[Adopted 9-23-1976 as Ch.
1 of Part III of the Charter and Revised Ordinances]
The corporate seal shall be circular in form and shall have inscribed
thereon the following, viz: "City of Derby, Connecticut. Founded 1642. Incorporated
1893." Such seal shall be kept by the City Clerk.
The ordinances embraced in this and the following chapters and sections
shall constitute and be designated as "The Charter and Revised Ordinances
of Derby, Connecticut," and may be so cited.
If any part, section, subsection, sentence, clause or phrase of this
Charter and Revised Ordinances is for any reason declared to be unconstitutional
or invalid, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions
of this Code.
The catchlines of the sections of this Charter and Revised Ordinances
printed in boldface type are intended as mere catchwords to indicate the contents
of the sections and shall not be deemed or taken to be titles of such sections,
nor as any part of any section, nor, unless expressly so provided, shall they
be so deemed when any section, including its catchline, is amended or reenacted.
When an ordinance which has repealed another shall itself be repealed,
the previous ordinance shall not be revived without express words to that
effect.
The repeal of an ordinance shall not affect any punishment, penalty
or forfeiture incurred before the repeal takes effect or any suit, prosecution
or proceedings pending at the time of the repeal for any offense committed
or for the recovery of a penalty or forfeiture incurred under the ordinance
repealed.
In the construction of this Charter and Revised Ordinances and of all
ordinances of the city, the following definitions and rules of construction
shall be observed, unless they are inconsistent with the manifest intent of
the Board of Representatives or the context clearly requires otherwise:
When a bond is required, an undertaking in writing shall be sufficient.
The words "the city" mean the City of Derby, in the County of New
Haven, in the State of Connecticut.
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, that day shall be excluded.
The words "the county" mean the County of New Haven in the State
of Connecticut.
Words importing the masculine gender include the feminine and neuter.
The words "General Statutes" mean the revision of 1958 of the General
Statutes of the State of Connecticut and all amendments thereto.
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
or officers unless otherwise specifically provided.
The word "month" means a calendar month.
A word importing the plural number only may extend and be applied
to several persons or things, and a word importing the singular number may
apply to one person or thing.
The word "oath" includes an affirmation 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."
The word "owner", applied to a building or land, includes any part
owner, joint owner, tenant in common, tenant in partnership, or joint tenant
of the whole or of a part of such building or land.
The word "person" shall extend and be applied to associations, firms,
partnerships and bodies politic and corporate as well as to individuals.
The words "preceding" and "following" mean next before and next after,
respectively.
The word "sidewalk" means any portion of the street, usually lying
on either side thereof, between the curb and the adjacent property line, intended
for the use of pedestrians.
The words "signature" or "subscription" include a mark when the person
cannot write.
The word "state" means the State of Connecticut.
The word "street" includes avenues, boulevards, highways, roads,
alleys, lanes, viaducts, bridges and the approaches thereto, and all other
public thoroughfares in the city, and means all that part thereof from property
line to property line of the premises abutting thereon.
The words "tenant" and "occupant", applied to a building or land,
mean any person who occupies the whole or a part of such building or land,
whether alone or with others.
The words "written" or "in writing" include any representation of
words, letters or figures, whether by printing or otherwise.
The word "year" means a calendar year.
Whenever any order is made by the Board of Aldermen or by any officer
or agency of the city authorized to issue orders upon any person, notice shall
be given to such person. Whenever two or more persons shall be interested
as joint tenants, tenants in common or as parties having different interests
in the same premises, in reference to which such order is made, then such
notice to one of such persons shall be deemed notice to all. A notice stating
the substance of any such order, and signed by a duly authorized person, directed
to the person to whom the notice is to be given, and deposited, postage paid,
in the post office in the city, within three days after the passage of such
order or delivered to such person other than a natural person, at its usual
place of business, or such order being published twice in a newspaper published
and having a circulation in the city a reasonable time before such order is
to be executed, shall be deemed sufficient notice of such order.
Whenever in this Charter and Revised Ordinances, or in any ordinance,
rule or regulation promulgated by any officer or agency of the city under
authority vested in him or it by law or ordinance, any act is prohibited or
is declared to be unlawful or the doing of any act is required or the failure
to do any act is declared to be unlawful and no specific penalty is provided
therefor either by the provisions of the Charter and Revised Ordinances or
other ordinance of the city or by the provisions of state law, the violation
of any such provision of the Charter and Revised Ordinances, or any such ordinance,
rule or regulation shall be punished by a fine of not more than $100. In the
event any provision of state law imposes or requires any other or different
penalty for the violation of any such provision of the Charter and Revised
Ordinances, ordinance, rule or regulation, then such state law shall be controlling
and the penalty thereby required or imposed shall be applied. Except as otherwise
provided, each day and violation of the Charter and Revised Ordinances or
any such ordinance, rule or regulation continues shall constitute a separate
offense.
