. The notice shall identify the vehicle. The department shall immediately cancel the certificate of title to the vehicle pursuant to the Certificate of Title Act (Tex. Transportation Code, Ch. 501).
(E) The requirements of this section shall not apply to a vehicle 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 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.
(F) The procedures set forth in this chapter shall be administered by regularly salaried, full-time employees of the city, except that the removal of a vehicle or vehicle part from property may be by any duly authorized person.
(G) A junked vehicle shall not be reconstructed or made operable after abatement and removal of the junked vehicle pursuant to this chapter.
(Ord. 130521-C, passed 5-21-2013)