City of Westminster, MD Chapter 1 General Provisions

[HISTORY: Adopted by the Mayor and Common Council of the City of Westminster as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted where applicable.]

Article I Adoption of Code

[Adopted 11-11-2002 by Ord. No. 689[1]]

[1] Editor's Note: This ordinance superseded former Art. I, Adoption of Code, adopted 4-8-1991 by Ord. No. 539.

§ 1-1 Code adopted.

The ordinances of the City of Westminster, Maryland, of a general and permanent nature, adopted by the Mayor and Common Council, which were contained in the 1991 edition of the Code of the City of Westminster, as revised, codified and consolidated into parts, chapters and sections by General Code Publishers Corp. and consisting of Chapters 1 through 173, are hereby approved, adopted, ordained and enacted as the "Code of the City of Westminster, Maryland," dated 2002, hereinafter known and referred to as the "Code."

§ 1-2 Repeal of enactments not included in Code.

All ordinances of a general and permanent nature of the City of Westminster in force on the date of the adoption of this ordinance and not contained in the Code adopted hereby or recognized and continued in force by reference therein are hereby repealed from and after the effective date of this ordinance, except as hereinafter provided in this ordinance.

§ 1-3 Ordinances saved from repeal.

The repeal of ordinances provided for in §1-2 of this ordinance shall not affect the following classes of ordinances, rights and obligations, which are hereby expressly saved from repeal:

A. Any right or liability established, accrued or incurred under any legislative provision of the City of Westminster prior to the effective date of this ordinance, or any action or proceeding brought for the enforcement of such right or liability.

B. An offense or act committed or done before the effective date of this ordinance in violation of any legislative provision of the City of Westminster, or any penalty, punishment or forfeiture which may result therefrom.

C. Any prosecution, indictment, action, suit or other proceeding pending or any judgment rendered prior to the effective date of this ordinance brought pursuant to any legislative provision of the City of Westminster.

D. Any franchise, license, right, easement or privilege heretofore granted or conferred by the City of Westminster or any ordinance adopted for purposes which have been consummated.

E. Any ordinance of the City of Westminster providing for the laying out, opening, altering, widening, relocating, straightening, establishing grade, changing name, improvement, acceptance or vacation of any right-of-way, easement, street, road, highway, park or other public place within the City of Westminster or any portion thereof.

F. Any ordinance of the City of Westminster appropriating money or transferring funds, promising or guaranteeing the payment of money or authorizing the issuance and delivery of any bond of the City of Westminster or other instruments or evidence of the City's indebtedness.

G. Any ordinance annexing territory to the City.

H. Ordinances authorizing the purchase, sale, lease or transfer of property, or any lawful contract or obligation.

I. The annual tax levy.

J. The levy or imposition of special assessments or charges.

K. Currently effective budget ordinances and tax ordinances.

L. The dedication of property.

M. Any legislation relating to salaries.

N. The Zoning Map of the City of Westminster and all amendments thereto.

O. Any ordinance adopted subsequent to August 12, 2002.

P. Any of the following ordinances or regulations or amendments thereto:

(1) Section 1 of Ordinance No. 253, passed August 27, 1935, which accepted the then completed sanitary sewer system and the sewage treatment plant;

(2) Ordinance No. 249, establishing a Plumbing Code, as amended by Ordinance No. 252;

(3) Rules and regulations governing plumbing and related matters, promulgated pursuant to the provisions of Section 5 of Ordinance No. 249;

(4) Ordinance No. 307, establishing a Building Code, as amended by Ordinance No. 343;

(5) Ordinance No. 309, regulating certain buildings abutting upon alleys; and

(6) Section 3 of Ordinance No. 5 relating to unsafe walls and buildings.

§ 1-4 Changes in previously adopted ordinances.

In compiling and preparing the ordinances of the City of Westminster for adoption and inclusion as part of the Code, certain grammatical changes and other minor changes were made in one or more of said ordinances. It is the intention of the Mayor and Common Council that all such changes be adopted as part of the Code as if the ordinances so changed had been previously formally amended to read as such.

§ 1-5 Copy of Code on file.

A copy of the Code in a post-bound volume has been filed in the office of the City Clerk and shall remain there for the use of and examination by the public until final action is taken on this ordinance; and if this ordinance shall be adopted, such copy shall be certified to by the City Clerk, and such certified copy shall remain on file in the office of the City Clerk, available to persons desiring to examine the same during all times when said Code is in effect.

§ 1-6 Amendments to Code.

Any and all additions, deletions, amendments or supplements to the Code, when passed and adopted in such form as to indicate the intention of the Mayor and Common Council to be a part thereof, shall be understood and intended to include such changes. Whenever such additions, deletions, amendments or supplements to the Code shall be adopted, they shall thereafter be printed and, as provided hereunder, inserted in the post-bound volume containing said Code, as amendments and supplements thereto.

§ 1-7 Code book to be kept up-to-date.

It shall be the duty of the City Clerk or someone authorized and directed by the City Clerk to keep up-to-date the certified copy of the book containing the Code required to be filed in the office of the City Clerk for the use of the public. All changes in said Code and all ordinances adopted by the Mayor and Common Council subsequent to the effective date of this recodification which the Mayor and Common Council shall adopt specifically as part of the Code shall, when finally adopted, be included therein by reference until such changes or new ordinances are printed as supplements to said Code book, at which time such supplement shall be inserted therein. Further, the City Clerk shall deposit or cause to be deposited with the State Department of Legislative Reference copies of the Code and amendments thereto, free of charge, as required pursuant to Article 23A, § 17A of the Annotated Code of Maryland.

§ 1-8 Severability.

It is hereby declared to be the intention of the Mayor and Common Council that the sections, paragraphs, sentences, clauses and phrases of this ordinance and the Code hereby adopted are severable, and if any phrase, clause, sentence, paragraph or section of this ordinance or the Code hereby adopted shall be declared unconstitutional or otherwise invalid by the valid judgment or decree of a court of competent jurisdiction, such unconstitutionality or invalidity shall not affect any of the remaining phrases, clauses, sentences, paragraphs and sections of this ordinance or the Code hereby adopted, since the same would have been enacted by the Mayor and Common Council without the incorporation in this ordinance or the Code of any such unconstitutional section, paragraph, sentence, clause or phrase.

§ 1-9 When effective.

The Mayor and Common Council declares that an emergency exists and that this legislation is necessary for the immediate protection of the public health and safety. This ordinance shall take effect immediately upon adoption, and all provisions of the Code shall be in full force and effect on and after the effective date of this ordinance.

§ 1-10 Inclusion of provisions in Code.

The provisions of this ordinance are hereby made Article I of Chapter 1 of the Code of the City of Westminster, Maryland, and the sections shall be numbered § § 1-1 through 1-10.

Article II Provisions Applicable to Entire Code

[Adopted as Ch. 1 of the 1972 Code, as amended through 1990]

§ 1-11 How Code designated and cited.

The ordinances embraced in the following chapters and sections shall constitute and be designated as the "Code of the City of Westminster, Maryland," and may be so cited. The Code may also be cited as "Westminster City Code."

§ 1-12 Definitions and rules of construction.

A. As used in this Code, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:

[Amended 4-13-1992 by Ord. No. 555; 4-26-2006 by Ord. No. 750]

CHARTER or CITY CHARTER

The Charter of the City of Westminster, Maryland.

THE CITY, THIS CITY or THE CITY OF WESTMINSTER

The Mayor and Common Council of Westminster, a municipal corporation chartered by that name by the General Assembly of Maryland.

CITY ADMINISTRATOR

The chief administrative officer of the City of Westminster.

CODE

The Code of the City of Westminster.

[Added 11-24-2008 by Ord. No. 791]

COUNCIL or COMMON COUNCIL

The Common Council of the City of Westminster.

COUNTY

Carroll County, Maryland.

DEPARTMENT OF PLANNING

The Department of Planning, Zoning and Development of the City of Westminster.

[Added 12-6-2007 by Ord. No. 773]

DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS

The Department of Public Works of the City of Westminster.

[Added 12-6-2007 by Ord. No. 773]

GENERAL FEE SCHEDULE

A schedule of general fees adopted by the Mayor and Common Council of Westminster by resolution and as may be amended from time to time, establishing certain fees, costs, and charges, including those fees, costs and charges formerly set forth in Chapter A175, Article I, General Fees, of this Code, and excluding those established pursuant to Chapters 124 and 160 of the Code. Wherever this Code makes reference to the "General Fee Ordinance," such reference shall be deemed and interpreted to be a reference to the "General Fee Schedule."

[Added 11-24-2008 by Ord. No. 791; amended 6-29-2020 by Ord. No. 925]

KEEPER and PROPRIETOR

Includes persons, firms, associations, corporations, clubs and copartnerships, whether acting by themselves or a servant, agent or employee.

LEGISLATIVE BODY

The Mayor and Common Council of Westminster, Maryland.

MAYOR

The Mayor of the City of Westminster, Maryland.

MONTH

A calendar month.

OATH

Includes an affirmation or declaration in all cases in which, by law, an affirmation may be substituted for an oath, and in such cases the words "swear" and "sworn" shall be equivalent to the words "affirm" and "affirmed."

OWNER

As applied to any property, includes any part owner, joint owner, tenant in common, joint tenant or tenant by the entirety of the whole or a part of such property.

PERSON

Includes a corporation, firm, partnership, association, organization and any other group acting as a unit, as well as an individual.

PERSONAL PROPERTY

Includes every species of property except real property, as herein defined.

PLANNING DIRECTOR

The Planning Director of the City of Westminster.

[Amended 12-6-2007 by Ord. No. 773]

POLICE OFFICER

Includes but is not limited to any bailiff or special bailiff of this City and any member of the City Police Department having authority to make arrests.

PRECEDING and FOLLOWING

Next before and next after, respectively

PROPERTY

Includes real and personal property.

PUBLIC WORKS DIRECTOR

The Public Works Director of the City of Westminster.

[Amended 12-6-2007 by Ord. No. 773]

REAL PROPERTY

Includes lands, tenements and hereditaments.

SIDEWALK

That portion of a street between the curbline, or the lateral lines of a roadway where there is no curb, and the adjacent property line, intended for the use of pedestrians.

SIGNATURE or SUBSCRIPTION

Includes a mark when the person cannot write.

STATE or THIS STATE

The State of Maryland.

STREET

Includes any public way, road, highway, street, avenue, boulevard, parkway, alley, lane, viaduct, bridge and the approaches thereto within the City and shall mean the entire width thereof between abutting property lines. It shall also be construed to include a sidewalk or footpath, unless the contrary is expressed or unless such construction would be inconsistent with the manifest intent of the legislative body.

TENANT or OCCUPANT

As applied to a building or land, includes any person who occupies the whole or a part of such building or land, whether alone or with others.

UTILITY FEE ORDINANCE

An ordinance adopted by the Mayor and Common Council of Westminster and amended from time to time establishing fees, costs and charges relating to utilities provided, pursuant to Chapters 124 and 160 of the Code.[1]

[Added 11-24-2008 by Ord. No. 791]

WRITING and WRITTEN

Includes printing and any other mode of representing words, letters and figures.

YEAR

A calendar year, except where fiscal year is specifically referred to.

[1] Editor's Note: See Ch. A175, Fees, Art. II, Utility Fees.

B. In the construction of this Code and of all ordinances, the following rules shall be observed, unless such construction would be inconsistent with the manifest intent of the Mayor and Common Council.

(1) Computation of time. The time within which an act is to be done shall be computed by excluding the first and including the last day; and if the last day is Sunday or a legal holiday, that shall be excluded.

(2) Gender. Words importing the masculine gender shall include the feminine and neuter.

(3) Joint authority. All words giving a joint authority to three or more persons or officers shall be construed as giving such authority to a majority of such persons or officers.

(4) May. The word "may" is permissive.

(5) Number. Words used in the singular include the plural, and the plural includes the singular number.

(6) Official time standard. Whenever certain hours are named in this Code, they shall mean standard time or daylight saving time, whichever may be in current use in the City.

(7) Or; and. The word "or" may be read "and" may be read "or," where the sense requires it.

(8) Shall. The word "shall" is mandatory.

(9) Time. Words used in the past or present tense include the future as well as the past and present.

§ 1-13 Catchlines of sections.

The catchlines of the several sections of this Code are intended as mere catchwords to indicate the contents of the sections and shall not be deemed or taken to be titles of such sections nor as any part of such sections nor, unless expressly so provided, shall they be deemed when any of such sections, including the catchlines, are amended or reenacted.

§ 1-14 Effect of repeal of ordinances.

A. The repeal of an ordinance shall not revive any ordinances in force before or at the time the ordinance repealed took effect.

B. The repeal of an ordinance shall not affect any punishment or penalty incurred before the repeal took effect nor any suit, prosecution or proceeding pending at the time of the repeal for an offense committed under the ordinance repealed.

§ 1-15 Code provisions deemed continuation of existing ordinances.

The provisions appearing in this Code, so far as they are the same in substance as ordinances existing at the effective date of this Code, shall be considered as continuations thereof and not as new enactments.

§ 1-16 Severability of Code provisions.

It is hereby declared to be the intention of the legislative body that the sections, paragraphs, sentences, clauses and words of this Code are severable, and if any word, clause, sentence, paragraph or section of this Code shall be declared unconstitutional or otherwise invalid by the valid judgment or decree of any court of competent jurisdiction, such unconstitutionality or invalidity shall not affect any of the remaining words, clauses, sentences, paragraphs and sections of this Code since the same would have been enacted by the legislative body without the incorporation in this Code of any such unconstitutional or invalid word, clause, sentence, paragraph or section.

§ 1-17 City Seal.

A. The Seal heretofore provided and used for the corporate purposes of the Mayor and Common Council of Westminster, being a disc upon the face of which are two concentric circles with the words "Corporation of Westminster" and a star between them and in the center of which is a radiant shield with the figures "1838" thereon shall be, and it is hereby established and declared to have been and now to be, the official and corporate Seal of the Mayor and Common Council of Westminster.

B. The City Clerk shall be the keeper of the Seal of the corporation of Westminster and shall affix or make an impression thereof on all ordinances and papers requiring the corporation Seal.

§ 1-18 Violations and penalties.

A. Unless otherwise provided herein, any person found guilty of violating any provision of this Code, which violation is a misdemeanor as defined herein, shall be subject to a fine not to exceed $1,000 and imprisonment not to exceed six months, or both such fine and imprisonment. Each day such violation continues shall constitute a separate offense.

B. Any person found guilty of violating a provision of this Code, which violation is an infraction as declared herein, shall be subject to a fine not to exceed $400. The fine shall be paid by the offender to the City of Westminster within 20 calendar days of receipt of a citation. Repeat offenders may be assessed a fine not to exceed $400 for each repeat offense. Each day a violation continues shall, unless otherwise provided, constitute a separate or repeat offense.

C. Misdemeanors and infractions; procedures.

(1) Misdemeanor. A "misdemeanor" is:

(a) A criminal offense, not amounting to a felony, arising from a violation of a law of the state, which violation is defined as a misdemeanor; or

(b) Unless otherwise specified, a violation of any section of the Code of the City of Westminster. All violations of this Code shall be treated as misdemeanors unless specifically declared to be infractions.

(2) Infraction. An "infraction" is any violation of this Code, which violation has been specifically declared to be an infraction. For purposes of this Code, an infraction is a civil offense.

(3) Issuance of citation. Those enforcement officials authorized by the Mayor and Common Council to enforce this Code may deliver a citation to any person alleged to be committing an infraction. A copy of the citation shall be retained by the City and shall contain, at a minimum, the following information:

(a) The enforcing official's certification attesting to the truth of the matter set forth in the citation.

(b) The name and address of the person charged.

(c) The nature of the infraction.

(d) The location and time that the infraction occurred.

(e) The amount of the infraction fine assessed.

(f) The manner, location and time in which the fine may be paid to the City.

(g) The person's right to elect to stand trial for the infraction.

(h) The effect of failing to pay the assessed fine or to demand a trial within the prescribed time.

(4) Payment of fine. The fine for an infraction shall be as specified in the Code section violated. The fine is payable by the recipient of the citation to the City of Westminster within 20 calendar days of receipt of the citation.

(5) No formal hearing by City. The City shall not conduct any formal hearing for those persons in receipt of a citation of infraction. Any offender so cited may pay the fine as indicated in the citation or elect to stand trial for the offense. This provision shall not prevent an offender from requesting, either personally or through an attorney, additional information concerning the infraction.

(6) Election to stand trial. A person receiving the citation for an infraction may elect to stand trial for the offense by notifying the City, in writing, of his intention of standing trial. The notice shall be given at least five days prior to the date of payment as set forth in the citation.

(7) Failure to pay fine. If a person receiving a citation for an infraction fails to pay the fine for the infraction by the date of payment set forth on the citation and fails to file a notice of his intention to stand trial for the offense, the person is liable for the assessed fine. The City may double the fine to an amount not to exceed $400 and request adjudication of the case through the District Court, including the filing of a demand for judgment on affidavit. If the person receiving a citation for an infraction shall be found by the District Court to have committed an infraction, the person shall be required to pay the fine determined by the District Court, not to exceed $400. The person shall also be liable for the costs of the proceedings in the District Court, and the Court may permit the City to abate any such condition at the person's expense.