The ordinances embraced in this and the following chapters and sections shall constitute and be designated the “Code of Ordinances, City of Wichita Falls, Texas” and may be cited as the “Wichita Falls Code.”
(1966 Code, sec. 1-1; 2001 Code, sec. 1-1)
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.
Boards, committees, commissions, officers, employees and departments.
Any reference to city boards, committees, commissions, officers, employees or departments shall be construed to mean the boards, committees, commissions, officers, employees or departments, respectively, of the City of Wichita Falls, Texas.
Charter.
The term “Charter” means the Charter of the City of Wichita Falls, Texas, as printed in part I of this volume.
City.
The term “city” means the City of Wichita Falls in the County of Wichita and State of Texas.
City council.
Whenever the term “city council” is used, it means the city council of the City of Wichita Falls, Texas.
Code.
The term “Code” means this Code of Ordinances, City of Wichita Falls, Texas.
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 day on which such notice is given or such act is done shall not be counted in computing the time, but the day on which such proceeding is to be had shall be counted unless it is a Saturday, Sunday or legal holiday.
County.
The term “county” means the County of Wichita, Texas.
Delegation of authority.
Whenever a section or provision appears requiring the head of a department or some other city officer or employee to do some act or perform some duty, it shall be construed to authorize the head of the department or other officer or employee to designate, delegate and authorize subordinates to perform the required act or perform the duty, unless the terms of the provision or section specify otherwise.
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.
Highway.
The term “highway” includes any street, alley, highway, avenue, public place or square, bridge, viaduct, tunnel, underpass, overpass and causeway in the city, dedicated or devoted to public use.
Joint authority.
Words purporting to give authority to three 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 term “may” is permissive.
Month.
The term “month” means 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 term “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 terms “swear” and “sworn” shall be equivalent to the terms “affirm” and “affirmed.”
Or, and.
The term “or” may be read “and,” and the term “and” may be read “or,” if the sense requires it.
Owner.
The term “owner,” applied to a building or land, includes 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 term “person” extends and is applied to associations, corporations, firms, partnerships and bodies politic and corporate, as well as to individuals.
Preceding and following.
The terms “preceding” and “following” mean next before and next after, respectively.
Shall.
The term “shall” shall always be mandatory and never permissive.
Sidewalk.
The term “sidewalk” means 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.
Signature and subscription.
The terms “signature” and “subscription” include a mark when a person cannot write.
State.
The term “state” shall be construed to mean the State of Texas.
Statutory reference to Codes Annotated.
The reference to the Texas Codes Annotated means and refers to the latest edition or supplement of the Texas Code Annotated.
Street.
The term “street” includes any highway, alley, street, avenue, public place or square, bridge, viaduct, underpass, overpass, tunnel and causeway in the city, dedicated or devoted to public use.
Tense.
Words used in the past or present tense include the future, as well as the past and present.
Texas Ann. Civ. St.
The abbreviation “Texas Ann. Civ. St.” means the latest edition or supplement to Vernon’s Annotated Civil Statutes.
Written and in writing.
The terms “written” and “in writing” shall be construed to include any representation of words, letters or figures, whether by printing or otherwise.
Year.
The term “year” means a calendar year.
(1966 Code, sec. 1-3; 2001 Code, sec. 1-2)
The catchlines of the several sections of this Code printed in boldface type are intended as mere catchwords to indicate the contents of the section and shall not be deemed or taken to be titles of such sections, nor as any part of the section, nor, unless expressly so provided, shall they be so deemed when any of such sections, including the catchlines, are amended or reenacted.
(1966 Code, sec. 1-2; 2001 Code, sec. 1-3)
The history or source notes appearing in parentheses after sections in this Code are not intended to have any legal effect, but are merely intended to indicate the source of matter contained in the section.
(2001 Code, sec. 1-5)
References and editor’s notes following certain sections of this Code are inserted as an aid and guide to the reader and not controlling or meant to have any legal effect.
(2001 Code, sec. 1-6)
The sections appearing in this Code, so far as they are the same as those of the Code of Ordinances, City of Wichita Falls, Texas, 2001, and of ordinances existing at the time of adoption of this Code, shall be considered as a continuation thereof and not new enactments.
(2001 Code, sec. 1-7)
(a) 
Nothing in this Code or the ordinance adopting this Code shall affect 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.
(b) 
The adoption of this Code shall not be interpreted as permitting any use or the continuance of any use of a structure or premises in violation of any city ordinance in effect on the date of adoption of this Code.
(2001 Code, sec. 1-8)
(a) 
Unless otherwise described in this Code, nothing in this Code or the ordinance adopting this Code shall affect any ordinance:
(1) 
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, or any contract or obligation assumed by the city.
(2) 
Granting any right or franchise.
(3) 
Dedicating, naming, establishing, locating, relocating, opening, paving, widening, vacating, etc., any street or public way in the city.
(4) 
Making any appropriation or adopting the budget.
(5) 
Levying or imposing taxes not contained in this Code.
(6) 
Establishing or prescribing grades of streets in the city.
(7) 
Providing for local improvements and assessing taxes for such improvements.
(8) 
Regarding subdivision regulations.
(9) 
Extending or contracting the boundaries of the city.
(10) 
Prescribing the number, classification, benefits or compensation of any city officers or employees or any personnel policies and procedures.
(11) 
Regarding zoning or land use regulations or rezoning property or amending the zoning map.
(12) 
Calling an election.
(13) 
Which is temporary although general in effect.
(14) 
Which is special although permanent in effect.
(15) 
The purpose of which has been accomplished.
(b) 
All such ordinances are recognized as continuing in full force and effect to the same extent as if set out at length in this Code. Such ordinances are on file in the City Clerk’s office.
(2001 Code, sec. 1-9)
(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 or any suit, prosecution or proceeding pending at the time of the repeal for an offense committed under the ordinance repealed.
(2001 Code, sec. 1-10)
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 in this Code. When subsequent ordinances repeal any chapter, section or subsection or any portion thereof, such repealed portions may be excluded from the 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 city council.
(1966 Code, sec. 1-4; 2001 Code, sec. 1-11)
(a) 
By contract or by city personnel, supplements to this Code shall be prepared and printed whenever authorized or directed by the city. A supplement to the Code shall include substantive permanent and general parts of ordinances adopted 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 which 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 that have been repealed shall be excluded from the Code by the 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 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 sections and other subdivisions to be inserted in the Code and, where necessary to accommodate new material, change existing sections or other subdivision numbers;
(4) 
Change the words “this ordinance” or words of the same meaning to “this chapter,” “this article,” “this division,” etc., as the case may be, or to “sections _____ to _____” (inserting section numbers to indicate the sections of the Code which embody the substantive sections of the ordinance incorporated into the Code); and
(5) 
Make other nonsubstantive changes necessary to preserve the original meaning of ordinance sections 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.
(2001 Code, sec. 1-12)
It is 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 phrases, clauses, sentences, paragraphs and sections would have been enacted by the city council without the incorporation in this Code of any such unconstitutional phrase, clause, sentence, paragraph or section.
(1966 Code, sec. 1-6; 2001 Code, sec. 1-13)
Whenever in this Code or in any city ordinance or in any rule, regulation or order promulgated by any city officer or agency under authority duly vested in such officer or agency any act is prohibited or is made or declared to be unlawful or an offense or a misdemeanor, where no specific penalty is provided, the violation of any provision of this Code or of any ordinance, rule, regulation or order that governs or regulates fire, safety, zoning or public health or sanitation, other than the illegal dumping of refuse, shall be punished by a fine not exceeding $2,000.00. In cases involving the illegal dumping of refuse, the fine will not exceed $4,000.00. The violation of any other provision of this Code or any other ordinance, rule, regulation or order shall be punished by a fine not exceeding $500.00, unless specifically stated otherwise in this Code. If the maximum penalty provided by this Code for any offense is greater than the maximum penalty provided for the same or a similar offense under the laws of the state, the maximum penalty for such violation provided by the state statute shall be the maximum penalty under this Code, unless state law expressly authorizes municipalities to have such fines. Except where otherwise provided in this Code, each day an offense shall continue shall constitute a separate offense.
(1966 Code, sec. 1-5; 2001 Code, sec. 1-14; Ordinance 35-2015, sec. 2, adopted 8/4/15)
(a) 
Unless otherwise specifically stated within the provisions of this Code, any violations of this Code or of any ordinance set forth herein that is punishable by a fine that does not exceed the amount authorized by Texas Penal Code sec. 12.23, does not require a culpable mental state, and a culpable mental state is hereby not required to prove any such offense.
(b) 
Unless otherwise specifically stated within the provisions of this Code, any violation of this Code or of any ordinance set forth herein that is punishable by a fine that exceeds the amount authorized by Texas Penal Code sec. 12.23 shall require a culpable mental state of criminal negligence.
(2001 Code, sec. 1-15; Ordinance 69-2007, sec. 2, adopted 8/7/07)