Ord. 0633-3 01-16-12 - Supp 5ORDINANCE NO. 633-3
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF
PEARLAND, TEXAS, AMENDING CHAPTER 13, HEALTH AND
SANITATION, OF THE CITY OF PEARLAND CODE OF
ORDINANCES, AS IT MAY HAVE BEEN, FROM TIME TO TIME,
AMENDED, TO AMEND SECTION 13-17, ENTITLED
UNSANITARY OR HAZARDOUS CONDITIONS UNLAWFUL;
HAVING A SAVINGS CLAUSE, A SEVERABILITY CLAUSE,
AND A REPEALER CLAUSE; AND PROVIDING FOR
CODIFICATION AND AN EFFECTIVE DATE; AND DECLARING
AN EMERGENCY BECAUSE THE NEED TO REGULATE
HEALTH AND SANITATION INURES TO THE BENEFIT OF THE
PUBLIC AND, THEREFORE, BEARS DIRECTLY UPON THE
HEALTH, SAFETY AND WELFARE OF THE CITIZENRY.
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PEARLAND,
TEXAS:
Section 1. That Article II, Offensive Conditions, of Chapter 13, Health
and Sanitation, of the City of Pearland Code of Ordinances, is hereby amended
to AMEND Section 13-17, entitled Unsanitary or Hazardous Conditions Unlawful,
to read as follows:
"Sec. 13-17. Unsanitary or hazardous conditions unlawful.
(a) Weeds.
(1) A person, owner, tenant, agent or person responsible for any
premises, occupied or unoccupied, commits an offense if said
person permits or allows weeds to grow on the premises to a
greater height than twelve (12) inches. Said premises shall include,
but not be limited to, the parkway between sidewalk and the curb;
the right-of-way between any fence, wall or barrier and the curb or
pavement if such exists or the center line of said right-of-way; or the
area between a fence, wall or barrier and within any abutting
drainage channel easement to the top of such channel closest to
the property.
(2) It shall be a defense to subsection (a)(1) that such vegetation upon
such property is actually being used for agricultural purposes.
ORDINANCE NO. 633-3
(3)
With respect to uncultivated agricultural properties or tracts of land
that contain no structures used or designed for human occupancy
for residential or commercial purposes, a person, owner, tenant,
agent or person responsible for such property commits an offense if
said person permits or allows weeds to grow to greater height than
twenty-four (24) inches within fifty (50) feet from any adjacent
property under different ownership or any street right-of-way.
However, on cultivated agricultural properties where the distance
between the growing crop and abutting property under different
ownership or street right-of-way is less than fifty (50) feet, the
person, owner, tenant, agent or person responsible for such
property commits an offense if said person permits or allows weeds
to grow to a greater height than twelve (12) inches.
(b) Offensive vegetation. It shall be unlawful for any owner, tenant, lessee,
agent, or occupant of any premises to permit any vegetation to grow,
regardless of height, upon such premises owned, leased, occupied, or
controlled by such person, so that such vegetation becomes offensive or
emits foul or noxious odors, or becomes a breeding place for flies or
insects, or becomes in any way injurious to the public health.
(c) Swimming pools. A person, owner, tenant, agent or person responsible
for any premises, occupied or unoccupied, commits an offense if said
person maintains a swimming pool in a manner that creates an unsanitary
condition likely to attract or harbor mosquitoes, rodents, vermin, or
disease -carrying pests.
(d) Rubbish. A person, owner, tenant, agent or person responsible for any
premises, occupied or unoccupied, commits an offense if said person
keeps, stores, or accumulates thereon rubbish, including newspapers,
abandoned vehicles, refrigerators, stoves, furniture, tires, and cans, on
said premises for ten (10) days or more, unless the rubbish is completely
enclosed in a building and not visible from a public street or the premises
is lawfully operated as a landfill.
(e) Insects. A person, owner, tenant, agent or person responsible for any
premises, occupied or unoccupied, commits an offense if said person
permits or allows upon those premises
(1) a condition or place that is a breeding place for flies; or
(2) a collection of water that is a breeding place for mosquitoes.
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ORDINANCE NO. 633-3
(f)
Unsanitary conditions. A person, owner, tenant, agent or person
responsible for any premises, occupied or unoccupied, commits an
offense if said person maintains those premises in a manner that creates
an unsanitary condition likely to attract or harbor mosquitoes, rodents,
vermin, or disease -carrying pests."
Section 2. Declaration of Emergency. The Council finds and
determines that the need to regulate the maintenance of swimming pools and to
tighten the restrictions on weeds inures to the benefit of the public and, therefore,
bears directly upon the health, safety and welfare of the citizenry; and that this
Ordinance shall be adopted as an emergency measure, and that the rule
requiring this Ordinance to be read on two (2) separate occasions be, and the
same is hereby waived.
Section 3. Savings. All rights and remedies which have accrued in
favor of the City under this Ordinance and amendments thereto shall be and are
preserved for the benefit of the City.
Section 4. Severability. If any section, subsection, sentence, clause,
phrase or portion of this Ordinance is for any reason held invalid, unconstitutional
or otherwise unenforceable by any court of competent jurisdiction, such portion
shall be deemed a separate, distinct, and independent provision and such
holding shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions thereof.
Section 5. Repealer. All ordinances and parts of ordinances in conflict
herewith are hereby repealed but only to the extent of such conflict.
Section 6. Codification. It is the intent of the City Council of the City of
Pearland, Texas, that the provisions of this Ordinance shall be codified in the
City's official Code of Ordinances as provided hereinabove.
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ORDINANCE NO. 633-3
Section 7. Effective Date. The City Secretary shall cause this
Ordinance, or its caption and penalty, to be published in the official newspaper of
the City of Pearland, upon passage of such Ordinance. The Ordinance shall
then become effective on February 1, 2012.
PASSED and APPROVED on FIRST AND ONLY READING this the 16th
day of January, A.D., 2012.
ATTEST:
APPROVED AS TO FORM
DARRIN M. COKER
CITY ATTORNEY
TOM REID
MAYOR
VOTING RECORD FIRST AND ONLY READING
January 16, 2012
Voting "Aye" - Councilmembers Owens, Sherman,
Thompson and Sherrouse.
Voting "No" - None.
Motion passes 4 to 0, with Councilmember Harris
absent.
PUBLICATION DATE: January 18, 2012
EFFECTIVE DATE: February 1, 2012
PUBLISHED AS REQUIRED BY SECTION 3.10
OFTHE CHARTER OF THE CITY OF
PEARLAND, TEXAS
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