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HomeMy WebLinkAboutOrdinance 14629~~ / f/, ` ` l ~Y AN ORDINANCE AMENDING THE CODE OF THE CITY OF FORT WORTH (1986), AS AMENDED BY THE AMENDMENT OF CHAPTER 7, "BUILDINGS", ARTICLE IV, "MINIMUM BUILDINGS STANDARDS CODE" IN PART, BY ADDING TO DIVISION 2, "ADMINISTRATION", BY REMOVING SECTION 7-78 FROM RESERVE TO BECOME "ABATEMENT CASES UNDER THE BUILDING STANDARDS COMMISSION", BY AMENDING DIVISION 4, "ADMINISTRATIVE AND CIVIL PENALTIES", SECTION 7-101, BY ADDING TO (b) AND (c), ADDING TO SECTION 7-103 BY ADDING (b), ADDING TO SECTION 7- 104 (d), ADDING TO SECTION 7-105 (c), AND ADDING TO 7-108 Q) "JUDICIAL REVIEW FOR PROCEEDINGS UNDER SECTION 7-78", PROVIDING A SAVINGS CLAUSE, PROVIDING FOR PUBLICATION IN THE OFFICIAL NEWSPAPER OF THE CITY,AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT WORTH, TEXAS WHEREAS, The City Council of the City of Fort Worth finds that there is a need to have the Building Standards Commission enforce ordinances related to conditions caused by accumulations of refuse, vegetation or other matter, and ordinances related to a building code or condition, use, or appearance of property in a municipality after notice and hearing, and that such enforcement include the ability of the Building Standards Commission to order the abatement of a violation by the owner of a property, to determine an amount of civil penalty for violation of an ordinance, order entrance onto private property to secure removal of persons or property, and to issue orders or directives to the chief of police of the municipality SECTION 1 The Code of the City of Fort Worth, Texas (1986), as amended, is amended by the amendments to Chapter 7, "Buildings", by amending Division 2, "Administration", by removing Section 7-78 from "Reserved" to become "Abatement Cases Under the Building Standards Commission"' and by amending Division 4 "Administrative and Civil Penalties," Section 7-101 by adding to (b) and (c), adding to Section 7-105 (c), and adding to 7-108 (j) "Judicial Review for Proceedings under Section 7-78" so that said sections shall read as follows ARTICLE IV MINIMUM BUILDING STANDARDS CODE *** DIVISION 2. ADMINISTRATION *** Section 7-78 Abatement Cases under the Building Standards Commission (a) The Building Standards Commission pursuant to the Texas Local Government Code Sections 54 032 and 54 043 is hereby authorized, after proper notice and hearing to (1) enforce ordinances relating to conditions caused by accumulations of refuse, vegetation or other matter that creates breeding and living places for insects and rodents, or (2) enforce ordinances relating to a building code or condition, use, or appearance of property in a municipality (b) The Commission may after notice and hearing (1) order the repair or removal, within a fixed period, of violations of an ordinance and further order that the City may repair or remove the 4 violation if the Commission's order is not complied with within the allotted time (2) order the repair or removal of a nuisance, within a fixed period, of property found to be in violation of an ordinance related to a building code or condition, use, or appearance of property in a municipality (3) determine the amount and duration of the civil penalty the municipality may recover pursuant to Section 7-103 (4) order, in an appropriate case, the immediate removal of persons or property found on private property; (5) order the entrance on private property to secure the removal if it is determined that conditions exist on the property that constitute a violation of an ordinance, (6) issue orders or directives to the chief of police of the municipality, to enforce and carry out the lawful orders or directives of the commission panel, (c) Proceedings Before the Commission All abatement cases to be heard by the Building Standards Commission shall be heard as prescribed by Section 7-100 (d) Notice of Proceedings The Superintendent of Code Compliance shall give notice of all proceedings on abatement cases before the Commission pursuant to the provisions set out in Section 7-101 *** DIVISION 4 ADMINISTRATIVE AND CIVIL PENALTIES *** Section 7-101 Notice of Proceedings. *** (b) The notice shall be mailed and posted on or before the twenty-first (21St) calendar day before the date of the hearing before the Commission Additionally, the notice shall be published in the official newspaper of the City on one occasion on or before the tenth (10t") calendar day before the date fixed for the hearing (c) The notice shall state the date, time, and place of hearing, and shall include a statement, that the owner, lienholder, or mortgagee, shall be required to submit at the hearing proof of the scope of any work that may be required to comply with this Article, and the time in calendar days in which it will take to reasonably perform the work. The notice shall also inform the owner of his or her right to hire an attorney to represent him or her at the hearing, his or her right to inspect the file on the property at Code Compliance headquarters prior to the hearing, his or her right to request the presence of City staff for the purpose of questioning at the hearing, and shall advise the owner of his or her right to cross-examine city staff at the hearing *** Sec. 7-103 Civil penalty *** (b) In a proceeding under Section 7-78the Building Standards Commission after notice and heanng may assess a civil penalty against the property owner, m an amount not to exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000..00) per day:per-violation, if,at.the.hearmg.the city proves.. _. (1) The property owner had actual notification of the requirements of the ordinance and the owner's need to comply with the requirements, and (2) After actual notification, the. property owner committed an act in violation of this article or failed to take an action necessary to bring the property into compliance with the ordinance (c) A determination made by the Commission panel constitutes prima facie evidence of the penalty in any court of competent jurisdiction in a civil suit brought by the city for final judgment in accordance with the established penalty (d) To enforce the civil penalty, the city secretary shall file with the Tarrant County district clerk a certified copy of the order of the Commission panel establishing the amount and duration of the civil penalty (e) No other proof shall be required for a district court to enter final judgment on the penalty Section 7-104 Work Performed by the City *** (b) In a proceeding under Section 7-78 if the Commission's order is not complied with within the allotted time, the Superintendent may act upon the order at the City's expense Section 7-105 Assessment of Lien *** *** (c) Alien may not be made on property protected as a homestead under the Texas Constitution except in a proceeding under Section 7-78 *** Section 7-108 Judicial Review *** Q) Judicial review for proceedings under Section 7-78 (1) The City shall publish an abbreviated copy of the Commission order in a newspaper of general circulation within ten (10) calendars days of the mailing of the order The order shall include the following (i) The :street address or legal description of the property; (ii) The .date of the hearing, (iii) A brief statement indicating the date of the hearing, and (iv) Instructions stating where a complete copy of the order may be obtained (2) A copy of the order shall be filed in the office of the City Secretary (3) If no appeals are taken from the decision of the Commission within the required period, the decision of the Commission is, in all things, final and binding (4) Any owner, lienholder, or mortgagee of record jointly or severally aggrieved by a decision of the Building Standards Commission may file a verified petition in a Tarrant County civil district court. (i) Setting forth that the Building Standards Commission's decision is illegal, either in whole or in part; and (ii) Specifying the grounds of the illegality (5) A lienholder does not have standing to bring a proceeding under the Section on the ground that the lienholder was not notified of the proceedings before the Commission panel or was unaware of the condition of the property, unless the lienholder had first appeared before the Commission panel and entered an appearance in opposition to the proceedings (6) The petition must be presented within thirty (30) calendar days after the effective date a copy of the final decision of the Commission is mailed by first class mail, certified receipt requested, to all owners, lienholders, and mortgagees of record (7) Upon the filing of the petition, the court may issue a writ of certiorari directed to the city to review the Building Standards Commission's order, and shall prescribe in the writ the time within which the city must make a return on the writ. Such time must be greater than ten (10) calendar days and must be filed with .and served on the City Secretary (8) The city shall not be required to return. the originals of .papers called for in the writ, and it shall be sufficient for the city to return certified or sworn copies of such papers or parts thereof (9) In the return the city shall set forth other facts that may be pertinent and material to show the grounds of Commission's order The return must be verified (10) The issuance of the writ does not stay proceedings on the decision appealed from- (11) The district court's review shall be limited to a hearing under the substantial evidence rule The court may reverse or affirm, in whole or in part, or may modify the decision brought up for review (12) If the decision of the Building Standards Commission is affirmed or not substantially reversed but only modified, the district court shall allow the City all attorney's fees and other costs and expenses incurred by the city, and shall enter a judgment for those items, which may be entered against the property owners, lienholders, or mortgagees, as well as all persons subject to the order SECTION 2 This ordinance shall be cumulative of all provisions of ordinances and of the Code of the City of Fort Worth, Texas (1986), as amended, except where the provisions of this ordinance are in direct 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 3 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 SECTION 5 The Building Standards Commission, after .notice and heanng, may assess a civil penalty in compliance with Section 7-103(b), against the property owner in an amount not to exceed more than One Thousand Dollars ($1000 00) per day, per violation. Provided that at the heanng, the city can prove that the property owner had actual notification of the requirements of the ordinance and the owner's need to comply with the requirements, and after actual notification, the property owner committed an act m violation of this article or failed to take an action necessary to bung the property into compliance with the ordinance. unconstitutional 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 4. All rights and remedies of the City of Fort Worth, Texas, are expressly saved as to any and all violations of the provisions of Ordinance No 3011 or any other ordinances affecting zoning which have accrued at the time of the effective date of this ordinance, and, as to such accrued violations and all pending litigation, 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 5 The City Secretary of the City of Fort Worth, Texas, is hereby directed to publish the caption, penalty clause and effective date of this ordinance for two (2) days in the official newspaper of the City of Fort Worth, Texas, as authorized by Section 52 013, Texas Local Government Code SECTION 6 This ordinance shall 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 ~o y, APPROVED CITY COUNCIL MBY 22 2001 ~,pa., l~i~~a./ }~e~fn s_~~~y~{o~rgcRno 4~ij Ci ~~'~}TI ~Y ~~u1~ 8~x~ Date ~, ~ ~ I ~ ADOPTED ~y~I~, City of Fort T~'orth, Texas A ar And ~runc~il AAtun~cA~ian C. C ~~ ~ DATE 5/22/01 REFERENCE NUMBER G-13242 LOG NAME 21AMEND PAGE 1 of 1 SUBJECT ADOPT ORDINANCE AMENDING MINIMUM BUILDING STANDARDS CODE RECOMMENDATION It is recommended that the City Council adopt the attached ordinance amending the Minimum Building Standards Code by incorporating into it provisions of the Texas Local Government Code, Sections 54 032 and 54 043 DISCUSSION The proposed amendments will enable the Building Standards Commission (Commission) to hear cases involving nuisance violations, environmental violations, and violations of the Minimum Building Standards Code in a manner similar to how the Commission currently hears cases involving substandard structures. The Commission must determine that the defendant was notified of the provisions of the ordinance, and after notice committed acts in violation of the ordinance or failed to take actions necessary for compliance The Commission can order that the property owner abate the violation, authorize the City to abate the violation and place a lien on the property for the cost incurred, and/or assess civil penalties against the property owner for failure to comply with the Commission's order The Commission's decisions may be appealed in a civil district court The proposed amendments will provide the City with an additional tool for handling code violations They provide a process for handling chronic code problems where issuing citations have failed, and they allow for judgments without the defendants being present. They will also reduce the time and cost required for abatement of code violations FISCAL INFORMATION/CERTIFICATION The Finance Director certifies that this action will have no material effect on City funds CB k Submitted for City Manager's FUND ACCOUNT CENTER AMOUNT CITY SECRETARY Office by: (to) if~pOV~D ~ Charles Boswell 8511 ' CITY C0UN0ll. Originating Department Head: MAY 22 ?001 Tom Davis 6300 (from) ~~// ~ Additional Information Contact: City secretary of the ' i:ozih, Tows City of Fort Y Tom Davis 6300 Adopted Ordinance (~o.