Note: The Santa Rosa City Code was adopted by Ordinance 2349, passed February 7, 1984, and on file in the office of the City Clerk.
This code shall be known as the "Santa Rosa City Code." It shall be sufficient to refer to this code as the "Santa Rosa City Code" in any prosecution for the violation of any provision thereof. It shall also be sufficient to designate any ordinance adding to, amending, or repealing this code, or portions thereof, as an addition or amendment to, or a repeal of, the Santa Rosa City Code, or a portion thereof.
(Prior code § 1-1.01)
Except as otherwise herein or hereinafter provided, this code consists of all the regulatory, penal, and administrative laws of general application of the City of Santa Rosa, codified pursuant to the authority contained in Article 2 of Chapter 1 of Part 1 of Division 1 of Title 5 of the Government Code of the State of California.
(Prior code § 1-1.02)
This code shall take effect upon the effective date of the ordinance adopting this code by reference.
(Prior code § 1-1.03)
Neither the adoption of this code nor the repeal hereby of any ordinance of the City shall in any manner affect the prosecution for violations of ordinances, which violations were committed prior to the effective date of this code, nor be construed as a waiver of any license or penalty at said effective date due and unpaid under such ordinances, nor be construed as affecting any of the provisions of such ordinances relating to the collection of any such license or penalty or the penal provisions applicable to any violation thereof, nor to affect the validity of any bond or cash deposit in lieu thereof required to be posted, filed, or deposited pursuant to any ordinance, and all vested rights and obligations thereunder appertaining shall continue in full force and effect.
(Prior code § 1-1.04)
The provisions of this code shall not in any manner affect deposits or other matters of record which refer to, or are otherwise connected with, ordinances which are therein specifically designated by number or otherwise and which are included within this code, but such reference shall be construed to apply to the corresponding provisions contained within this code.
(Prior code § 1-1.05)
If any section, subsection, sentence, clause, or phrase of this code is for any reason held to be unconstitutional, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of this code. The Council declares that it would have passed this code and each section, subsection, sentence, clause, and phrase thereof irrespective of the fact that any one or more sections, subsections, sentences, clauses, or phrases are declared unconstitutional.
(Prior code § 1-1.06)
(A) 
Not less than three copies of this code shall be filed for use and examination by the public in the office of the City Clerk. At least three additional copies, duly certified by the City Clerk, shall be maintained on file in the Clerk's office as the official copies of the code. Additional copies of the code shall be distributed to the departments and divisions of the City as shall be prescribed by the City Manager.
(B) 
Upon the adoption of any amendment or addition to this code, or upon the repeal of any of its provisions, the City Clerk shall certify thereto and shall make an appropriate notation in the official volumes of this code of the taking of such action, noting thereon the number and date of the ordinance pursuant to which such action is taken.
(C) 
Duly certified copies of each ordinance making changes in the code shall be filed in the office of the City Clerk in books for such purpose, duly indexed for ready reference.
(Prior code § 1-1.08)
Ordinances relating to matters of a special or temporary nature only are excluded from this code and are unaffected by the provisions of this code.
(Prior code § 1-1.09)
In the construction of this code and of all ordinances of the City, the following definitions shall apply and the following rules shall be observed unless the construction would be inconsistent with the manifest intent of the City Council or the context clearly requires otherwise:
City.
The words "the City" or "this City" shall be construed as if followed by the words "of Santa Rosa."
City council.
The words "Council" or "City Council" shall be construed to mean the City Council of the City of Santa Rosa.
Code.
The words "code" or "this code" mean the "Santa Rosa City Code."
"Computation of time"
means the time in which any act provided by law is to be done is computed by extending the first day and including the last unless the last is a holiday and then it is also excluded.
County.
The words "the county" or "this county" mean the County of Sonoma of this state.
"Day"
means the period of time between midnight and the midnight following.
"Daytime"
is the period of time between sunrise and sunset. "Nighttime" is the period of time between sunset and sunrise.
"Department," "board," "commission," "agency," "officer" or "employee"
mean a department, board, commission, agency, Officer or employee of the City of Santa Rosa.
Gender.
The masculine gender includes the feminine and neuter.
The words "in the city"
mean and include all territory over which the City now has, or shall hereafter acquire the jurisdiction for the exercise of its police powers or other regulatory powers.
Joint authority.
All words giving a joint authority to three or more persons or Officers shall be construed as giving such authority to a majority of such persons of Officers.
"Month"
means a calendar month.
Number.
The singular number includes the plural, and the plural, the singular.
"Oath"
includes affirmation.
Official time.
Whenever certain hours are named herein, they shall mean Pacific Standard Time or Daylight Saving Time, whichever may be in current use in the City.
"Or" may be read "and," and "and" may be read "or,"
if the sense requires it.
"Owner,"
applied to a building or land, includes any part-owner, joint owner, tenant in common, tenant in partnership, joint tenant or tenant by entirety, of the whole or of a part of such building or land.
"Person"
includes any person, firm, association, organization, partnership, business trust, corporation or company.
"Personal property"
includes every species of property except real property, as defined in this section.
"Preceding" and "following"
mean next before and next after, respectively.
"Process"
includes a writ or summons issued in the course of judicial proceedings of either a civil or criminal nature.
"Property"
includes real and personal property.
"Real property"
includes lands, tenements and hereditaments.
"Roadway"
is that portion of a highway improved, designed or ordinarily used for vehicular travel.
"Shall"
is mandatory and "may" is permissive.
"Signature" or "subscription"
includes a mark when the signer or subscriber cannot write, such signer's or subscriber's name being written near the mark by a witness who writes his own name near the signer's or subscriber's name; but a signature or subscription by mark can be acknowledged or can serve as a signature or subscription to a sworn statement only when two witnesses so sign their own names thereto.
State.
The words "state" or "this state" shall be construed to mean the state of California.
"Tenant or "occupant,"
applied to a building or land, includes any person holding a written or oral lease of, or who occupies the whole or a part of such building or land, either alone or with others.
Tense.
The present tense includes the past the future tenses, and the future tense includes the present.
Week.
A "week" consists of seven days.
"Writing"
includes any form of recorded message capable of comprehension by ordinary visual means. Whenever any notice, report, statement or record is required or authorized by this code, it shall be made in writing in the English language, unless it is expressly provided otherwise.
"Year"
means a calendar year, except where otherwise provided.
(Prior code § 1.2)
The repeal of an ordinance shall not revive any ordinances in force before or at the time the ordinance repealed took effect.
The repeal of an ordinance shall not affect any punishment or penalty incurred before the repeal took effect, nor any suit, prosecution or proceeding pending at the time of the repeal, for any offense committed under the ordinance repealed.
(Prior code § 1.4)
It is 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 is 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.
(Prior code § 1.5)