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HomeMy WebLinkAboutOrdinance 6702 ORDINANCE NO. AN ORDINANCE AMENDING ARTICLE II OF CHAPTER 22 OF THE CODE OF THE CITY OF FORT WORTH (1964) , AS AMENDED, SAID ORDINANCE DEFINING MOTOR VEHICLE JUNK YARDS OR BUSINESSES; PROVIDING CERTAIN PREREQUISITES FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT, OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE OF SAME; PRO- VIDING FOR APPLICATION FOR PROPER ZONING AND BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT APPROVAL; PROVIDING FOR THE ISSUANCE OF A CERTIFICATE OF OCCUPANCY; PROVIDING FOR CERTAIN IN- SPECTIONS; PROVIDING FOR THE ISSUANCE OF A LICENSE; PROVIDING FOR APPEAL UPON LICENSE DENIAL; PROVIDING A SEVERABILITY CLAUSE; MAKING THIS ORDINANCE CUMULA- TIVE OF OTHER ORDINANCES AND PROVISIONS OF THE CODE OF THE CITY OF FORT WORTH; REPEALING ALL ORDINANCES OR PROVISIONS OF THE CODE OF THE CITY OF FORT WORTH IN CONFLICT HEREWITH; PROVIDING A SAVING CLAUSE; PRO- VIDING A PENALTY; AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE. BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT WORTH, TEXAS: SECTION 1. THAT Article II of Chapter 22 of the Code of the City of Fort Worth (1964) . as amended, be and is hereby amended and, after being so amended, shall hereafter read as follows: "Article II. Motor Vehicle Junk Yards. "Sec. 22-16. Defined. "A 'motor vehicle junk yard or business' is hereby defined as any business and any place of storage or de- posit which displays, or in or upon which there are dis- played, to view from a public right-of-way, two or more unregistered motor vehicles which are unfit for recondi- tioning for use on the public highways, or used parts of motor vehicles or old iron, metal, glass, paper, cordage or other waste, discarded or secondhand material which has been a part or intended to be a part of any motor vehicle, the sum of which parts or material shall be equal in bulk to two or more motor vehicles. "Sec. 22-17. Prerequisites for Establishment, Operation and Maintenance. "It shall be unlawful for any person, firm or corpo- ration to establish, operate or maintain a motor vehicle junk yard or business unless same is established, operated and maintained in strict compliance with the provisions of the HIGHWAY BEAUTIFICATION ACT, ACTS 62d Leg., 2d C.S., ch. 17, pp. 1-6. It shall further be unlawful for a motor vehicle junk yard to be established, operated or maintained unless it is completely surrounded by a fence or structure at least six (6) feet in height and of material which ob- scures the outside view from the main traveled way of public rights-of-way. No such yard or business shall be estab- lished, operated or maintained until each of the follow- ing additional requirements is met: "a. Acquisition of proper zoning for the site; and "b. Approval by the Board of Adjustment; and "c. Issuance of Certificate of Occupancy by the Building Official; and "d. Approval by the Health, Fire, Police and Public Works Departments, following inspection by each of said Departments; and "e. Issuance of license by the Building Official. "_Sec. 22-18. Application for Proper Zoning; Board of Adjustment Approval. "Application for proper zoning and application for Board of Adjustment approval shall be made to the Plan- ning Department, Applications Division, in accordance with the applicable provisions of the Zoning Ordinance of the City of Fort Worth. _'Sec. 22-19. Certificate of Occupancy. "Upon presentation of satisfactory evidence that all fees and taxes, including ad valorem taxes, as may be required by law, levied upon the motor vehicle junk yard or business of applicant have been fully paid, that the site for such yard or business is properly zoned and that such yard or business has received the required Board of Adjustment approval, the Building Official shall issue a Certificate of Occupancy for such yard or busi- ness. "Sec. 22-20. Inspections. "Inspections of motor vehicle junk yards or busi- nesses to ascertain compliance with applicable health and safety requirements shall be conducted by the Health, Fire, Police and Public Works Departments upon applica- tion for a license to operate such a yard or business and/ or upon application for renewal of such license. Failure to pass any of said inspections shall constitute grounds for denial of the issuance of said license. Reasons for such denial shall be made in writing and tendered to the applicant. "Sec. 22-21. License. "The Building Official shall issue a license to oper- ate a motor vehicle junk yard or business upon presentation of a Certificate of Occupancy and written approvals by the Health, Fire, Police and Public Works Departments, follow- ing the inspections required in Section 22-20. Such li- cense shall be issued in the name of the applicant and shall not be transferable. The fee for such license shall be Fifty Dollars ($50.00) per annum and shall be renewed on or before the anniversary date of the last issuance. -9- "Said license may be revoked by the Building Offi- cial upon the rendition of a final judgment in any court of competent jurisdiction against the licensee for the unlawful operation of said yard or business. No such license shall be reissued prior to the passage of six (6) months following said rendition. "Sec. 22-22. License Denial; Appeal. "Where a license under this article has been denied, the applicant may, within ten (10) days of such denial, appeal such decision to the City Council. Such appeal shall be in writing and shall be filed with the City Secretary. "In considering such appeal, the City Council shall examine the results of the investigations, findings and conclusions of the applicable city staff, to include those of the Health, Fire, Police and Public Works De- partments; shall make or cause to be made such other in- vestigations as it may consider necessary, including any hearings that it may determine desirable; shall determine whether or not in the interest of the safety, health, de- cency, comfort, convenience, necessity and welfare of the inhabitants of the city a requirement for the operation of such a business exists; shall determine whether or not the applicant is fit and proper to conduct such business; and may investigate the fitness of the stockholders and officers of any corporation making such application. The City Council shall also consider the nature and de- velopment of surrounding property, the proximity of churches, schools, hospitals and public buildings and other places of public gatherings; the sufficiency in number of such other yards or businesses in the vicinity; the health, safety and general welfare of the public; and the suitability of the applicant to establish, maintain and operate such yards or businesses and receive a license therefor. "If the City Council finds that the convenience, necessity, welfare and comfort of the public requires the operation of a motor vehicle junk yard and that the appli- cant is fit to conduct the business and that the require- ments of this article have been met, it shall notify the applicant of its findings and direct the Building Official to issue such a license. If it finds that the public con- venience, necessity, welfare and comfort do not require the operation of such business in the location applied for or that the applicant is not fit to conduct such business or that the requirements of this article have not been met, no license shall be issued to such applicant. " SECTION 2. THAT 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, -3- clause, sentence, paragraph or section of this ordinance shall be declared void, ineffective or unconstitutional by the valid judgment or final decree of a court of competent jurisdiction, such voidness, ineffectiveness or unconstitutionality shall not affect any of the remaining phrases, clauses, sentences, para- graphs and sections hereof, since the same would have been en- acted by the City Council without the incorporation herein of any such void, ineffective or unconstitutional phrase, clause, sentence, paragraph or section. SECTION 3. THAT this ordinance shall be and is hereby declared to be cumulative of the provisions of the Code of the City of Fort Worth, and amendments thereto, regulating motor vehicle junk yards, except in those instances where the provisions of this ordinance are in direct conflict with such Code, in which in- stances said conflicting provisions of such Code are hereby re- pealed. SECTION 4. THAT all pending litigations and existing violations, both civil and criminal, whether pending in court or not, under Chap- ter 22 of the Code of the City of Fort Worth, and amendments thereto, superseded by this ordinance, shall not be affected by this ordinance but may be prosecuted until final disposition by the courts. SECTION 5. THAT any person, firm, association of persons, company or corporation or their agents, servants or employees who violate, disobey, omit, neglect or refuse to comply with any provision of this ordinance shall be punished by a fine of not exceeding two hundred dollars ($200.00) , and each day that a violation -4- exists is hereby declared to be a distinct and separate offense and punishable as such, all as provided for in Section 1-5 of Chapter I of the Code of the City of Fort Worth (1964) , as amended. SECTION 6. THAT this ordinance shall become effective and be in full force and effect from and after its passage and publication as required by law, and it is so ordained. APPROVED AS TO FORM AND LEGALITY: City Attorney ADOPTED:EFFECTIVE: -5- i UNK' City of Fort Worth, Texas 6ILARpI ®01,I�, Mayor and Council Communication %EEO HUM ATE REFERENCE SUBJECT:Proposed Amendment to City Code - PAGE NUMBER Motor Vehicle Junk Yards PAIGE MIME 7 f 31/72 G-2032 1 of 1 19RADSHAW On May 1, 1972 (I.R. 2052), the City Council was advised that the staff was initiating a program to bring all motor vehicle junk yards into compliance with the City Code. Staff members involved in the enforcement of the Code have studied the require- ments for obtaining approval for the operation of a junk yard and it is proposed that present procedures be simplified. The present requirements for a motor vehicle junk yard are as follows: 1) The land must be zoned K-heavy industrial and specific approval for operation of a junk yard must be obtained from the Board of Adjustment, 2) A certificate of approval must be obtained from the City Council 3) A license must be obtained from Tax Assessor-Collector. 4) A certificate of occupancy must be obtained from Building Official. It is proposed that the procedure be revised by amendment of the City Code as follows: 1) The land must be zoned K-heavy industrial and specific approval for operation of a junk yard must be obtained from the Board of Adjustment. 2) The license and certificate of occupancy must be obtained from the office of the Buifding Official. 3) The applicant may appeal to the City Council when a license is denied by the Building Official. Under the proposed procedure, the Building Inspection Division would be respon- sible for coordinating the review of an application by other affected City de- partments, that is, Health and Fire, prior to the issuance of a license to oper- ate a junk yard. One additional change requires compliance with the State Highway Beautification Act which requires that a fence obscure the outside view "from the main travel- ed way of public rights-of-way". j Recommendation 1V I It is recommended that an ordinance be adopted revising the procedures for ob- taining approval for the operation of automobile junk yards as described above. RN.L:mhg SUBMITTED BY: DISPOSITION OUNCIL: PROCESSED BY PROVED ❑ OTHER/(DESCRIBES) CITY SECRETARY DATE CITY MANAGER 7-3/-?