Hutto, TX Property Maintenance: Property Blight (2026)

Article 6.03 defines an unsafe building broadly at section 6.03.002: a structure with leaning or buckling walls, fire or wind damage that makes it dangerous, inadequate light, air, or egress, or that fails the city's minimum housing standards under chapter 214 of the Texas Local Government Code. Section 6.03.003 makes maintaining such a building unlawful and declares every substandard or unsafe building a public nuisance to be abated by repair, rehabilitation, demolition, or removal, with the building official charged with enforcing the article. Section 6.03.005 gives the building official power to inspect any reported unsafe building, obtaining a search warrant first if the owner will not consent, and section 6.03.006 requires written notice by certified mail describing the defects and setting a public hearing date before the Building and Standards Commission.

That commission can order repair, vacation, or demolition within 30 days under section 6.03.008, extendable only if the owner proves at the hearing that the work cannot reasonably be finished that quickly, and the order must be filed with the municipal secretary and published in a newspaper of general circulation within ten days. If the deadline passes, the city may vacate, secure, remove, or demolish the building itself and relocate any occupants. The article traces to Ordinance O-16-11-17-8A, adopted November 17, 2016, replacing the 2007 code's unsafe-building provisions.