It shall be unlawful for any person, firm or corporation to move any house, building or other structure over or across any street, avenue, alley or other public place without first having obtained a removal permit for such moving from the Community Development Inspector. The Community Development Inspector shall not issue such permit for removal of such building or structure until the filing of an application with the Community Development Department for such removal, including a photograph of such building or structure to be moved and the destination or relocation. Upon the filing it shall be the duty of the Community Development Inspector to inspect the building or structure to be moved for the purpose of determining if said building or structure can be moved and relocated with safety and in compliance with the ordinances and regulations of the city.
All applications for permits required by the provisions of this article shall be made available from the Community Development Department, specifying the day and hour said moving is to commence and the route over which said house, building, or other structures shall be moved. If it is necessary to move, raise or in any way interfere with any wires or poles, the application shall state the names of the owners of said wires or poles and the time and place, when and where the removal of said poles or the moving, raising or otherwise interfering with said wires will be necessary. Said application shall be made not less than seven (7) days before the moving is to commence.
The Community Development Inspector shall, upon the filing of such application, give not less than twenty-four (24) hours’ notice to the person, firm or corporation owning or operating such wires or poles or to their agents, of the time and place when and where the removal of said poles, or the moving, raising or otherwise interfering with said wires shall be necessary.
It shall be the duty of the person, firm or corporation owning or operating said poles or wires, after service of notice as provided herein, to furnish sufficient and competent linemen and workmen to remove such poles, or raise or move such wires as will be necessary to facilitate the moving of such house or structure. The necessary expense which is incurred thereby shall be paid by the holder of the moving permit.
No person engaged in moving any house or other structure shall raise, cut or in any way interfere with any such poles or wires, unless the persons or authorities owning or having control of the same shall refuse to do so after having been notified as provided herein. Only competent and experienced workmen shall be employed in such work, and in such case, the necessary and reasonable expense shall be paid by the owners of the poles and wires handled. The work shall be done in a careful and workmanlike manner, and the said poles and wires shall be promptly replaced and the damages thereto properly repaired.
The Community Development Inspector along with City of Abilene police and fire personnel shall examine the proposed route, and if it shall appear that another route may be used equally well, and with less danger to street and travel, the Community Development Director and the Police Chief may designate such other route as the one to be used. It shall be the duty Police Chief to provide for a continuous escort for the moving of any house, building or other structure from the time it enters upon the street or public way until it is placed upon a private premises for permanent location or reaches the city limits of said city. This supervision shall include not only the movement of structures into or out of the city, but the movement of structures through the city, and to see that said house, building, or other structure is being moved in accordance with the provisions of this article.
It shall be the duty of any person, firm or corporation moving any of the structures mentioned in this article upon or across any street, alley or sidewalk or other public place in the city to display red lights or other suitable warning devices thereon in such a manner as to show the extreme height and width thereof from thirty (30) minutes after sunset to thirty (30) minutes before sunrise.
The Building Inspector shall further examine the building or structure to be moved and examine the neighborhood to which said building or structure is to be relocated, and if the Building Inspector determines that the building or structure to be moved will have a blighting influence on properties in the area or neighborhood, then such permit for removal to such location shall be denied.
In the event that a building or structure to be moved is found by the Building Inspector to be a blighting influence on the property in the relocated area, and such person seeking a removal permit for such building or structure lists the repairs, alterations and improvements to be made after said building or structure has been relocated, then before a removal permit is issued the applicant shall give or cause to be given to the city a bond approved by the City Manager in a sum of equal to or greater than the estimated cost of such improvements as determined by the Community Development Inspector, with sufficient surety, conditioned that said party will faithfully comply with the requirements of the Building Inspector and perform the improvements as set out in such person’s written agreement to be done after said building or structure has been relocated. Such performance bond shall further provide that the repairs, alterations and improvements shall be completed within six (6) months after said building or structure has been relocated.
In the event that a building or structure to be moved is found by the Community Development Inspector to not be a blighting influence on the property in the relocated area, such person seeking a removal permit for such building or structure shall enter into an agreement that such building or structure will be moved and relocated within six (6) months from the date the completion of the moving of said building has been completed, and shall give or cause to be given to the city a bond approved by the City Manager in a sum of equal to or greater than the estimated cost of such completion as determined by the Community Development Inspector with sufficient surety, conditioned that said party will faithfully comply with the requirements of the Community Development Inspector and perform the improvements as set out in such person’s written agreement to be done after said building or structure has been relocated. This bond shall be conditioned upon the fact that said applicant for the permit will faithfully comply with the requirements of the building inspector and the agreement entered into in connection with the obtaining of said permit, and shall likewise include a requirement that the completion of said building for occupancy be made within six (6) months after said building or structure has been relocated.
Any person aggrieved of any decision of the Community Development Inspector shall have the right to appeal from such finding to the Building Standards Board, whose decisions shall be final after it has made an investigation.
Any person, firm or corporation, at the time of making application for permit as provided in this article, upon signing said application agrees that to indemnify the city against any and all damage to streets or any other loss or damage the city may suffer, whether damage to city property or damages in the form of damage suits against said city resulting from the failure of such person, firm or corporation to comply strictly with the provisions of this article or from their negligence.
Any person, firm or corporation violating any of the provisions of this article shall, upon conviction thereof, be fined as prescribed in chapter 1 “General Penalty” and amendments thereto.