§ 50-155 — OFFENSES; PENALTIES

SEC. 50-155. OFFENSES; PENALTIES.

(a) A person who violates a provision of this article, or who fails to perform an act required of the person by this article, commits an offense. A person commits a separate offense each day or portion of a day during which a violation is committed, permitted, or continued. (b) An offense under this article is punishable by a fine of not less than $25 or more than $500, except that a second or subsequent conviction for the same offense within a period of less than one year from the first conviction is punishable by a fine of not less than $100 or more than $500. (c) The culpable mental state required for the commission of an offense under this article is governed by Section 1-5.1 of this code. (d) The penalties provided for in Subsection (b) are in addition to any other enforcement remedies and penalties that the city may have under city ordinances and state law. Prosecution for an offense under this article does not prevent the use of other administrative enforcement remedies or procedures applicable to the conduct involved in the offense. (e) It is a defense to prosecution under this chapter that, at the time of the offense, the person charged was serving or distributing food, without charge, to homeless individuals on public or private property, provided that the person: (1) sent a notice within the time required by subparagraph (B) to the director (by United States mail, facsimile, electronic mail to the addresses or numbers provided by the director, via the City’s 311 call center, or on the City’s Code Compliance Department’s website) containing the following information: (A) the name of the individual or organization that was or will be serving or distributing food to the homeless; (B) the date or dates when food was or will be served or distributed to the homeless; (C) the times of day when food service and distribution is anticipated to or did begin and end on each date listed in the notice; (D) the street address or addresses of where food was or is anticipated to be served or distributed to the homeless or, if the location has no street address, then a description of the location by street block number or by naming the nearest intersecting streets; and (E) the approximate or expected number of food preparers and servers on the site where the food was or will be served or distributed and the approximate or expected number of individuals that were or will be served, provided the number of individuals that were or is anticipated to be served exceeds 75 at a single location; (2) sent the notice required in paragraph (1) at least 24 hours before the service or distribution of food to the homeless will commence, if it is anticipated that more than 75 people will be served, or within 48 hours after the service or distribution of food to the homeless has concluded, if it is anticipated that 75 or fewer people will be served at a single location; (3) if the person is an individual, had attended a free city-sponsored food safety training class within the 24 months preceding the service or distribution of food to the homeless or, if the person is an organization, had at least one person who has attended a free city-sponsored food safety training class or has taken the class to become a certified food handler in the State of Texas within the 24 months preceding the service or distribution of food to the homeless present at all times when food was being served or distributed to the homeless, although this requirement applies only so long as the city sponsors a free food safety training class at least once during each three month period during a calendar year; (4) did not serve or distribute time/ temperature control for safety to the homeless, unless the food has been stored at a temperature of: (A) 41° F. (5° C.) or below; or (B) 135° F. (57° C.) or above; (5) transported the food in a clean conveyance and, if the food was a time/temperature control for safety food, as that phrase is defined in the Texas Food Establishment Rules, as amended, served or distributed it within four hours after preparation; (6) used one of the following methods of sanitizing hands before preparing, serving, or distributing food for the homeless: (A) a hand sanitizer containing at least 70 percent alcohol or another substance capable of killing 99.9 percent of the bacteria on hands within 30 seconds of application; (B) disposable gloves; or (C) handwashing equipment that included at a minimum: (i) a sink, or a five-gallon container with a spigot that provides free-flowing water and a catch bucket to collect wastewater from handwashing; and (ii) soap and individual paper towels; (7) properly disposed of any wastewater generated from any handwashing equipment used in the preparation, service, or distribution of food to the homeless into a sanitary sewer system and did not dispose of the wastewater on the ground or into the stormwater drainage system; and (8) brought a sufficient number of trash bags to dispose of the solid waste generated by the food provided by the servers and used best efforts to remove or cause the removal of all trash or debris from the feeding site that was generated by the service or distribution of food to the homeless, and deposited the trash or debris in a public trash receptacle, or in a private trash receptacle if permission from the receptacle owner was obtained. (Ord. Nos. 29023; 33393)