Tex.
Health & Safety Code Section 343.011
Public Nuisance
(a)
This section applies only to the unincorporated area of a county.(b)
A person may not cause, permit, or allow a public nuisance under this section.(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 1.3 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 (Definitions).(d)
This section does not apply to:(1)
a site or facility that is:(A)
permitted and regulated by a state agency for the activity described by Subsection (c); or(B)
licensed or permitted under Chapter 361 (Solid Waste Disposal Act) for the activity described by Subsection (c); or(2)
agricultural land.(d-1)
This subsection applies only to a county with a population of 3.3 million or more and only in an unincorporated area in the county that is at least 5,000 feet outside the boundaries of a home-rule municipality. 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.(e)
In Subsection (d), “agricultural land” means land that qualifies for tax appraisal under Subchapter C (Appraisal) or D, Chapter 23 (Appraisal Methods and Procedures), Tax Code.
Source:
Section 343.011 — Public Nuisance, https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/HS/htm/HS.343.htm#343.011 (accessed Jun. 5, 2024).
