15 - CITY ORDINANCE SECTIONS 19-16 AND 19-20

Home Browse Search

Item No. 15 memorandum TO: City Council John Godwin, City Manager FROM: Bob Hundley, Chief of Police SUBJECT: CITY ORDINANCE SECTIONS 19 -16 and 19 -20 DATE: April 7, 2015 BACKGROUND: The City regulates Junked Vehicles under Chapter 19, Article II of the Code of Ordinances, which is based on Texas Transportation Code Chapter 683. The current definition of "junked vehicle" in the ordinance includes the requirement that the vehicle must have an expired inspection sticker. In 2013, the Texas Legislature enacted the "Two Steps, One Sticker" scheme in which, effective March 1, 2015, vehicles are no longer required to have inspections stickers, but instead, proof of annual inspection is required in order to register a vehicle. Concurrently, with this change in the law, the Legislature amended the definition of "junked vehicle" in Chapter 683 to account for the abolition of the inspection sticker requirement. Consequently, the definition of "junked vehicle" in Sec. 19 -16 also needs to be revised to omit any reference to the now obsolete inspection stickers. In addition, the current ordinance can be read to require that notice be given to several parties prior to writing a ticket for or filing a case in the municipal court for junked vehicles (Sec. 19- 20). Chapter 683 makes it clear that notice is only required for abatement (removal) of a junked vehicle, and the notice requirement does not apply to bringing cases in the municipal court. Thus Sec. 16 -20 needs to be amended to make clear that notice is required only to abate a junked vehicle, but not prior to filing a case in the municipal court. STATUS OF ISSUE: This proposed ordinance both revises the definition of "junked vehicle" as set forth above and clarifies that the notice provisions apply only to the abatement of such vehicles. Both of these changes are to bring the current ordinance in line with state law. BUDGET: This proposed ordinance revision will have no impact on the budget. RECOMMENDATION: Authorize the amending of the ordinance to reflect the changes in state law regarding inspection stickers and to clarify that the notice requirement applies only to abatement of junked vehicles.