Tulia tightens code enforcement

TULIA During its July 8 meeting, the Tulia City Council approved changes to the city code related to recreational vehicle parking, parking on unimproved surfaces, fences, carports and building across multiple lot lines.

Recreational vehicle equipment such as RVs, travel trailers, watercraft and other similar equipment are no longer allowed in the front yard of a residence. Such equipment may be parked in the rear or side yard only if the area is part of an improved parking surface, or is screened from public view by means of a 6-foot fence, tree or shrubbery.

No parked recreational vehicle equipment shall extend into or upon any right-of-way or public access easement.

Parking on unimproved surfaces is now restricted for any residential, single-family, duplex or townhouse lot or tract.

Any vehicle in the front yard of a home must be parked on an improved parking surface. Parking or storage of any vehicle in the side or rear yard of a corner lot upon any surface not improved is only allowed if it is concealed from view from all public street rights-of-way by a 6-foot fence, tree or shrubbery. An exception has been approved by City Council for any homes without an existing driveway. Those residents will be allowed to continue parking until such time as improvements are made to the house at 50 percent or more of the propertys total assessed value, then construction of an improved surface will be required. This adopted section does not apply to tracts of land over one acre.

It is now unlawful for any person to allow, permit or cause any fence to lean or to have missing, loose or broken slats or panels, or to have symbols, writings or other graffiti except for symbols or writings which pertain to the address or occupancy of the property. A city permit is also now required for any fence, wall or hedge being erected, moved, added to or structurally altered, other than general maintenance and repair. Another change to the code allows for 4-foot fences in the front yard if they are of see-through material, versus in the past when only 2 -foot fences were allowed.

All carports are now required to be constructed of pre-engineered metal or conventional building materials similar to those of the main residence. No carport of metal construction shall be located in the front a single-family residence or within a side yard adjacent to a street unless approved by the Board of Adjustment. There are also new limits on the height of carports being 8 feet or 15 feet, depending on location on the lot. The requirements of this section shall only apply to carports constructed after July 8.

The last change council made was adopting a section allowing for an agreement with property owners to build across multiple lot lines if they are contiguous and under same ownership, without requiring replatting. If approved, the agreement would be recorded with the county and is controlling over the recorded plat until such time as the structure or building requiring the agreement is destroyed or demolished.

For more information or to read the entire adopted Ordinance No. 2014-05, visit tuliatexas.org or facebook.com/CityofTulia.

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Tulia tightens code enforcement