HomeMy WebLinkAbout20052 ORD - 11/03/1987AN ORDINANCE
AMENDING CHAPTER 13 OF THE CORPUS CHRISTI CITY
CODE BY AMENDING ARTICLE IV. EXCAVATION: PROVIDING
FOR SEVERABILITY; PROVIDING FOR PUBLICATION.
SECTION 1. That Chapter 13 of the City Code is hereby amended by amending
Article IV. EXCAVATIONS, to hereafter read as follows:
Sec. 13-150. Definitions.
For the purposes of this article, the following words and terms shall have
the meanings ascribed to them respectively:
Excavation: Any act by which soil or any other similar matter is dug, cut
into, quarried, uncovered, removed, displaced, relocated or bulldozed.
Soil: Any earth, sand, clay, loam, caliche, gravel, humus, rock, dirt or
any other matter in or upon the ground, without regard to the presence or
absence therein of minerals or other organic matter.
Sec. 13-151. Permit required.
It shall be unlawful and a violation of this article for any person acting
for himself or acting as an agent, employee, independent contractor or servant
of any other person to commence an excavation, to excavate or continue to
excavate or to maintain an existing excavation within the city or to work upon
or assist in any way in the execution or operation of any such excavation,
without an excavation permit having been issued by the authority of the city
council in accordance with the terms of this article.
Sec. 13-152. Exemptions from provisions of article.
Nothing in this article shall be construed to affect or apply to any person
engaged in normal agricultural, horticultural and residential enjoyment and use
of property. The provisions of this article shall not apply to nor affect a
person in excavating to install, construct or complete a structure, building or
facility of any kind when the plans and specifications for such objective have
been submitted and approved by the department of engineering services, the
building official, or planning commission of the city or for which a permit has
been issued by the department of engineering services or building official;
provided, that the progress on the facility or project is not delayed for a
period of more than two (2) weeks, excepting delays attributable to acts of
nature, and further providing, that such excavation created is not of a perma-
nent nature and will not be left open and uncovered on the completion of the
project without authorization of such permit. The provisions of this article
shall not apply to nor affect the excavation operations of private utility
concerns constructing facilities by virtue of a franchise or a special permit
issued by the city; provided, that the progress on the private utility project
or facility is not delayed for a period of more than two (2) weeks, excepting
delays attributable to acts of nature, and further providing, that such exca-
vation created is not of a permanent nature and will not be left open and
uncovered on the completion of the facility or project. This article shall not
apply nor affect the operations of the United States of America, the State of
Texas nor any political subdivision of either thereof.
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Sec. 13-153. Limitations on locations of excavations.
No excavation permit shall be issued for the commencing of an excavation
which is located nearer than one hundred'fifty (150) feet of any residence,
building or structure, without the applicant having first secured written
permission of the owner thereof. No excavation permit shall be issued for the
commencing of an excavation which is located nearer than three hundred fifty
(350) feet to any exterior property line boundary of lands utilized for a public
or parochial school, a college, a university, a hospital, a church, a public
building, a cemetery or within an area where there is on public record re-
strictions or convenants prohibiting excavations.
The city council, through the planning commission, shall have the power and
reserves the authority to refuse any application for an excavation permit at any
particular location within the city limits, by reason of such particular lo-
cation and the character and value of the permanent improvements already erected
on or approximately adjacent to the particular location in question, and the use
to which the land and surroundings are adopted for school, college, university,
hospital, park, civic purposes or for health and safety reasons, or any of them,
when in the planning commission's opinion the excavating or operation of an
excavation on such particular location might constitute a nuisance, be injurious
to public health, a public hazard or a disadvantage to the city in its planned
growth, or to its inhabitants as a whole, or to a substantial number of its
inhabitants or visitors as a group.
Sec. 13-154. Duration of permit; application for new permits.
Each excavation permit issued shall be issued for a specific time period
with a maximum period of one year, after which period the permit is void and the
person to whom the permit was issued must make a new application for a new
permit for each succeeding year or portion of a year that an excavation is
operated or maintained.
Sec. 13-155. Application for permit - Generally.
Permits required by this article shall be issued only after an application,
in the form of an affidavit, is executed in duplicate and presented to the
department of engineering services, which application shall be referred to the
planning commission of the city for review, consideration and recommendation.
The department of engineering services shall be bound to act in accord with the
planning commission's recommendation in the issuance of each excavation permit.
Sec. 13-156. Same - Information required.
Each application for an excavation permit must include all of the following
information in detail before it can be accepted by the department of engineering
services and before it can be considered by the planning commission:
(1) The identity and residence address of the applicant.
(2) The identity and residence address of the owner of the land.
(3) The location and legal description of the land.
(4) A positive statement as to whether the land has been platted.
06P.129.01 2
(5)
A tax certificate stating that city, county, state and school dis-
trict ad valorem taxes have been paid and are current concerning the
land.
(6) The purpose or reason for the removing or moving of the soil from or
on the land.
(7) The quantity in cubic yards of soil to be moved or removed from the
land.
(8) In the case of removal, the place to which the soil is to be removed.
(9) The proposed date of completion of the soil removal or moving.
(10) A positive statement that no buildings, residences or structures are
within one hundred fifty (150) feet of the proposed excavation.
(11) A positive statement that the proposed excavation shall not block,
encumber or close any public street, way or alley, or disturb the
lateral support thereof.
(12) A positive statement that the proposed excavation shall not be located
nearer than three hundred fifty (350) feet to any exterior property
line boundary of lands utilized for a public or parochial school, a
college, a university, a hospital, a church, public building or a
cemetery.
(13) A positive statement that the proposed excavation is not and shall not
be located in an area which has on public record restrictions or
convenants prohibiting such a use of the property.
(14) The proposed slopes and lateral supports to be used in the excavation
shall be set forth.
(15) The present and proposed arrangements made for surface water drainage.
(16) The safety precautions to be installed and maintained at the site,
such as fences around the excavation, traffic -control devices and
drainage system to keep the excavation from collecting water within
it.
(17) The intended use or condition of land upon completion of the exca-
vation process.
(18) Such other pertinent data as the department of engineering services
and planning commission may hereafter by resolution require.
Sec. 13-157. Same - Review by planning commission.
Upon receipt of an application for an excavation permit, the planning
commission of the city shall set the same down for public hearing. Written
notice of such public hearing before the planning commission shall be sent to
the owners of real property located within four hundred fifty (450) feet of the
property on which the excavation is proposed. Such notice is to be given at
06P.129.01 3
least ten (10) days before the hearing by mailing such notice to the owners who
have rendered their property for city taxes, as the ownership appears on the
last approved city tax roll. When a portion of the property located within four
hundred fifty (450) feet of the property upon which the excavation is proposed
is located outside the city limits or which was annexed to the city after the
final date for making the renditions which are included on the last approved
city tax roll, then notice to such owners shall be given by publication as set
forth below. In addition to the notice herein provided, notice of such public
hearing shall be published once in the official publication of the city, at least
fifteen (15) days prior to the date of such public hearing. Upon conclusion of
the hearing, the planning commission shall submit its recommendation to the
department of engineering services which shall grant or refuse the permit in
accordance with such recommendation.
Sec. 13-158. Same - Factors to be considered.
In considering and reviewing an application for an excavation permit the
planning commission shall be guided by the general purpose of orderly municipal
planning, the prohibiting of any condition or the doing of any act constituting
or creating a nuisance, health hazard or endangering the lives or property of
others. As aids in accomplishing these purposes, the following points shall be
considered by the planning commission in reviewing applications for excavation
permits; however, such aids shall not be exclusive in the commission's consid-
eration and ultimate recommendation:
(1) Soil and earth erosion by water and wind.
(2) Surface water drainage and water drainage facilities of the exca-
vation.
(3) Lateral supports of the excavation.
(4) Condition in which excavation to be maintained and safeguards to be
taken to prohibit creating a nuisance, health hazard, attractiveness
to children, and features provided to dispense with the endangering
of the lives and property of the public.
(5) Land values and uses in the area of the excavation.
(6) Proposed use or condition of land upon completion of excavation
process.
(7) Such other factors as may bear or relate to the coordinated, adjusted
and harmonious physical development of the city.
In arriving at its ultimate recommendation, the planning commission may
attach such special conditions thereto as may be reasonably necessary to attain
the overall purpose of this article.
Sec. 13-159. Permit fee.
On submission of an application for an excavation permit to the department
of engineering services a fee shall also be submitted for the adequate
administration of this article in an the amount of two hundred fifty dollars
($250.00). In the event that an excavation permit is recommended for issuance,
06P.129.01 4
an additional fee of fifty dollars ($50.00) per month for the duration of the
permit shall be paid in advance prior to issuance of the permit for the purpose
of inspecting the site during the excavation process.
Sec. 13-160. Appeals from permit denial or granting to city council.
(a) In the event an applicant is refused an excavation permit, he may, not
later than ten (10) days from the date of receiving notice of such refusal,
appeal to the city council for a public hearing on the refusal by directing
a letter to the city council setting forth therein the date of denial of
the excavation permit and the reasons the applicant feels he has been
wronged in being refused the permit. A fee of one hundred dollars
($100.00) shall be collected for processing the appeal.
(b) In the event the planning commission recommends to the department of
engineering services that the permit be granted, any person may, within ten
(10) days of the recommendation to grant the permission by the planning
commission, appeal to the city council for a public hearing on the question
of the granting or refusal, as the case may be, of the permit by directing
a letter to the city council addressed to the office of the city secretary,
at the city hall, setting forth therein the date of the recommendation of
the planning commission and the reasons the person so appealing feels that
he has been or will be injured by the action from which he is taking such appeal
a fee of one hundred dollars ($100.00) shall be collected for processing
the appeal.
(c) Upon the filing of such appeal, the right to operate under any such
excavation permit shall be suspended until final determination by the city
council and then in accordance with the final decision of the city council.
(d) The city council shall, on receiving such notice of appeal, direct the
city secretary to place it on the city council's work agenda to be con-
sidered in the due order of city business. The city secretary shall then
notify the appellant as to the date and place where the city council will
consider the appeal and publish a notice one time in the official newspaper
at least five (5) days before the date when the city council will consider
the appeal.
(e) The city council on conducting the public hearing regarding the appeal
may, by majority vote of all of the council, either grant or refuse to
grant the permit. In the event the permit is granted, the permit shall be
issued by the director of engineering services in accordance with the
direction of the city council.
Sec. 13-161. Issuance of permit.
All excavation permits shall be issued by the director of the department of
engineering services.
Sec. 13-162. Form of permit.
The excavation permit shall be in such form and numbered as may be pre-
scribed by the department of engineering services and shall contain any and all
special conditions set forth in the planning commission's recommendation or the
direction of the City Council.
06P.129.01 5
Sec. 13-163. Transferring, selling, assigning, etc., of permit.
No excavation permit issued under the terms of this article to any person
shall ever be transferred, sold, assigned, or otherwise disposed of in any
manner to any other person without the written consent of the city council.
Sec. 13-164. Revocation of permit.
Any excavation permit issued under this article where a notice to cease
operations thereunder is issued by an inspection official may be revoked by the
planning commission after notice and hearing for:
(1) Violation of any condition of'the excavation permit;
(2) Violation of any provision of this article or any other applicable
ordinance or law relating to excavations;
(3)
The existence of any condition or the doing of any act constituting
or creating a nuisance or endangering the lives or property of
others.
Sec. 13-165. Appeals from permit revocation.
Any person who has been issued an excavation permit who is aggrieved by its
revocation by the planning commission of the city may appeal to the city council
by filing with the city secretary a written notice thereof within five (5) days
from the date of the revocation of the excavation permit a fee of one hundred
dollars ($100.00) shall be collected for processing the appeal. The aggrieved
person shall be given a hearing before the city council, in due order of
business, after which the city council may modify or overrule the planning
commission's decision.
Written notice of the time and place of such hearing shall be served upon
the person to whom the permit was granted at least four (4) days prior to the
date set for such hearing. Such notice shall also contain a brief statement of
the grounds to be relied upon for revoking such excavation permit. Notice of
the hearing may be given by personal delivery thereof to the person to be
notified or by deposit in the United States mail in a sealed envelope with
postage prepaid, addressed to such person to be notified at the address appear-
ing in his application. In the event any appeal is taken from the decision of
the planning commission, in the manner prescribed above, all work shall be
stopped at the excavation while the appeal is pending.
Sec. 13-166. Inspection - Right of entry of department of engineering
services.
For the purpose of administering and enforcing this article, employees of
the department of engineering services shall have the right to enter into and
upon any lands within the city limits, in or upon which an excavation exists or
on any lands on which operations are being conducted in creating an excavation,
to examine and inspect such lands and excavations, to determine whether the
excavation itself or the operations in creating an excavation are in violation
of this article and to further determine whether an excavation permit has been
secured as is required in this article.
06P.129.01 6
Sec. 13-167. Same - Notice of violations.
If the personal inspection provided for above reveals that the excavation
is being operated or maintained in violation of the excavation permit issued,
the inspecting official shall immediately give notice in writing to the
person in charge at the site of the excavation to cease operations, setting
forth therein the exact reason for the issuance of the notice.
Sec. 13-168. Same - Cessation of operations; time limitation for
correction of violations; additional inspection.
After issuance of the notice as provided for above, there shall be no
further operation of the excavation until the violations complained of by the
inspecting official have been remedied. The operator shall have three (3) days
from the date of receipt of the complaint notice from the inspecting official to
remedy the violations complained of by the inspector and to notify the
department of engineering services of the city that the violations complained of
have been remedied and that the excavation is ready for additional inspection.
Sec. 13-169. Same - Procedure upon failure to remedy violations.
In the event an operator of an excavation fails to remedy the violations
complained of as provided, the inspecting official shall notify the planning
commission of the violations discovered and request that a hearing be set for a
revocation of the operator's excavation permit. A continuation of work or
operation of the excavation, other than to remedy the violation complained of,
after written notice has been received by the operator to cease the excavation
operations shall constitute a violation of this article.
Sec. 13-170. Certain excavations declared nuisances.
Any excavation located within the city limits, or hereafter created within
the city limits, or within five thousand (5,000) feet of the city limits shall
and does constitute a nuisance when maintained or permitted to exist by any
person in an unwholesome or nauseous condition, or in a manner by which stagnant
water accumulates, or in a manner in which water collects where it is possible
and probable mosquitoes will breed, or in a condition where rats could harbor,
or in a manner and condition constituting a breeding place for flies, or in a
manner and condition where filth, garbage, trash, debris and other discarded
material accumulates and is deposted, or is maintained or permitted to exist in
an unfenced, open condition, accessible to children and other members of the
public, or is maintained and worked in such a manner as to disturb, effect or
destroy the lateral support of or block and impede traffic on any public street,
alley, road or way, or that is maintained or permitted to exist in any condition
which constitutes a possible and probable medium of transmission of disease to
or between human beings, or to maintain or permit to exist any one or more of
the above -enumerated conditions. It is further declared that any person in
locating or maintaining any excavation in violation of the provisions of this
section shall be subject to the penalty for the violation of this Code and is
hereby deemed to be maintained a nuisance. Nothing herein shall in any way
reduce the remedies which the city may otherwise have to regulate, correct,
abate or abolish any nuisance within the city limits or within five thousand
(5,000) feet of the city limits.
06P.129.01 7
SECTION 2. If for any reason any section, paragraph, subdivision, clause,
phrase, word or provision of this ordinance shall be held invalid or
unconstitutional by final judgment of a court of competent jurisdiction, it
shall not affect any other section, paragraph, subdivision, clause, phrase, word
or provision of this ordinance for it is the definite intent of this City
Council that every section, paragraph, subdivision, clause, phrase, word or
provision hereof be given full force and effect for its purpose.
SECTION 3. Publication shall be made one time in the official publication
of the City of Corpus Christi by publishing the caption stating in sbustance the
purpose of the ordinance, this ordinance to become effective upon such
publication.
06P.129.01 8
That the foregoing ordinance was read for the first time . nd p ed to its
second reading on this the t/,7a day of :',O.MeJ �19 / , by the
following vote:
Betty N. Turner j���— Clif Moss
David Berlanga, Sr. C2,�;(,(1LIL Bill Pruet
Leo Guerrero L'A/v1I— Mary Rhodes
Frank Mendez Mary Pat Slavik
Linda Strong
That the foregoing ordinancejos read for a second tim and passed to its
third reading on this the day of , 19g7 , by the
following vote:
Betty N. Turner
David Berlanga, Sr.
Leo Guerrero
Frank Mendez
Clif Moss
Bill Pruet
Mary Rhodes
Mary Pat Slavik
Linda Strong
That the foregoing ordin4nce was s ileac, for the gird time and passed finally on
this the \ day of C�►li�iJ 19 )% , by the following vote:
Betty N. Turner
David Berlanga,
Leo Guerrero
Frank Mendez
otp
Sr. pp� �"�""�
(�t.r �w-e
Clif Moss
Bill Pruet
Mary Rhodes
Mary Pat Slavik
Linda Strong
0 �
42—
PASSED AND APPROVED, this the 3 day of V1)1ft. fK_Lt&) , 1917
ATTEST:
ity ecretary
APPpROVED:
%/_DAY OF 1907:
HAL GEORGE, CITY ATTORNEY
99.044.01
THE CITY OF CORPUS CHRISTI, TEXAS
20052
PUBLISHER'S AFFIDAVIT
STATE OF TEXAS, las: Ad#69306
County of Nueces. ) City of C C
.a'
Before me, the undersigned, a Notary Public, this day personally came., �_..
Deanne D Palmer
.., who being first duly sworn, according to law, says that he is the
„;:Senior Accounting Clerk of the Corpus Christi Caller and The Corpus Christi Times,
Daily Newspapers published at Corpus Christi, Texas,, in said County and State, and that the publication of
--..NOTICF OE..PASSAGE ..OE..OR IDAN(',F 470052_AMF.NTJN ..CHAP.TEE..13..0E.. 3E_CQAPJJS..CERISTI..GODEilY
of which the annexed is a true copy, was published in ___Corpus Christi Caller -Times -�_
on the' 9 day of.......19-4 and once each
consecutive.....da.y
ane-
.....
23.00
daI.._._..._..thereafter for one
Basi r ?a---'
...
Deanne D Palmer
Subscribed and sworn to before me this..12th _.._.day of..N i ' -411/
Notary lic,ueces County, Texas
6.30.89
Eugenia S Cortez
NOTICE OF PASSAGE OF f
0RDINANCE 11 20052
AMENDING CHAPTER 13 OF4'..
THE CORVUS CHRISTI CITY "
CODE BY AMENDING EXCAVATIONARTI-
".
CLE IV, re PROVIDINGOFOR DINGERA FOR i3
TY;
PUBLICATM.passss
Was
Was ped and approved
byof Corpua ChrisvTexas
l of the C0
the 3rd day of November, 1
1987 The full text of said 1
ordinance is available to the
public in the Office of the Gty ,
Secretary.
/s/ Armando Chapa
City Secretary
, City of Corpus Chnsu
V