Lancaster Municipal Code Art. I General Provisions

This chapter shall be known as and may be cited as "general hazards ordinance."

(Prior code § 3-6.1)

The purpose of this chapter is to provide minimum standards to safeguard life, limb, safety and public welfare by requiring protections from hazardous bodies of water, wells and other defined excavations and abandoned chests not presently covered by statutes of the state of California.

(Prior code § 3-6.2)

Whenever, by the provisions of this chapter, a power is granted to a public officer or a duty imposed upon such officer, the power may be exercised or duty performed by a deputy of the officer or by a person authorized pursuant to law by the officer, unless it is expressly otherwise provided.

(Prior code § 3-6.3)

If any portion of this chapter or the applicationthereof to any person or circumstances is held invalid, the remainder of the chapter and the application of such provision to other persons or circumstances shall not be affected thereby.

(Prior code § 3-6.5)

Should any exception to the provisions of this chapter be held invalid or should any provision of this chapter be held invalid because of any exception, such exception shall be eliminated from the chapter. The city council declares that it intends this chapter to apply to every excavation which by reason of constitutional limitations cannot be excepted from the provisions of this chapter and to every excavation the exception of which would invalidate this chapter or any portion thereof.

(Prior code § 3-6.6)

The present tense includes the past and future tenses.

(Prior code § 3-6.7)

Each gender includes the other two genders.

(Prior code § 3-6.8)

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

(Prior code § 3-6.9)

Violation of this chapter is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of not more than one thousand dollars ($1,000.00) or by imprisonment in the county jail for not more than six months or by both such fine and imprisonment. Each day during any portion of which any violation of any provision of this chapter is committed, continued or permitted constitutes such violation a separate offense.

(Prior code § 3-6.10)

Unless the provision or the context otherwise requires, the definitions in this section shall govern the construction of this chapter:

"Article" means an article of this chapter unless some ordinance or statute is mentioned.

"City council" means the city council of the city of Lancaster.

"City engineer" means the city engineer of the city of Lancaster.

"Excavation" means any hole or depression in the ground or body of water created wholly or in part by artificial means including excavation, dam, fill, or combination thereof.

"Parcel of land" means a contiguous quantity of land, in the possession of, or owned by, or recorded as the property of, the same claimant or person.

"Party concerned" means the person, if any, in apparent charge and control of the object or premises involved, the person who by the last equalized assessment roll appears to be the owner of the premises involved, the record owner, the holder of any mortgage, trust, deed, or other lien or encumbrance of record, the owner or holder of any lease of record, the record holder of any other estate or interest in or to the object or premises.

"Person" means any individual, firm, co-partnership, joint venture, association, social club, fraternal organization, corporation, estate, trust, receiver, syndicate, or any other group or combination acting as a unit.

"Section" means a section of this chapter unless some other ordinance or statute is specifically mentioned.

Shall and May. "Shall" is mandatory. "May" is permissive.

"Sheriff" means the sheriff of this county.

"Superintendent" means:

1. The city engineer of the city of Lancaster while enforcing Sections 50241, 50242, 50243, 50244 and 50254 of the Government Code.

2. The sheriff while enforcing Sections 50234 and 50236 of the Government Code.

(Prior code §§ 3-6.11—3-6.22)