There is hereby adopted the Code of Ordinances of the City of
Highland Village, Texas, as compiled, edited and published by Franklin
Legal Publishing, Inc.
(Ordinance adopting Code)
The ordinances embraced in this chapter and the following chapters,
articles and sections shall constitute and be designated the "Code
of Ordinances, City of Highland Village, Texas," and may be so cited.
(Ordinance adopting Code)
The catchlines of the several articles, divisions and sections
of this code are intended as mere catchwords to indicate the contents
of the article, division or section and shall not be deemed or taken
to be titles of such articles, divisions and sections, nor as any
part of the articles, divisions and sections, nor, unless expressly
so provided, shall they be so deemed when any of such articles, divisions
and sections, including the catchlines, are amended or reenacted.
(Ordinance adopting Code)
In the construction of this code and of all ordinances and resolutions
passed by the city council, the following rules shall be observed,
unless such construction would be inconsistent with the manifest intent
of the city council:
Words shall be construed in their common and usual significance
unless the contrary is clearly indicated.
All accounting terms not otherwise defined in this code have
the meanings assigned to them in accordance with generally accepted
accounting principles, and all computations provided for in this code
shall be made in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles
consistently applied and applied on the same basis as in prior years.
The words "charter" or "city charter" shall mean the Home
Rule Charter of Highland Village, Texas, approved by the electorate
of the city on January 18, 1986, and as such charter may now or hereafter
be amended.
Each means the City of Highland Village, Texas.
The term "city administrator," "city manager," "city secretary,"
"chief of police" or other city officer or department shall be construed
to mean the city administrator, city manager, city secretary, chief
of police or such other municipal officer or department, respectively,
of the City of Highland Village, Texas.
Whenever a notice is required to be given or an act to be
done a certain length of time before any proceeding shall be had,
the first day is excluded and the last day is included. If the last
day of any period is a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday, the period
is extended to include the next day that is not a Saturday, Sunday,
or legal holiday.
Whenever the term "council" or "city council" or "the council"
is used, it shall mean the city council of the City of Highland Village,
Texas.
The term "county" or "this county" shall mean the County
of Denton, Texas.
Whenever a provision of this Code of Ordinances requires
or authorizes an officer or employee of the city to do some act or
perform some duty, it shall be construed to authorize such officer
or employee to designate, delegate and authorize subordinates to perform
the act or duty unless the terms of the provision specifically designate
otherwise.
A word importing the masculine gender only shall extend and
be applied to females and to firms, partnerships, associations and
corporations, as well as to males.
Words purporting to give authority to three (3) or more officers
or other persons shall be construed as giving such authority to a
majority of such officers or other persons, unless it is otherwise
declared.
The word "may" is permissive.
The word "month" shall mean a calendar month.
Each is mandatory.
Any word importing the singular number shall include the
plural, and any word importing the plural number shall include the
singular.
The word "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."
Whenever certain hours are named in this code, they shall
mean standard time or daylight saving time, as may be in current use
in the city.
The word "or" may be read "and," and the word "and" may be
read "or," as the sense requires it.
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.
The word "person" shall extend and be applied to associations,
corporations, firms, partnerships, organizations, business trusts,
estates, trusts, and bodies politic and corporate, as well as to individuals.
The terms "preceding" and "following" mean next before and
next after, respectively.
The word "property" shall mean and include real and personal
property.
The term "real property" shall mean and include lands, tenements
and hereditaments.
The word "sidewalk" shall mean that portion of a street between
the curbline and the adjacent property line intended for the use of
pedestrians.
A signature or subscription shall include a mark when a person
cannot write.
The term "the state" or "this state" shall be construed to
mean the State of Texas.
The word "street" shall have its commonly accepted meaning
and shall include highways, sidewalks, alleys, avenues, recessed parking
areas and other public rights-of-way, including the entire right-of-way.
Words used in the past or present tense include the future,
as well as the past and present.
Such abbreviations refer to the divisions of Vernon's Texas
Statutes Annotated.
The term "written" or "in writing" shall be construed to
include any representation of words, letters, or figures, whether
by printing or otherwise.
The word "year" shall mean a calendar year.
(1999 Code, sec. 1-2; Ordinance
adopting Code)
It is hereby declared to be the intention of the city council
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 city council without the incorporation
in the code of any such unconstitutional phrase, clause, sentence,
paragraph or section.
(Ordinance adopting Code)
The repeal of an ordinance or any portion thereof shall not
repeal the repealing clause of an ordinance or revive any ordinance
which has been previously repealed.
(Ordinance adopting Code)
All ordinances of a general and permanent nature, and amendments
to such ordinances, hereafter enacted or presented to the city council
for enactment, shall be drafted, so far as possible, as specific amendments
of, or additions to, the Code of Ordinances. Amendments to this code
shall be made by reference to the chapter and section of the code
which is to be amended, and additions shall bear an appropriate designation
of chapter, article and section; provided, however, the failure to
do so shall in no way affect the validity or enforceability of such
ordinances.
(Ordinance adopting Code)
(a)
By
contract or by city personnel, supplements to this code shall be prepared
and printed whenever authorized or directed by the city council. A
supplement to the code shall include all substantive permanent and
general parts of ordinances passed by the city council or adopted
by initiative and referendum during the period covered by the supplement
and all changes made thereby in the code. The pages of a supplement
shall be so numbered that they will fit properly into the code and
will, where necessary, replace pages that have become obsolete or
partially obsolete, and the new pages shall be so prepared that, when
they have been inserted, the code will be current through the date
of the adoption of the latest ordinance included in the supplement.
(b)
In
preparing a supplement to this code, all portions of the code which
have been repealed shall be excluded from the code by omission thereof
from reprinted pages.
(c)
When
preparing a supplement to this code, the codifier (meaning the person,
agency or organization authorized to prepare the supplement) may make
formal, nonsubstantive changes in ordinances and parts of ordinances
included in the supplement, insofar as it is necessary to do so to
embody them into a unified code. For example, the codifier may:
(1)
Organize the ordinance material into appropriate subdivisions;
(2)
Provide appropriate catchlines, headings and titles for articles,
sections and other subdivisions of the code printed in the supplement
and make changes in such catchlines, headings and titles;
(3)
Assign appropriate numbers to articles, sections and other subdivisions
to be inserted in the code and, where necessary to accommodate new
material, change existing article or section or other subdivision
numbers;
(4)
Change the words "this ordinance" or words of the same meaning to
"this chapter," "this article," "this section," "this subsection,"
etc., as the case may be; and
(5)
Make other nonsubstantive changes necessary to preserve the original
meaning of ordinance material inserted into the code, but in no case
shall the codifier make any change in the meaning or effect of ordinance
material included in the supplement or already embodied in the code.
(Ordinance adopting Code)
(a)
Whenever
in this code or in any ordinance of the city an act is prohibited
or is made or declared to be unlawful or an offense or a misdemeanor
or whenever in this code or such ordinance the doing of any act is
required or the failure to do any act is declared to be unlawful,
and no specific penalty is provided therefor, the violation of any
such provision of this code or any such ordinance shall be punished
by a fine of not exceeding five hundred dollars ($500.00).
(b)
A
fine or penalty for the violation of a rule, ordinance or police regulation
that governs fire safety, zoning or public health and sanitation,
including the dumping of refuse, may not exceed two thousand dollars
($2,000.00).
(c)
Unless
otherwise specifically stated in this code, any violation of this
code or of any ordinance that is punishable by a fine that does not
exceed five hundred dollars ($500.00) does not require a culpable
mental state, and a culpable mental state is hereby not required to
prove any such offense. Unless otherwise specifically stated in this
code, any violation of this code or of any ordinance that is punishable
by a fine that exceeds five hundred dollars ($500.00) shall require
a culpable mental state.
(d)
No
penalty shall be greater or less than the penalty provided for the
same or a similar offense under the laws of the state.
(e)
Unless
otherwise stated in this code or in any ordinance, each day any violation
of this code or of any ordinance shall continue shall constitute a
separate offense.
(f)
In
the event that any such violation is designated as a nuisance under
the provisions of this code, such nuisance may be summarily abated
by the city. In addition to the penalty prescribed above, the city
may pursue other remedies such as abatement of nuisances, injunctive
relief and revocation of licenses or permits.
(Ordinance adopting Code)
This code shall not be deemed to repeal any preamble, recital
or finding of fact contained in any ordinance included in this code,
but all such matters shall be deemed incorporated in the section derived
from such ordinances.
(1999 Code, sec. 1-3)
Any violation of this code can be enjoined by a suit filed in
the name of the city in a court of competent jurisdiction, and this
remedy shall be in addition to any penal provision in this code or
any other ordinance of the city.
(1999 Code, sec. 1-10)
Any ordinance:
(1)
For
the preservation of public safety, relating to the materials or methods
used to construct a building or other structure or improvement, including
the foundation, structural elements, electrical wiring or apparatus,
plumbing and fixtures, entrances or exits;
(2)
Relating
to the preservation of public health or to the fire safety of a building
or other structure or improvement, including provisions relating to
materials, types of construction or design, interior configuration,
illumination, warning devices, sprinklers or other fire suppression
devices, availability of water supply for extinguishing fires, or
location, design, or width of entrances or exits;
(3)
For
zoning that provides for the use of land or classifies a parcel of
land according to the municipality's district classification scheme;
(4)
Establishing
criteria for land subdivision or construction of buildings, including
provisions relating to street width and design, lot size, building
width or elevation, setback requirements, or utility service specifications
or requirements;
(5)
Implementing
civil penalties under this section for conduct classified by statute
as a class C misdemeanor;
(6)
Relating
to dangerously damaged or deteriorated structures or improvements;
(7)
Relating
to conditions caused by accumulations of refuse, vegetation, or other
matter that creates breeding and living places for insects and rodents;
(8)
Relating
to the interior configuration, design, illumination or visibility
of business premises exhibiting for viewing by customers while on
the premises live or mechanically or electronically displayed entertainment
intended to provide sexual stimulation or sexual gratification; or
(9)
Relating
to point source effluent limitations or the discharge of a pollutant,
other than from a non-light [non-point] source, into a sewer system,
including a sanitary or stormwater sewer system, owned or controlled
by the municipality;
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under V.T.C.A., Local Government Code section 54.012, may be
enforced by a civil action in addition to the other remedies
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(1999 Code, sec. 1-11)
Whenever a corporation, partnership, firm or association violates
any provision of this code or other ordinance of the city, the president,
vice-president, secretary, treasurer, manager or any agent or employee
of such corporation, partnership, firm or association shall be severally
liable for the penalty prescribed for such violation; provided, however,
that this section shall not be construed to apply to officers or employees
of the city in the manner of performing their duties as municipal
officers and employees.
(1999 Code, sec. 1-12)
All of the regulations provided in this code are hereby declared
to be governmental and for the health, safety and welfare of the general
public. Any member of the city council or any city official or employee
charged with the enforcement of this code, acting for the city in
the discharge of his duties, shall not thereby render himself personally
liable, and he is hereby relieved from all personal liability for
any damage that might accrue to persons or property as a result of
any act required or permitted in the discharge of his duties.
(1999 Code, sec. 1-13)
In any prosecution for a violation of any provision of this
code, the code or a copy of such provision, certified by the city
secretary, may be admitted in evidence without further proof and shall
be prima facie evidence of the existence and regular enactment of
such provision, without the necessity of introducing in evidence the
entire code.
(1999 Code, sec. 1-14)
(a)
In
any prosecution for a violation of any provision of this code, upon
proof of the provision of the code, it shall not be necessary to negate
any exception, excuse, proviso or exemption contained in this code,
and the burden of proof of any such exception, excuse, proviso or
exemption shall be upon the defendant.
(b)
A
culpable mental state is not required for the commission of an offense
under this code unless the provision defining the conduct expressly
requires a culpable mental state.
(1999 Code, sec. 1-15)
Nothing in this code or the ordinance adopting this code shall
affect any of the following:
(1)
Any
offense or act committed or done or any penalty or forfeiture incurred
or any contract or right established or accruing before the effective
date of this code;
(2)
Any
ordinance promising or guaranteeing the payment of money for the city,
or authorizing the issuance of any bonds of the city or any evidence
of the city's indebtedness;
(3)
Any
contract or obligations assumed by the city;
(4)
Any
right or franchise granted by the city or any utility company rate
ordinance;
(5)
Any
ordinance dedicating, naming, establishing, locating, relocating,
opening, paving, widening, vacating, abandoning, etc., any street
or public way in the city;
(6)
Any
ordinance relating to municipal street maintenance agreements with
the state;
(7)
Any
ordinance establishing or prescribing grades for streets in the city;
(8)
Any
appropriation ordinance or ordinance providing for the approval of
tax rolls/appraisal rolls, for the levy of taxes or for an annual
budget;
(9)
Any
ordinance relating to local improvements and assessments therefor;
(10)
Any ordinance annexing territory to the city or discontinuing territory
as a part of the city;
(11)
Any ordinance providing subdivision regulations or dedicating or
accepting any plat or subdivision in the city;
(12)
Any ordinance relating to zoning or the zoning map of the city;
(13)
Any ordinance relating to city depositories;
(14)
Any temporary or special ordinance, such as those relating to city
elections ordered and/or conducted by the city;
(15)
Any ordinance relating to appointments made by the city council to
various city boards, commissions and other appointive positions (i.e.,
tax assessor/collector, health authority);
(16)
Any ordinance relating to a comprehensive plan or master plan;
(17)
Any ordinance consistent with this code establishing fees or charges;
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and all such actions and ordinances are hereby recognized as
continuing in full force and effect to the same extent as if set out
at length in this code.
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(1999 Code, sec. 1-18)
