In accordance with MCL 117.5b, the ordinances of the City of Fennville of a general and permanent nature adopted by the City Commission of the City of Fennville, as revised, codified and consolidated into chapters and sections by General Code, and consisting of Chapters 1 through 450, together with an Appendix, are hereby approved, adopted, ordained and enacted as the "Code of the City of Fennville," hereinafter known and referred to as the "Code." The provisions of the Code, insofar as they are substantively the same as those of the ordinances in force immediately prior to the enactment of the Code by this ordinance, are intended as a continuation of such ordinances and not as new enactments.
[HISTORY: Adopted by the City Commission of the City of Fennville as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted where applicable.]
[Adopted 8-18-2025 by Ord. No. 2025-08]
A.
A copy of the Code has been filed in the office of the City Clerk and shall remain there for use and examination by the public until final action is taken on this ordinance. Following adoption of this ordinance such copy shall be certified to by the City Clerk as provided by law, and such certified copy shall remain on file in the office of the City Clerk, to be made available to persons desiring to examine the same during all times while said Code is in effect.
B.
Additions or amendments to the Code, when adopted in such form as to indicate the intent of the City Commission to make them a part thereof, shall be deemed to be incorporated into such Code so that reference to the "Code of the City of Fennville" shall be understood and intended to include such additions and amendments.
The City Clerk shall cause this ordinance or a synopsis of this ordinance to be published in the manner required by law. The enactment and publication of this ordinance coupled with the filing of the Code in the office of the City Clerk as provided in § 1-2 shall be deemed, held and considered to be due and legal publication of all provisions of the Code for all purposes.
Each section of this ordinance and of the Code and every part of each section is an independent section or part of a section, and the holding of any section or a part thereof to be unconstitutional, void or ineffective for any cause shall not be deemed to affect the validity or constitutionality of any other sections or parts thereof. If any provision of this Code or the application thereof to any person or circumstances is held invalid, the remainder of this Code and the application of such provision to other persons or circumstances shall not be affected thereby.
A.
All ordinances or parts of ordinances inconsistent with the provisions contained in the Code adopted by this ordinance are hereby repealed; provided, however, that such repeal shall only be to the extent of such inconsistency, and any valid legislation of the City of Fennville which is not in conflict with the provisions of the Code shall be deemed to remain in full force and effect.
B.
The 1992 Code of Ordinances of the City of Fennville, adopted by Ordinance No. 168, as amended, is repealed and replaced by the Code of the City of Fennville.
C.
Repeal of specific provisions. The City Commission of the City of Fennville has determined that the following ordinance and the following provisions of the 1992 Code of Ordinances are no longer in effect and hereby specifically repeals the following legislation:
(1)
Ordinance No. 2008-01, adopted September 2, 2008, establishing the Planning Commission.
(2)
Chapter 6, Amusements and Entertainments, Article II, Coin-Operated Amusement Devices, of the 1992 Code of Ordinances.
(3)
Chapter 6, Amusements and Entertainments, Article III, Entertainments, Division 2, License, of the 1992 Code of Ordinances.
(4)
Chapter 14, Buildings and Building Regulations, Article II, Building Code, of the 1992 Code of Ordinances.
(5)
Chapter 14, Buildings and Building Regulations, Article III, Mechanical Code, of the 1992 Code of Ordinances.
(6)
Chapter 14, Buildings and Building Regulations, Article IV, Electrical Code, of the 1992 Code of Ordinances.
(7)
Chapter 14, Buildings and Building Regulations, Article V, Plumbing Code, of the 1992 Code of Ordinances.
The adoption of this Code and the repeal of ordinances provided for in § 1-5 of this ordinance shall not affect the following ordinances, rights and obligations, which are hereby expressly saved from repeal. The ordinances or portions of ordinances designated below continue in full force and effect to the same extent as if published at length in this Code.
A.
Any ordinance adopted subsequent to June 16, 2025.
B.
Any ordinance or portion of any ordinance promising or guaranteeing the payment of money or authorizing the issuance of bonds or other instruments of indebtedness.
C.
Any ordinance or portion of any ordinance authorizing or approving any contract, deed, or agreement.
D.
Any ordinance or portion of any ordinance granting any right or franchise.
E.
Any ordinance or portion of any ordinance making or approving any appropriation or budget.
F.
Any ordinance or portion of any ordinance providing for salaries or other employee benefits or personnel policies not codified in this Code.
G.
Any ordinance or portion of any ordinance levying, imposing, or otherwise relating to taxes not codified in this Code.
H.
Any ordinance or portion of any ordinance adopting or amending the City Master Plan.
I.
Any ordinance or portion of any ordinance dedicating, accepting, or vacating any plat or subdivision.
J.
Any ordinance or portion of any ordinance dedicating, establishing, naming, locating, relocating, opening, paving, widening, repairing, or vacating any street, sidewalk, or alley.
K.
Any ordinance or portion of any ordinance establishing the grade of any street or sidewalk.
L.
Any ordinance or portion of any ordinance levying or imposing any special assessment.
M.
Any ordinance rezoning property.
N.
Any ordinance regarding special districts.
O.
Any ordinance or portion of any ordinance that is temporary although general in effect.
P.
Any ordinance or portion of any ordinance that is special although permanent in effect.
Q.
Any ordinance or portion of any ordinance the purpose of which has been accomplished.
R.
Any City ordinance (or portions thereof) adopted by reference and not fully incorporated or restated within this Code.
A.
In compiling and preparing the ordinances for adoption and revision as part of the Code, certain grammatical changes and other minor changes were made in one or more of said ordinances. It is the intention of the City Commission that all such changes be adopted as part of the Code as if the ordinances so changed had been previously formally amended to read as such.
B.
Global revisions.
(1)
Throughout the Code, all statutory references to MSA are deleted, in favor of statutory references to MCL.
C.
The changes, amendments or revisions as set forth in Schedule A attached hereto and made a part hereof are made herewith, to become effective upon the effective date of this ordinance. (Chapter and section number references are to the ordinances as they have been renumbered and appear in the Code.)[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: Schedule A is on file in the city offices.
A.
Chapter and article titles, headings and titles of sections and other divisions of the Code are inserted in the Code and may be inserted in supplements to the Code for the convenience of persons using the Code and are not part of the legislation.
B.
Editor's notes indicating sources of sections, giving other information or referring to the statutes or to other parts of the Code are inserted in the Code and may be inserted in supplements to the Code for the convenience of persons using the Code and are not part of the legislation.
The City's codifier has authority to eliminate gender preference from this Code and update pronouns when appropriate, which authority also includes the correction of future ordinances by the codifier. Gendered pronouns (such as "he," "she," "his," "her," etc.) are amended to either read "they," "their," "them"; or the gendered pronoun is replaced with a repeated reference to that noun. Gender-neutral language has been imposed in the initial publication of the Code and will be continued in future Code supplements.
It shall be unlawful for anyone to improperly change or amend, by additions or deletions, any part or portion of the Code or to alter or tamper with such Code in any manner whatsoever which will cause the law of the City of Fennville to be misrepresented thereby. Anyone violating this section or any part of this ordinance shall be subject, upon conviction, to a fine of not more than $500 or imprisonment for not more than 90 days, or both, in the discretion of the Judge imposing the same.
A.
Throughout the Code, a reference to "Michigan Compiled Laws" shall include all sections of law, as last amended, which are assigned a compilation number by the Legislative Service Bureau and are not subsequently repealed.
B.
Unless otherwise specifically provided, a reference to all or part of a statute, regardless of whether the words "as amended" are used in the reference, shall include the latest amendments to the statute or part.
Except as otherwise provided by law, this ordinance shall become effective upon publication after adoption.
[Adopted as Ch. 1, Secs. 1-2, 1-3, 1-4, 1-5, 1-6, 1-7, 1-9, 1-10, 1-13 and 1-14 of the 1992 Code of Ordinances]
In the construction of this Code and of all ordinances of the City, the following definitions and rules of construction shall be observed, unless they are inconsistent with the intent of the Commission or the context clearly requires otherwise:
The Charter of the City of Fennville, Michigan, adopted November 5, 1996, and shall include any amendment to such Charter.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I)]
The City of Fennville, Michigan.
The Code of the City of Fennville, Michigan, as designated in Article I, Adoption of Code, , and as hereinafter modified by amendment, revision and by the adoption of new chapters, articles, or sections.
The Commission of the City of Fennville.
The time within which an act is to be done, as provided in this Code or in any order issued pursuant to this Code, when expressed in days, shall be computed by excluding the first day and including the last, except that if the last day is Sunday or a legal holiday it shall be excluded.
The term "the county" or "this county" shall mean the County of Allegan in the State of Michigan.
Words denoting the masculine gender shall be deemed to include the feminine and neuter genders.
A general term following specific enumeration of terms is not to be limited to the class enumerated unless expressly so limited.
All words purporting to give joint authority to three or more public officers or other persons, shall be construed as giving such authority to a majority of such officers or other persons unless it is otherwise expressly declared in the ordinance granting the authority.
The abbreviation "MCL" refers to the Michigan Compiled Laws, as amended.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I)]
A calendar month.
Words in the singular shall include the plural, and words in the plural shall include the singular.
Whenever any officer, employee, department, board, commission, or other agency is referred to by title only, such reference shall be construed as if followed by the words "of the City of Fennville, Michigan." Whenever, by the provisions of this Code, any officer, employee, department, board, commission or other City agency of the City is assigned any duty or empowered to perform any act or duty, reference to such officer, employee, department, board, commission or agency shall mean and include such officer, employee, department, board, commission or agency, or any deputy or authorized subordinate.
The word "person" and it derivatives and the word "whoever" shall include a natural person, partnership, associations, legal entity or a corporate body or any body of person corporate or incorporate. Whenever used in any clause prescribing and imposing a penalty, the term "person" or "whoever," as applied to any unincorporated entity, shall mean the partners or members thereof, and as applied to corporations, the officers thereof.
Whenever the word "shall" appears in this Code it shall be considered mandatory and not directory, except as otherwise provided. "May" is permissive.
When the term "the state" or "this state" appears in this Code it shall be construed to mean the State of Michigan.
Words used in the present or past tense include the future as well as the present and past.
Unless otherwise provided in this Code, 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 the Public Acts of Michigan.
[Amended 9-16-2013 by Ord. No. 13-1]
Except as otherwise expressly provided in this Code, all provisions of this Code are limited in application to the territorial boundaries of the City, although any such provision may not be so limited specifically.
Headings and captions used in the Code such as the chapter, article, and section numbers, are employed for reference purposes only and shall not be deemed a part of the text of any section.
Charter references, cross references, state law references and editor's notes are by way of explanation only and should not be deemed a part of the text of any section.
All of the provisions of this article, not incompatible with future legislation, shall apply to ordinances adopted after the adoption of this Code that amend or supplement this Code unless otherwise specifically provided.
Whenever in one section reference is made to another section of this Code, such reference shall extend and apply to the section referred to as subsequently amended, revised, recodified or renumbered unless the subject matter be changed or materially altered by the amendment or revision.
Reference to a public officer shall be deemed to apply to any office, officer, or employee of the City, 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.
[Amended 5-5-1997 by Ord. No. 187]
A.
Unless a violation of this Code or any ordinance of the City is specifically designated in the Code or ordinance as a municipal civil infraction, the violation shall be deemed to be a misdemeanor.
B.
The penalty of a misdemeanor violation shall be a fine not exceeding $500 (plus costs of prosecution), or imprisonment not exceeding 90 days, or both, unless a specific penalty is otherwise provided for the violation by this Code or any ordinance.
C.
The sanction for a violation which is a municipal civil infraction shall be as set forth in Chapter 35, Municipal Civil Infractions, or any provision of this Code or of any ordinance adopted by the City, declaring a violation to be a municipal civil infraction and prescribing sanctions, plus any costs, damages, expenses and other sanctions, as authorized under Chapter 87 of Act No. 236 of the Public Acts of 1961, as amended,[1] and other applicable laws.
[1]
Editor's Note: See MCL 600.8701 et seq.
D.
A "violation" includes any act which is prohibited or made or declared to be unlawful or an offense by this Code or any ordinance, and any omission or failure to act where the act is required by this Code or any ordinance.
E.
Each day on which any violation of this Code or any ordinance continues constitutes a separate offense/violation and shall be subject to penalties or sanctions as a separate offense.
F.
In addition to any remedies available at law, the City may bring an action for an injunction or other process against a person, firm or corporation to restrain, prevent or abate any violation of this Code or any City ordinance.
G.
This section shall not apply to the failure of officers and employees of the City to perform municipal duties required by this Code or by any ordinance.
No officer, agent, or employee of the City shall render themself personally liable for any injury or damage that may accrue to any person, corporation or other legal entity as a result of any act required or permitted in the discharge of their duties in the enforcement of this Code.