The ordinances embraced in this and the following chapters shall constitute and be designated the "Code of Ordinances, City of Harlingen, Texas," and may be so cited. Such Code may also be cited as the "Harlingen Code."
(Code 1997, § 10.01)
The following definitions and rules of construction shall apply to this Code and to all ordinances and resolutions unless the context requires otherwise:
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.
When provisions conflict, the specific shall prevail over the general.
All provisions shall be liberally construed so that the intent of the city commission may be effectuated.
Words and phrases shall be construed according to the common and approved usage of the language, but technical words, technical phrases and words and phrases that have acquired peculiar and appropriate meanings in law shall be construed according to such meanings.
The term "Charter" means the Charter of the City of Harlingen, Texas.
The term "city" means the City of Harlingen, Texas.
The term "city commission" means the city commission of the City of Harlingen, Texas.
The term "Code" means the Code of Ordinances, City of Harlingen, 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 the last day of any period 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.
In a provision involving two or more items, conditions, provisions or events, which items, conditions, provisions or events are connected by the conjunction "and," "or" or "either . . . or," the conjunction shall be interpreted as follows, except that in appropriate cases, the terms "and" and "or" are interchangeable:
The term "and" indicates that all the connected terms, conditions, provisions or events apply.
The term "or" indicates that the connected terms, conditions, provisions or events apply singly or in any combination.
The term "either . . . or" indicates that the connected terms, conditions, provisions or events apply singly but not in combination.
The term "county" means Cameron County, Texas.
A provision that authorizes or requires a city officer or city employee to perform an act or make a decision authorizes such officer or employee to act or make a decision through subordinates.
Words of one gender include all other genders.
The terms "includes" and "including" are terms of enlargement and not of limitation or exclusive enumeration, and the use of the terms does not create a presumption that components not expressed are excluded.
A grant of authority to three or more persons as a public body confers the authority to a majority of the number of members, as fixed by statute or ordinance.
The term "may" creates discretionary authority or grants permission or a power.
The term "may not" imposes a prohibition.
The term "month" means a calendar month.
The term "must" imposes a duty.
The term "must not" imposes a prohibition.
The singular includes the plural and the plural includes the singular.
The term "oath" includes an affirmation.
References to officers, departments, boards, commissions or employees are to city officers, city departments, city boards, city commissions and city employees. In addition:
The terms "department of planning and development" and "planning and development department" are synonymous.
The terms "director of planning and development" and "planning and development director" are synonymous.
The terms "department of environmental health" and "director of environmental health" are synonymous.
The term "owner," as applied to property, includes any part owner, joint owner, tenant in common, tenant in partnership, joint tenant or tenant by the entirety of the whole or part of such property.
The term "person" means any corporation, organization, government, governmental subdivision or agency, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, association and any other legal entity.
The term "personal property" means any property other than real property.
The term "premises," as applied to real property, includes lands and structures.
The term "property" means real and personal property.
The term "real property" includes lands, tenements and hereditaments.
The term "shall" imposes a duty.
The term "shall not" imposes a prohibition.
The term "sidewalk" means that portion of the street between the curb or lateral line of the roadway, and the adjacent property line, intended for the use of pedestrians.
The term "signed" includes any symbol executed or adopted by a person with present intention to authenticate a writing.
The term "state" means the State of Texas.
References to state statutes or codes are to the same as amended.
The term "swear" includes the term "affirm."
The present tense includes the past and future tenses. The future tense includes the present tense.
References to Texas statutes or codes are to such statutes or codes as now or hereafter amended.
The term "week" means a period of seven consecutive days.
The term "written" includes any form of words, letters, symbols or figures.
The term "year" means 12 consecutive months.
(Code 1997, §§ 10.02, 10.05, 10.06)
(a)
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 are not titles of such sections, or of any part of the section, nor, unless expressly so provided, shall they be so deemed when any such section, including the catchline, is amended or reenacted.
(b)
The history or source notes appearing in parenthesis after a section in this Code have no legal effect and only indicate legislative history. Charter references, cross references, editor's notes, and state law references that appear in this Code after sections or subsections or that otherwise appear in footnote form are provided for the convenience of the user of this Code and have no legal effect.
(c)
Unless specified otherwise, all references to chapters or sections are to chapters or sections of this Code.
(Code 1997, § 10.04)
(a)
Unless specifically provided otherwise, the repeal of a repealing ordinance does not revive the ordinance originally repealed or impair the effect of any savings provision in it.
(b)
The repeal or amendment of an ordinance does not affect any punishment or penalty incurred before the repeal took effect, nor does such repeal or amendment affect any suite, prosecution or proceeding pending at the time of the amendment or repeal.
(a)
All ordinances adopted subsequent to this Code that 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 in this Code. Portions of this Code repealed by subsequent ordinances may be excluded from this Code by omission from reprinted pages affected thereby.
(b)
Amendments to provisions of this Code may be made with the following language: "Section (chapter, article, division or subdivision, as appropriate) _____ of the Harlingen Code is hereby amended to read as follows: … ."
(c)
If a new section, subdivision, division, article or chapter is to be added to this Code, the following language may be used: "Section (chapter, article, division or subdivision, as appropriate) _____ of the Harlingen Code is hereby created to read as follows: … . "
(d)
All provisions desired to be repealed should be repealed specifically by section, subdivision, division, article or chapter number, as appropriate, or by setting out the repealed provisions in full in the repealing ordinance.
(a)
Supplements to this Code shall be prepared and printed whenever authorized or directed by the city. A supplement to this Code shall include all substantive permanent and general parts of ordinances adopted during the period covered by the supplement and all changes made thereby in this Code. The pages of the supplement shall be so numbered that they will fit properly into this Code and will, where necessary, replace pages that have become obsolete or partially obsolete. The new pages shall be so prepared that when they have been inserted, this 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 this Code that have been repealed shall be excluded from this Code by the omission thereof from reprinted pages.
(c)
When preparing a supplement to this Code, the person authorized to prepare the supplement may make formal, nonsubstantive changes in ordinances and parts of ordinances included in the supplement, insofar as necessary to do so in order to embody them into a unified Code. For example, the person may:
(1)
Arrange the material into appropriate organizational units.
(2)
Supply appropriate catchlines, headings and titles for chapters, articles, divisions, subdivisions and sections to be included in this Code and make changes in any such catchlines, headings and titles, or in any such catchlines, headings and titles already in this Code.
(3)
Assign appropriate numbers to chapters, articles, divisions, subdivisions and sections to be added to this Code.
(4)
Where necessary to accommodate new material, change existing numbers assigned to chapters, articles, divisions, subdivisions or sections.
(5)
Change the words "this ordinance" or similar words to "this chapter," "this article," "this division," "this subdivision," "this section" or "sections _____ to _____" (inserting section numbers to indicate the sections of this Code that embody the substantive sections of the ordinance incorporated in this Code).
(6)
Make other nonsubstantive changes necessary to preserve the original meaning of the ordinances inserted in this Code.
(a)
In this section, the term "violation of this Code" means any of the following:
(1)
Doing an act that is prohibited or made or declared unlawful, an offense, a violation or a misdemeanor by ordinance or by rule or regulation authorized by ordinance.
(2)
Failure to perform an act that is required to be performed by ordinance or by rule or regulation authorized by ordinance.
(3)
Failure to perform an act if the failure is prohibited or is made or declared unlawful, an offense, a violation or a misdemeanor by ordinance or by rule or regulation authorized by ordinance.
(b)
In this section, the term "violation of this Code" does not include the failure of a city officer or city employee to perform an official duty unless it is specifically provided that the failure to perform the duty is to be punished as provided in this section. A culpable mental state is not required for the commission of a violation of this Code, unless the provision defining the conduct expressly requires a culpable mental state.
(c)
Except as otherwise provided by law or ordinance, a person convicted of a violation of this Code shall be punished by a fine not to exceed $500.00.
(d)
The penalty imposed for a violation of this Code shall not exceed or be less than the penalty prescribed by state law for the same or a similar offense.
(e)
If a corporation commits a violation of this Code, the president, vice-president, secretary, treasurer of such corporation, or any manager, agent, or employee of such corporation shall be also severally liable for the penalties herein provided.
(g)
The imposition of a penalty does not prevent suspension or revocation of a license, permit or franchise or other administrative sanctions.
(h)
Violations of this Code that are continuous with respect to time are a public nuisance and may be abated by injunctive or other equitable relief. The imposition of a penalty does not prevent injunctive relief or civil or quasi-judicial enforcement.
(Code 1997, § 10.99)
If any provision of this Code or its application to any person or circumstances is held invalid or unconstitutional, the invalidity or unconstitutionality does not affect other provisions or application of this Code that can be given effect without the invalid or unconstitutional provision or application, and to this end the provisions of this Code are severable.
(Code 1997, § 10.07)
The provisions of this Code, insofar as they are substantially the same as legislation adopted by the city relating to the same subject matter, shall be construed as reinstatements and continuations thereof and not as new enactments.
(a)
Nothing in this Code or the ordinance adopting this Code affects any offense or act committed or done, any penalty or forfeiture incurred, or any contract or right established before the effective date of this Code.
(b)
The adoption of this Code does not authorize any use or the continuation of any use of a structure or premises in violation of any city ordinance on the effective date of this Code.
(a)
Nothing in this Code or the ordinance adopting this Code affects the validity of any ordinance or portion of an ordinance not codified in this Code:
(1)
Amending the Charter.
(2)
Annexing property into the city or describing the corporate limits.
(3)
Deannexing property or excluding property from the city.
(4)
Promising or guaranteeing the payment of money or authorizing the issuance of bonds or other instruments of indebtedness.
(5)
Authorizing or approving any contract, deed, or agreement.
(6)
Making or approving any appropriation or budget.
(7)
Providing for salaries of employees or other employee benefits or job descriptions for employee positions.
(8)
Granting any right or franchise.
(9)
Adopting or amending the comprehensive plan.
(10)
Levying or imposing any special assessment.
(11)
Dedicating, establishing, naming, locating, relocating, opening, paving, widening, repairing or vacating any street.
(12)
Establishing or prescribing the grade of any street or sidewalk.
(13)
Establishing or prescribing the width of any street
(14)
Dedicating, accepting or vacating any plat or subdivision.
(15)
Levying or imposing or otherwise related to taxes.
(16)
Prescribing traffic regulations on specific streets or highways in the city, such as, but not limited to, ordinances prescribing speed limits, establishing areas or spaces where parking is prohibited or limited, or designating one-way streets or alleys or intersections for the control of traffic by signs or signals.
(17)
That is temporary, although general in effect.
(18)
That is special, although permanent in effect.
(19)
The purpose of which has been accomplished.
(b)
Nothing in this Code or the ordinance adopting this Code affects the validity of the following ordinances:
(Code 1973, § 28-1; Code 1997, §§ 70.01, 95.01)