Fairfield Municipal Code Art. I Definitions and General Provisions

The ordinances embraced in the following chapters and sections shall constitute and be designated "The Code of the City of Fairfield, California, 1960," and may be so cited. Such code may also be cited as the "Fairfield, City Code, 1960."

In the construction of this code and of all ordinances of the city, the following rules shall be observed, unless such construction would be inconsistent with the manifest intent of the city council or the context clearly requires otherwise:

City.

The words "the city" or "this city" shall be construed as if followed by the words "of Fairfield."

Code.

The words "the code" or "this code" shall mean "The Code of the City of Fairfield, California, 1960."

Computation of time.

The time in which any act provided by law is to be done is computed by excluding the first day and including the last, unless the last day is a holiday and then it is also excluded.

Council.

Whenever the word "council" is used in this code, it shall be construed to mean the city council of the City of Fairfield.

County.

The words "the county" or "this county" shall mean the County of Solano.

Day.

A day is the period of time between any midnight and the midnight following.

Daytime, nighttime.

"Daytime" is the period of time between sunrise and sunset. "Nighttime" is the period of time between sunset and sunrise.

Gender.

The masculine gender includes the feminine and neuter.

In the city.

The words "in the city" shall mean and include all territory over which the city now has, or shall hereafter acquire jurisdiction for the exercise of its police powers or other regulatory powers.

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.

Month.

The word "month" shall mean a calendar month.

Number.

The singular number includes the plural, and the plural the singular.

Oath.

"Oath" includes an affirmation.

Officers, departments, etc.

Officers, departments, boards, commissions and employees referred to in this code shall mean officers, departments, boards, commissions and employees of the City of Fairfield, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.

Official time.

Whenever certain hours are named in this code, they shall mean Pacific Standard Time or Daylight Savings Time, as may be in current use in the city.

Or, and.

"Or" may be read "and," and "and" may be read "or," if the sense requires it.

Owner.

The word "owner," applied to a building or land, shall include 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 building or land.

Person.

"Person" includes any person, firm, association, organization, partnership, business trust, corporation, or company.

Preceding, following.

The words "preceding" and "following" mean next before and next after, respectively.

Property.

The word "property" shall include real and personal property.

Shall, may.

"Shall" is mandatory and "may" is permissive.

Signature or subscription by mark.

"Signature" or "subscription" 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 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 words "the state" or "this state" shall be construed to mean the State of California.

Tenant or occupant.

The words "tenant" or "occupant," applied to a building or land, shall include any person holding a written or an oral lease of, or who occupies the whole or a part of such building or land, either alone or with others.

Tenses.

The present tense includes the past and future tenses, and the future includes the present.

Week.

A week consists of seven consecutive days.

Writing.

Writing includes any form of recorded message capable of comprehension by ordinary visual means. Whenever any notice, report, statement or record is required or authorized by this code, it shall be made in writing in the English language, unless it is expressly provided otherwise.

Year.

The word "year" shall mean a calendar year, except where otherwise provided.

The provisions appearing in this code, so far as they are the same as those of ordinances existing at the time of the effective date of this code, shall be considered as continuations thereof and not as new enactments.

The repeal of an ordinance shall not affect any ordinances in force before or at the time the ordinance repealed took effect.

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

It is hereby declared to be the intention of the city council that the sections, paragraphs, sentences, clauses and phrases of this code are severable, and if any phrase, clause, sentence, paragraph or section of this code shall be declared unconstitutional or otherwise invalid by the valid judgment or decree of a court of competent jurisdiction, such unconstitutionality or invalidity shall not affect any of the remaining phrases, clauses, sentences, paragraphs and sections of this code.

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, nor 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 re enacted.

Whenever in this code or in any other ordinance of the city, any act is prohibited or is made or declared to be unlawful or an offense, or the doing of any act is required or the failure to do any act is declared to be unlawful, the violation for the first offense of such provision of this code or any city ordinance shall be an infraction punishable by a fine not exceeding $100. For a second and each subsequent offense of this Article within a one-year period, such violation may be prosecuted as either an infraction with a fine not exceeding $250, or as a misdemeanor punishable by a fine not exceeding $1,000 or by imprisonment in the county jail not to exceed six months, or by both such fine and imprisonment. The District Attorney or City Prosecutor may prosecute violations under this Section.

Where a specific Section in this code provides for a specific penalty, that penalty shall control for that specific Section.

Every day any violation of this code or any other ordinance of the city shall continue shall constitute a separate offense.

Any person who willfully violates his or her written promise to appear or a lawfully granted continuance of his or her promise to appear in court is guilty of a misdemeanor, regardless of the disposition of the charge upon which he or she was originally arrested.

(Ord. No. 79-29, § 1; Ord. No. 88-24, § 1; Ord. No. 94-21, § 1; Ord. No. 2021-18, § 1)

Whenever a power is granted to, or a duty is imposed upon, a public officer or employee, the power may be exercised or the duty may be performed by a deputy of the officer or employee, or by a person authorized by the officer or employee, unless this code expressly provides otherwise.

(Ord. No. 84-12, § 1)