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HomeMy WebLinkAboutOrdinance 99835, ORDINANCE NO. _~~ AN ORDINANCE AMENDING CHAPTER 22, "MOTOR VEHICLES AND TRAFFIC," OF THE CODE OF THE CITY OF FORT WORTH (1986), AS AMENDED, BY CHANGING CERTAIN VEHICLE WEIGHT, LENGTH AND HEIGHT RESTRICTIONS; BY EXEMPTING CERTAIN VEHICLES FROM CERTAIN REQUIREMENTS; BY CHANGING BOND AND PERMIT FEE AMOUNTS; BY PROVIDING ENFORCEMENT AUTHORITY FOR THE CITY CONSUMER AFFAIRS DIVISION; BY INSTITUTING PROVISIONS REGARDING VEHICLE WEIGHING BY CITY; MAKING 'THIS ORDINANCE CUMULATIVE OF PRIOR ORDINANCES AND REPEALING PRIOR ORDI- NANCES IN CONFLICT HEREWITH; PROVIDING A SEVERABILITY CLAUSE; PROVIDING FOR ENGROSSMENT ANU ENROLLMENT; PROVID- ING A PENALTY; PROVIDING FOR PUBLICATION; AND PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE. BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT WORTH, ~ TEXAS: SECTION 1. That Section 22-117(b) of Chapter 22 be amended to read as fol- r 1 ows : .~ "Commercial motor vehicles shall be subject to the vehicle width, length and height limitations and restrictions which are delineated in Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes, Art. 6701d-11, Sec. 3.°° SECTION 2. That Section 22-117(c) of Chapter 22 be amended by changing subsection (4) and by adding subsection (5), which subsections shall read as follows: "(4) Vehicles used exclusively to transport ready-mix con- crete may be operated upon the public streets of the city with a tandem axle load not to exceed forty- eight thousand (48,000) pounds, a single axle load not to exceed twenty thousand (20,000) pounds and a gross load not to exceed sixty-four thousand (64,000) pounds. Before any vehicle used exclusively to trans- port ready-mixed concrete with a tandem axle load in excess of thirty-four thousand (34,000) pounds may be operated upon the public streets of the city, the owner thereof shall file with the director of trans- portation a surety bond in the sum of fifteen thousand dollars ($15,000.00). Such bond shall be conditioned that the owner of such vehicle will pay to the city all damages done to the public streets and highways by reason of the operation of such vehicle with a tandem axle load in excess of thirty- four thousand (34,000) pounds. " (5 ) A limit is placed on the amount of load which may be carried by vehicle tires, according to the width in inches of the tires, as follows: (i) 650 pounds per inch, for low pressure tires; (ii) 600 pounds per inch, for hig'n pressure tires." SECTION 3. That Section 22-117(d) of Chapter 22 shall be amended by adding subsections (4) and (5), which new subsections will read as follows: "(4) Vehicles used exclusively to transport solid wastes, as defined in Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes, may be operated in accordance with Art. 6701d-19a of that statute. "(5) Vehicles used exclusively to transport milk may be operated in accordance with Art. 6701d-12a of Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes." SECTION 4. That Section 22-117(e)(1) of Chapter 22 shall be amended to read as follows: "(1) Upon written application timely made by any person who desires to operate or cause to be operated on the public streets within the city, overweight or over- size equipment for the transportation of such com- modities as cannot be reasonably dismantled, where the total gross weight or size of the vehicle and its load exceed the limits allowed by this section, the Office of Consumer Affairs, after consulting with the public works department, shall issue a permit for the operation of such equipment or fleets of equipment for a specified period of time, over a route or routes to be designated by the public works depart- ment, if such routes can be determined at the time application for the permit is made." -2- n, SECTION 5. That Section 22-117(e)(3) of Chapter 22 shall be amended to read as follows: "(3) Before a permit is issued under this section, the applicant for the same shall file with the Office of Consumer Affairs a bond in an amount to be set and approved by the public works department. The amount of such bond shall not exceed the product of the number of vehicles for which a permit is sought multiplied by fifteen thousand dollars ($15,000.00), which bond shall be payable to the city and condi- tioned that the applicant will pay to the city the sum of money necessary to repair any damage which might be occasioned to any public street or publicly owned fixture appurtenant to such street ~by virtue of operation of any commercial vehicle under such per- mit. Venue of any suit for recovery upon the bond shall be in the county and any bond issued hereunder shall contain an unambiguous contractual provision to that effect." SECTION 6. That Section 22-117(e)(4) of Chapter 22 shall be amended to read as follows: "(4) A fee shall be charged for each permit as follows: a. Overweight load - single-trip permit only - $20.00 b. Oversize load (i) Single-trip - $20.00 (ii) Not to exceed 30 days - $45.00 (iii) Not to exceed 60 days - $60.00 (iv) Not to exceed 90 days - $75.00" SECTION 7. That Section 22-118 of Chapter 22 shall be amended to read as follows: "Section 22-118. Violations. "a. It shall be unlawful for any person to operate or permit to be operated or aid in the operation of a vehicle -3- on the public streets of the City of Fort Worth in viola- tion of this article. The appropriate officials of the office of consumer affairs of the City are empowered to enforce the provisions of this article." "b. It shall be unlawful for any person to load, or cause to be loaded, a vehicle for operation on the public streets of the City of Fort Worth with the intent to vio- late the weight limitations established in this article. Intent to violate those limitations is presumed if the loaded vehicle exceeds the applicable gross vehicular weight limit by 15 percent or rnore." SECTION 8. That a new Section 22-119 shall be added to Chapter 22, to read as follows: "Section 22-119. Same; Enforcement by city; fine. "Any official of the office of consumer affairs having reason to believe that the gross weight, vehicle tire load limit or axle load of a loaded motor vehicle is unlawful, is authorized to weigh the same by means of a portable or stationary scales, and to require that such vehicle be driven to the nearest available scales for the purpose of weighing. If a vehicle is found to be in viola- tion of the weight limits set out in this article, the driver of the vehicle shall be issued a citation." ~ SECTION 9. That Section 22-120 of Chapter 22 shall read as follows: "Section 22-120. Spilling loads. "It shall be unlawful for any person to operate or cause to be operated any commercial motor vehicle on a public street in such a manner as to permit any portion of its cargo, either liquid or solid, to fall out of, spill from, or blow out of such vehicle." SECTION 10. This ordinance shall be cumulative of all provisions of ordi- nances and of the Code of the City of Fort Worth, Texas (1986), as amended, except where the provisions of this ordinance are in direct -4- conflict with the provisions of such ordinances and such Code, in which event conflicting provisions of such ordinances and such Code are hereby repealed. SECTION 11. It is hereby declared to be the intention of the City Council that the sections, paragraphs, sentences, clauses and phrases of this ordinance are severable, and if any phrase, clause, sentence, paragraph or section of this ordinance shall be declared unconstitu- tional by the valid judgment or decree of any court of competent jurisdiction, such unconstitutionality shall not affect any of the remaining phrases, clauses, sentences, paragraphs and sections of this ordinance, since the same would have been enacted by the City Council without the incorporation in this ordinance of any such unconstitutional phrase, clause, sentence, paragraph or section. SECTION 12. Any person, firm or corporation who violates, disobeys, omits, neglects or refuses to comply with or who resists the enforcement of any of the provisions of this ordinance shall be fined not more than Two Hundred Dollars ($200.00) for each offense. Each day that a vio- lation is permitted to exist shall constitute a separate offense. SECTION 13. All rights and remedies of the City of Fort Worth, Texas, are expressly saved as to any and all violations of the provisions of Chapter 22 of the Code of the City of Fort Worth (1986), as amended, -5- ~a or any other ordinances affecting vehicle weight and size limits which have accrued at the time of the effective date of this ordi- nance; and, as to such accrued violations and all pending litiga- tion, both civil and criminal, whether pending in court or not, under such ordinances, same shall not be affected by this ordinance but may be prosecuted until final disposition by the courts. SECTION 14. The City Secretary of the City of Fort Worth, Texas, is hereby authorized to publish this ordinance in pamphlet form for general distribution among the public, and the operative provisions of this ordinance as so published shall be admissible in evidence in all courts without further proof than the production thereof, as pro- vided in Chapter XXV, Section 3, of the Charter of the City of Fort Worth, Texas. SECTION 15. The City Secretary of the City of Fort Worth is hereby directed to engross and enroll this ordinance by copying the caption and Sections 12 and 17 in the minutes of the City Council and by filing the ordinance in the ordinance records of the City. SECTION 16. The City Secretary of the City of Fort Worth, 'Texas, is hereby directed to publish the caption and Sections 12 and 17 of this ordi- nance for two (2) days in the official newspaper of the City of Fort Worth, Texas, as authorized by Art. 1176b-1, Revised Civil Statutes of Texas. -6- ~ s ;.,. .r. ~ SECTION 17. This ordinance shall be in full force and effect from and after July 1, 1987, and it is so ordained. APPROVED AS TO FORM AND LEGALITY: City Attorney Date: ~~~~~~~ ADOPTED: ® ~~ EFFECTIVE: ~ -7- pc~°~ naY~ Z _, __~ pity of Fort worth, ~ex~s Tk`AMSPORTATIC'~IY~PUBifC .WQRKSd __~~ ~'~J ~ /~ /~ V~aiL-R A0114}tY1S7Ra7iG:1 d.~~y®~ ~,'~~ ~®4JW~g,/~~ ~®~U Y W IL/~Y~~~'~.W~~®~ pnilrF ~T;AINP ~®us~tag ~ w~i~i~T1 ScRVio~~ REFERENCE SUBJECT REVISION OF CHAPTER 22 AND THE PAGE NUMBER ESTABLISHMENT OF A COMMERCIAL VEHICLE ict 2 s# - G-7291 Recommendation It is recommended that the City Council adopt the attached ordinance revision Chapter 22, Section 22-117 of the Code of the City of Fort Worth, which will. 1) Establish authority for the Consumer Affairs Office 'to inspect and weigh vehicles and to issue citations for violations, 2) Establish authority for the Consumer Affairs Office to issue overweight ' and oversize permits and to have filed with the office all requi-red bonds, and 3) Amend current weight and size limits to be the same as those limits established and enforced by the State of Texas. nicruccinn During the 1986-87 budget deliberations, the Officer of Consumer Affairs requested and was assigned the task of implementing a commercial vehicle inspection program. This decision resulted from discussions regarding the damage which was occurring due to large capacity vehicles being operated on city streets and bridges far in excess of established legal limits. The problem of overloaded trucks not only financially impacted on the city through accelerated abuse and destruction of our street system but also created a safety hazard to other users of these thoroughfares due to the dangers caused when vehicles were operated while exceeding their safe operating limits. Staff proposes to establish a mobile weigh station manned by one uniformed officer, for traffic control, and two consumer products inspectors to conduct the weighings and to issue citations on weight or dimension violations. Sites will be selected based on information provided by police traffic units, Department of Transportation and Public Works personnel, staff observations and citizen complaints. Scales to be used will be certified by the Texas Department of Agriculture thereby providing court admissible data. Request for overweight and/or oversize permits will be handled through the Consumer Affairs Office in an attempt to consolidate and coordinate record keeping, equipment and personnel. Due to the fact that there has been no enforcement program within the City, it will .be necessary to promote awareness of the program and its objectives to both industry and the general public. DATE REFERENCE NUMBER SUBJECT REVISION OF CHAPTER 22 AND THE PAGE ESTABLISHMENT OF A COMMERCIAL UEHhCLE 2 of 2 10-13-87 _G=7291 - Financing This program was budgeted for in the FY 1987-88 budget, These funds are available in General Fund O1, Account No. 05-05-03, Housing and Human Services, Consumer Affairs. RG we " APPROl~~D ~Y CITY CaU~~[~ ocr x 3 leer ~.. City Secretary of the Cftp of Forc VJor;h, Toxaa ~ ~~ ~ ~ , v o _ . Adapted Ordinance SUBMITTED FOR THE CITY MANAGER'S DISPOSITION BY COUNCIL: PROCESSED BY OFFICE BY R n GUa ~d rdo ^ APPROVED ORIGINATfNG ^ OTHER (DESCRIBE) DEPARTMENT HEAD• CITY SECRETARY FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION CONTACT DATE FJ 1>.