1-1 By: Brown of Kaufman (Senate Sponsor - Cain) H.B. No. 2092 1-2 (In the Senate - Received from the House April 30, 2001; 1-3 April 30, 2001, read first time and referred to Committee on 1-4 Intergovernmental Relations; May 9, 2001, reported favorably by the 1-5 following vote: Yeas 6, Nays 0; May 9, 2001, sent to printer.) 1-6 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED 1-7 AN ACT 1-8 relating to the abatement of public nuisances in counties. 1-9 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: 1-10 SECTION 1. Section 343.011(c), Health and Safety Code, is 1-11 amended to read as follows: 1-12 (c) A public nuisance is: 1-13 (1) keeping, storing, or accumulating refuse on 1-14 premises in a neighborhood unless the refuse is entirely contained 1-15 in a closed receptacle; 1-16 (2) keeping, storing, or accumulating rubbish, 1-17 including newspapers, abandoned vehicles, refrigerators, stoves, 1-18 furniture, tires, and cans, on premises in a neighborhood or within 1-19 300 feet of a public street for 10 days or more, unless the rubbish 1-20 or object is completely enclosed in a building or is not visible 1-21 from a public street; 1-22 (3) maintaining premises in a manner that creates an 1-23 unsanitary condition likely to attract or harbor mosquitoes, 1-24 rodents, vermin, or disease-carrying pests; 1-25 (4) allowing weeds to grow on premises in a 1-26 neighborhood if the weeds are located within 300 feet of another 1-27 residence or commercial establishment; 1-28 (5) maintaining a building in a manner that is 1-29 structurally unsafe or constitutes a hazard to safety, health, or 1-30 public welfare because of inadequate maintenance, unsanitary 1-31 conditions, dilapidation, obsolescence, disaster, damage, or 1-32 abandonment or because it constitutes a fire hazard; 1-33 (6) maintaining on abandoned and unoccupied property 1-34 in a neighborhood a swimming pool that is not protected with: 1-35 (A) a fence that is at least four feet high and 1-36 that has a latched gate that cannot be opened by a child; or 1-37 (B) a cover over the entire swimming pool that 1-38 cannot be removed by a child; 1-39 (7) maintaining a flea market in a manner that 1-40 constitutes a fire hazard; 1-41 (8) discarding refuse or creating a hazardous visual 1-42 obstruction on: 1-43 (A) county-owned land; or 1-44 (B) land or easements owned or held by a special 1-45 district that has the commissioners court of the county as its 1-46 governing body; or 1-47 (9) discarding refuse on the smaller of: 1-48 (A) the area that spans 20 feet on each side of 1-49 a utility line; or 1-50 (B) the actual span of the utility easement. 1-51 SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2001. 1-52 * * * * *