Hawk Cove:Ord 100-10

Codification Notes:

Ord. No.	Adopted	Codified	Status
100-10	Jul 9, 2018	TITLE 10	ACTIVE

Repealed and Replaced Ord. 100-10 , adopted Sep 29, 2000.

Repealed and Replaced Ord. 06-108 , adopted Oct 12, 2006.

Repealed and Replaced Ord. 2010-02 , adopted May 13, 2010.

ORDINANCE NO. 100-10

AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF HAWK COVE, TEXAS, ESTABLISHING PARKING REGULATIONS; ESTABLISHING RULES GOVERNING THE HABITATION AND PARKING OF CERTAIN VEHICLES IN RESIDENTIAL DISTRICTS; ESTABLISHING PARKING SURFACE STANDARDS; ÉSTABLISHING RULES RELATING TO VEHICLE LIMITATIONS; ESTABLISHING VEHICLE SPECIFICATIONS; ESTABLISHING DEFINITIONS; DECLARING A PUBLIC NUISANCE; ESTABLISHING PENALTIES; REPLACING ORDINANCES 100-10, 06-108, 2010-02 AND ALL CONFLICTING ORDINANCES; PROVIDING A SEVERABILITY AND REPEALER CLAUSE; AND PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE.

WHEREAS, the City of Hawk Cove, Texas ('City"), is a Type A general law municipality, pursuant to Section 6.011 of the Texas Local Government Code, and city ordinance adopted April 13, 2000; and

WHEREAS, the City Council recognizes that the operation and control of parking of vehicles within residentially zoned areas is within the police power of the City of Hawk Cove; and

WHEREAS, the City of Hawk Cove may, by ordinance, regulate the parking of motor vehicles on private property and may enforce the ordinance in the same manner that it enforces ordinances regulating parking in no parking zones, including the impoundment of offending vehicles, pursuant to Section 431.001 of the Texas Local Government Code; and

WHEREAS, the City desires to preserve existing infrastructure by limiting the use of commercial vehicles on public rights-of-way; and

WHEREAS, has authority pursuant to the Texas Transportation Code Sections 311.002 and 621.303 to regulate streets within the City's jurisdiction; and

WHEREAS, the city desires to adopt rules, regulations and policies under the authority granted pursuant to State law establishing restrictions on the use of the streets within the City; and

WHEREAS, the City Council of the City of Hawk Cove, Texas ("City Council"), has determined that it is in the best interest of the health, safety and general welfare of the public to adopting this Ordinance establishing vehicle limitations, the parking of vehicles and restrictions on the type of acceptable and prohibited vehicles.

NOW THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF HAWK COVE, TEXAS, THAT;

SECTION 1

That all of the above premises are hereby found to be true and correct and are hereby approved and incorporated into the body of this ordinance as if copied in their entirety.

SECTION 2

That City Council hereby adopts the following ordinance relative to "Vehicle Regulations" to read, in its entirety, as follows:

Sec. 1.00 Definitions

For the purposes of this Ordinance, the following words and phrases shall have the meanings respectively ascribed to them by this Ordinance:

Commercial motor vehicle: Any motor vehicle designed or used for the transportation of property, not including a passenger bus, passenger automobile, motorcycle, panel delivery truck, or pick up truck

Driver or operator: Every person who drives or is in actual physical control of a vehicle.

Motor vehicle: Every vehicle which is self-propelled

Roadway: That portion of a street or highway improved, designed, or ordinarily used for vehicular travel, exclusive of the berm or shoulder. If a street or highway includes two (2) or more separate roadways, the term "roadway" shall refer to any such roadway separately but not to all such roadways collectively.

Semi-trailer: Every vehicle of the trailer type so designated or used in conjunction with a motor vehicle that some part of its own weight and that of its own load rests upon or is carried by another motor vehicle.

Street or highway: The entire width between the boundary lines of every right-of-way publicly maintained when any part thereof is open to the use of the public for purposes of vehicular travel.

Trailer: Every vehicle without motive power designed or used to carry property or passengers wholly on its own structure and to be drawn by a motor vehicle.

Truck-tractors: Every motor vehicle designed or used primarily for drawing other vehicles and not so constructed as to carry a load other than a part of the weight of a vehicle and load so drawn.

Vehicle: Every mechanical device, in, upon, or by which any person or property is or may be transported or drawn upon public highway, including motor vehicles, commercial motor vehicles, truck-tractors, trailers, and semi-trailers, severally, as herein defined, but excepting devices moved by human power or used exclusively upon stationary rails or tracks.

To the extent not otherwise defined, all words and phrases used in this section shall have the same meaning as set forth in pertinent sections of the Texas Transportation Code.

Sec. 2.00 Commercial Vehicle Specifications

Except as otherwise provided in this Ordinance, it shall be unlawful for any person to drive, operate or move, or to cause or permit to be driven, operated or moved, on any public street within the city, any commercial motor vehicle with or without load, contrary to any of the regulations contained in this Ordinance.

No commercial motor vehicle shall exceed a total outside width, including any load thereon, of ninety-six (96) inches, except that the width of a farm tractor shall not exceed nine (9) feet and that the limitations as to size of a vehicle stated in this Ordinance shall not apply to implements of husbandry, machinery used solely for the purpose of drilling water wells, or to highway or street building or maintenance machinery owned or operated by or on behalf of the state or any of its political subdivisions or the city. No commercial motor vehicle unladen or with load shall exceed a height of thirteen (13) feet, six (6) inches including load.

No commercial vehicle, truck-tractor, semitrailer nor combination of such vehicles shall be operated or caused or permitted to be operated upon any public street within the city having a weight in excess of any one (1) or more of the following limitations:

In no event shall the total gross weight, with load, of any vehicle or combination of vehicles, exceed seventy-two thousand (72,000) pounds.

No axle shall carry a load in excess of eighteen thousand (18,000) pounds. An axle load shall be defined as the total load transmitted to the road by all wheels whose centers may be included between two (2) parallel transverse vertical planes forty (40) inches apart, extending across the full width of the vehicle.

The total gross weight concentrated on the highway surface from any tandem axle group shall not exceed thirty-two thousand (32,000) pounds for each such tandem axle group. "Tandem axle group" is defined to be two (2) or more axles spaced forty (40) inches or more apart from center to center having at least one (1) common point of weight suspension.

Vehicles used exclusively to transport ready-mix concrete may be operated upon public streets of the city with a tandem axle load not to exceed thirty-six thousand (36,000) pounds and a gross load not to exceed forty-eight thousand (48,000) pounds.

The provisions of this Ordinance shall NOT apply to:

Any person operating or causing to be operated a motor vehicle under a valid and subsisting permit for the operation of overweight or oversize equipment for the transportation of such commodities as cannot be reasonably dismantled issued by the State of Texas Department of Highways and Public Transportation under the provisions of Chapter 623 of the Texas Transportation Code as such Chapter now exists or might from time to time be amended;

Emergency vehicle operating in response to any emergency call;

Vehicles by and for the use of the Police Department or Maintenance Department.

Vehicles which have obtained permission and routing from the Chief of Police.

Sec. 3.00 Parking Regulations

Parking of Vehicles in General

It shall be unlawful for any person to park or store, or allow to be parked or stored, any vehicle, whether or not designed to operate under its own power, on any public street, alley, parkway, boulevard, or public thoroughfare or surface not meeting the parking surface standards set forth herein for a period longer than a four (4) hour duration.

Parking of commercial motor vehicles shall comply with the following provisions.

It shall be unlawful for any person to park or store, or allow to be parked or stored, any oversized commercial vehicle, as defined above, upon any public street, alley, parkway, boulevard, public place, railroad right-of-way, or surface not meeting the parking surface standards set forth herein within the corporate limits of the City. This provision shall not apply to street construction equipment, maintenance and repair equipment or trucks, rollers and implements, equipment trailers or vehicles used by public service utility companies engaged in repairing or extending public service utilities when used, or intended for use, in the general vicinity; motor buses when taking on or discharging passengers at the customary bus stops; vehicles parked in a designated loading zone while in the act of accepting from the immediate shipper or delivering to a consignee or addressee any transportable thing; or vehicles with mechanical defects during the time it takes to make emergency repairs.

For purposes of this subsection, the court may take judicial notice of an owner's manual, dealer brochure and other such similar informational literature, which may constitute a prima facie presumption of the size and weight of the vehicle. This presumption is rebuttable and shall have the effects and consequences set forth in Section 2.05 of the Texas Penal Code.

Parking of vehicles shall comply with the following provisions.

No recreational vehicle, including but not limited to recreational vehicles, travel trailers, boats or boat trailers, in excess of eight and one-half (8½) feet in width or eleven and one-half (11½) feet in height, or thirty-six (36) feet in length shall be stored or parked on any public thoroughfare or private property. No vehicle shall encroach upon public rights-of-way.

No recreational vehicle, travel trailer, boat or boat trailers, stock trailer or any other vehicle unable to operate under its own power shall be parked or stored on a public thoroughfare. The provisions of this section shall not prevent the parking or standing of said vehicles upon the public street for the purpose of expeditiously loading and unloading passengers, freight or merchandise.

No automobile, truck, camper, camper top, recreation vehicle, travel trailer, boat trailer or boat, utility trailer or other trailer or vehicle shall be parked or stored on any surface not meeting the parking surface standards, as set forth herein, unless completely screened from public view or covered and under a carport with acceptable parking surface.

No recreational vehicle, travel trailer, boat, boat trailer, camper, camper top, or any other type of vehicle shall be connected to utilities except for the purpose of maintenance. Utilities shall include sewer, electricity or water.

Habitation of a recreational vehicle, travel trailer, boat, boat trailer, camper, camper top or any other type of vehicle is prohibited.

No junked, inoperable or unused vehicle, as defined by Section 683.071 of the Texas Transportation Code, or any City ordinance, as each may be amended, shall be parked or stored on any public thoroughfare, street or private property or upon property used for residential purposes unless completely screened from public view or covered and under a carport with acceptable parking surface.

Any such vehicle shall be subject to the procedures set forth in Section 683.071, et seq. of the Texas Transportation Code, or any pertinent ordinance, as each may be amended.

For purposes of subsection (6) above, the term "inoperable" shall mean any condition that would prevent the vehicle from legally and safely operating upon public thoroughfares including but not limited to expired vehicle registration or inspection and flat tires.

For purposes of this section, "screened from public view" means the view from private or public property, or public right-of-way from average grade of the surrounding property or covered and under a carport with acceptable parking surface.

For purposes of this section, a vehicle shall be considered stored if it has remained parked at or nearly the same location for a continuous period of time in excess of five (5) days. A stored vehicle is deemed to be a vehicle, which is illegally parked on private or public property. If on public property, such vehicle shall be subject to removal and disposal as an abandoned vehicle according to Chapter 683 of the Texas Transportation Code, as it may be amended.

Parking Surface Standards

It shall be unlawful for any person to park or allow to be parked on any property under his control any automobile, bus, truck, motorcycle, motor home, camper, trailer, boat or any vehicle on any portion of a front yard, side yard, field or other unpaved parking facility, unless said area is part of:

a hard surfaced driveway or parking area; or

a gravel or crushed rock driveway; or

a required driveway that provides access to a garage, carport or off-street parking area; or

a side yard or back yard which is enclosed by a screening fence at least six (6) feet in height and so constructed that no person can see through into the area surrounded by the fence.

For purposes of this section, the term "hard surfaced" as used herein shall include cement, asphalt, brick and other commonly accepted pavement or all-weather surface which may be approved by the building official.

Declared a Public Nuisance. The presence of any vehicles within the corporate limits of the City of Hawk Cove in violation of this ordinance is hereby declared to be public nuisance.

Penalties for Violation Any person, firm, or Corporation found in Violation of any of the provisions of this section shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by a fine not to exceed five hundred dollars ($500.00). When any person, firm, or corporation refuses to comply with the above-stated provisions or in emergency circumstances, then pursuant to Section 431.001 of the impounded or the tires blocked to prohibit the vehicle from moving. The impounded vehicle(s) shall be taken into custody and have fees assessed in the same manner as the procedures regarding "Abandoned Motor Vehicles" in Chapter 683 of the Texas Transportation Code.

If any vehicle is found in violation of any provision of this section or of state statute regulating the stopping, standing or parking of a vehicle, and the identity of the driver cannot be determined, the owner or person in whose name such vehicle is registered shall constitute a prima facie presumption that the registered owner of such vehicle is the person who committed the violation. This presumption is rebuttable and shall have the effects and consequences set forth in Section 2.05 of the Texas Penal Code.

The Texas Department of Transportation's computer-generated record of the registered vehicle owner is prima facie evidence of the contents of the record. Allegation and evidence of a culpable mental state is not required for the proof of an offense defined by this ordinance. No officer, agent or employee of the City shall render himself personally liable for any damage that may accrue to persons or property as a result of any act required or permitted in the discharge of his duties under this Ordinance. Any suit brought against any officer, agent or employee of the City, as a result of any act required or permitted in the discharge of his duties under this Ordinance, shall be defended by the City Attorney until the final determination of the proceedings herein.

For purposes of this ordinance, the court may take judicial notice of an owner's manual, dealer brochure and other such similar information literature, which may constitute a prima facie presumption of the size and weight of the vehicle. This presumption is rebuttable and shall have the effects and consequences set forth in Section 2.05 of the Texas Penal Code.

If any vehicle is found in violation of any provision of this Ordinance or of state statute regulating the stopping, standing or parking of a vehicle, and the identity of the driver cannot be determined, the owner, or person in whose name such vehicle is registered shall constitute a prima facie presumption that the registered owner of such vehicle is the person who committed the violation. This presumption is rebuttable and shall have the effects and consequences set forth in Section 2.05 of the Texas Penal Code.

SECTION 3

Any person violating the terms and provisions of this ordinance shall, upon conviction, be punished by a fine of not more than Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00) and each and every day this ordinance is violated shall constitute a separate offense.

SECTION 4

All ordinances, orders, or resolutions heretofore passed and adopted by the City Council of the City of Hawk Cove, Texas, are hereby repealed to the extent that said ordinances, orders, or resolutions, or parts thereof, are in conflict herewith.

SECTION 5

If any section, subsection, clause, phrase, or provision of this Ordinance, or the application thereof to any person or circumstance, shall to any extent be held by a court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, void, or unconstitutional, the remaining section, subsections, clauses, phrases, and provisions of this Ordinance, or the application thereof any person or circumstance, shall remain in full force and effect and shall in no way be affected, impaired, or invalidated.

SECTION 6

This ordinance shall take effect and be in full force from and after its passage, approval and adoption.

CONCLUSION

PASSED, APPROVED AND ADOPTED THIS 9th DAY OF July, 2018