Goleta Municipal Code Ch. 1.01 General Provisions

This Code shall be known as the “Goleta Municipal Code.” It shall be sufficient to refer to this Code as the Goleta Municipal Code in any prosecution for the violation of any provision of this Code. It shall also be sufficient to designate any ordinance adding to, amending, or repealing provisions of this Code as an addition or amendment to, or a repeal of the Goleta Municipal Code, or any portion thereof. This Code may also be referenced herein as “City Code,” “Municipal Code,” or “the Code.”

(Ord. 02-02 § 1)

The Goleta Municipal Code shall consist of all ordinances adopted by the City Council which are of a general and permanent nature. An ordinance relating to any of the following subject matters is not considered an ordinance of general and permanent nature and need not be included within the Municipal Code:

A. The naming of streets or roads;

B. Granting, altering, or withdrawing franchises;

C. Levying real property taxes;

D. Calling an election;

E. Annexation proceedings;

F. Interim zoning measures;

G. Zoning or rezoning a particular parcel of property; and

H. Such other ordinances of a special or particular subject matter which the Council considers inappropriate to a compilation of laws of a general and permanent nature.

(Ord. 02-02 § 1)

A. The ordinances of the City which are of a general and permanent nature shall be organized and grouped according to subject matter.

B. Ordinances which are adopted from time to time shall be classified and organized under the following scheme of titles:

1. General Provisions

2. Administration and Personnel

3. Revenue and Finance

4. Reserved

5. Business Licenses and Regulations

6. Animals

7. Reserved

8. Health and Safety

9. Public Peace and Welfare

10. Vehicles and Traffic

11. Reserved

12. Streets, Sidewalks and Public Places

13. Public Services

14. Reserved

15. Buildings and Construction

16. Subdivisions

17. Zoning.

(Ord. 02-02 § 1)

A. At least three copies of this Code, duly certified by the City Clerk, shall be maintained on file in the office of the City Clerk as official copies of this Code. Additional copies of this Code shall be distributed to the departments of the City as prescribed by the City Manager.

B. Duly certified copies of each ordinance making a change in this Code shall be filed in the office of the City Clerk in books for such purpose, duly indexed for ready reference.

C. At least semiannually the City Clerk shall cause the pages of this Code in which changes have been made to be replaced, including a notation as to the ordinance number and the date on which such change was adopted. Such reprinted pages shall be distributed in order that the copies of this Code, prepared for the use and convenience of the officers and employees of the City and the general public, may be brought up to date.

(Ord. 02-02 § 1)

A. The provisions of this Code and all proceedings under it are to be construed to effect its purposes and to promote justice.

B. All the provisions of this Code and all other City ordinances shall be interpreted to refer to the appropriate or designated officer or office of the City, and whether an ordinance, uniform code, statute, or other matter which is adopted by reference refers to any department, officer, employee, inspection, police, or other functions, unless the context requires otherwise, all references shall be to the appropriate or designated office, officer, department, agency, employee, or function of the City, or to the person or agency performing the function for the City.

(Ord. 02-02 § 1)

City Ordinance No. 02-01 adopted the codified ordinances of the County of Santa Barbara until and unless superseded by action of the City Council. These prior codified ordinances are superseded with the adoption of this Code and are replaced with the provisions herein unless stated otherwise in the adopting ordinance, and are effective immediately.

(Ord. 02-02 § 1)

Neither the adoption of this Code or any portion thereof, nor the repeal by this Code of any ordinance previously in effect in the City or within the territory currently comprising the City, shall in any manner affect the prosecution for the violation of any ordinance, which violation was committed prior to the effective date of this Code, nor be construed as a waiver of any license fee or penalty due and unpaid under such ordinances on such effective date, nor be construed as affecting any of the provisions of such ordinances relating to the collection of any such license fee or penalty or the penal provisions applicable to any violation of such ordinances, nor to affect the validity of any bond or cash deposit required to be posted, filed, or deposited pursuant to any ordinances, and all vested rights and obligations pertaining to such ordinances shall continue in full force and effect.

(Ord. 02-02 § 1)

If any chapter, section, sentence, clause, or portion of this Code is for any reason held to be invalid or unconstitutional by any court of competent jurisdiction, such portion shall be deemed a separate, distinct, and independent provision and such holding shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions thereof.

(Ord. 02-02 § 1)

This Code shall refer only to the omission or commission of acts within the territorial limits of the City of Goleta and that territory outside of the City over which the City has jurisdiction or control by virtue of the California Constitution, or any law, or by reason of ownership or control of property.

(Ord. 02-02 § 1)

All references in this Code to places, acts, persons, or things and all else in relation to this Code shall be construed to mean that the same are applicable to this City, whether the City is mentioned in each particular section or not.

(Ord. 02-02 § 1)

Unless the provisions of this Code otherwise specifically provide, or the context of this Code indicates to the contrary, the general provisions, rules of construction, and definitions set forth in the following sections of this chapter shall govern the construction of this Code.

(Ord. 02-02 § 1)

The title, chapter, article, and section headings contained in this Code shall not be deemed to govern, limit, modify, or in any manner affect the scope, meaning, or intent of the provisions of any title, chapter, article, or section of this Code.

(Ord. 02-02 § 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 such officer or employee or by a person otherwise duly authorized pursuant to law or ordinance, unless this Code expressly provides otherwise.

(Ord. 02-02 § 1)

“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, such notice, report, statement, or record shall be made in writing in the English language, unless this Code expressly provides otherwise.

(Ord. 02-02 § 1)

When a limitation or period of time prescribed in any existing ordinance or statute for acquiring a right or barring a remedy, or for any other purpose, has begun to run before this Code goes into effect, the time which has already run shall be deemed a part of the time prescribed as such limitation.

(Ord. 02-02 § 1)

As used in this Code, unless a different meaning is apparent from the context or is specified elsewhere in the Code:

“Calendar year”

shall mean from January 1st through December 31st of any given year.

“City”

shall mean the City of Goleta.

“City Manager”

shall mean the appointed official of the City who occupies the position of chief administrative officer of the City.

“Council”

shall mean the City Council of the City of Goleta.

“Councilmember”

shall mean a person duly elected to the Council.

“County”

shall mean the County of Santa Barbara.

“Day”

shall mean that period between midnight and the following midnight, and shall refer to a calendar day unless otherwise indicated.

“Fiscal year”

shall mean from July 1st of any given year through June 30th of the following year.

Gender.

The masculine gender shall include the feminine and neuter genders.

“Goods”

shall mean and include wares and merchandise.

“May”

means permissive.

“Month”

shall mean a calendar month, unless otherwise specially expressed.

Number.

The singular number shall include the plural, and the plural number shall include the singular, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.

“Oath”

shall include affirmation.

Official Time Standard.

Wherever certain hours are named in this Code, they shall mean Standard Time or Daylight Saving Time as may be in current use in the City.

“Operate”

shall mean and include carrying on, keeping, conducting, or maintaining.

“Owner”

applied to a building or land, shall include any part owner, joint owner, tenant, tenant in common, or joint tenant of the whole or a part of such building or land.

“Person”

shall include any person, firm, company, corporation, partnership, association, public corporation, city (except the City of Goleta), the County of Santa Barbara, any district in the County of Santa Barbara, the State of California, or the United States of America, or any department, agency, or political subdivision of the above, unless this Code expressly provides otherwise.

“Personal property”

shall include money, goods, chattels, things in action, and evidences of debts.

“Police”

shall mean the agency which performs the appropriate law enforcement function for the City. “Police Chief,” “Chief of Police,” or “Chief of Police Services,” shall mean the head of the agency or division which at the time involved has responsibility for performing the police function for, or within, the City.

“Property”

shall include real and personal property.

“Quarterly”

where used to designate a period of time, shall mean the first three calendar months of any given year or succeeding period of three calendar months.

“Real property”

shall include land, tenements, and hereditaments.

“Sale”

shall include any sale, exchange, barter, or offer for sale.

“Shall”

means mandatory.

“State”

shall mean the State of California.

“Street”

shall include all streets, highways, avenues, boulevards, alleys, courts, places, squares, or other public ways in the City which have been or may hereafter be dedicated and open to public use, or such other public property so designated in any State law.

“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.

Tense.

The present tense shall include the past and future tense, and the future tense shall include the present tense.

“Year”

shall mean calendar year unless otherwise indicated.

Words and phrases

not defined in this Code shall be construed according to the normal approved usage of the language, or, when appropriate, by reference to definitions contained in state or federal law.

(Ord. 02-02 § 1)

Whenever any act or omission is made unlawful by this Code, it shall include causing, permitting, aiding, abetting, suffering, or concealing the fact of such act or omission.

(Ord. 02-02 § 1)

A. Whenever any person creating, causing, committing, or maintaining a public nuisance, as referred to in Section 1.01.160 of this chapter, or other public nuisance, as defined under State law or other ordinances or regulations, has been given notice, by or on behalf of the City Attorney or by any other City officer, employee, or policing agent authorized to give such notice, to abate such nuisance or cease and desist from continuing such nuisance or violation of law, and such person fails, refuses, or neglects to comply with the notice within the time specified therein, or if such a time is not specified, then within a time reasonably sufficient to enable such compliance, such noncomplying person shall be liable to the City for any and all costs and expenses to the City involved in thereafter abating the nuisance and in obtaining compliance with or enforcing the law as referred to or encompassed within such notice.

B. Costs and expenses, as referred to in subsection A of this section, may include, but are not limited to, any and all direct costs and expenses related to such things as personnel salaries and benefits, operational overhead, rent, interest, fees for experts or consultants, legal costs or expenses, including attorneys’ fees, claims against the City arising as a consequence of the nuisance or violation, and procedures associated with collecting moneys due hereunder.

C. The provisions of subsection A of this section shall also apply to any person who received a notice, as specified therein, abated the nuisance or violation, but subsequently allowed or was responsible for a recurrence of the nuisance or violation.

D. The liability of any person for the payment of the costs and expenses provided for in subsection A of this section may be waived in whole or in part by the City Attorney in any case wherein the City Attorney determines, in the City Attorney’s sole discretion, that the failure or refusal of such persons to comply with the notice therein involved was based upon a good faith and bona fide issue of law or fact specially involved in the circumstances of the case. Any determination or decision of the City Attorney in this regard shall be final and conclusive and shall not be subject to appeal as prescribed elsewhere in this Code.

E. Money due to the City pursuant to this section may be recovered in an appropriate civil action. Alternatively, such liability may be enforced by special assessment proceedings against the parcel of land upon which the nuisance existed, which proceedings may be conducted in a manner procedurally and substantively similar to proceedings described in Sections 39574 et seq., of the California Government Code relating to weed abatement assessments.

(Ord. 02-02 § 1)

A. It shall be unlawful for any person to violate any provision or fail to comply with any of the requirements of this Code. A violation of or failure to comply with any of the requirements of this Code shall constitute a misdemeanor; except that notwithstanding any other provision of this Code, any such violation may, in the discretion of the City Attorney, be charged and prosecuted as an infraction; and with the further exception that any violation of the provisions relating to possession of alcohol in public, parking, operation of bicycles, operation of motor vehicles, and use of sidewalks, public property, streets, and highways by animals, bicycles, skates, skateboards, motor vehicles, or pedestrians shall constitute an infraction.

B. Any person convicted of a misdemeanor under the provisions of this Code shall be punishable by a fine of not more than $1,000.00 or imprisonment in the county jail for a period of not more than six months, or by both fine and imprisonment. Any person convicted of an infraction under the provisions of this Code shall be punishable by a fine of not more than $100.00 for a first conviction, a fine of not more than $200.00 for a second violation of the same section within one year, or a fine of not more than $500.00 for a third or subsequent violation of the same section within one year.

C. Each such person shall be charged with a separate offense for each and every day during any portion of which any violation of any provision of this Code is committed, continued, or permitted by such person, and shall, upon conviction, be punishable accordingly.

D. In addition to criminal remedies, each and every such violation shall also constitute a public nuisance, and as such may be enforced by abatement and injunction, or by other civil action where appropriate.

E. In addition to all other remedies set forth in this section, each and every such violation shall be subject to the administrative citation and administrative remedies processes set forth in Chapter 1.02.

(Ord. 02-02 § 1)

Any person against whom a civil action is filed for violation of any provision of this Code shall be liable for the costs thereof, which shall include but not be limited to the costs of investigation, court costs, attorney’s fees, and costs of monitoring compliance.

(Ord. 02-02 § 1)