Loading...
Ordinance 1972-02 ORDINANCE NO. 7 ;l-~> 2 AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF WYLIE, TEXAS, PROVIDING FOR DEFINITIONS~ PROVIDING FOR IMPOUNDMENT OF ABANDONED MOTOR VEHICLES; PROVIDING FOR NOTIFICATION TO OWNER AND LIENHOLDERS; PROVIDING FOR PUBLIC AUCTION OR DISPOSAL; DECLARING JUNKED VEHI- CLES A PUBLIC NUISANCE; PROVIDING FOR NOTICE TO ABATE A PUBLIC NUISANCE; REQUIRING A PUBLIC HEARING; PROVIDING THAT JUNKED VEHICLES BE NOT RECONSTRUCTED OR MADE OPERABLE; REQUIRING NOTICE TO TEXAS HIGHWAY DEPARTMENT; PROVIDING FOR EXCEPTIONS; PROVIDING FOR ADMINISTRATION BY CITY EMPLOYEES; AUTHORITY TO DISPOSE OF JUNKED VEHICLES AND ENFORCE ORDINANCE; PROVIDING FOR REPEAL OF ALL ORDINANCES IN CONFLICT AND DECLARING AN EMERGENCY. BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF WYLIE, TEXAS: SECTION 1. An abandoned motor vehicle is defined as a motor vehicle that is inoperable and over eight (8) years old and is left unattended on public property for 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. A junked vehicle means any motor vehicle as defined in Section 1 of Article 827a, Vernon's Texas Penal Code, as amended, which is inoperative and which does not have lawfully affixed thereto both an unexpired license plate or plates and a valid motor vehicle safety inspection certificate and which is wrecked; dis- mantled; partially dismantled; or discarded. SECTION 2. The Police Department is hereby authorized to take into custody any abandoned motor vehicle found on public or private property. SECTION 3. Upon the impoundment of an abandoned motor vehicle under Section 2, the Police Department shall notify with- in ten (10) days thereof, by certified mail, return-receipt-re- quested, the last known registered owner and all lienholders of record shown on the certificate of title that the vehicle has been taken into custody. Such notice shall describe the year, make, model, and serial number of the vehicle; set forth the location where the vehicle is being held, inform the owner and/or lienholders of their right to reclaim the motor vehicle within twenty (20) days after the date of the notice upon payment of all towing, preservation and storage charges resulting from placing the vehicle in custody. The notice shall further state that the failure of the owner or lienholders to exercise their right to reclaim the vehicle within the time provided shall be deemed a waiver by the owner and all lienholders of all right, title and interest in the vehicle and their consent to the sale of the abandoned vehicle at a public auction. In the alternative, if the owner or lienholder cannot be found or determined, such notice shall be published one time in the official newspaper of the City and the same time limits shall apply. Multiple list- ings of abandoned vehicles may be published in such notice. SECTION 4. If the vehicle is not reclaimed as provid- ed in Section 3, the Police Department shall sell the abandoned vehicle at a public auction. The purchaser thereof shall take title to the motor vehicle free and clear of all liens and claims of ownership, shall receive a sales receipt from the Police Depart- ment and shall be entitled to register the purchased vehicle and receive a certificate of title. The Police Department shall reimburse itself from the proceeds of the sale for the expenses of the auction, the cost of towing, preserving and storing the vehicle, together with all notice and publication costs incurred. (2) Any excess remaining from the proceeds of such sale shall be held for the owner of the vehicle or the entitled lienholder for ninety (90) days, and then shall be deposited in a special fund of the City which shall remain available for the payment of future auction, towing, preserving, storage and all notice and publication costs, whenever the proceeds from a sale of such other abandoned motor vehicles are insufficient to meet such costs. SECTION 5. Junked vehicles which are located in any place where they are visible from a public place or a public right-of-way, except as hereinafter provided, are declared to be public nuisances and the Police Department of the City of Wylie is hereby authorized to abate such nuisances on the terms and conditions hereinafter provided. SECTION 6. Upon complaint or upon its own initia- tive, the Police Department may initiate appropriate official action to remove and abate a public nuisance in the nature of a junked vehicle. Upon the initiation of action, the owner or occupant of the premises whereupon the public nuisance exists shall be notified by certified mail with a five-day return- receipt-requested that the nuisance exists, that it must be removed and abated within ten (10) days of the receipt of such notice or that a request for a hearing must be made by said owner or occupant before the expiration of the ten (10) day period from the receipt of notice. Should the notice be returned undelivered by the Post Office, further official action to abate the nuisance shall be continued to a date not less than ten (10) days from the date of such return. SECTION 7. Upon request by the owner or occupant of the premises, a public hearing shall be held before the Municipal Court of the City of Wylie for determination of the existence (3) of a junked vehicJe as a public nuisance and for the purpose of entering an order requiring the removal of the same if found to be so. The Judge of the Municipal Court shall be the designated official to make such determination and upon the finding that the vehicle is a junked vehicle and constitutes a public nuisance, he shall enter an order requiring the removal of the vehicle or a part thereof and shall in such order describe the vehicle, in- cluding the correct identification number and license number. SECTION 8. When the junked vehicle is declared a public nuisance by such official and is ordered to be removed, it shall not thereafter be reconstructed or made operable. SECTION 9. Notice shall be given to the Texas High- way Department by the Wylie Police Department within five (5) days after the date of the removal as ordered by the official. Such notice shall identify the vehicle or a part thereof which was removed. SECTION 10. The provisions of this ordinance shall not apply to a vehicle or a part thereof which is completely enclosed within a building in a lawful manner where it is not visible from the street or other public or private property nor shall it apply to a vehicle or a part thereof which is stored or parked in a lawful manner on private property in connection with the business of a licensed vehicle dealer or a junk yard. SECTION II. The provisions of this ordinance shall be carried out and enforced by regularly salaried, full-time employees of the City, except that the removal of vehicles or parts thereof from property may be done by any other duly authorized person, including persons with whom the City may at the time of the passage of this Ordinance or hereinafter have a valid contract for the removal of such vehicles. SECTION 12. Junked vehicles may be disposed of by removal to a scrap yard, demolishers or any other suitable site. (4) Persons authorized under this Ordinance and by direction of the City Council may enter upon private property for the purposes specified in this Ordinance to examine vehicles or parts thereof, obtain information as to the identity of vehicles and remove or cause the removal of vehicles or parts thereof declared to be a nuisance by the Judge of the Municipal Court. SECTION 13. All Ordinances of the City of Wylie in conflict herewith are repealed. Such repeal shall apply specifically but not be limited to Ordinance Number 71-7 SECTION 14. The fact that Article 1436-3 of Vernon's Annotated Penal Code is in conflict with the Ordinances of the City, thereby rendering said Ordinances invalid, creates an urgency and an emergency in the preservation of the public health, safety and welfare and requires that this Ordinance take effect immediately from and after its passage. DULY PASSED by the City Council of th,e City of Wylie, Texas, on this <I '! da y 0 f /f 0'.' ./ p;;?' // /;l> " / / I :"'~';".I , I 1972. APPROVED: " I ( >;, l ",f,.I, ; 1> ~"- -\.. 1 MAYO~RL / " DULY RECORDED: ~t_~ IT , T Y (5)