Travis County looks for solutions to clean up growing public nuisances

TRAVIS COUNTY, Texas (KXAN) — County leaders are looking at how to clean up a growing public nuisance.

On Tuesday, Travis County commissioners approved initial funding for a public nuisance abatement pilot program. The goal is to help clean up and remove some public nuisances for property owners who cannot financially do it themselves, according to county documents.

The initial cost is about $300,000 which will be a fiscal year 2025 budget request. This includes costs for an outside contractor to help property owners with clean up and removal and the cost of one full-time employee who will work with property owners and the county attorney's office.

County staff have tried to work with property owners for voluntary compliance, but some cases have not been resolved, according to county agenda documents. There are dozens of public nuisance cases each year, and the ongoing problem continues to grow, county documents said.

Travis County also has an agreement with Austin Public Health to investigate and mitigate public nuisances.

More information about the pilot program is expected to be presented to commissioners in August or September.

What are public nuisances?

Public nuisances pose hazards to safety, health or public welfare, per county documents.

County code includes these definitions of public nuisance:

• Keeping, storing, or accumulating refuse on premises in a neighborhood unless the refuse is entirely contained in a closed receptacle;
• Keeping, storing, or accumulating rubbish, including newspapers, abandoned vehicles, refrigerators, stoves, furniture, tires, and cans, on premises in a neighborhood for 10 days or more, unless the rubbish or object is completely enclosed in a building or is not visible from a public street;
• Maintaining premises in a manner that creates an unsanitary condition likely to attract or harbor mosquitoes, rodents, vermin, or disease-carrying pests;
• Allowing weeds to grow on premises in a neighborhood if the weeds are located within 300 feet of another residence or commercial establishment;
• 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;
• Maintaining on abandoned and unoccupied property in a neighborhood a swimming pool that is not protected with:
  • a fence that is at least 4 feet high and that has a latch gate that cannot be opened by a child; or
  • a cover over the entire swimming pool that cannot be removed by a child; or
• Maintaining a flea market in a manner that constitutes a fire hazard.

What nuisance policies does Austin have?

Austin Police Department's Nuisance Abatement Unit works with property owners to get compliance on properties considered a nuisance, according to the city. Properties deemed a common nuisance can be closed for one year after a successful suit unless a penal bond is posted.

"The nuisance abatement process supplements traditional policing by providing an addition tool to remedy illegal activity at specific properties and/or locations within the city of Austin," according to APD.