80R14136 MSE-D

By: Murphy H.B. No. 1407

Substitute the following for H.B. No. 1407:

By: Smith of Harris C.S.H.B. No. 1407

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to certain swimming pools as public nuisances in the unincorporated areas of counties.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Section 343.011(c), Health and Safety Code, is amended to read as follows:

(c) A public nuisance is:

(1) keeping, storing, or accumulating refuse on premises in a neighborhood unless the refuse is entirely contained in a closed receptacle;

(2) keeping, storing, or accumulating rubbish, including newspapers, abandoned vehicles, refrigerators, stoves, furniture, tires, and cans, on premises in a neighborhood or within 300 feet of a public street for 10 days or more, unless the rubbish or object is completely enclosed in a building or is not visible from a public street;

(3) maintaining premises in a manner that creates an unsanitary condition likely to attract or harbor mosquitoes, rodents, vermin, or disease-carrying pests;

(4) allowing weeds to grow on premises in a neighborhood if the weeds are located within 300 feet of another residence or commercial establishment;

(5) maintaining a building in a manner that is structurally unsafe or constitutes a hazard to safety, health, or public welfare because of inadequate maintenance, unsanitary conditions, dilapidation, obsolescence, disaster, damage, or abandonment or because it constitutes a fire hazard;

(6) maintaining on abandoned and unoccupied property in a neighborhood[, or maintaining on any property in a neighborhood in a county with a population of more than 1.1 million,] a swimming pool that is not protected with:

(A) a fence that is at least four feet high and that has a latched and locked gate [that cannot be opened by a child]; and [or]

(B) a cover over the entire swimming pool that cannot be removed by a child;

(7) maintaining on any property in a neighborhood in a county with a population of more than 1.1 million a swimming pool that is not protected with:

(A) a fence that is at least four feet high and that has a latched gate that cannot be opened by a child; or

(B) a cover over the entire swimming pool that cannot be removed by a child;

(8) maintaining a flea market in a manner that constitutes a fire hazard;

(9) [(8)] discarding refuse or creating a hazardous visual obstruction on:

(A) county-owned land; or

(B) land or easements owned or held by a special district that has the commissioners court of the county as its governing body;

(10) [(9)] discarding refuse on the smaller of:

(A) the area that spans 20 feet on each side of a utility line; or

(B) the actual span of the utility easement; or

(11) [(10)] filling or blocking a drainage easement, failing to maintain a drainage easement, maintaining a drainage easement in a manner that allows the easement to be clogged with debris, sediment, or vegetation, or violating an agreement with the county to improve or maintain a drainage easement.

SECTION 2. Sections 343.013(c) and (d), Health and Safety Code, are amended to read as follows:

(c) A county may bring suit under this section to prohibit or control access to the premises to prevent a continued or future violation of Section 343.011(c)(1), (6), (9) [(8)], or (10) [(9)]. The court may grant relief under this subsection only if the county demonstrates that:

(1) the person responsible for causing the public nuisance has not responded sufficiently to previous attempts to abate a nuisance on the premises, if the relief sought prohibits or controls access of a person other than the owner; or

(2) the owner of the premises knew about the nuisance and has not responded sufficiently to previous attempts to abate a nuisance on the premises, if the relief sought controls access of the owner.

(d) In granting relief under Subsection (c), the court:

(1) may not, in a suit brought under Section 343.011(c)(10) [343.011(c)(9)], prohibit or control access by the owner or operator of a utility line or utility easement to that utility line or utility easement; and

(2) may not prohibit the owner of the premises from accessing the property but may prohibit a continued or future violation.

SECTION 3. Section 343.021, Health and Safety Code, is amended to read as follows:

Sec. 343.021. AUTHORITY TO ABATE NUISANCE. If a county adopts abatement procedures that are consistent with the general purpose of this chapter and that conform to this chapter, the [A] county may abate a nuisance under this chapter:

(1) by demolition or removal;

(2) [or,] in the case of a nuisance under Section 343.011(c)(1), (9) [(8)], or (10) [(9)], by prohibiting or controlling [prohibition or control of] access to the premises; or

(3) in the case of a nuisance under Section 343.011(c)(6), by:

(A) prohibiting or controlling access to the premises and installing a cover that cannot be opened by a child over the entire swimming pool; or

(B) draining and filling the swimming pool [, if the county adopts abatement procedures that are consistent with the general purpose of this chapter and that conform to this chapter].

SECTION 4. Section 343.022, Health and Safety Code, is amended by amending Subsections (a), (c), and (e) and adding Subsection (f) to read as follows:

(a) The abatement procedures adopted by the commissioners court must be administered by a regularly salaried, full-time county employee, but the prohibition or control of access to the premises to prevent a violation of Section 343.011(c)(1), (6), (9) [(8)], or (10) [(9)], or the removal or demolition of the nuisance, may be made by a person authorized by the person administering the abatement program.

(c) The notice must state:

(1) the specific condition that constitutes a nuisance;

(2) that the person receiving notice shall abate the nuisance before the:

(A) 31st day after the date on which the notice is served, if the person has not previously received a notice regarding a nuisance on the premises; or

(B) 10th business day after the date on which the notice is served, if the person has previously received a notice regarding a nuisance on the premises;

(3) that failure to abate the nuisance may result in:

(A) abatement by the county;

(B) assessment of costs to the person responsible for causing the nuisance when that person can be identified; and

(C) a lien against the property on which the nuisance exists, if the person responsible for causing the nuisance has an interest in the property;

(4) that the county may prohibit or control access to the premises to prevent a continued or future nuisance described by Section 343.011(c)(1), (6), (9) [(8)], or (10) [(9)]; and

(5) that the person receiving notice is entitled to submit a written request for a hearing before the:

(A) 31st day after the date on which the notice is served, if the person has not previously received a notice regarding a nuisance on the premises; or

(B) 10th business day after the date on which the notice is served, if the person has previously received a notice regarding a nuisance on the premises.

(e) Except as provided in Subsection (f), the [The] abatement procedures must require a hearing before the county abates the nuisance if a hearing is requested. The hearing may be conducted before the commissioners court or any board, commission, or official designated by the commissioners court. The commissioners court may designate a board, commission, or official to conduct each hearing.

(f) A county may, before conducting a hearing, abate a nuisance under Section 343.011(c)(6) by prohibiting or controlling access to the premises on which the nuisance is located and installing a cover that cannot be opened by a child over the entire swimming pool, but only if the county conducts a hearing otherwise in accordance with Subsection (e) after the nuisance is abated.

SECTION 5. Section 343.0235, Health and Safety Code, is amended to read as follows:

Sec. 343.0235. USE OF COUNTY FUNDS. A county is entitled to use any money available under other law for a cleanup or remediation of private property to abate a nuisance described by Section 343.011(c)(1), (9) [(8)], or (10) [(9)].

SECTION 6. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this Act takes effect September 1, 2007.