Healdsburg Municipal Code Art. I General Provisions

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

(Code 1964 § 1-1)

The provisions of this code and all proceedings under it are to be construed to effect its object and to promote justice.

(Code 1964 § 1-2)

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:

"The City" or "this City"

shall be construed as if followed by the words "of Healdsburg." Further, the word "City" shall be taken to mean the area within the territorial City limits of the City of Healdsburg and such territory outside of this City over which the City has jurisdiction or control by virtue of any constitutional provision or any law.

"City Council,"

whenever the words are used in this code, shall be construed to mean the City Council of the City of Healdsburg.

"The code" or "this code"

shall mean "The Code of the City of Healdsburg, California."

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.

"The county" or "this county"

shall mean the county of Sonoma.

"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.

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.

Local signification.

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 the City, whether the City is mentioned in each particular section or not.

"Month"

shall mean a calendar month.

Number.

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

"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 Healdsburg, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.

Official time.

Whenever certain hours are named in this code, they shall mean Pacific Standard Time or Daylight Saving 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,"

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

"Person"

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

"Personal property"

includes every species of property, except real property, as defined in this section.

Preceding, following.

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

"Process"

includes a writ or summons issued in the course of judicial proceedings of either a civil or criminal nature.

"Property"

shall include real and personal property.

"Real property"

shall include lands, tenements and hereditaments.

Shall, may.

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

"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.

"The state" or "this state"

shall be construed to mean the state of California.

"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.

Territorial Limitation.

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

Undefined Words.

Words and phrases not defined in this code are construed according to the approved usage of the language.

"Week"

consists of seven consecutive days.

"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"

shall mean a calendar year, except where otherwise provided.

(Code 1964 § 1-3)

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For similar state law, see Government Code §§ 8, 11 – 17, 22, 6800 and 6803 – 6807; Civil Code §§ 12, 14, 658 and 663; and Code of Civil Procedure § 17.

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.

(Code 1964 § 1-4)

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 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.

(Code 1964 § 1-5)

The catchlines of the several sections of this code, in boldface, 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 reenacted.

(Code 1964 § 1-6)

Chapter, article, division and subdivision headings contained in this code shall not govern, limit, modify or affect the scope, meaning or intent of the provisions of particular chapters, articles, divisions and subdivisions.

(Code 1964 § 1-7)

The repeal of an ordinance shall not revive 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 repeal took effect, nor any suit, prosecution or proceeding pending at the time of the repeal, for any offense committed under the ordinance repealed.

(Code 1964 § 1-8)

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For provisions pertaining to the preparation of ordinances, see HMC § 2.04.010.