[HISTORY: Adopted by the Mayor and Council of the City of Taneytown as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted where applicable.]
[Adopted 8-9-1999 by Ord. No. 8-99; readopted 12-13-1999 by Ord. No. 9-99[1]]
[1]
Editor's Note: This ordinance was adopted to rectify procedural problems with Ord. No. 8-99.
The various chapters and sections of the 1980 Code of Ordinances of the City of Taneytown, and subsequent ordinances of the City of Taneytown of a general and permanent nature adopted by the Mayor and Council of the City of Taneytown, as revised, codified and consolidated into chapters and sections by General Code Publishers Corp. and consisting of Chapters 1 through 205, are hereby approved, adopted, ordained and enacted as the "Code of the City of Taneytown," hereinafter known and referred to as the "Code."
This ordinance and the Code shall supersede the 1980 Code of Ordinances of the City of Taneytown and all other general and permanent ordinances enacted prior to the enactment of this Code, except such ordinances as are hereinafter expressly saved from repeal or continued in force.
All provisions of this ordinance and of the Code shall be in full force and effect on or after the passage and approval of this ordinance to the extent not otherwise provided herein.
A copy of the Code in loose-leaf or post binder form 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, and if this ordinance shall be adopted, such copy shall be certified to by the City Clerk of the City of Taneytown by impressing thereon the Seal of the city, and such certified copy shall remain on file in the office of the City Clerk of the city, to be made available to persons desiring to examine the same during all times while the Code is in effect.
Any and all additions, amendments or supplements to the Code, when passed and adopted in such form as to indicate the intent of the Mayor and Council 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 Taneytown" shall be understood and intended to include such additions and amendments. Whenever such additions, amendments or supplements to the Code shall be adopted, they shall thereafter be printed and, as provided hereunder, inserted in the loose-leaf or post binder book containing said Code as amendments and supplements thereto.
The Mayor and Council of the City of Taneytown, pursuant to law, shall cause to be published, in the manner required, a notice of the passage of this ordinance in a newspaper of general circulation in the city. Sufficient copies of the Code shall be maintained in the office of the City Clerk for inspection by the public at all times during regular office hours. Publication of such notice, coupled with availability of copies 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.
It shall be the duty of the City Clerk, or someone authorized and directed by the City Clerk, to keep up-to-date the certified copy of the book containing the Code required to be filed in the City Clerk's office for the use of the public. All changes in said Code and all ordinances adopted subsequent to the effective date of this codification which shall be adopted specifically as part of the Code shall, when finally adopted, be included therein by reference until such changes or new ordinances are printed as supplements to said Code books, at which time such supplements shall be inserted therein.
Copies of the Code book containing the Code may be purchased from the City Clerk upon the payment of a fee to be set by resolution of the Mayor and Council, which may also arrange, by resolution, for procedures for the periodic supplementation thereof.
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 Taneytown to be misrepresented thereby. Any violation of this section shall be punishable as a misdemeanor, the penalty for which shall be a fine not to exceed $1,000 or imprisonment for a term not to exceed six months, or both such fine and imprisonment.
Each section 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 section or part thereof.
Each section of this ordinance is an independent section, and the holding of any section or part thereof to be unconstitutional, void or ineffective for any cause shall not be deemed to affect the validity or constitutionality of any other section or part thereof.
All ordinances or parts of ordinances of a general and permanent nature adopted and in force on the date of the adoption of this ordinance and not contained in the Code are hereby repealed as of the effective date of this adopting ordinance, except as hereinafter provided.
The adoption of this Code and repeal of ordinances provided for in § 1-12 of this ordinance shall not affect the following ordinances, rights and obligations, which are hereby expressly saved from repeal:
A. 
Any ordinance adopted subsequent to March 1, 1999.
B. 
Any right or liability established, accrued or incurred under any legislative provision prior to the effective date of this ordinance or any action or proceeding brought for the enforcement of such right or liability.
C. 
Any offense or act committed or done before the effective date of this ordinance in violation of any legislative provisions or any penalty, punishment or forfeiture which may result therefrom.
D. 
Any prosecution, indictment, action, suit or other proceeding pending or any judgment rendered prior to the effective date of this ordinance brought pursuant to any legislative provision.
E. 
Any franchise, license, right, easement or privilege heretofore granted or conferred.
F. 
Any ordinance providing for the laying out, opening, altering, widening, relocating, straightening, establishing of grade, changing of name, improvement, acceptance or vacation of any right-of-way, easement, street, road, highway, park or other public place or any portion thereof.
G. 
Any ordinance or resolution appropriating money or transferring funds, promising or guaranteeing the payment of money or authorizing the issuance and delivery of any bond or other instruments or evidence of the city's indebtedness.
H. 
Ordinances authorizing the purchase, sale, lease or transfer of property or any lawful contract or obligation.
I. 
The levy or imposition of taxes, assessments or charges.
J. 
All matters relative to zoning, including the dedication of property or approval of preliminary or final subdivision plans and plats and any other matter related to zoning. It is the legislative intent of the Mayor and City Council of Taneytown, in adopting this new ordinance, that any change or mistake required to be shown for rezoning subsequent to the adoption of this ordinance shall not be from the date of adoption of this ordinance, but changes in the character of the neighborhood or a mistake in the existing zoning may be shown and considered as evidence by the Mayor and City Council of Taneytown from the date of the original adoption of the Zoning Ordinance on June 12, 1972, or from the date of adoption of any future comprehensive reasonable Zoning Map amendment.
K. 
Ordinances establishing the amount and manner of payment of salaries or compensation of officers and employees, establishing workdays and working hours of certain employees and providing for holidays and vacations for employees and keeping of employment records.
L. 
Any legislation relating to or establishing a pension plan or pension fund for municipal employees.
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 Mayor and Council 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. 
In addition, the following changes, amendments or revisions are made herewith, to become effective upon the effective date of this ordinance as set forth in Schedule A attached hereto and made a part hereof (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 at the office of the City Clerk.
Pursuant to § 9A of Article 23A of the Maryland Code, a copy of the Code of the City of Taneytown containing the Charter shall be deposited with the Maryland Department of Legislative Reference.
[Adopted 1-14-1980 by Ord. No. 5-79 as Title 1 of the 1980 Code]
[Amended 8-9-1999 by Ord. No. 8-99; 12-13-1999 by Ord. No. 9-99]
The ordinances embraced in this and the following chapters and sections shall constitute and be designated the "Code of the City of Taneytown, Maryland" and may be so cited. Such ordinances may also be cited as the "Taneytown City Code."
In the construction of this Code and of all ordinances, the following rules shall be observed, unless such construction would be inconsistent with the manifest intent of the Council.
A. 
Charter. The words "Charter" or "City Charter" shall mean the Charter of the City of Taneytown, Maryland.
B. 
City. The words "the city" or "this city" shall mean the City of Taneytown, Maryland.
C. 
Computation of time. The time within which an act is to be done shall be computed by excluding the first and including the last day, and if the last day is Sunday or a legal holiday, it shall be excluded.
D. 
Council. The words "the Council" shall mean the Council of the City of Taneytown, Maryland.
E. 
County. The words "the county" or "this county" shall mean Carroll County, Maryland.
[Amended 8-9-1999 by Ord. No. 8-99; 12-13-1999 by Ord. No. 9-99]
F. 
Gender. Words importing the masculine gender shall include the feminine and neuter.
G. 
Joint authority. All words giving a joint authority to three or more persons or officers shall be construed as giving that authority to a majority of those persons or officers.
H. 
Keeper and proprietor. The words "keeper" and "proprietor" shall mean and include persons, firms, associations, corporations, clubs and copartnerships, whether acting by themselves or a servant, agent or employee.
I. 
May. The word "may" is permissive.
J. 
Mayor. The word "Mayor" shall mean the Mayor of the City of Taneytown, Maryland.
K. 
Month. The word "month" shall mean a calendar month.
L. 
Number. Words used in the singular include the plural, and the plural includes the singular number.
M. 
Oath. The word "oath" shall be construed to include an affirmation or declaration in all cases in which, by law, an affirmation may be substituted for an oath, and in such cases the words "swear" and "sworn" shall be equivalent to the words "affirm" and "affirmed."
N. 
Official time standard. Whenever certain hours are named in this Code, they shall mean standard time or daylight saving time, whichever may be in current use in the city.
O. 
Or; and. The word "or" may be read "and," and the word "and" may be read "or," where the sense requires it.
P. 
Owner. The word "owner," applied to any property, shall include any part owner, joint owner, tenant in common, joint tenant or tenant by the entirety of the whole or a part of that property.
Q. 
Person. The word "person" shall include a corporation, firm, partnership, association, organization and any group acting as a unit, as well as an individual.
R. 
Personal property includes every species of property except real property, as herein defined.
S. 
Preceding; following. The words "preceding" and "following" shall mean next before and next after, respectively.
T. 
Property. The word "property" shall include real and personal property.
U. 
Real property shall include lands, tenements and hereditaments.
V. 
Shall. The word "shall" is mandatory.
W. 
Sidewalk. The word "sidewalk" shall mean that area or portion of a public way located between the street and curbline, or the lateral lines of a roadway where there is no curb, and the adjacent or proximate property line having frontage on such street or public way, which area is intended for the use of pedestrians.
[Amended 7-12-2004 by Ord. No. 16-2004]
X. 
State. The words "state" or "this state" shall mean the State of Maryland.
Y. 
Street. The word "street" shall mean and include any public way, road, highway, street, avenue, boulevard, parkway, alley, lane, viaduct, bridge and the approaches thereto within the City and shall mean the entire width thereof between abutting property lines. It shall also be construed to include a sidewalk or footpath, unless the contrary is expressed or unless such construction would be inconsistent with the manifest intent of the legislative body.
Z. 
Tenant; occupant. The word "tenant" or "occupant," applied to a building or land, shall include any person who occupies the whole or a part of such building or land, whether alone or with others.
AA. 
Time. Words used in the past or present tense include the future as well as the past and present.
BB. 
Year. The word "year," except where the fiscal year is specifically referred to, shall mean a calendar year.
The catchlines of the several sections of this Code are intended as mere catchwords to indicate the contents of the sections and shall not be deemed or taken to be titles of those sections nor as any part of those sections, nor, unless expressly so provided, shall they be so deemed when any of those sections, including the catchlines, are amended or reenacted.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: The following original sections, which immediately followed this section, were deleted 8-9-1999 by Ord. No. 8-99: Sec. 1-1-4, Effect of repeal of ordinances; Sec. 1-1-5, Provisions deemed continuations of existing ordinances; and Sec. 1-1-6, Severability of parts of code.
A. 
All ordinances passed subsequent to this Code of Ordinances which amend, repeal or in any way affect this Code of Ordinances may be numbered in accordance with the numbering system of this Code and printed for inclusion therein. When subsequent ordinances repeal any chapter, section or subsection or any portion thereof, those repealed portions may be excluded from this Code by omission from reprinted pages.
B. 
Amendments to any of the provisions of this Code shall be made by amending those provisions by specific reference to the section of this Code in substantially the following language: "Section ______ of the Code of Ordinances of the City of Taneytown, Maryland, is hereby amended to read as follows: (Set out new provisions in full)."
C. 
When the Council desires to enact an ordinance of a general and permanent nature on a subject not heretofore existing in the Code, which the Council desires to incorporate into the Code, a section in substantially the following language shall be made a part of the ordinance: "Section ______. It is the intention of the Council and it is hereby ordained that the provisions of this ordinance shall become and be made a part of the Code of Ordinances of the City of Taneytown, Maryland, and the sections of this ordinance may be renumbered to accomplish such intention."
D. 
All sections, articles, chapters or provisions of this Code desired to be repealed should be specifically repealed by section or chapter number, as the case may be.
[Amended 8-9-1999 by Ord. No. 8-99; 12-13-1999 by Ord. No. 9-99]
[Amended 8-9-1999 by Ord. No. 8-99; 12-13-1999 by Ord. No. 9-99]
Whenever in this Code or in any ordinance or resolution of the legislative body or in any rule, regulation or order promulgated by any officer or agency of the City under authority duly vested in the officer or agency any act is prohibited or is made or declared to be unlawful or an offense or a misdemeanor, or whenever in the Code, ordinance, resolution, rule, regulation or order the doing of any act is required or the failure to do an act is declared to be unlawful or an offense or a misdemeanor, where no specific penalty is provided therefor, the violation of any such provision of this Code or any ordinance, resolution, rule, regulation or order shall be punished by a fine not exceeding $1,000 or by imprisonment for not more than six months, or by both such fine and imprisonment in the discretion of the court. Each day any violation of any provision of this Code or of any such ordinance, resolution, rule, regulation or order shall continue shall constitute a separate offense.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: Original Sec. 1-1-9, General penalty for municipal infractions, which immediately followed this section and was added 2-13-1984 by Ord. No. 3-84, was repealed 4-10-1995 by Ord. No. 11-95.
[Amended 12-20-1988 by Ord. No. 18-88]
The ordinances, codes or other laws, rules and regulations of Carroll County, Maryland, shall not apply within the corporate limits of the City unless the same are expressly incorporated into this Code by reference.