Code Enforcement WIP

About Us

City of Pearland Codes and Ordinances have been created to protect the safety, health, and quality of life for the citizens of Pearland.

The Code Enforcement division is responsible for providing a safe and healthy environment for citizens, business owners and visitors by ensuring that all properties are maintained in a manner that encourages community pride, neighborhood integrity, public health, and maintains property values.

Code Enforcement Officers proactively enforce areas concerning:

dangerous buildings
substandard structures
excessively high grass and weeds
accumulation of trash and debris
illegal dumping and junked items
and other general nuisance related violations.

Code Enforcement also conducts inspections and investigates complaints of food establishments in the City.

Inspections of food establishments are designed to reduce the incidence of foodborne illnesses and to educate those working with food.

Common Code Violations

	Common Code Violations in the City of Pearland
	UDC Sec. 2.4.2.5 (g) – Outside Storage Outside storage in the front yard is prohibited, except for storage within leased portable containers such as PODS for not longer than seven (7) calendar days.
	Ordinance Sec. 20-93 – Graffiti Declared a Public Nuisance The city finds and determines that graffiti is an impure and unwholesome matter and its existence: (1) is detrimental to the safety and welfare of the public; (2) tends to reduce the value of private property; (3) invites vandalism, additional graffiti, and other criminal activities; and (4) produces urban blight which is adverse to the maintenance and continuing development of the city. The existence of graffiti on public or private property in violation of this chapter is expressly declared to be a public nuisance and is subject to the removal and abatement provisions provided by law. It is the duty of the owner of the property to which graffiti has been applied to at all times keep the property clear of graffiti.
	UDC Sec. 4.2.1.2 (a) (1) – Parking on Grass Parking on grass or other non-paved area in any zoning district is prohibited except for agricultural machinery or equipment in the SD or RE zoning districts
	UDC Sec. 4.1.2.4 – Certificate of Occupancy An application for a certificate of occupancy is required within the City limits, or where authorized by a development agreement, in the City’s extraterritorial jurisdiction, after the construction, alteration or placement of a structure on a lot, tract or parcel and prior to habitation or any use of the structure, or any occupation of a manufactured home rental community. A certificate of occupancy also is required prior to a change in the use of any structure if the use is a different use based upon the land uses listed in Article 5, Division 2 of Chapter 2 (Land Use Matrix).
	UDC Sec. 4.2.5.1(c)(6) – Prohibited Signs Signs attached to a mobile structure, such as a vehicle or trailer used as an on-premise or off-premise sign, primarily for the purpose of serving as a static display for the advertisement of the sale, storage, or distribution of a product or service.
	Ordinance Sec. 11-42 (2) – Mobile Food Units No person shall operate or cause to be operated any mobile food unit which does not possess a valid license issued by the Code Enforcement/Health Officer. Any person, firm, or establishment who is found to have operated or caused to be operated a mobile food unit without a valid mobile food unit license shall be demmed guilty of a misdemeanor and shall, upon conviction by a court of competent jurisdiction, be assessed fines or other punishment as provided by this Code.
	Ordinance Sec. 26-5 (a) – Obstruction of Public Ways, Generally It shall be unlawful for any person within the city without obtaining a permit to erect, construct, reconstruct, alter or repair or to permit the erection, construction, reconstruction, alteration or repair of any fence, wall, hedge, structure or any other character of obstruction including, but not limited to, sprinkler and irrigation systems or components thereof: (1) Under, over, on or across any public property, way, alley, street, sidewalk or park; or (2) Between the property line of any lot and a public street or alley line.
	Ordinance Sec. 7-61.1 – Substandard Building A building that is: Dilapidated, substandard, or unfit for human habitation and a hazard to the public health, safety, and welfare, or; boarded up, fenced, or otherwise secured in any manner if: the building constitutes a danger to the public; or is unoccupied and inadequately secured.

Paraphrased Ordinance sections of the most common Code Enforcement violations. The full list of City Ordinances are available for view at Municode.com – Other adopted ordinances may reference the: Unified Development Code (UDC), The International Building Code (IBC), or The International Property 4Maintenance Code (IPMC)

	Common code violations in the City of Pearland
	Ordinance Sec. 14-52 – Junked Vehicle A vehicle that: Does not have lawfully attached an unexpired registration insignia, and; is wrecked, dismantled, or inoperable and has remained inoperable for more than 72 consecutive hours on public property or 30 consecutive days on private property.
	Ordinance Sec. 13-61(c) – Offensive Conditions - Swimming Pools A person responsible for any premises, occupied or unoccupied, commits an offense if said person maintains a swimming pool in a manner that creates an unsanitary condition likely to attract or harbor mosquitoes, rodents, vermin, or disease-carrying pests.
	Ordinance Sec. 13-17(a), (1)-(3) – Weeds and Offensive Conditions (1)A person, owner, tenant, agent or person responsible for any premises, occupied or unoccupied, commits an offense if said person permits or allows weeds to grow on the premises to a greater height than (9) nine inches. Said premises shall include, but not be limited to, the parkway between sidewalk and the curb; the right-of-way between any fence, wall or barrier and the curb or pavement if such exists or the center line of said right-of-way; (3)With respect to uncultivated agricultural properties or tracts of land that contain no structures used or designed for human occupancy for residential or commercial purposes, a person, owner, tenant, agent or person responsible for such property commits an offense if said person permits or allows weeds to grow to greater height than twenty-four (24) inches within fifty (50) feet from any adjacent property under different ownership or any street right-of-way. However, on cultivated agricultural properties where the distance between the growing crop and abutting property under different ownership or street right-of-way is less than fifty (50) feet, the person, owner, tenant, agent or person responsible for such property commits an offense if said person permits or allows weeds to grow to a greater height than nine (9) inches.
	DC Sec. 4.2.5.1 (d) (2) – Sign Location Requirements No sign shall be located on or project over public property, a street right-of-way, or a public utility easement, except governmental signs, bench signs, subdivision identification signs, temporary banner signs and permitted signs in the Old Townsite District.
	UDC Sec. 4.2.5.5 (c) (1) – Use or Display of Banners Except for temporary signs that do not require permits (refer to section 4.1.2.6(c)), the use or display of banners is hereby prohibited unless a permit for such use is obtained from the Planning Director or his designee.
	Ordinance Sec. 7-17 (a) – Work Permit Required It shall be unlawful for any person within the city limits or extraterritorial jurisdiction of the city to commence construction or excavation for construction of any building or structure, including accessory buildings, or to commence the erection, reconstruction, conversion, or alteration of any building or structure, including accessory buildings, until the building inspector has issued a building permit for such work.
	Ordinance Sec. 12-31 – Waste Collection The City of Pearland shall provide collection service for residential solid waste twice a week, and for green waste meant for recycling and recyclable materials once a week, except when a collection day falls on New Year’s Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, labor Day, Thanksgiving Day, or Christmas Day, when there will be no collection. Placement of waste for collection shall be at the edge of the portion of the right-of-way that abuts the residential property. A residential customer shall not place waste for collection before 5:00 p.m. on the day prior to collection day, nor shall the customer allow the waste to remain at the edge of the right-of-way after collection day. Storage of all waste shall be behind the building line.

Additional code violations

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City of Pearland, TX

Food Service Renewal Process

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code of ordinances

Common Code Violations in the City of Pearland