El Dorado County Municipal Code Ch. 1.04 General Provisions

This compilation of ordinances of the County of El Dorado, State of California, shall be known as and may be referred to in all proceedings as the El Dorado County Ordinance Code. This Code may also be cited as the "El Dorado County Code."

(Prior Code, § 101; Code 1997, § 1.04.010)

The purpose of this Code is to compile and restate all regularly adopted and unrepealed ordinances of the County by subjects in one comprehensive Code.

(Prior Code, § 102; Code 1997, § 1.04.020)

State Law reference— Authority of County to publish comprehensive ordinance code, Government Code § 25126.

This Code is prepared and adopted pursuant to the authority therefor contained in Sections 25126, 25127 and 25128 of the Government Code of the State of California (Government Code §§ 25126, 25127, 25128).

(Prior Code, § 103; Code 1997, § 1.04.030)

The following words and phrases, whenever used in the ordinances of the County, shall be construed as defined in this section, unless from the context a different meaning is intended or unless a different meaning is specifically defined and more particularly directed to the use of such words or phrases:

Board and Board of Supervisors. The terms "Board" and "Board of Supervisors" refer to the Board of Supervisors of the County of El Dorado, State of California.

Code. The term "Code" means the El Dorado County Ordinance Code.

County. The term "County" means the County of El Dorado.

Day. The term "day" means the period of time between any 12:00 midnight and the 12:00 midnight following.

State Law reference— Similar provision, Government Code § 6806.

Law. The term "law" denotes applicable Federal law, the Constitution and statutes of the State of California, the ordinances of the County and, when appropriate, any and all rules and regulations which may be promulgated thereunder.

May. The term "may" is permissive.

Month. The term "month" means a calendar month.

State Law reference— Similar provision, Government Code § 6804.

Must and shall. The terms "must" and "shall" are each mandatory.

Oath. The term "oath" includes an affirmation or declaration in all cases in which, by law, an affirmation may be substituted for an oath, and in such cases the terms "swear" and "sworn" shall be equivalent to the terms "affirm" and "affirmed."

Owner. The term "owner," applied to a building or land, includes any part owner, joint owner, tenant in common, joint tenant, tenant by the entirety, of the whole or a part of the building or land.

Person. The term "person" includes a natural person, joint venture, joint stock company, partnership, association, club, company, corporation, business, trust, organization or the manager, lessee, agent, servant, officer or employee of any of them.

State Law reference— Similar provisions, Government Code § 17, Civil Code § 17.

Personal property. The term "personal property" includes money, goods, chattels, things in action and evidences of debt.

Property. The term "property" includes real and personal property.

State Law reference— Similar provisions, Civil Code § 14, Code of Civil Procedure § 481.195, Government Code § 180.

Real property. The term "real property" includes lands, tenements and hereditaments.

State Law reference— Similar provisions, Civil Code §§ 14, 658.

Sidewalk. The term "sidewalk" means that portion of a street between the curbline and the adjacent property line intended for the use of pedestrians.

Signature or subscription by mark. The term "signature or subscription by mark" includes a mark when the signer or subscriber cannot write, such signer's or subscriber's name being written near the mark by a witness who writes his or her own name near the signer's or subscriber's name; but a signature or subscription by mark can be acknowledged or can serve as a signature or subscription to a sworn statement only when two witnesses so sign their own names thereto.

State. The term "State" means the State of California.

Street. The term "street" includes all streets, highways, avenues, lanes, alleys, courts, places, squares, curbs or other public ways in this County which have been or may hereafter be dedicated and open to public use, or such other public property so designated in any law of this State.

State Law reference— Similar provision, Vehicle Code § 590.

Tenant and occupant, applied to a building or land, include any person who occupies the whole or a part of the building or land, whether alone or with others.

Week. A week consists of seven consecutive days.

State Law reference— Similar provision, Government Code § 6805.

Written. The term "written" includes printed, typewritten, mimeographed, multigraphed or otherwise reproduced in permanent visible form.

Year. The term "year" means a calendar year.

(Prior Code, § 301; Code 1997, § 1.04.040; Ord. No. 3172, § 4, 1981)

The provisions of this Code shall be construed in accordance with the rules set forth in this chapter, unless specifically provided otherwise in this Code.

(Prior Code, § 201(A); Code 1997, § 1.04.050; Ord. No. 3172, § 2(part), 1981)

Generally. All general provisions, terms, phrases and expressions contained in this Code shall be liberally construed in order that the true intent and meaning of the Board of Supervisors may be fully carried out.

California Codes. Any reference to the codified statutes of the State, including, but not limited to, Business and Professions Code, Civil Code, Code of Civil Procedure, Commercial Code, Corporations Code, Education Code, Elections Code, Evidence Code, Family Code, Financial Code, Fish and Game Code, Food and Agricultural Code, Government Code, Harbors and Navigation Code, Health and Safety Code, Insurance Code, Labor Code, Military and Veterans Code, Penal Code, Probate Code, Public Contracts Code, Public Resources Code, Public Utilities Code, Revenue and Taxation Code, Streets and Highways Code, Unemployment Insurance Code, Vehicle Code, Water Code, or Welfare and Institutions Code are to such codes as adopted and now or hereafter amended. Any reference to a State law or State act by title is to such law or act as amended.

Joint authority. 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.

Effect of headings. Captions and headings in this Code shall not be construed to govern, limit, modify or in any manner affect the scope, meaning or intent of any of the provisions of this Code or of any amendments thereto.

Effect of notes. The notes, comments and references set forth at the end of any title, chapter, or section in this Code shall not, by virtue of their appearance upon the pages of this Code, be construed to govern, limit, modify or in any manner affect the scope, meaning or intent of any of the provisions of this Code or of any amendments thereto.

Title of office. Use of the title of any officer, employee, department, board or commission means that officer, employee, department, board or commission of the County.

Interpretation of language. All words and phrases shall be construed according to the common and approved usage of the language, but technical words and phrases and such others as may have acquired a peculiar and appropriate meaning in the law shall be construed and understood according to the peculiar and appropriate meaning.

(Prior Code, § 201(B)—(D), (G), (H); Code 1997, §§ 1.04.060—1.04.080, 1.04.100, 1.04.110; Ord. No. 3172, § 2(part), 1981)

The provisions of this Code, insofar as they are substantially the same as existing ordinances of the County relating to the same subject matter, shall be construed as restatements and continuations of the ordinances and not as new enactments. Such changes in the wording of the original ordinances as appear in this Code shall be construed as amendments to the ordinances effective on the date the ordinance enacting this Code becomes operative.

(Prior Code, § 201(E); Code 1997, § 1.04.090; Ord. No. 3172, § 2(part), 1981)

The following grammatical rules shall apply in the ordinances of the County, unless it is apparent from the context that a different construction is intended:

A. Gender. Each gender includes the masculine, feminine and neuter genders.

State Law reference— Similar provisions, Government Code § 12.

B. Singular and plural. The singular number includes the plural and the plural includes the singular.

State Law reference— Similar provisions, Government Code § 13.

C. Tenses. Words used in the present tense include the past and the future tenses and vice versa, unless manifestly inapplicable.

State Law reference— Similar provisions, Government Code § 11.

D. Conjunctions. 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 "or" and "and" are interchangeable:

1. "And" indicates that all the connected terms, conditions, provisions or events apply.

2. "Or" indicates that the connected terms, conditions, provisions or events apply singly or in any combination.

3. "Either … or" indicates that the connected terms, conditions, provisions or events apply singly but not in combination.

(Prior Code, § 201(I); Code 1997, § 1.04.120; Ord. No. 3172, § 2(part), 1981)

When an act is required by an ordinance, the same being such that it may be done as well by an agent as by the principal, the requirement shall be construed to include all such acts performed by an authorized agent.

(Prior Code, § 201(J); Code 1997, § 1.04.130; Ord. No. 3172, § 2(part), 1981)

Whenever in the ordinances of the County any act or omission is made unlawful, it shall include causing, allowing, permitting, aiding, abetting, suffering or concealing the fact of the act or omission.

(Prior Code, § 201(K); Code 1997, § 1.04.140; Ord. No. 3172, § 2(part), 1981)

Except when otherwise provided, the time within which an act is required to be done shall be computed by excluding the first day and including the last day, unless the last day is Sunday or a holiday, in which case it shall also be excluded.

(Prior Code, § 201(L); Code 1997, § 1.04.150; Ord. No. 3172, § 2(part), 1981)

Where the violation of a provision of this Code is, or can be, a continuing offense, each person violating the provision shall be deemed guilty of a separate offense for each day during any portion of which the violation is permitted or continued by such person.

(Prior Code, § 201(M); Code 1997, § 1.04.160; Ord. No. 3172, § 2(part), 1981)

Every ordinance adopted by the Board of Supervisors of the County after the enactment of this Code shall, by its terms, be incorporated in this Code by means of amendment, revision, addition or repeal.

(Prior Code, § 501; Code 1997, § 1.04.170; Ord. No. 3172, § 8(part), 1981)

The general provisions, definitions, rules of construction and enforcement shall be applicable to any amendments, revisions or additions to this Code unless enacting the same expressly provides otherwise.

(Prior Code, § 502; Code 1997, § 1.04.180; Ord. No. 3172, § 8(part), 1981)

All ordinances and parts of ordinances of the County not incorporated in the provisions of this Code, and not covered in the savings clause of Section 1.04.270, are repealed.

(Prior Code, § 503; Code 1997, § 1.04.190; Ord. No. 3172, § 8(part), 1981)

A. The repeal of an ordinance shall not repeal the repealing clause of an ordinance or revive any ordinance which has been repealed thereby.

B. The repeal of an ordinance shall not affect any punishment or penalty incurred before the repeal took effect, nor any suit, prosecution or proceeding pending at the time of the repeal, for any offense committed under the ordinance repealed.

C. This section shall extend to all repeals, either by express words or implication, whether the repeal is in the ordinance making any new sections upon the same subject or in any other ordinance.

(Prior Code, § 505; Code 1997, § 1.04.210; Ord. No. 3172, § 8(part), 1981)

If any title, chapter, article, section, subsection, sentence, clause or phrase of this Code or amendment thereto is for any reason held by a court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid or unconstitutional, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of this Code or amendments thereto. The Board of Supervisors declares that it would have passed this Code and each title, chapter, article, section, subsection, sentence, clause and phrase of this Code irrespective of the fact that any one or more titles, chapters, articles, sections, subsections, sentences, clauses or phrases are declared invalid or unconstitutional.

(Prior Code, § 201(F); Code 1997, § 1.04.220; Ord. No. 3172, § 2(part), 1981)

A. Each bill which proposes an ordinance to repeal, amend or add to any portion of this Code and each bill which proposes an ordinance of a general and permanent nature suitable for inclusion in this Code, though constituting new subject matter not therein contained, shall be drafted so as to specify the specific section numbers, subsections, etc., of this Code which are to be repealed or amended and, with respect to additions and to new subject matter, so as to provide appropriate chapter, article, section, etc., numbers therefor and each amendment of and addition to this Code shall be set out in full and appropriate chapter and article headings and section catchlines shall be included.

B. Upon the adoption of an ordinance to repeal, amend or add to any portion of this Code or to include new subject matter in this Code, the County Clerk shall separate the several chapters, articles, sections, etc., of such ordinance and enter them in their proper places in each file copy of this Code and shall remove therefrom any portion so repealed or amended and in the margin of each insertion in the file copies of this Code he or she shall note and initial the date of passage, effective date and number of the amending or repealing ordinance.

C. Items removed from the file copies of this Code pursuant to Subsection B of this section shall be maintained by the County Clerk in a reasonably accessible manner.

A. Supplements to this Code shall be prepared and printed whenever authorized or directed by the County Administrative Officer. A supplement to the Code shall include all substantive permanent and general parts of ordinances passed by the Board of Supervisors or adopted by initiative and referendum during the period covered by the supplement and all changes made thereby in the Code during that period. The pages of a supplement shall be so numbered that they will fit properly into the Code and will, where necessary, replace pages that have become obsolete or partially obsolete, and the new pages shall be so prepared that, when they have been inserted, the 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 the Code that have been repealed shall be excluded from the Code by the omission thereof from reprinted pages.

C. When preparing a supplement to this Code, the codifier, meaning the person, agency or organization authorized to prepare the supplement, may make formal, non-substantive changes in ordinances and parts of ordinances included in the supplement, insofar as it is necessary to do so to embody them into a unified Code. For example, the codifier may:

1. Organize the ordinance material into appropriate subdivisions;

2. Provide appropriate section headings and titles for sections and other subdivisions of the Code printed in the supplement and make changes in section headings, titles for sections and headings for other subdivisions of the Code;

3. Assign appropriate numbers to sections and other subdivisions to be inserted in the Code and, where necessary to accommodate new material, change existing section or other subdivision numbers;

4. Change the term "this ordinance" or terms of the same meaning to "this title," "this chapter," "this article," etc., as the case may be, or to "sections _____ through _____." The inserted section numbers will indicate the sections of the Code which embody the substantive sections of the ordinance incorporated into the Code; and

5. Make other nonsubstantive changes necessary to preserve the original meaning of ordinance sections inserted into the Code; but in no case shall the codifier make any change in the meaning or effect of ordinance material included in the supplement or already embodied in the Code.

It shall be unlawful for any person in the County to change or amend, by additions or deletions, any part or portion of this Code or to insert or delete pages, or portions thereof, or to alter or tamper with such Code in any manner whatsoever except pursuant to ordinance or other official act of the Board of Supervisors which will cause the law of the County to be misrepresented thereby. Any person violating this section shall be punished as provided in Chapter 1.24.

A. Unless otherwise provided for, all rates, charges, or fees necessary for the administration and enforcement of the provisions of this Code shall be as currently established or as hereafter adopted by motion, resolution or ordinance of the Board of Supervisors, from time to time. Any rates, charges, or fees established by the County pursuant to the regulations or requirements established herein may be changed from time to time by the Board of Supervisors, and such changes shall both be considered an amendment to this Code.

B. Whenever any provision of this Code provides that a rate, charge, or fee shall be established by the Board of Supervisors, from time to time, and the amount of such rate, charge, or fee is not expressed in this Code in any dollar amount, then the amount of such rate, charge, or fee shall be the most recent and latest amount established, set or fixed by the Board of Supervisors by ordinance, resolution or motion.

A. Nothing in this Code or the ordinance adopting this Code shall be construed to repeal or otherwise affect the validity of any of the following:

1. Any offense or act committed or done or any penalty or forfeiture incurred or any contract or right established or accruing before the effective date of this Code;

2. Any ordinance or resolution promising or guaranteeing the payment of money for the County or authorizing the issuance of any bonds of the County or any evidence of the County's indebtedness;

3. Any contract or obligation assumed by the County;

4. Any ordinance or resolution fixing the salary of any County officer or employee, unless superseded;

5. Any right of franchise granted by the County to any person, firm, or corporation;

6. Any appropriation ordinance;

7. Any ordinance or resolution which, by its own terms, is effective for a stated or limited term;

8. Any ordinance or resolution providing for local improvements and assessing taxes therefor;

9. The administrative procedures or resolutions of the County not in conflict or inconsistent with the provisions of this Code;

10. Any ordinance levying or imposing taxes not included in this Code; and

11. Any ordinance or resolution of agreement with another political subdivision.

B. The repeal of any such ordinance or resolution shall not be construed to revive any ordinance, resolution or part thereof that has been repealed or superseded by a subsequent ordinance or resolution which is repealed or superseded by this chapter. All such ordinances are hereby recognized as continuing in full force and effect to the same extent as if set out at length in this Code.