The ordinances embraced in this and the following chapters,
articles and sections shall constitute and be designated the "Code
of Ordinances, 2001, City of DeSoto, Texas," and may be so cited.
(Ordinance adopting Code)
The catchlines of the several articles and sections of this
code are intended as mere catchwords to indicate the contents of the
article section and shall not be deemed or taken to be titles of such
articles and sections, nor as any part of the articles and sections,
nor, unless expressly so provided, shall they be so deemed when any
of such articles and sections, including the catchlines, are amended
or reenacted.
(1995 Code of Ordinances, Chapter 1, Article 1.100,
Section 1.102)
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.
The words "the city" or "this city" shall be the City of
DeSoto in the County of Dallas and the state of Texas.
Shall be construed to mean the city manager, city secretary
or such other municipal officers or departments, respectively, of
the City of DeSoto, Texas. Reference to an officer or employee by
title shall include his or her duly authorized assistants or representatives.
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 be
counted in computing the time, but the day on which such proceeding
is to be had shall not be counted.
Whenever the term "council," "this council," or "the council"
is used, it shall mean the city council of the City of DeSoto, Texas.
The term "county" or "this county" shall mean the County
of Dallas, Texas.
Shall mean the fire chief of the city or designee.
Shall mean the fire marshal of the city or designee.
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.
Shall mean a calendar month.
Any word importing the singular number shall include the
plural and any word importing the plural number shall include the
singular.
Shall be construed to include an affirmation in all cases
in which, by law, an affirmation may be submitted 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 herein, they shall mean
standard time or daylight savings time as may be in current use in
the city.
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, fiduciaries, representatives and
bodies politic and corporate as well as to individuals.
Shall mean the police chief of the city or designee.
Shall mean next before and next after, respectively.
Shall mean that portion of a street between the curbline
or the lateral line of a roadway, and the adjacent property line intended
for the use of pedestrians.
Shall include a mark when a person cannot write.
The words ""the state" or "this state" shall be construed
to mean the State of Texas.
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.
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.
Shall mean a calendar year.
(1995 Code of Ordinances, Chapter 1, Article 1.100,
Section 1.103; Ordinance 1394-01 adopted 1/16/01)
(a)
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 therein.
When subsequent ordinances repeal any chapter, article, 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 on 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.
(b)
Amendments
to any of the provisions of this code shall be made by amending such
provisions by specific reference to the article and section number
of this code in the following language:
|
"That Chapter _____, Article _____ Section _____, of the Code
of Ordinances, City of DeSoto, Texas, is hereby amended to read as
follows: ... "
|
|
The new provisions shall then be set out in full as desired.
|
(c)
In the
event a new article or section not heretofore existing in the code
is to be added, the following language shall be used:
|
"That Chapter _____, of the Code of Ordinances, City of DeSoto,
Texas, is hereby amended by adding a section, to be number Article/Section
_____, which said article/section shall read as follows: ..."
|
|
The new article or section shall then be set out in full as
desired.
|
(d)
It is
hereby provided, however, that any subsequent ordinance which fails
to amend this code in the manner provided for above shall not be deemed
invalid as a result of such failure to follow the procedure outlined
in this section.
(1995 Code of Ordinances, Chapter 1, Article 1.100,
Section 1.104)
(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.
(1995 Code of Ordinances, Chapter 1, Article 1.100,
Section 1.105)
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 wherever in such code or 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
punishable by a fine not to exceed five hundred dollars ($500.00)
except for violations of ordinances that govern fire safety, zoning,
public health and sanitation, including dumping of refuse, which cases
shall be punishable by a fine not to exceed two thousand dollars ($2,000.00)
for each offense; provided, however, that no penalty shall be greater
or less than the penalty provided for the same or similar offense
under the laws of the state. Each day any violation of this code or
of any ordinance shall continue shall constitute a separate offense.
(1995 Code of Ordinances, Chapter 1, Article 1.100,
Section 1.106)
It is hereby declared to be the intention of the city council
that the articles, sections, paragraphs, sentences, clauses and phrases
of this code are severable and, if any article, section, paragraph,
sentence, clause or phrase 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 articles,
sections, paragraphs, sentences, clauses and phrases of this code
since the same would have been enacted by the city council without
the incorporation in this code of any such unconstitutional article,
section, paragraph, sentence, clause or phrase.
(1995 Code of Ordinances, Chapter 1, Article 1.100,
Section 1.107)
