Rancho Santa Margarita Municipal Code Ch. 1.01 Code Established

This Code shall be known as the "City of Rancho Santa Margarita Municipal Code" and it shall be sufficient to refer to said Code as the "Rancho Santa Margarita Municipal Code" in any prosecution for the violation of any provisions thereof. It shall also be sufficient to designate any ordinance adding to, amending, or repealing said Code, or portions thereof, as an addition or amendment to, or a repeal of, the "Rancho Santa Margarita Municipal Code," or a portion thereof.

(Ord. No. 00-17, § 1(1.10.010), 5-18-2000)

State Law reference— Codification of ordinances, Government Code § 50022.1 et seq.

This Code consists of all of the regulatory, penal and administrative ordinances of the City of Rancho Santa Margarita.

(Ord. No. 00-17, § 1(1.10.020), 5-18-2000)

The provisions of this Code, insofar as they are substantially the same as legislation previously adopted by the City relating to the same subject matter, shall be construed as restatements and continuations thereof and not as new enactments.

(a) Nothing in this Code or the ordinance adopting this Code affects any offense or act committed or done, any penalty or forfeiture incurred, or any contract or right established before the effective date of this Code.

(b) The adoption of this Code does not authorize any use or the continuation of any use of a structure or premises in violation of any City ordinance on the effective date of this Code.

Nothing in this Code or the ordinance adopting this Code affects the validity of any ordinance or portion of an ordinance listed below. Such ordinances continue in full force and effect to the same extent as if published at length in this Code.

(1) Annexing property into the City.

(2) Deannexing property or excluding property from the City.

(3) Promising or guaranteeing the payment of money or authorizing the issuance of bonds or other instruments of indebtedness.

(4) Authorizing or approving any contract, deed, or agreement.

(5) Making or approving any appropriation or budget.

(6) Calling an election.

(7) Granting any right or franchise or altering or withdrawing same.

(8) Providing for salaries or other employee benefits not codified in this Code.

(9) Adopting or amending the comprehensive general plan.

(10) Dedicating, accepting or vacating any plat or subdivision.

(11) Dedicating, establishing naming, establishing, locating, relocating, opening, paving, widening, repairing or vacating any street or road.

(12) Establishing the grade or any street or sidewalk.

(13) Levying or imposing any special assessment.

(13) Providing traffic or parking regulations for specific locations.

(15) Levying real property taxes.

(16) Zoning or rezoning a particular parcel of property or adopting or amending the zoning map or providing interim zoning measures.

(17) That is temporary, although general in effect.

(18) That is special, although permanent in effect.

(19) The purpose of which has been accomplished.

This Code takes effect upon the effective date of the ordinance of the Council of the City of Rancho Santa Margarita whereby this Code is adopted.

(Ord. No. 00-17, § 1(1.10.030), 5-18-2000)

If any section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase or portion of this Code is for any reason held to be invalid or unconstitutional by the decision of any court of competent jurisdiction, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of this Code. The City Council hereby declares that it would have adopted this Code and each section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase, or portion thereof, irrespective of the fact that any one or more sections, subsections, phrases, or portions be declared invalid or unconstitutional.

(Ord. No. 00-17, § 1(1-10-040), 5-18-2000)

At least one copy of this Code shall be filed for use and examination by the public in the office of the City Clerk. At least one copy duly certified to by the City Clerk shall be maintained on file in the City Clerk's office. Additional copies shall be prepared in loose-leaf form and mounted to withstand heavy usage in such binders as the City Clerk may prescribe. Copies thereof shall be distributed as determined by the City Clerk.

(Ord. No. 00-17, § 1(1.10.050), 5-18-2000)

Upon the adoption of any amendment or addition to said Code, or upon the repeal of any of its provisions, the City Clerk shall certify thereto and shall make an appropriate notation in the volumes of said Code of the taking of such action, noting thereon the number of the ordinances pursuant to which such action is taken. Duly certified copies of every ordinance making changes in such Code shall be filed in the office of the City Clerk in books for such purpose and duly indexed for ready reference.

(Ord. No. 00-17, § 1(1.10.060), 5-18-2000)

The City Clerk shall prepare copies of such changes in the Code for insertion in the loose-leaf copies thereof. Every section of the Code so changed shall have printed thereon a notation of the ordinance number pursuant to which such change is adopted.

(Ord. No. 00-17, § 1(1.10.070), 5-18-2000)

(a) Supplements to this Code shall be prepared and printed whenever authorized or directed by the City. A supplement to this Code shall include all substantive permanent and general parts of ordinances adopted during the period covered by the supplement and all changes made thereby in the Code. The pages of the 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. 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 person authorized to prepare the supplement may make formal, nonsubstantive changes in ordinances and parts of ordinances included in the supplement, insofar as necessary in order to embody them into a unified Code. For example, the person may:

(1) Arrange the material into appropriate organizational units.

(2) Supply appropriate catchlines, headings and titles for chapters, articles, divisions, subdivisions and sections to be included in the Code and make changes in any such catchlines, headings and titles or in any such catchlines, headings and titles already in the Code.

(3) Assign appropriate numbers to chapters, articles, divisions, subdivisions and sections to be added to the Code.

(4) Where necessary to accommodate new material, change existing numbers assigned to titles, chapters, articles, divisions or sections.

(5) Change the words "this ordinance" or similar words to "this chapter," "this article," "this division," "this section" or "Sections XXX to YYY" (inserting section numbers to indicate the sections of the Code that embody the substantive sections of the ordinance incorporated in the Code).

(6) Make other nonsubstantive changes necessary to preserve the original meaning of the ordinances inserted in the Code.