| 1 | 1 | | 81R12961 EAH-F |
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| 2 | 2 | | By: Miller of Comal H.B. No. 3380 |
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| 3 | 3 | | |
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| 4 | 4 | | |
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| 5 | 5 | | A BILL TO BE ENTITLED |
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| 6 | 6 | | AN ACT |
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| 7 | 7 | | relating to the barking of dogs in unincorporated areas of a county. |
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| 8 | 8 | | BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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| 9 | 9 | | SECTION 1. Section 343.011, Health and Safety Code, is |
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| 10 | 10 | | amended by reenacting and amending Subsection (c), as amended by |
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| 11 | 11 | | Chapters 388 (S.B. 680) and 1366 (H.B. 3581), Acts of the 80th |
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| 12 | 12 | | Legislature, Regular Session, 2007, and adding Subsection (f) to |
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| 13 | 13 | | read as follows: |
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| 14 | 14 | | (c) A public nuisance is: |
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| 15 | 15 | | (1) keeping, storing, or accumulating refuse on |
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| 16 | 16 | | premises in a neighborhood unless the refuse is entirely contained |
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| 17 | 17 | | in a closed receptacle; |
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| 18 | 18 | | (2) keeping, storing, or accumulating rubbish, |
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| 19 | 19 | | including newspapers, abandoned vehicles, refrigerators, stoves, |
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| 20 | 20 | | furniture, tires, and cans, on premises in a neighborhood or within |
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| 21 | 21 | | 300 feet of a public street for 10 days or more, unless the rubbish |
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| 22 | 22 | | or object is completely enclosed in a building or is not visible |
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| 23 | 23 | | from a public street; |
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| 24 | 24 | | (3) maintaining premises in a manner that creates an |
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| 25 | 25 | | unsanitary condition likely to attract or harbor mosquitoes, |
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| 26 | 26 | | rodents, vermin, or disease-carrying pests; |
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| 27 | 27 | | (4) allowing weeds to grow on premises in a |
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| 28 | 28 | | neighborhood if the weeds are located within 300 feet of another |
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| 29 | 29 | | residence or commercial establishment; |
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| 30 | 30 | | (5) maintaining a building in a manner that is |
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| 31 | 31 | | structurally unsafe or constitutes a hazard to safety, health, or |
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| 32 | 32 | | public welfare because of inadequate maintenance, unsanitary |
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| 33 | 33 | | conditions, dilapidation, obsolescence, disaster, damage, or |
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| 34 | 34 | | abandonment or because it constitutes a fire hazard; |
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| 35 | 35 | | (6) maintaining on abandoned and unoccupied property |
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| 36 | 36 | | in a neighborhood a swimming pool that is not protected with: |
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| 37 | 37 | | (A) a fence that is at least four feet high and |
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| 38 | 38 | | that has a latched and locked gate; and |
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| 39 | 39 | | (B) a cover over the entire swimming pool that |
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| 40 | 40 | | cannot be removed by a child; |
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| 41 | 41 | | (7) maintaining on any property in a neighborhood in a |
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| 42 | 42 | | county with a population of more than 1.1 million a swimming pool |
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| 43 | 43 | | that is not protected with: |
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| 44 | 44 | | (A) a fence that is at least four feet high and |
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| 45 | 45 | | that has a latched gate that cannot be opened by a child; or |
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| 46 | 46 | | (B) a cover over the entire swimming pool that |
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| 47 | 47 | | cannot be removed by a child; |
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| 48 | 48 | | (8) maintaining a flea market in a manner that |
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| 49 | 49 | | constitutes a fire hazard; |
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| 50 | 50 | | (9) discarding refuse or creating a hazardous visual |
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| 51 | 51 | | obstruction on: |
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| 52 | 52 | | (A) county-owned land; or |
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| 53 | 53 | | (B) land or easements owned or held by a special |
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| 54 | 54 | | district that has the commissioners court of the county as its |
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| 55 | 55 | | governing body; |
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| 56 | 56 | | (10) discarding refuse on the smaller of: |
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| 57 | 57 | | (A) the area that spans 20 feet on each side of a |
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| 58 | 58 | | utility line; or |
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| 59 | 59 | | (B) the actual span of the utility easement; |
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| 60 | 60 | | (11) filling or blocking a drainage easement, failing |
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| 61 | 61 | | to maintain a drainage easement, maintaining a drainage easement in |
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| 62 | 62 | | a manner that allows the easement to be clogged with debris, |
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| 63 | 63 | | sediment, or vegetation, or violating an agreement with the county |
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| 64 | 64 | | to improve or maintain a drainage easement; [or] |
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| 65 | 65 | | (12) [(11)] discarding refuse on property that is not |
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| 66 | 66 | | authorized for that activity; or |
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| 67 | 67 | | (13) allowing the barking of or another noise made by a |
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| 68 | 68 | | dog outdoors on premises in a neighborhood in violation of an order |
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| 69 | 69 | | adopted by the county. |
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| 70 | 70 | | (f) In adopting an order prohibiting a person from allowing |
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| 71 | 71 | | the barking or another noise made by a dog outdoors on premises in a |
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| 72 | 72 | | neighborhood under Subsection (c)(13), a county may: |
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| 73 | 73 | | (1) establish times during which allowing the barking |
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| 74 | 74 | | or another noise of a dog is considered a violation; |
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| 75 | 75 | | (2) establish guidelines for acceptable levels of |
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| 76 | 76 | | noise based on the proximity of residences and business |
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| 77 | 77 | | establishments to the source of the noise; and |
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| 78 | 78 | | (3) set a minimum decibel level for a violation. |
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| 79 | 79 | | SECTION 2. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives |
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| 80 | 80 | | a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as |
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| 81 | 81 | | provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this |
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| 82 | 82 | | Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this |
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| 83 | 83 | | Act takes effect September 1, 2009. |
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