There is hereby adopted the Code of Ordinances of the City of Midlothian, Texas, as compiled, edited and published by Franklin Legal Publishing, Inc.
(Ordinance adopting Code)
The ordinances embraced in this and the following chapters, articles and sections shall constitute and be designated the “Code of Ordinances, City of Midlothian, 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:
Generally.
Words shall be construed in their common and usual significance unless the contrary is clearly indicated.
City and town.
Each means the City of Midlothian, Texas.
City manager, city secretary, chief of police or other city officers.
The words “city manager,” “city secretary,” “chief of police” or other city officers or departments shall be construed to mean the city manager, city secretary, chief of police or such other municipal officers or departments, respectively, of the City of Midlothian, Texas.
Council.
Whenever the words “council” or “this council” or “the council” are used, they shall mean the city council of the City of Midlothian, Texas.
County.
The term “county” or “this county” shall mean the County of Ellis, Texas.
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.
May.
The word “may” is permissive.
Month.
The word “month” shall mean a calendar month.
Must and shall.
Each is mandatory.
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 herein they shall mean standard time or daylight saving time as may be in current use in the city.
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 and bodies politic and corporate as well as to individuals.
Property.
The word “property” means and includes real and personal property.
Real property.
The word “real property” means and includes lands, tenements and hereditaments.
Sidewalk.
The word “sidewalk” means that portion of a street between the curbline and the adjacent property line intended for the use of pedestrians.
Signature or subscription.
A signature or subscription shall include a mark when a person cannot write.
State.
The words “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.
V.T.C.S., V.T.P.C., V.T.C.C.P., V.T.C.A.
Refer to the divisions of Vernon’s Texas Statutes Annotated.
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.
(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 so to do 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 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 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 articles or 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.
(Ordinance adopting Code)
(a) 
Civil and criminal penalties.
The city may enforce a provision of this code or any ordinance of the city through civil or criminal penalties. Whenever an act is prohibited or is made or declared to be unlawful or an offense or a misdemeanor, or the doing of any act is required or the failure to do any act is prohibited or declared to be unlawful by such provision, the person or persons responsible for such violation of or noncompliance with the code or ordinance provision shall be subject to civil or criminal penalties in the following amounts:
(1) 
For violation of or noncompliance with any code provision or ordinance governing point source effluent limitations or the discharge of a pollutant, other than from a nonpoint source, into a sewer system, including a sanitary or stormwater sewer system, owned or controlled by the city, a civil penalty may not exceed five thousand dollars ($5,000.00).
(2) 
For violation of or noncompliance with any code provision or ordinance governing fire safety, zoning or public health and sanitation (including the dumping of refuse), the penalty may not exceed two thousand dollars ($2,000.00).
(3) 
For violation of or noncompliance with any code provision or ordinance that relates to or governs the following activities, the penalty many not exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000.00):
(A) 
Preservation of public safety, relating to the materials or methods used to construct a building or other structure or improvements, including the foundation, structural elements, electrical wiring or apparatus, plumbing and fixtures, entrances or exits;
(B) 
Preservation of public health or 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 extinguished fries, or location, design, or width of entrances or exits;
(C) 
Zoning for the use of land or zoning district classification of the land;
(D) 
Criteria for land subdivision or construction of buildings, including provisions relating to street width and design, lot size, building widths or elevation, setback requirements, or utility service specifications or requirements;
(E) 
Dangerously damaged or deteriorated structures or improvements;
(F) 
Conditions caused by accumulation of refuse, vegetation, or other matter that creates breeding living places for insect and rodents;
(G) 
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 gratifications; or
(H) 
Development within special flood hazard areas.
(4) 
For violation of or noncompliance with any other code provision or ordinance, the penalty may not exceed five hundred dollars ($500.00).
(5) 
Each day a violation of or noncompliance with any code provision or ordinance of the city continues shall constitute a separate offense, and penalties in the amounts stated in this section shall be cumulative.
(6) 
Any penalty provided for in subsection (a) shall not exceed the amount of a penalty prescribed for the same or similar violation of or noncompliance with any code provision or ordinance under state law. Any change in the maximum amount of a penalty pursuant to state law shall be incorporated in this subsection by reference upon the effective date of such change. The city may utilize any procedures available under the laws of the state for imposition of civil or criminal penalties in order to enforce its police regulations, provided, however, that the use of such remedial procedures shall be consistent with state law requirements.
(7) 
This section is intended to supersede any code or ordinance provision that prescribes a different penalty or otherwise conflicts with the provisions of subsection (a). Nothing herein is intended to prevent the city from seeking civil penalties for violation of or noncompliance with a code provision or ordinance described in subsection (a) in circumstances where a criminal penalty is prescribed for the same conduct.
(8) 
Any penalty provided for under subsection (a) shall accrue from the date of the violation of or noncompliance with the code provision or ordinance at issue.
(b) 
Injunction and equitable relief.
In addition to the penalties prescribed in subsection (a), the city may pursue any other remedies which are available under the laws of the state, including but not limited to prohibitory and mandatory injunctive relief and revocation of licenses or permits, to enforce or redress a violation of or noncompliance with a police regulation; provided, however, that the use of such remedial procedures shall be consistent with state law requirements. This subsection shall supersede to the extent of a conflict any enforcement provision contained in a specific ordinance providing for equitable remedies.
(c) 
Charter dowers.
This section shall not be construed to limit the city’s authority under its charter to enforce its police regulations.
(Ordinance 2010-02 adopted 1/12/10)