[R.O. 2009 § 100.010; R.O. 2006 § 100.120; Ord. No. 2003 § 1, 11-18-1996]
The ordinances embraced in this and the following Chapters and Sections shall constitute and be designated the "Municipal Code of the City of Fenton, Missouri" and may be so cited or cited as "this Code," except as provided in Section 400.010 of this Code.
A. 
It shall be unlawful for any person to change or amend by additions or deletions any part or portion of this Code, or to insert or delete pages, or portions thereof, or to alter or tamper with such Official Copy of the Code in any manner whatsoever which will cause the law of the City to be misrepresented thereby. Any person, firm or corporation violating this Section shall be punished as provided in Section 100.120 of this Code.
B. 
This provision shall not apply to amendments, additions or deletions to this Code, duly passed by the Board of Aldermen, which may be prepared by the City Clerk for insertion in this Code.
[R.O. 2009 § 100.030; R.O. 2006 § 100.140; Ord. No. 2003 § 1, 11-18-1996]
A. 
In the construction of this Code, and of all ordinances and resolutions passed by the Mayor and Board of Aldermen, the following rules or definitions shall be observed, unless such construction would be inconsistent with the manifest intent of the Mayor and Board of Aldermen:
ALDERMAN
A member of the Board of Aldermen of the City of Fenton, Missouri.
BOARD OF ALDERMEN
Whenever the words "Board of Aldermen," "Board," "this Board" or "the Board" are used, they mean the Board of Aldermen of the City of Fenton, Missouri.
CITY
The words "the City" or "this City" shall mean the City of Fenton, in St. Louis County, Missouri.
COUNTY
The words "County," "the County" or "this County" shall mean St. Louis County, Missouri.
DAY
Unless otherwise specified, the term "day" shall mean a calendar day.
MINOR TRAFFIC VIOLATION
See definition set out in Section 300.010 of this Code.
MONTH
A calendar month.
MUNICIPAL ORDINANCE VIOLATION
See definition set out in Section 300.010 of this Code.
NUMBER
Any word importing the singular number shall include the plural and any word importing the plural number shall include the singular.
OATH
Shall be construed to include an affirmation 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."
OFFICERS, DEPARTMENTS, ETC.
Whenever any Officer, Department, Board, Commission or other agency is referred to by title alone, such reference shall be construed as if followed by the words "of the City of Fenton, Missouri."
OR, AND
"Or" may be read "and," and "and" may be read "or," if the sense requires it.
OWNER
The word "owner," applied to a building or land, shall include any part-owner, joint owner, tenant in common, tenant in partnership, joint tenant or tenant by the entirety, of the whole or of a part of such building or land.
PERSON
Shall extend and be applied to associations, corporations, firms, partnerships and bodies politic and corporate as well as to individuals. Whenever used with respect to any penalty or fine, the word "person," as applied to partnerships or associations, shall include the partners or members thereof, and as applied to corporations and limited liability companies, shall include the officers, agents, or members thereof who are responsible for any violation of such Section.
PERSONAL PROPERTY
Includes money, goods, chattels, things in action and evidences of debt.
PRECEDING, FOLLOWING
Shall mean next before and next after, respectively.
PROPERTY
Shall include real and personal property.
REAL PROPERTY
The terms "real property," "premises," "real estate," or "lands" shall be deemed to be co-extensive with lands, tenements, and hereditaments.
SHALL
Is mandatory.
SIDEWALK
Any portion of the street between the curb, or the lateral line of the roadway and the adjacent property line, intended for the use of pedestrians.
STATE
The words "the State" or "this State" shall be construed to mean the State of Missouri.
STREET
Shall include any highway, alley, street, avenue or public place, square, bridge, viaduct, underpass, overpass, tunnel or causeway in the City, dedicated or devoted to public use.
TENANT or OCCUPANT
The words "tenant" or "occupant," applied to a building or land, shall include any person who occupies the whole or a part of such building or land, whether alone or with others.
TENSE
Words used in the past or present tense include the future as well as the past and present.
WRITTEN, IN WRITING, and WRITING WORD FOR WORD
Includes printing, lithographing, or other mode of representing words and letters, but in all cases where the signature of any Person is required, the proper handwriting of the Person, or his/her mark, is intended.
YEAR
A calendar year.
B. 
Newspaper. Whenever in this Code or other ordinance of the City it is required that notice be published in the "official newspaper" or a "newspaper of general circulation published in the City," and if there is no newspaper published within the City, the said notice shall be published in a newspaper of general circulation within the City, regardless of its place of publication. Such newspaper shall not include an advertising circular or other medium for which no subscription list is maintained.
C. 
Delegation Of Authority. Whenever a provision appears in this Code requiring the head of a department or an officer of the City to do some act or make certain inspections, it may be construed to authorize the head of the department or officer to designate, delegate, and authorize subordinates to perform the required act or make the required inspections, unless the terms of the provision or Section designate otherwise.
D. 
Words And Phrases — How Construed. Words and phrases shall be taken in their plain or ordinary and usual sense, but technical words and phrases having a peculiar and appropriate meaning in law shall be understood according to their technical import.
E. 
Headings. The catchlines or headings of the Chapters, Sections, and Subsections of this Code are intended as guides and not as part of this Code for purposes of interpretations or construction.
F. 
Gender. When any subject matter, party, or person is described or referred to by words importing the masculine, females as well as males, and associations and bodies corporate as well as all individuals, shall be deemed to be included.
G. 
Number. When any subject matter, party, or person is described or referred to by words importing the singular number, the plural and separate matters and persons and bodies corporate shall be deemed to be included; and when words importing the plural number are used, the singular shall be included.
H. 
Joint Authority. Words importing joint authority to three (3) or more persons shall be construed as authority to a majority of such persons unless otherwise declared in the law giving the authority.
I. 
Self-Preemption. No provision of this Code shall apply to any circumstance in which such application shall be unlawful under superseding Federal or State law and furthermore, if any Section, Subsection, sentence, clause, phrase, or portion of this Code is now or in the future superseded or preempted by State or Federal law or found by a court of competent jurisdiction to be unauthorized, such provision shall be automatically interpreted and applied as required by law.
The provisions appearing in this Code, so far as they are in substance the same as those of ordinances existing at the time of the adoption of this Code, shall be considered as a continuation thereof and not as new enactments.
No offense committed and no fine, penalty, or forfeiture incurred, or prosecution commenced or pending previous to or at the time when any ordinance provision is repealed or amended, shall be affected by the repeal or amendment, but the trial and punishment of all such offenses and the recovery of the fines, penalties, or forfeitures shall be had, in all respects, as if the provision had not been repealed or amended, except that all such proceedings shall be conducted according to existing procedural laws.
When an ordinance repealing a former ordinance, clause, or provision is itself repealed, it does not revive the former ordinance, clause, or provision, unless it is otherwise expressly provided; nor shall any ordinance repealing any former ordinance, clause, or provision abate, annul, or in anywise affect any proceedings had or commenced under or by virtue of the ordinance so repealed, but the same is as effectual and shall be proceeded on to final judgment and termination as if the repealing ordinance had not passed, unless it is otherwise expressly provided.
[R.O. 2009 § 100.040; R.O. 2006 § 100.150; Ord. No. 2003 § 1, 11-18-1996]
All ordinances passed subsequent to this Code which amend, repeal, or in any way affect this Code may be numbered in accordance with the numbering system of this Code and printed for inclusion therein. When subsequent ordinances repeal any Chapter, Section, or Subsection or any portion thereof, such repealed portions may be excluded from this Code by omission from reprinted pages. The subsequent ordinances as numbered and printed, or omitted in the case of repeal, shall be prima facie evidence of such subsequent ordinances until such time that this Code and subsequent ordinances numbered or omitted are readopted as a new Code by the Mayor and Board of Aldermen.
[R.O. 2009 § 100.050; R.O. 2006 § 100.160; Ord. No. 2003 § 1, 11-18-1996]
It is hereby declared to be the intention of the Mayor and Board of Aldermen that the Sections, paragraphs, sentences, clauses, and phrases of this Code are severable and, if any, phrase, clause, sentence, paragraph, or Section of this Code shall be declared unconstitutional by the valid judgment or decree of any court of competent jurisdiction, such unconstitutionality shall not affect any of the remaining phrases, clauses, sentences, paragraphs, and Sections of this Code, since the same would have been enacted by the Mayor and Board of Aldermen without the incorporation in this Code of any such unconstitutional phrase, clause, sentence, paragraph, or Section.
A. 
Whenever notice may be required under the provisions of this Code or other City ordinance, the same shall be served in the following manner:
1. 
By delivering the notice to the person to be served personally or by leaving the same at his/her residence, office, or place of business with some person of his/her family over the age of fifteen (15) years;
2. 
By mailing said notice by certified or registered mail to such person to be served at his/her last known address; or
3. 
If the person to be served is unknown or may not be notified under the requirements of this Section, then by posting said notice in some conspicuous place at least five (5) days before the act or action concerning which the notice is given is to take place. No person shall interfere with, obstruct, mutilate, conceal, or tear down any official notice or placard posted by any City officer, unless permission is given by said officer.