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City of Oneida, NY
Madison County
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Table of Contents
Table of Contents
[HISTORY: Adopted by the Common Council of the City of Oneida 12-19-2000 by L.L. No. 6-2000. Amendments noted where applicable.]
In accordance with Subdivision 3 of § 20 of the Municipal Home Rule Law, the local laws, ordinances and certain resolutions of the City of Oneida, as codified by General Code Publishers Corp., and consisting of the Charter and Chapters 1 through 190, together with an Appendix, shall be known collectively as the "Code of the City of Oneida," hereafter termed the "Code." Wherever reference is made in any of the local laws, ordinances and resolutions contained in the "Code of the City of Oneida" to any other local law, ordinance or resolution appearing in said Code, such reference shall be changed to the appropriate chapter title, chapter number, article number or section number where such legislation appears in the Code, as if such local law, ordinance or resolution had been formally amended to so read.
The provisions of the Code, insofar as they are substantively the same as those of local laws, ordinances and resolutions in force immediately prior to the enactment of the Code by this local law, are intended as a continuation of such local laws, ordinances and resolutions and not as new enactments, and the effectiveness of such provisions shall date from the date of adoption of the prior local law, ordinance or resolution. All such provisions are hereby continued in full force and effect and are hereby reaffirmed as to their adoption by the Common Council of the City of Oneida, and it is the intention of said Council that each such provision contained within the Code is hereby reaffirmed as it appears in said Code. Only such provisions of former local laws and ordinances as are omitted from this Code shall be deemed repealed or abrogated by the provisions of § 1-3 below.
All local laws and ordinances of a general and permanent nature of the City of Oneida in force on the date of adoption of the Code Adoption local law and not contained in such Code or recognized and continued in force by reference therein are hereby repealed from and after the effective date of said local law.
The repeal of local laws and ordinances provided for in § 1-3 of this local law shall not affect the following classes of local laws, ordinances, rights and obligations, which are hereby expressly saved from repeal:
A. 
Any right or liability established, accrued or incurred under any legislative provision of the City of Oneida prior to the effective date of this local law or any action or proceeding brought for the enforcement of such right or liability.
B. 
Any offense or act committed or done before the effective date of this local law in violation of any legislative provision of the City of Oneida or any penalty, punishment or forfeiture which may result therefrom.
C. 
Any prosecution, indictment, action, suit or other proceeding pending or any judgment rendered prior to the effective date of this local law brought pursuant to any legislative provision of the City of Oneida.
D. 
Any agreement entered into or any franchise, license, right, easement or privilege heretofore granted or conferred by the City of Oneida.
E. 
Any local law or ordinance of the City of Oneida providing for the laying out, opening, altering, widening, relocating, straightening, establishing grade, changing name, improvement, acceptance or vacation of any right-of-way, easement, street, road, highway, park or other public place within the City of Oneida or any portion thereof.
F. 
Any local law or ordinance of the City of Oneida appropriating money or transferring funds, promising or guaranteeing the payment of money or authorizing the issuance and delivery of any bond of the City of Oneida or other instruments or evidence of the city's indebtedness.
G. 
Local laws or ordinances authorizing the purchase, sale, lease or transfer of property or any lawful contract, agreement or obligation.
H. 
The levy or imposition of special assessments or charges.
I. 
The annexation or dedication of property.
J. 
Any local law or ordinance relating to salaries and compensation.
K. 
Any local law or ordinance amending the Zoning Map.
L. 
Any local law or ordinance relating to or establishing a pension plan or pension fund for city employees.
M. 
Any local law or ordinance or portion of a local law or ordinance establishing a specific fee amount for any license, permit or service obtained from the city.
N. 
Any local law adopted subsequent to 6-20-2000.
If any clause, sentence, paragraph, section, article, chapter or part of any local law, ordinance or resolution included in this Code now or through supplementation shall be adjudged by any court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, such judgment shall not affect, impair or invalidate the remainder thereof but shall be confined in its operation to the clause, sentence, paragraph, section, article, chapter or part thereof directly involved in the controversy in which such judgment shall have been rendered.
A copy of the Code, in loose-leaf form, has been filed in the office of the City Clerk of the City of Oneida and shall remain there for use and examination by the public until final action is taken on the Code Adoption local law; and, if said local law shall be adopted, such copy shall be certified to by the City Clerk of the City of Oneida by impressing thereon the Seal of the City of Oneida, and such certified copy shall remain on file in the office of said City Clerk to be made available to persons desiring to examine the same during all times while the said Code is in effect. The enactment and publication of the Code Adoption local law, coupled with the availability of a copy of the Code for inspection by the public, shall be deemed, held and considered to be due and legal publication of all provisions of the Code for all purposes.
Any and all additions, deletions, amendments or supplements to any of the local laws, ordinances and resolutions known collectively as the "Code of the City of Oneida" or any new local laws, ordinances or resolutions, when enacted or adopted in such form as to indicate the intention of the Common Council to be a part thereof, shall be deemed to be incorporated into such Code so that reference to the Code shall be understood and intended to include such additions, deletions, amendments or supplements. Whenever such additions, deletions, amendments or supplements to the Code shall be enacted or adopted, they shall thereafter be printed and, as provided hereunder, inserted in the loose-leaf book containing said Code as amendments and supplements thereto. Nothing contained in this local law shall affect the status of any local law, ordinance or resolution contained herein, and such local laws, ordinances or resolutions may be amended, deleted or changed from time to time as the Common Council deems desirable.
It shall be the duty of the City Clerk to keep up-to-date the certified copy of the book containing the Code of the City of Oneida required to be filed in the office of the City Clerk for use by the public. All changes in said Code and all local laws, ordinances and resolutions adopted by the Common Council subsequent to the enactment of this local law in such form as to indicate the intention of said Common Council to be a part of said Code shall, when finally enacted or adopted, be included therein by temporary attachment of copies of such changes, local laws, ordinances or resolutions until such changes, local laws, ordinances or resolutions are printed as supplements to said Code book, at which time such supplements shall be inserted therein.
Copies of the Code, or any chapter or portion of it, may be purchased from the City Clerk, or an authorized agent of the Clerk, upon the payment of a fee to be set by resolution of the Common Council. The Clerk may also arrange for procedures for the periodic supplementation of the Code.
Any person who, without authorization from the City Clerk, changes or amends, by additions or deletions, any part or portion of the Code of the City of Oneida or who alters or tampers with such Code in any manner whatsoever which will cause the legislation of the City of Oneida to be misrepresented thereby or who violates any other provision of this local law shall be guilty of an offense and shall, upon conviction thereof, be subject to a fine of not more than $250 or imprisonment for a term of not more than 15 days, or both.
In compiling and preparing the local laws, ordinances and resolutions for publication as the Code of the City of Oneida, no changes in the meaning or intent of such local laws, ordinances and resolutions have been made, except where indicated by histories or footnotes in the text of the chapters, said changes to become effective upon the effective date of the Code Adoption local law. In addition, certain grammatical changes and other minor nonsubstantive changes were made in one or more of said pieces of legislation, and certain outdated references and titles of city officials were updated. It is the intention of the Common Council that all such changes be adopted as part of the Code as if the local laws, ordinances and resolutions had been previously formally amended to read as such.
As used in this Code, unless the context requires otherwise, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
AFFIDAVIT
When an affidavit is authorized or required, it may be sworn to before any officer authorized by law to take the acknowledgment of deeds in this state, unless a particular officer is specified before whom it is to be taken.
ARMED FORCES OF THE UNITED STATES
The Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force and Coast Guard, including all components thereof, and the National Guard when in the service of the United States pursuant to call as provided by law. Pursuant to this definition, no person shall be considered a member or veteran of the Armed Forces of the United States unless his or her service therein is or was on a full-time active duty basis, other than active duty for training.
BOND AND UNDERTAKING
Any provision authorizing or requiring a bond to be given shall be deemed to have been complied with by the execution of an undertaking to the same effect.
CALENDAR DAY
A calendar day includes the time from 12:00 midnight to 12:00 midnight. Sunday or any day of the week specifically mentioned means a calendar day.
CHARTER
The Oneida City Charter.
CHATTELS
Includes goods and chattels; and, where the term appears in any chapter pertaining to an action to recover the same, it also includes all specific personal property, such as, but not limited to, certificates of stock, bonds, notes or other securities or obligations.
CITY
The City of Oneida in the State of New York.
CITY LIMITS
The legal boundaries of the city as expressed in Section 1.5 of the Charter.
CODE
The Code of the City of Oneida as established and designated above.
COMMON COUNCIL
The elective governing body of the city.
COMPUTATION OF DAYS
A number of days specified as a period from a certain day within which or after or before which an act is authorized or required to be done means such number of calendar days exclusive of the calendar day from which the reckoning is made. If such period is a period of two days, Saturday, Sunday or a public holiday must be excluded from the reckoning if it is in an intervening day between the day from which the reckoning is made and the last day of the period. In computing any specified period of time from a specified event, the day upon which the event happens is deemed the day from which the reckoning is made. The day from which any specified period of time is reckoned shall be excluded in making the reckoning.
COMPUTATION OF MONTHS
A number of months after or before a certain day shall be computed by counting such number of calendar months from such day, exclusive of the calendar month in which such day occurs, and shall include the day of the month in the last month so counted having the same numerical order in days of the month as the day from which the computation is made, unless there are not so many days in the last month so counted, in which case the period computed shall expire with the last day of the month so counted.
CORPORATION TAX DISTRICT, or INSIDE DISTRICT or INSIDE TAX DISTRICT
Refers to that territory designated as the Corporate Tax District by Section 1.9 of the Charter.
COUNTY
Madison County, New York.
EFFECT OF HOLIDAYS
When any period of time, computed from a certain day, within which or after which or before which an act is authorized or required to be done, ends on a Saturday, Sunday or a public holiday, such act may be done on the next succeeding business day, and if the period ends at a specified hour, such act may be done at or before the same hour of such next succeeding business day. Where time is extended by virtue of the provisions of this definition, such extended time shall not be included in the computation of interest, except that when the period is specified as a number of months, such extended time shall be included in the computation of interest.
GENDER
Whenever words of the masculine or feminine gender appear in any chapter, unless the sense of the sentence shall require otherwise, they shall be deemed to refer to both male or female persons. This construction shall apply to gender-indicative suffixes or prefixes as well as to gender-indicative words. Whenever the reference is to a corporation, board, body, group, organization or entity comprising more than one person or to an assemblage of persons or to an inanimate object, the reference shall be construed to be neuter in gender.
HERETOFORE and HEREAFTER
Each of the terms, "heretofore" and "hereafter," in any provision of a chapter, relates to the time such provision takes effect.
MEN
Includes boys.
MONTH
In any chapter, unless otherwise provided, the term "month" means a calendar month and not a lunar month.
MUNICIPAL OFFICERS
A reference to several officers of the city holding the same office, or to a board of such officers, shall be deemed to refer to the single officer holding such office, when but one person is chosen to fill such office in pursuance of law.
NEWSPAPERS
The terms "daily newspaper" and "newspaper published each business day" in any chapter means a newspaper customarily published on each business day of the year, whether or not such newspaper is published on any other day. The term "business day," when used herein, does not include Saturdays, Sundays or legal holidays.
NIGHT TIME
Includes the time from sunset to sunrise.
NOTICE
When a notice is required to be given to a board or body, service of such notice upon the Clerk or Chairman thereof shall be sufficient.
NOW
The term "now" in any provision of a chapter referring to other ordinances or laws in force, or to persons in office or to any facts or circumstances as existing relates to the laws or ordinances in force, or to the person in office or to the facts or circumstances existing, respectively, immediately before the taking effect of such provision.
NUMBER
Words in the singular number include the plural and in the plural number include the singular.
OATH, AFFIDAVIT and SWEAR
The terms "oath" and "affidavit" include every mode authorized by law of attesting the truth of that which is stated. The term "swear" includes every mode authorized by law for administering an oath.
OUTSIDE DISTRICT or OUTSIDE TAX DISTRICT
That territory designated as the outside district by Section 1.9 of the Charter.
PERSON
Includes a corporation and a joint-stock association. When used to designate a party whose property may be the subject of any offense, the term "person" also includes the state or any other state, government or country which may lawfully own property in the state.
PERSONAL PROPERTY
Includes chattels, money, things in action, and all written instruments themselves, as distinguished from the rights or interests to which they relate, by which any right, interest, lien or encumbrance in, to or upon property, or any debt or financial obligation is created, acknowledged, evidenced, transferred, discharged or defeated, wholly or in part, and everything, except real property, which may be the subject of ownership. Oil wells and all fixtures connected therewith, situated on lands leased for oil purposes and oil interests, and rights held under and by virtue of any lease or contract or other right or license to operate for or produce petroleum oil, shall be deemed personal property for all purposes except taxation.
PROPERTY
Includes real and personal property.
PUBLIC HOLIDAYS DESIGNATED
Includes the following days in each year: the first day of January, known as "New Year's Day"; the third Sunday on January known as "Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day"; the 12th day of February, known as "Lincoln's Birthday"; the third Monday in February, known as "Washington's Birthday"; the last Monday in May, known as "Memorial Day"; the second Sunday in June, known as "Flag Day"; the fourth day of July, known as "Independence Day"; the first Monday in September known as "Labor Day"; the second Monday in October, known as "Columbus Day"; the 11th day of November, known as "Veterans Day"; the fourth Thursday in November, known as "Thanksgiving Day"; and the 25th of December, known as "Christmas Day"; and if any of such days except Flag Day or Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, is Sunday, the next day thereafter; each general election day, and each day appointed by the President of the United States or by the Governor of this state as a day of general thanksgiving, general fasting and prayer, or other general religious observances. The term "half-holiday" includes the period from 12:00 noon to 12:00 midnight of each Saturday which is not a public holiday.
QUORUM AND MAJORITY
Whenever three or more public officers are given any power or authority, or three or more persons are charged with any public duty to be performed or exercised by them jointly or as a board or similar body, a majority of the whole number of such persons or officers, at a meeting duly held at a time fixed by law, or by any bylaw duly adopted by such board or body, or at any duly adjourned meeting of such meeting, or at any meeting duly held upon reasonable notice to all of them, shall constitute a quorum and not less than a majority of the whole number may perform and exercise such power, authority or duty. For the purpose of this provision, the words "whole number" shall be construed to mean the total number which the board, commission, body or other group of persons or officers would have were there no vacancies and were none of the persons disqualified from acting. Any meeting referred to above may be adjourned by a lesser number than a quorum.
REAL PROPERTY
Includes real estate, lands, tenements and hereditaments, corporeal and incorporeal.
REFERENCES TO OFFICIALS, DEPARTMENTS, ETC.
Whenever a reference is made to an officer, employee, board, department or commission, such reference shall be interpreted as if it was followed by the words "of the city."
SIGNATURE
Includes any memorandum, mark or sign written, printed, stamped, photographed, engraved or otherwise placed upon any instrument or writing with intent to execute or authenticate such instrument or writing.
REFERENCES TO REPEALED PROVISIONS
If any provision of a law or ordinance is repealed and, in substance, reenacted, a reference in any law or ordinance to such repealed provision shall be deemed a reference to such reenacted provision.
STATE
The State of New York.
TENSE
Words in the present tense include the future.
WOMEN
Includes girls.
WRITING AND WRITTEN
Includes every legible representation of letters upon a material substance, except when applied to the signature of an instrument.
YEAR
Means 365 days, but the added day of a leap year and the day immediately preceding shall for the purpose of such computation be counted as one day. The term "year" means 12 months, the term "half year" six months and the term "a quarter of a year" three months.
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, or 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.
Wherever in this Code or in any legislation of the city any act is prohibited or is made or declared to be unlawful, or an offense or a misdemeanor, or the doing of any act is required, or the failure to do any act is declared to be unlawful, an offense or a misdemeanor, where no specific penalty is provided therefor, the violation of any such provision of this Code or such legislation is hereby declared to be a misdemeanor and shall be punished by a fine not exceeding $1,000 or by imprisonment for a term in excess of 15 days, but not exceeding one year, or both such fine and imprisonment. Every day any violation of this Code or any such legislation shall continue shall constitute a separate offense.