The ordinances embraced in this and the following chapters and sections shall constitute and be designated the "Code of Ordinances, City of Rockport, Texas," and may be so cited. Such Code may also be cited as the Rockport Code.
(Code 1972, § 1-1)
In the construction of this Code and of all ordinances and resolutions passed by the city council, the following definitions and rules shall be observed, unless such construction would be inconsistent with the manifest intent of the city council:
The words "the city" or "this city" or "city" shall mean the City of Rockport, in the County of Aransas and State of Texas.
The words "this Code" shall mean the Code of Ordinances, City of Rockport, Texas, as designated in section 1-1.
In computing a period of days, 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.
If a number of months is to be computed by counting the months from a particular day, the period ends on the same numerical day in the concluding month as the day of the month from which the computation is begun, unless there are not that many days in the concluding month, in which case the period ends on the last day of that month.
Whenever the words "council," "the council" or "city council" are used, they shall mean the city council of the City of Rockport, Texas.
The words "county," "the county" or "this county" shall mean Aransas County, Texas.
A word importing the masculine gender only shall extend and be applied to females and to firms, partnerships and corporations as well as to males.
The term "highway" shall mean the entire width between the boundary lines of every way publicly maintained when any part thereof is open to the use of the public for purposes of vehicular travel.
A joint authority given to any number of officers or other persons may be executed by a majority of them unless expressly provided otherwise.
The word "month" shall mean a calendar month.
The singular includes the plural and the plural includes the singular.
The word "oath" shall be construed to include an affirmation, and the words "swear" and "sworn" shall be equivalent to the words "affirm" and "affirmed."
Whenever reference is made to any officer, department, board or commission, the same shall be construed as if followed by the words "of the City of Rockport."
"Or" may be read "and," and "and" may be read "or," if the sense requires it.
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" includes any individual, firm, company, corporation, organization, government or governmental subdivision or agency, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, association and any other legal entity.
The term "roadway" shall mean that portion of a highway improved, designed or ordinarily used for vehicular travel, exclusive of the berm or shoulder. If a highway includes two or more separate roadways the term "roadway" as used in this Code shall refer to any such roadway separately but not to all such roadways collectively.
The word "sidewalk" shall mean that portion of a street between the curblines, or the lateral lines of a roadway, and the adjacent property lines intended for the use of pedestrians.
The word "signature" or "subscription" shall include any symbol executed or adopted by a person with present intention to authenticate a writing.
The words "the state" or "this state" shall be construed to mean the State of Texas.
The word "street" shall mean the entire width between the boundary lines of every way publicly maintained when any part thereof is open to the use of the public for purposes of vehicular travel.
Words used in the past or present tense include the future as well as the past and present.
The designation "Vernon's Ann. C.C.P." shall mean Vernon's Annotated Code of Criminal Procedure, as amended.
Civ. St. The designation "Vernon's Ann. Civ. St." shall mean Vernon's Annotated Civil Statutes, as amended.
The designation "V.T.C.A." shall mean Vernon's Texas Codes Annotated, as amended.
The words "written" or "in writing" shall be construed to include any representation of words, letters, symbols or figures, whether by printing or otherwise.
The word "year" means 12 consecutive months.
(Code 1972, § 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.
(Code 1972, § 1-3)
(a)
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. 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. Any and all additions and amendments to this Code, when passed in such form as to indicate the intention of the council to make the same a part hereof, shall be deemed to be incorporated herein, so that a reference to the Code shall be understood and intended to include such additions and amendments.
(b)
Amendments to any of the provisions of this Code shall be made by amending such provisions by specific reference to the section number of this Code in the following language: "That section __________of the Code of Ordinances, City of Rockport, Texas, is hereby amended to read as follows: ...." The new provisions shall then be set out in full as desired.
(c)
If a new section not heretofore existing in the Code is to be added, the following language shall be used: "That the Code of Ordinances, City of Rockport, Texas, is hereby amended by adding a section, to be numbered __________, which section reads as follows: ...." The new section shall then be set out in full as desired.
(Code 1972, § 1-4)
Nothing in this Code or the ordinance adopting this Code shall be construed to repeal or otherwise affect the validity of any of the following:
(1)
Any ordinance 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.
(2)
Any appropriation ordinance or ordinance providing for the levy of taxes or for an annual budget, or prescribing salaries for city officers and employees.
(3)
Any ordinance annexing territory to the city or discontinuing territory as a part of the city.
(4)
Any ordinance designating, or otherwise relating to, city depositories.
(5)
Any ordinance granting any franchise, permit or other right.
(6)
Any ordinance designating no parking areas.
(7)
Any ordinance approving, prescribing or otherwise relating to rates to be charged by utility companies.
(8)
Any ordinance approving, authorizing or otherwise relating to any contract or agreement.
(9)
Any ordinance accepting, dedicating, vacating or otherwise relating to any easement.
(10)
Any ordinance zoning or rezoning specific property.
(11)
Any ordinance relating to the population of the city.
(12)
Any ordinance relating to an industrial development corporation.
(13)
Any ordinance relating to a specific fund.
(14)
The comprehensive plan of the city.
(Code 1972, § 1-5)
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.
(Code 1972, § 1-6)
(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 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 not exceeding $500.00.
(c)
A violation of the following provisions shall be punished by a fine not exceeding $2,000.00: Chapter 22, articles IV and X.
(d)
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.
(Code 1972, § 1-7)
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 this Code of any such unconstitutional phrase, clause, sentence, paragraph or section.
(Code 1972, § 1-8)
The history notes appearing in parentheses after sections of this Code are not intended to have any legal effect, but are merely intended to indicate the source of matter contained in the section.
The references and editor's notes appearing throughout the Code are not intended to have any legal effect, but are merely intended to assist the user of the 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 and shall also include all amendments to the Charter during the period. 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 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 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 section 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 __________through __________" The inserted section numbers will 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.