There is hereby adopted the Code of Ordinances of the City of
Humble, Texas, as compiled, edited and published by Franklin Legal
Publishing, Inc.
(Ordinance adopting 2022 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 Humble, Texas,” and may be so cited.
(1973 Code, sec. 1-1; 1991 Code,
sec. 1-1; 2007 Code, sec. 1-1; Ordinance
adopting 2022 Code)
(a) 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.
(b) The
charter references, cross references and state law references are
only annotations and not part of the adopted code. The history notes
in parentheses at the end of each section are for historical and tracing
purposes only and not part of the adopted code.
(1973 Code, sec. 1-2; 1991 Code,
sec. 1-2; 2007 Code, sec. 1-2; Ordinance
adopting 2022 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:
Generally.
Words shall be construed in their common and usual significance
unless the contrary is clearly indicated.
Code.
The term “code” shall mean the Code of Ordinances of the City of Humble, Texas, as designated in section
1.01.002.
Computation of time.
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.
Council.
Whenever the term “council” or “city council”
or “the council” is used, it shall mean the city council
of the City of Humble, Texas.
County.
The term “county” or “this county”
shall mean the County of Harris, Texas.
Delegation of authority.
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.
Easement.
The word “easement” shall mean a right, liberty,
privilege or advantage without profit which the owner of one parcel
of land may have in the lands of another. A right in the owner of
one parcel of land, by reason of such ownership, to use the land of
another for a special purpose not inconsistent with a general property
right in the owner.
Gender.
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.
Joint authority.
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.
May.
The word “may” is permissive.
Month.
The word “month” shall mean a calendar month.
Number.
Any word importing the singular number shall include the
plural, and any word importing the plural number shall include the
singular.
Oath.
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.”
Official time standard.
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.
Or, and.
The word “or” may be read “and,”
and the word “and” may be read “or,” as 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.
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.
Preceding, following.
The terms “preceding” and “following”
mean next before and next after, respectively.
Property.
The word “property” shall mean and include real
and personal property.
Real property.
The term “real property” shall mean and include
lands, tenements and hereditaments.
Sidewalk.
The word “sidewalk” shall mean that portion of
a street between the curbline and the adjacent property line intended
for the use of pedestrians.
State.
The term “the state” or “this state”
shall be construed to mean the State of Texas.
Street.
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.
Tense.
Words used in the past or present tense include the future,
as well as the past and present.
Written or in writing.
The term “written” or “in writing”
shall be construed to include any representation of words, letters,
or figures, whether by printing or otherwise.
Year.
The word “year” shall mean a calendar year.
(1973 Code, sec. 1-3; 1991 Code,
sec. 1-3; 2007 Code, sec. 1-3; Ordinance
adopting 2022 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.
(1973 Code, sec. 1-14; 1991 Code,
sec. 1-13; 2007 Code, sec. 1-13; Ordinance adopting 2022 Code)
(a) 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.
(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
or cause of action arising under the ordinance repealed.
(1973 Code, sec. 1-13; 1991 Code,
sec. 1-12; 2007 Code, sec. 1-12; Ordinance adopting 2022 Code)
(a) Generally.
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.
(b) Effect.
Any and all additions and amendments to this
code, when passed in such form as to indicate the intention of the
city council to make the same a part hereof, shall be deemed to be
incorporated in this code so that reference to the “Code of
Ordinances of the City of Humble, Texas” shall be understood
and intended to include such additions and amendments.
(c) Manner.
All ordinances passed subsequent to the adoption
of 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 herein, or in the case of repealed chapters,
sections and subsections or any part thereof, by subsequent ordinances,
such repealed portions may be excluded from the code by omission from
reprinted pages affected thereby, and 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 of ordinances by the city council.
(d) Subject to general penalty.
In case of the amendment by the city council of any section of this code for which a penalty is not provided, the general penalty as provided in section
1.01.009 shall apply to the section as amended; or, in case such amendment contains provisions for which a penalty other than the aforementioned general penalty is provided in another section in the same chapter, the penalty so provided in such other section shall be held to relate to the section so amended, unless such penalty is specifically repealed therein.
(1973 Code, secs. 1-4–1-9; 1991 Code, secs. 1-4–1-9; 2007 Code, secs.
1-4–1-9; Ordinance adopting 2022 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.
(1973 Code, sec. 1-10; 1991 Code,
sec. 1-10; 2007 Code, sec. 1-10; Ordinance adopting 2022 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,
other than the dumping of refuse, may not exceed two thousand dollars
($2,000.00).
(c) A
fine or penalty for the violation of a rule, ordinance, or police
regulation that governs the dumping of refuse may not exceed four
thousand dollars ($4,000.00).
(d) A
person convicted of an offense under title 7, subtitle C, Transportation
Code (the Uniform Act Regulating Traffic on Highways) for which another
penalty is not provided shall be punished by a fine of not less than
$1.00 or more than $200.00 plus such other penalties and costs as
may be provided by such subtitle C.
(e) 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.
(f) No
penalty shall be greater or less than the penalty provided for the
same or a similar offense under the laws of the state.
(g) 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.
(h) 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.
(i) In
the event authorizing state law is amended, modified, superseded or
otherwise changed to alter the allowable punishment range, then the
city’s range of punishment shall likewise be amended, modified,
superseded or otherwise changed.
(1973 Code, sec. 1-12; 1991 Code,
sec. 1-11; Ordinance 06-615, sec.
2, adopted 11/10/05; 2007 Code,
sec. 1-11; Ordinance adopting 2022 Code)
Nothing in this code or the ordinance adopting this code shall
be construed to repeal or otherwise affect the validity of 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 such 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 obligation assumed by the city;
(4) Any
right or franchise granted by the city;
(5) Any
ordinance dedicating, naming, establishing, locating, relocating,
opening, paving, widening, vacating, 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 consistent with this code providing
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 dedicating or accepting any plat or subdivision in
the city;
(12) Ordinances or resolutions prescribing traffic regulations for specific
streets, such as ordinances or resolutions designating one-way streets,
no parking areas, truck routes, stop intersections, intersections
where traffic is to be controlled by signals, etc.;
(13) Any ordinance establishing or imposing any rates, charges or fees
for utility services or connections;
(14) Ordinances relating to personnel or the amounts of retirement annuities
and service credits;
(15) Ordinance Number 193, enacted October 14, 1971, establishing setback
lines for Isaacks Road;
(16) Any special ordinance or temporary ordinance;
and all such ordinances are hereby recognized as continuing
in full force and effect to the same extent as if set out at length
herein.
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(1991 Code, sec. 1-14; Ordinance
209, sec. 3, adopted 4/12/73; 2007 Code, sec. 1-14)