PART II CODE OF ORDINANCES
Chapter 1 GENERAL PROVISIONS
Sec. 1-1. How Code designated and cited.
The ordinances embraced in the following chapters, articles, divisions and sections shall constitute and be designated "The Code of Ordinances, City of Durango, Colorado," and may be so cited. Such Code may also be cited as the "City Code of Durango, Colorado."
Sec. 1-2. Definitions; rules of construction.
In the construction of this Code and of all ordinances, the following definitions and rules of construction shall apply unless the context clearly indicates otherwise or such construction would be inconsistent with the manifest intent of the city council:
Charter. The word "charter" shall mean the Home Rule Charter of the City of Durango, Colorado, adopted by the electors on November 7, 1978, and any amendments, a copy of which is printed as Part I of this volume.
City. The words "the city," or "this city" shall mean the municipal corporation of Durango, Colorado, or any of its officers, agents or departments, as the sense shall require or admit.
Code. Reference to "this Code" or "the Code" shall mean the Code of Ordinances, City of Durango, Colorado as designated in section 1-1.
Computation of time. Whenever a notice is required to be given or an act to be done a certain length of time before any proceedings shall be had, the day on which such notice is given, or such act is done, shall not be counted in computing the time, but the day on which such proceeding is to be had shall be counted.
Council. The words "city council" or "council," when used in this Code, shall be construed to mean the City Council of the City of Durango, Colorado.
County. The words "the county" or "this county," when used in this Code, shall mean the County of La Plata, Colorado.
C.R.S. The initials "C.R.S." when used in this Code, shall mean the most recent edition of the Colorado Revised Statutes.
Delegation of authority. Whenever a provision appears requiring the head of a department or officer of the city to do some act or make certain inspections, it is to be construed to authorize the head of the department or officer to designate, delegate and authorize subordinates to perform the required act or make the required inspection unless the terms of the provision or section designate otherwise.
Gender. A word importing the masculine gender only shall extend and be applied to females and to firms, partnerships and corporations as well as to males.
Interpretation. In the interpretation and application of any provisions of this Code, it shall be held to be the minimum requirements adopted for the promotion of the public health, safety, comfort, convenience and general welfare. Where any provision of this Code imposes greater restrictions upon the subject matter than the general provision imposed by this Code, the provision imposing the greater restriction or regulation shall be deemed to be controlling.
Knowingly. The term "knowingly" imports only a knowledge that the facts exist which brings the act or omission within the provisions of this Code. It does not require any knowledge of the unlawfulness of such act or omission.
Month. The word "month" shall mean a calendar month.
Name of officer, department, board, etc. The naming of an officer, department, board, etc., shall be construed as if followed by the words "of the City of Durango."
Neglect. The term "neglect," "negligence," "negligent," and "negligently" imports a want of such attention to the nature or probable consequences of the act or omission as a prudent person ordinarily bestows in acting in his own concern.
Nontechnical and technical words. Words and phrases shall be construed according to the common and approved usage of the language, but technical words and phrases and such others as may have acquired a peculiar and appropriate meaning in law shall be construed and understood according to such meaning.
Number. A word importing the singular number only may extend and be applied to several persons and things as well as to one (1) person and thing.
Oath. The word "oath" shall be construed to include an affirmation in all cases in which, by law, an affirmation may be substituted for an oath, and in such cases the words "swear" and "sworn" shall be equivalent to the words "affirm" and "affirmed."
Officer. The word "officer" shall include officers and boards in charge of departments and members of such boards. The word "city," "clerk," or other such title shall mean this city, city clerk, or other city officer of the City of Durango as the use may be applicable.
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 of a part of such building or land.
Person. The word "person" shall extend and be applied to individuals, associations, firms, joint adventures, estates, trusts, business trusts, syndicates, fiduciaries, partnerships and bodies politic and corporate, and all other groups and combinations.
Personal property. The term "personal property" includes every description of money, goods, chattels, effects, evidence of rights in action and all written instruments by which any pecuniary obligation, right or title to property is created, acknowledged, transferred, increased, defeated, discharged or diminished and every right or interest therein.
Real property shall include lands, tenements and hereditaments.
Sidewalk. The word "sidewalk" shall mean any portion of a street between the curbline and the adjacent property line, intended for the use of pedestrians, excluding parkways.
State. The words "the state" or "this state" shall mean the State of Colorado.
Street. The word "street" means any vehicular way either improved or unimproved including streets, avenues, boulevards, roads, alleys, lanes, viaducts and all other public highways in the city, and shall include the entire width of the right-of-way thereof if the sense so requires or admits.
Tenant or occupant. The word "tenant" or "occupant" applied to a building or land, shall include any person who occupies the whole or any part of such building or land, whether alone or with others.
Tense. Words used in the present or past tense include the future as well as the present or past.
Willfully. The term "willfully" when applied to the intent with which an act is done or omitted, implies simply a purpose or willingness to commit the act or make the omission referred to. It does not require any intent to violate law, or to injure another, or to acquire an advantage.
Written. The words "written" and "in writing" may include printing.
(Code 1962, § 1-1-5)
Sec. 1-3. Power to license.
Words prohibiting anything being done, except in accordance with a license or permit or authority from a board or officer, shall be construed as giving such board or officer power to license or permit to license or permit or authorize such thing to be done.
(Code 1962, § 1-1-5)
Sec. 1-4. Catchlines.
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 reenacted.
Sec. 1-5. History notes.
The history notes appearing in parentheses after sections in this Code are not intended to have any legal effect but are merely intended to indicate the source of matter contained in the section.
Sec. 1-6. References and editor's notes.
The references and editor's notes appearing throughout the Code are not intended to have any legal effect, but are merely intended to assist the user of the Code.
Sec. 1-7. Effect on prior offenses, etc.
Nothing in this Code or the ordinance adopting this Code shall affect any offense or act committed or done, or any penalty or forfeiture incurred, or any contract or right established or accruing, before the effective date of this Code.
Sec. 1-8. Effect of repeal of ordinances.
(a) The repeal of an ordinance shall not revive any ordinances in force before or at the time the ordinance repealed took effect.
(b) 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 an offense committed under the ordinance repealed, nor any contract, right or obligation established prior to the time when the ordinances are repealed.
Sec. 1-9. Certain ordinances not affected by Code.
Nothing in this Code or the ordinance adopting this Code shall be construed to repeal or otherwise affect the validity of any of the following which are not inconsistent with this Code:
(1) Any ordinance promising, guaranteeing or authorizing the payment of money by or for the city or any contract, agreement, lease deed or other instrument or obligation assumed by the city;
(2) Any ordinance authorizing or relating to specific issuances of bonds or other evidences of indebtedness;
(3) Any ordinance granting a franchise, right or permit;
(4) Any ordinance establishing the compensation of city officers or employees, or any personnel regulations;
(5) Any ordinance levying or repealing taxes, making appropriations, issuing warrants or adopting a budget;
(6) Any ordinance creating specific local improvement districts;
(7) Any ordinance making special assessments for local improvements;
(8) Any ordinance vacating, accepting, establishing, locating, relocating, opening, paving, repairing, widening or naming any street or public way;
(9) Any ordinance affecting the corporate limits of the city;
(10) Any ordinance which is of a special or temporary nature;
(11) Any ordinance dedicating or accepting any plat or subdivision;
(12) Any ordinance or regulation establishing fees, permits, inspections or services;
(13) Any ordinance establishing the amount of bond to be posted by city officials;
(14) Any ordinance relating to elections;
(15) Any ordinance annexing territory to the city; or, any land use or rezoning ordinance in the city; or adopting a map of zoning districts; or providing for the adjustment, enforcement and amendment therefor;
(16) Any administrative ordinance of the council;
(17) Any ordinance prescribing traffic and parking regulations for specific streets and locations;
(18) Any ordinance prescribing street grades;
(19) Any ordinance relating to the transfer or acceptance of real estate;
(20) The ordinance adopting any recreation leases;
(21) Any ordinance regarding pensions or retirements for police and firefighters;
(22) Any ordinance relating to railroads or railroad crossings with streets and other public ways, or relating to the conduct, duties, service or rates of public utilities; and all such ordinances are hereby recognized as continuing in full force and effect to the same extent as if set out at length in this Code.
(Code 1962, § 1-2-2)
Sec. 1-10. Amendments.
(a) Amendments to any of the provisions of this Code shall be made by amending such provision by specific reference to the section number of this Code in the following language: "That section
________ of the Code of the City of Durango, Colorado, is hereby amended to read as follows: . . . "
(b) If a new section not heretofore existing in the Code is to be added, the following language shall be used: "That the Code of the City of Durango, Colorado, is hereby amended by adding a section, to be numbered ________, which section reads as follows: . . . " The new section shall then be set out in full as desired.
(c) All subsections, sections, chapters or provisions desired to be repealed must be specifically set out in full in the ordinance repealing such subsection, section or chapter.
Charter reference(s)--Ordinances, art. 2, § 12.
Sec. 1-11. Supplementation of Code.
(a) Supplements to this Code shall be prepared and printed whenever authorized or directed by the city council. A supplement to the Code shall include all substantive permanent and general parts of ordinances passed by the council or adopted by initiative and referendum during the period covered by the supplement and all changes made thereby in the Code, and shall also include all amendments to the Charter during the period. The pages of a supplement shall be so numbered that they will fit properly into the Code and will, where necessary, replace pages which have become obsolete or partially obsolete, and 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 which 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 codifier (meaning the person, agency or organization authorized to prepare the supplement) may make formal, nonsubstantive changes in ordinances and parts of ordinances included in the supplement, insofar as it is necessary to do so to embody them into a unified code. For example, the codifier may:
(1) Organize the ordinance material into appropriate subdivisions where not provided in the adopted ordinance;
(2) Provide appropriate catchlines, headings and titles for sections and other subdivisions of the Code printed in the supplement, and make changes in such catchlines, headings and titles;
(3) Assign appropriate numbers to sections and other subdivisions to be inserted in the Code and, where not provided in the adopted ordinance to accommodate new material, change existing section or other subdivision numbers;
(4) Change the words "this ordinance" or words of the same meaning to "this chapter," "this article," "this division," etc., as the case may be, or to "sections ________ to ________" (inserting section numbers to indicate the sections of the Code which embody the substantive sections of the ordinance incorporated into the Code); and
(5) Make other nonsubstantive changes necessary to preserve the original meaning of ordinance sections inserted into the Code; but, in no case shall the codifier make any change in the meaning or effect of ordinance material included in the supplement or already embodied in the Code.
Sec. 1-12. Severability.
If any section, sentence, clause, phrase, word or other provision of this Code is for any reason held to be unconstitutional or otherwise invalid, such holding shall not affect the validity of the remaining sections, sentences, clauses, phrases, words or other provisions of this Code, or the validity of this Code in its entirety, it being the legislative intent that this Code shall stand notwithstanding the invalidity of any section, sentence, clause, phrase, word or other provision.
Sec. 1-13. Codes kept on file.
(a) At least three (3) copies of this Code and of each secondary code adopted in this Code, all certified by the mayor and the city clerk to be true copies of such codes as they were adopted, shall be kept on file in the office of the city clerk available for public inspection. One (1) copy of each such code may be kept in the office of the chief enforcement officer thereof rather than in the office of the city clerk.
(b) The city clerk shall prepare and publish revised sheets of every loose-leaf page in need of revision by reason of amendment, addition or repeal. The city clerk shall distribute the revised loose-leaf sheets for such fee as the city council may direct.
(c) In addition to those copies of this Code specified in subsection (a) of this section a copy of this Code shall be kept on file in the office of the city clerk in which it shall be the express duty of the city clerk to insert in their designated places all amendments or ordinances which are intended to become a part of this Code, when the same have been printed or reprinted in page form, and to extract from such Code all provisions which may from time to time be repealed. This copy of the Code shall be available to all persons desiring to examine it and shall be considered the official code of the city.
State law reference(s)--Copies to be kept in office of the clerk, C.R.S. § 31-16-206.
Sec. 1-14. Acceptance of Code.
This Code, as hereby presented in printed form, shall hereafter be received without further proof in all courts and in all administrative tribunals of this state as the ordinances of a general and permanent effect of the city.
(Code 1962, § 1-1-2)
Sec. 1-15. Sale of Code copies.
The city clerk shall maintain a reasonable supply of copies of this Code to be available for purchase by the public at a moderate price.
State law reference(s)--Sale of copies of Code, C.R.S. § 31-16-206.
Sec. 1-16. General penalty; continuing violations.
(a) Whenever in this Code or in any ordinance of the city any act is prohibited or is made or declared to be unlawful or an offense, or whenever in such Code or ordinance the doing of any act is required or the failure to do any act is declared to be unlawful, where no specific penalty is provided therefor, the violation of any such provision of this Code or any ordinance shall be punished by a fine not to exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000.00) or imprisonment for a term not to exceed ninety (90) days, or by both such fine and imprisonment.
(b) If the person convicted of a violation of any section of this Code is under the age of eighteen (18) years, the penalty authorized by this section shall be limited to a fine not to exceed the sum of one thousand dollars ($1,000.00).
(c) Each day any violation of any provision of this Code or of any ordinance shall continue shall constitute a separate offense; provided, however, in a case of parking violations involving overtime parking, each two-hour period that a motor vehicle shall remain parked after the expiration of legal parking shall constitute a separate offense.
(d) In all cases where the same offense is made punishable or is created by different clauses or sections of this Code, the prosecuting officer may elect under which to proceed; but not more than one (1) recovery shall be had against the same person for the same offense; provided, that the revocation of a license or permit shall not be considered a recovery or penalty so as to bar any other penalty being enforced.
(Code 1962, §§ 1-3-1, 1-3-5; Ord. No. 1987-20, § 1, 10-20-87; Ord. No. 1994-22, § 1, 10-4-94)
Cross reference(s)--Penalties and fines for violation of certain provisions regarding animals, § 4-15.
State law reference(s)--Limitation on penalties, C.R.S., §§ 13-10-113, 31-16-101.