SECTION 1. Section 343.002,
Health and Safety Code, is amended by adding Subdivision (10-a) and
amending Subdivision (11) to read as follows:
(10-a) "Undeveloped
land" means land in a natural, primitive state that lacks
improvements, infrastructure, and utilities.
(11) "Weeds" means
all rank and uncultivated vegetable growth or matter that:
(A) has grown to more than
36 inches in height; or
(B) creates [may
create] an unsanitary condition likely to attract or harbor
mosquitoes, [become a harborage for] rodents, vermin, or other
disease-carrying pests, regardless of the height of the weeds.
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SECTION 1. Section 343.002,
Health and Safety Code, is amended by adding Subdivision (10-a) and
amending Subdivision (11) to read as follows:
(10-a) "Undeveloped
land" means land in a natural, primitive state that lacks
improvements, infrastructure, or
utilities and that is not located in a
municipality.
(11) "Weeds" means
all rank and uncultivated vegetable growth or matter that:
(A) has grown to more than
36 inches in height; or
(B) creates [may
create] an unsanitary condition likely to attract or harbor
mosquitoes, [become a harborage for] rodents, vermin, or other
disease-carrying pests, regardless of the height of the weeds.
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SECTION 2. Section 343.011,
Health and Safety Code, is amended by amending Subsection (c) and adding
Subsection (d-1) 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 other 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 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; and
(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) 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) 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;
(11) 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;
(12) discarding refuse on
property that is not authorized for that activity; or
(13) surface discharge from
an on-site sewage disposal system as defined by Section 366.002.
(d-1) Subsections (c)(3)
and (4) do not apply to undeveloped land for which:
(1) a condition on that
land has not been found to cause a public nuisance under those provisions
for at least one year; and
(2) a finding of public nuisance
could not have been applied to that condition when the condition first
occurred.
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SECTION 2. Section 343.011,
Health and Safety Code, is amended by amending Subsection (c) and adding
Subsection (d-1) 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 other 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 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; and
(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) 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) 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;
(11) 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;
(12) discarding refuse on
property that is not authorized for that activity; or
(13) surface discharge from
an on-site sewage disposal system as defined by Section 366.002.
(d-1) This subsection applies only to a county with a
population of 3.3 million or more. Subsections (c)(3) and (4) apply
only to undeveloped land in the county
for which:
(1) a condition on that
land has been found to cause a public nuisance under those provisions in
the preceding year; and
(2) a finding of public nuisance
could have been applied to that condition when the condition first
occurred.
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