There is hereby adopted the Code of Ordinances of the City of
River Oaks, 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 River Oaks, 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 secretary, city engineer, city manager, chief of police,
chief of the fire department or other city officers.
The words “city secretary,” “city manager,”
“city engineer,” “chief of police,” “chief
of the fire department” or other city officers or departments
shall be construed to mean the city secretary, city manager, city
engineer, chief of police, chief of the fire department or such other
municipal officers or departments, respectively, of the City of River
Oaks.
Council.
Whenever the words “council” or “this council”
or “city council” are used, they shall mean the city council
of the City of River Oaks.
County.
The term “county” or “this county”
shall mean the County of Tarrant, 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 term “may” is permissive.
Number.
Any word importing the singular number shall include the
plural, and any word importing the plural number shall include the
singular.
Oath.
Includes 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.
Includes real and personal property.
Sidewalk.
That portion of a street between the curbline and the adjacent
property line intended for the use of pedestrians.
State.
The words “the state” or “this state”
shall be construed to mean the State of Texas.
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.
(Ordinance 1239-2019, sec. 1, adopted 8/13/19; 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)
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 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
punished by a fine of not exceeding five hundred dollars ($500.00).
However, 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 dumping of refuse may not exceed two thousand
dollars ($2,000.00); 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). Provided, however,
that no penalty shall be greater or less than the penalty provided
for the same or a 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. 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; Ordinance 1355-2022 adopted 8/23/2022)
Each of the following employees shall have the power to issue
one or more citations for violation of city ordinances that the employee
is charged with the responsibility of enforcing:
(1) The
public works director and his or her designees.
(2) The
building official and his or her designees.
(Ordinance 917-2012 adopted 2/28/12)