Town of South Hadley, MA Chapter 1 General Provisions

[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Meeting of the Town of South Hadley 1-11-2017 STM by Art. 14. Amendments noted where applicable.]

GENERAL REFERENCES

Penalties and enforcement — See Ch. 46.

§ 1-1 Title, authority and amendments.

A. Title. These bylaws shall constitute the Bylaws of the Town of South Hadley, Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

B. Authority. These bylaws have been approved by the Town of South Hadley, Massachusetts, under authority granted by the Attorney General of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

C. Amendments. These bylaws may be amended from time to time as authorized by the General Laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and adopted by the Town Meeting of the Town of South Hadley.

§ 1-2 Definitions.

For the purpose of these bylaws, the following words and phrases shall have the following meanings:

COMMONWEALTH

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

DEPARTMENT

A board, committee and commission of the Town and any office thereof.

DRIVER

The person having the charge or control of a vehicle upon a public or private street, way, off-road, sidewalk or path.

HEAD OF DEPARTMENT

The person who has responsibility for supervision of the day-to-day activities of the department.

OWNER

As applied to a building or to land, a part owner, joint owner, tenant in common, joint tenant, and tenant by the entirety of the whole or of a part of the building or land.

PERSON

Individuals, corporations, trusts, societies, associations, partnerships and individual business proprietorships.

PUBLIC BUILDING

All buildings belonging to or under the control of the Town of South Hadley or any of its departments.

PUBLIC PLACE

All commons, parks, playgrounds, buildings, and public lands belonging to or in the charge of the Town of South Hadley, or any of its departments, and those portions of public squares, parking lots and places which do not form traveled parts of public ways.

SELECTBOARD

Includes the term "Board of Selectmen" whenever so used in the laws of the commonwealth.

SIDEWALK

Any sidewalk, footpath, bicycle path or other path commonly used by pedestrians, situated outside that portion of a street commonly used by vehicles for travel whether or not the sidewalk has been wrought and constructed by or under the authority of the Town of South Hadley.

SOLICITATION

Seeking to raise funds or sell or obtain orders for goods or services from persons in residences within the Town, not including the weekly or daily house delivery of newspapers. The term "commercial soliciting" shall mean soliciting in connection with a business or profit-making venture.

STREET

A public way, highway, Town way, alley, square, lane, court, crossroad, sidewalk, and a part of a public place that forms a traveled part of a highway or public way.

TOWN

The Town of South Hadley.

TOWN OFFICER

Any individual, either elected or appointed, serving as a member of any committee, board, authority, or trusteeship of the Town.

VOTER

A duly registered voter of the Town of South Hadley.

§ 1-3 Rules for interpretation.

A. Singular and plural. A word in the singular includes the plural and a word in the plural includes the singular.

B. Gender. A word in either the masculine or feminine gender shall include the other.

C. Severability. If any of the provisions of these bylaws or the application thereof to any person or circumstance is held invalid, such invalidity shall not affect other provisions of the bylaws, or the application of such other provisions which can be given effect without the invalid provision or application thereof, and for this purpose the provisions of these bylaws are severable.

§ 1-4 Provisions of general applicability.

A. Powers. A Town officer has the powers that are given to the officer by these bylaws and that are given to an officer of that kind by the General Laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Notwithstanding the definition of "Town officer" in § 1-2 of this article, no individual member of a committee, board, authority or trusteeship shall have the power to bind the Town of South Hadley or any committee to any official action unless duly authorized.

B. Deputy. If a power has been given to a Town officer, the officer has authority, with the consent of the Selectboard, to designate a specific person to exercise the power as a deputy of the officer.

C. Acting officer. If a power has been given to a Town officer, and if that office is vacant, the person, if any, who has been granted authority to act as that officer by consent of the Selectboard shall also have authority to exercise that power.

D. Relation to Massachusetts General Laws. If a conflict exists between a provision in these bylaws and the laws of the commonwealth, the laws of the commonwealth shall control.

§ 1-5 Effect on prior actions.

These bylaws shall not retroactively affect any act that has been done, any right that has accrued, any penalty that has been incurred, any suit, prosecution or proceeding that is pending, or the tenure of office of a person who holds office upon the effective date of these bylaws.

§ 1-6 Violations and penalties.

A. Any person who violates a provision of any bylaw or rule and regulation of the Town, whereby any act or thing is enjoined or prohibited or required, shall, unless other provision is expressly made, be liable to a penalty not exceeding $300 for each offense after notice by the Town to cease or perform, as applicable. Each day any such violation of these bylaws shall continue after such notice shall constitute a separate offense.

B. All violations may be enforced or violations written by the South Hadley Police Department. However, or further where appropriate or related to the function of the department, violations may be written by the South Hadley Health Department, Building Department and Waste Water Treatment Department for violations generally considered to be within their area of responsibility.

[Added 5-10-2017 ATM by Art. 13]