There is hereby adopted the Code of Ordinances of the City of
Cuero, Texas, as compiled, edited and published by Franklin Legal
Publishing, Inc.
(Ordinance adopting 2016 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 Cuero, Texas,” and may be so cited.
(1994 Code, sec. 10.01; Ordinance
adopting 2016 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.
(1994 Code, sec. 10.04; Ordinance
adopting 2016 Code)
(a) 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 administrator, city manager, city secretary, chief of police
or other city officers.
The term “city administrator,” “city manager,”
“city secretary,” “chief of police” or other
city officer or department shall be construed to mean the city administrator,
city manager, city secretary, chief of police or such other municipal
officer or department, respectively, of the City of Cuero, 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 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 Cuero, Texas.
County.
The term “county” or “this county”
shall mean the County of DeWitt, 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.
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.
(b)
Rules under state law.
Unless otherwise provided herein, or by law or implication
required, the same rules of construction, definition, and application
shall govern the interpretation of this code as those governing the
interpretation of state law.
(c)
Technical words and phrases.
Words and phrases shall be taken in their plain or ordinary
and usual sense. However, technical words and phrases having a peculiar
and appropriate meaning in law shall be understood according to their
technical import.
(d)
Acts by assistants.
When a statute or ordinance requires an act to be done which,
by law, an agent or deputy as well may do as the principal, such requisite
shall be satisfied by the performance of such act by an authorized
agent or deputy.
(1994 Code, secs. 10.02, 10.05, 10.06, 10.11, 10.12(B); Ordinance adopting 2016 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.
(1994 Code, sec. 10.07; Ordinance
adopting 2016 Code)
(a) Whenever
any ordinance or part of an ordinance shall be repealed or modified
by a subsequent ordinance, the ordinance or part of an ordinance thus
repealed or modified shall continue in force until the due publication
of the ordinance repealing or modifying it when publication is required
to give effect thereto, unless otherwise expressly provided.
(b) No
suit, proceedings, right, fine, forfeiture, or penalty instituted,
created, given, secured, or accrued under any ordinance previous to
its repeal shall in any wise be affected, released, or discharged,
but may be prosecuted, enjoyed, and recovered as fully as if the ordinance
had continued in force unless it is otherwise expressly provided.
(c) 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.
(1994 Code, sec. 10.16; Ordinance
adopting 2016 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 to
do so shall in no way affect the validity or enforceability of such
ordinances.
(1966 Code, General Provisions, sec. 4; 1994 Code, secs. 10.17, 10.19; Ordinance adopting
2016 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.
(Ordinance adopting 2016 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,
including the dumping of refuse, may not exceed two thousand dollars
($2,000.00).
(c) 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
one dollar ($1.00) or more than two hundred dollars ($200.00) plus
such other penalties and costs as may be provided by such subtitle
C.
(d) 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. Unless otherwise specifically stated in this
code, any violation of this code or of any ordinance that is punishable
by a fine that exceeds five hundred dollars ($500.00) shall require
a culpable mental state.
(e) No
penalty shall be greater or less than the penalty provided for the
same or a similar offense under the laws of the state.
(f) 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.
(g) 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.
(1994 Code, sec. 10.99; Ordinance
adopting 2016 Code)
All provisions of this article compatible with future legislation
shall apply to ordinances hereafter adopted amending or supplementing
this code unless otherwise specifically provided.
(1994 Code, sec. 10.03)
Whenever in one section reference is made to another section
hereof, such reference shall extend and apply to the section referred
to as subsequently amended, revised, recodified, or renumbered unless
the subject matter is changed or materially altered by the amendment
or revision.
(1994 Code, sec. 10.08)
Reference to a public office or officer shall be deemed to apply
to any office, officer, or employee of this municipality exercising
the powers, duties, or functions contemplated in the provision, irrespective
of any transfer of functions or change in the official title of the
functionary.
(1994 Code, sec. 10.09)
If a manifest error is discovered, consisting of the misspelling
of any words, the omission of any word or words necessary to express
the intention of the provisions affected, the use of a word or words
to which no meaning can be attached, or the use of a word or words
when another word or words was clearly intended to express such intent,
such spelling shall be corrected and such word or words supplied,
omitted, or substituted as will conform with the manifest intention,
and the provisions shall have the same effect as though the correct
words were contained in the text as originally published. No alteration
shall be made or permitted if any question exists regarding the nature
or extent of such error.
(1994 Code, sec. 10.10)
In all cases where an ordinance requires an act to be done in
a reasonable time or requires reasonable notice to be given, reasonable
time or notice shall be deemed to mean the time which is necessary
for a prompt performance of such act or the giving of such notice.
(1994 Code, sec. 10.12(A))
This code, from and after its effective date, shall contain
all of the provisions of a general nature pertaining to the subjects
herein enumerated and embraced. All prior ordinances pertaining to
the subjects treated by this code shall be deemed repealed from and
after the effective date of this code.
(1994 Code, sec. 10.13)
All ordinances of a temporary or special nature and all other
ordinances pertaining to subjects not embraced in this code shall
remain in full force and effect unless herein repealed expressly or
by necessary implication.
(1994 Code, sec. 10.14)
All ordinances passed by the city council requiring publication
shall take effect from and after the due publication thereof, unless
otherwise expressly provided. Ordinances not requiring publication
shall take effect from their passage, unless otherwise expressly provided.
(1994 Code, sec. 10.15)