C HAPTER    1
 
GENERAL PROVISIONS.

C HAPTER    1
 
GENERAL PROVISIONS.

Sec. 1-1    Code Designation and Citation.

a.   The ordinances embraced in the following chapters and sections shall constitute and be designated as the "Municipal Code of the City of Attica, Indiana", and may be so cited.
(Municipal Code of Attica, Indiana, 1967, § 1-1)

b.   The ordinances contained in the following chapters, articles, divisions and sections shall constitute and is also designated as the "Attica City Code", and may be cited as the "City Code" or, in the provisions which follows, as "this Code".

Sec. 1-2    Effective Date of Code - Repeal of General Ordinances in Conflict - Savings Clause.¹

¹Indiana Code, §§ 36-1-5-1 through 36-1-5-6, address the codification of ordinances by all units of government except Townships.

a.   All of the provisions of this Code shall be in full force and effect two (2) weeks from the date of legal publication of its adopting ordinance and the filing thereof in the office of the Clerk-Treasurer, and all ordinances of a general and permanent nature in force at that time are repealed from and after said date.

b.   Such repeal shall not affect any offense or act committed or done or any penalty or forfeiture incurred or any contract or right established or accruing before said effective date; nor any ordinance relative to the purchase or sale of property; nor shall it affect any ordinance accepting gifts and dedications of real estate; nor any ordinance or resolution promising or guaranteeing the payment of money by the city or authorizing the issue of bonds of said city; or other evidence of the city's indebtedness, or any contract or obligation assumed by said city; nor shall said repeal affect the administrative ordinances or resolutions of the common council not in conflict or inconsistent with the provisions of the Code; nor shall it affect transfer and appropriation ordinances; nor shall it affect any ordinance concerning annexation or disannexation of territories to or from the city, or any ordinance changing or concerning names of streets, or opening or closing streets, or ordinances commonly known as Zoning Map amendments; nor shall it affect any ordinance accepting, releasing, or abandoning easements; nor shall it affect any right, easement, or franchise conferred by any person or corporation; nor shall it affect any prosecution, suit or proceeding pending on said date, except that the proceeding thereof shall conform as far as possible to the provisions of this Code. (Municipal Code of Attica, Indiana, 1967, § 1-2)

Sec. 1-3    Definitions.²

²Indiana Code, §§ 36-1-2-1 through 36-1-2-24, set forth the definitions of general applicability.

In the construction of this Code and of all ordinances, the following rules shall be observed, unless such construction would be inconsistent with the manifest intent of the Common Council.

BOARD:   The words "the board" or "such board" shall mean the Board of Public Works and Safety, except where the context clearly indicates otherwise.

CITY:   The word "city" shall be construed as if the words "of Attica, Fountain County, Indiana" followed it.³

³Editor's Note: The City of Attica is classified as a third class city since its population is less than 35,000 people. Indiana Code, § 36-4-1-1, et seq., addresses such classification.

COMPUTATION OF TIME:   The time within which an act is to be done as herein provided, shall be computed by excluding the first day and including the last. If the last day be Sunday, it shall be excluded.

COUNCIL:   The word "council" shall mean the Common Council of the City of Attica.

COUNTY:   The words "the county" or "this county" shall mean the County of Fountain, State of Indiana

ET SEQ.:   Is the Latin phrase meaning "and the following".

GENDER:   Words used in the masculine gender shall include feminine and neuter.

I.C.:   Shall refer to state law found in the Indiana Code.

JOINT AUTHORITY:   All words giving a joint authority to three (3) or more persons or officers shall be construed as giving such authority to a majority of such persons or officers.

MAY:   Is permissive.

MAYOR:   Means the Mayor of Attica, the Chief Executive Officer.

MONTH:   The word "month" shall mean a calendar month.

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".

OR, AND:   "Or" may be read "and" and "and" may be read "or".

ORDINANCES:   Means the ordinances of the City of Attica and all amendments thereto, passed by the Attica Common Council.

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 a part of such building or land.

PERSON:   The word "person" shall include a corporation, firm, partnership, association, organization, trustee or any other group acting as a unit as well as a natural person.

PERSONAL PROPERTY:   Includes every species of property except real property, as herein defined.

PLURAL, SINGULAR:   Words importing the singular shall include the plural, words importing the plural shall include the singular.

PRECEDING, FOLLOWING:   The words "preceding" and "following" shall mean next before and next after respectively.

PROPERTY:   The word "property" shall include real and personal property.

PUBLIC PLACE:   The term "public place" shall mean any street or highway, sidewalk, park, cemetery, school yard or open space adjacent thereto and any lake or stream.

REAL PROPERTY:   This shall include lands, tenement, and hereditaments.

REASONABLE TIME:   In all cases where any provision shall require any act to be done in a "reasonable time" or "reasonable notice" to be given to any person, such reasonable time or notice shall be deemed to mean such time only as may be necessary in the prompt execution of such duty, or compliance with such notice.

SIDEWALK:   The word "sidewalk" shall mean any portion of a street between the curb line and the adjacent property line, intended for the use of pedestrians, excluding parkways.

SIGNATURE or SUBSCRIPTION:   Includes a mark when the person cannot write.

STATE:   The words "the state" or "this state" shall mean the State of Indiana.

STATE LAW REFERENCES:   Whenever reference is made, for example to Burns' 1933, 48-501, it shall be construed to refer to Burns' Indiana Statutes, 1933, or to any replacement volume thereof, or to such section as it is subsequently amended, or whatever section is to be cited.

STREET:   The word "street" shall be construed to embrace streets, avenues, boulevards, roads, valleys, via-ducts, and all other public highways in the city.

TENANT:   The words "tenant" or "occupant" applied to a building or land, shall include any person holding a written or oral lease of, or who occupies, the whole or a part of such building or land, either alone or with others.

TIME:   Words used in the past or present tense include the future as well as the past and present.

WRITTEN:   The words "written" or "in writing" shall be construed to include any representation of words, letters, or figures whether by printing or otherwise.

YEAR:   The word "year" shall mean a calendar year. (Municipal Code of Attica, Indiana, 1967, § 1-3)

Sec. 1-4    Black Letter Section Headings.

The black letter headings of the several sections of this Code printed in boldface type are intended as mere catchwords to indicate the contents of the sections 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 black letter headings, are amended or reenacted. (Municipal Code of Attica, Indiana, 1967, § 1-4)

Sec. 1-5    Ordinances - Recordation; Proof of Publication.

All ordinances passed by the Common Council shall be recorded by the Clerk-Treasurer in a book of ordinances. The original shall be filed in the Clerk-Treasurer's office and due proof of publication of all ordinances requiring publication, by the affidavit of the printer or publisher, shall be procured by the Clerk-Treasurer and attached thereto, or written and attested thereto, or written and attested upon the face of such ordinance. (Municipal Code of Attica, Indiana, 1967, § 1-5)

Sec. 1-6    Effective Date of Ordinances.⁴

⁴Editor's Note: Indiana Code, § 36-4-6-14, addresses effective date of ordinances.

All ordinances passed by the Common Council, requiring publication, shall take effect from and after the due publication thereof, unless therein otherwise expressly provided. Ordinances not requiring publication shall take effect from their passage and upon being signed and attested to, unless otherwise expressly provided. (Municipal Code of Attica, Indiana, 1967, § 1-6)

Sec. 1-7    Repealed or Modified Ordinances.

Wherever any ordinance or part of any ordinance shall be repealed or modified by a subsequent ordinance, a part of an ordinance thus repealed or modified shall continue in force until the due publication of the ordinance repealing or modifying the same, when publication is not required the repealing or modifying shall take effect immediately upon passage; unless otherwise expressly provided, but no suit proceeding, right, fine, forfeiture or penalty instituted, created, given, secured or accrued under any ordinance previous to its repeal shall in anyway be affected, released or discharged, but may be prosecuted, enjoyed and recovered as fully as if such ordinance had continued in force unless it shall be therein, otherwise expressly provided. (Municipal Code of Attica, Indiana, 1967, § 1-7)

Sec. 1-8    Repeal Not to Revive Former Ordinances.

When any ordinance repealing a former ordinance, clause or provision shall be itself repealed, such repeal shall not be construed to revive such former ordinance, clause or provisions unless it shall be therein so expressly provided. (Municipal Code of Attica, Indiana, 1967, § 1-8)

Sec. 1-9    Code Application.

Unless otherwise provided in this Code, this Code shall apply to all acts performed within the corporate limits of the City of Attica. Provisions of this Code shall also apply to acts performed outside the corporate limits and up to the limits provided by law, where the law confers power on the City to regulate such particular acts outside the corporate limits.

Sec. 1-10    Interpretation of Section Numbers.

a.   Each section of this Code shall be numbered consecutively by chapter. The number shall consist of two (2) component parts separated by a dash, the figure before the dash referring to chapter number and the figure after the dash referring to the position of the section within the chapter.

b.   The decimal system shall be used for all additions or amendments to this Code. When a chapter or section is to be added, the new chapter or section shall be given a decimal character.

Sec. 1-11    Severability of Code.

a.   If a court of competent jurisdiction should hold one (1) or more ordinance sections or a part of an ordinance section of this Attica City Code or of an/ordinance passed hereafter invalid, such holding shall not affect the remainder of the Attica City Code or ordinance nor the content in which such section, sections, or part of a section so held invalid may appear, except to the extent that an entire section or part of a section may be inseparably connected in meaning and effect with the section, sections or a part of a section so held invalid.

b.   Each section of the Attica City Code and every part of each section is an independent section and part of a section, and the holding of any section or part thereof to be unconstitutional, void or ineffective for any cause does not affect the validity or constitutionality of any other section of part thereof.

c.   If any part or parts, section or subsection, sentence, clause or phrase of this Code is for any reason declared to be unconstitutional or invalid, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of the Code.

Sec. 1-12    Conflicting Provisions.

If the provisions or different codes of chapters of the Attica City Code conflict with or contravene each other, the provisions of each code or chapter shall prevail as to all matters and questions growing out of the subject matter of such code or chapter.

If conflicting provisions are found in different sections of the same chapter, the provisions of the section bearing the latest passage date shall prevail. If the conflicting provisions bear the same passage date, the conflict shall be construed so as to be consistent with the meaning or legal effect of such chapter taken as a whole.

Sec. 1-13    City Seal.

a.   The City Clerk-Treasurer shall be the custodian of the City's Seal and affix it to such documents and instruments as required.

b.   The City Seal is depicted on the certification page of the Attica City Code.

Sec. 1-14    Material Incorporated by Reference.⁵

⁵Indiana Code, § 36-1-5-4, requires two (2) copies to be on file for public inspection.

Two (2) copies of all material incorporated by reference into this Code are on file and shall be kept on file for public inspection in the office of the City Clerk-Treasurer.

Sec. 1-15    Effect of Historical Note.⁶

⁶Indiana Code, § 36-1-5-6, addresses restated or reenacted provisions of original ordinances.

The presence or historical note, such as Municipal Code of Attica, Indiana, 1967, (Ord. No. 81-38, § 9, 12-22-81), at the end of any section of this Code shall denote the derivation of the Code Section; in addition, the presence of such a historical note, or of one similar to it, shall be a declaration and determination by the Common Council that said Section is a restatement or reenactment of a previously enacted ordinance, and that each such Section shall be deemed reordained by the passage of this Code.

Sec. 1-16    Supplementation of the Code.

a.   By contract or by City personnel, supplements to this Code shall be prepared and printed whenever authorized or directed by the Common Council. A supplement to the 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 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 of 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;

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 necessary 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," "this Title", etc., as the case may be, or to "Sections __________ to _________" (inserting Section numbers to indicate the Sections of this 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. 1-17    General Penalties.

a.   Any person violating any of the provisions of this Attica City Code shall be guilty of an ordinance violation.⁷

⁷Indiana Code, §§ 34-4-32-1 through 34-4-32-5, address infraction and ordinance violation enforcement proceedings.

b.   Each day a violation of this Code is committed or permitted to continue shall constitute a separate offense.⁸

⁸Indiana Code, § 9-4-1-217.1, addresses Class C infractions.

c.   Except in cases where a different punishment is prescribed by a specific section of this Code, any person convicted of an ordinance violation shall be punished by a fine of not less than twenty-five dollars ($25.00) or more than two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500.00). ⁹

⁹Indiana Code, § 36-1-3-8, authorizes a maximum fine of two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500.00) for an Ordinance violation.

d.   The City may bring a civil action to enjoin any person from:

1. Violating any ordinance regulating or prohibiting a condition or use of property; or¹⁰

¹⁰Indiana Code, § 36-1-6-2, addresses ordinance violations affecting real property and the City taking expenses of compliance as a lien against the property. This also addresses the abatement of public nuisances.

2. Engaging in conduct without license if an ordinance requires a license to engage in the conduct.¹¹

¹¹Indiana Code, 36-1-6-4, addresses injunctions.

e.   The court may suspend all or any part of a penalty imposed for an ordinance violation and may require as a condition of such suspension that the defendant shall perform uncompensated work that benefits the community. (Ord. No. 8-1999, 5-10-99)¹²

¹²During the 1999 codification, the City of Attica designated that penalties throughout this Attica City Code reference this section.

Sec. 1-18    Offenses Punishable Under Separate Provisions.

In all cases where the same offenses may be made punishable or may be created by difference clauses or sections of the ordinances of the city, 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. (Municipal Code of Attica, Indiana, 1967, § 1-10)

Sec. 1-19    Errors and Omissions.

If a manifest error be discovered consisting of the misspelling of any word or words, the omission of any word or words necessary to express the intention of the provisions affected, or the use of a word or words to which no meaning can be attached, or the use of a word or words when another word or words was clearly intended to express such intent, such spelling shall be corrected and such word or words supplied, omitted or substituted as will conform with the manifest intention, and the provisions shall have the same affect as though the correct words were contained in the text as originally published. No alteration shall be made or permitted if any question exists regarding the nature or extent of the error.

Sec. 1-20    Codes - Property of the City.

All copies of the Attica City Code except those sold by the City to private individuals or given or sold to the public library shall be the property of the City of Attica. Any Attica City Codes delivered to elected or appointed officials shall not be retained by said individuals after the expiration of their term(s) of office or appointment.

Sec. 1-21    Codification and Its Effect.¹³

¹³Indiana Code, § 36-1-5-1, et seq., addresses the codification of ordinances.
Editor's Note: The last codification prior to 1998 was completed in 1967 with the adoption of the Municipal Code of the City of Attica, Indiana, 1967 by the passage of Ord No. 811-67 on December 11, 1967.

a.   The following codification and revision of Ordinances consisting of Chapter 1 through 12, inclusive, entitled "Attica City Code," two (2) copies of which shall be kept on file in the office of the City-Clerk is adopted and enacted as the Attica City Code.

b.   The format of the Attica City Code is as follows:
 

c.   It shall be treated and considered as a new and original codification and revision of ordinances of the City of Attica which shall supersede all other general and permanent ordinances passed and adopted by the Common Council before May 10, 1999, the date when General Ordinance No. 8-1999 was passed, the last ordinance included therein, except those exceptionally saved from repeal or continued as restatements or reenactments or original ordinances and amendments thereto which are in force and effect for any purpose.

d.   All provisions of the Attica City Code shall be in full force and effect following publication of this ordinance, and all ordinances of a general and permanent nature of the City of Attica, Indiana enacted on final passage on or before May 10, 1999 are not incorporated in this Code or recognized and continued in force by reference therein are repealed from and after the effective date of this ordinance, except as herein provided.

e.   The repeal provided for in paragraph shall not affect any offense or act committed or done or any penalty or forfeiture incurred or imposed before the effective date of this ordinance; nor shall such repeal affect any ordinance or resolution promising or guaranteeing the payment of money for the City, or authorizing the issuance of any bonds of the City or any evidence of the City's indebtedness, or any contract or obligation assumed by the City; nor shall such repeal affect the administrative ordinances or resolutions of the Council, not in conflict or inconsistent with the provisions of such Code; nor shall such repeal affect any right of franchise granted by any ordinance or resolution of the Council of any person, firm or corporation; nor shall such repeal affect any ordinance dedicating, naming, establishing, locating, relocating, opening, closing , paving, widening or establishing grades of any street or public way in the City; nor shall such repeal affect any ordinance levying or imposing taxes not included herein; nor shall such repeal affect any ordinance or resolution relating to salaries of City employees; nor shall such repeal affect any ordinance providing for local improvements and levying special assessments therefor; nor shall such repeal affect any ordinance dedicating or accepting any plat or ordinance extending the boundaries of the City; nor shall such repeal affect any ordinance or resolution establishing, or modifying the boundaries or zoning districts, or changing the zoning classification of any lot or parcel of land. Each of the above-mentioned ordinances shall in no way be repealed by this ordinance except as the same may be in conflict with the provisions of such code.

f.   Any and all additions or amendments to such Code, when passed in such form as to indicate the intention of the Council to make the same a part thereof, shall be deemed to be incorporated in such Code, so that reference to the Attica City Code shall be understood and intended to include such additions and amendments. (Ord. No. 8-1999, 5-10-99)

Sec. 1-22    Role of the City Clerk-Treasurer Regarding the City Code.

a.   Two (2) copies of the Attica City Code shall be kept on file in the office of the City Clerk-Treasurer, or someone authorized by the City Clerk-Treasurer, to insert in their designated places all amendments or Ordinances which indicate the intention of the Council to make the same a part of such Code when the same shall have been printed or reprinted in page form, and to extract from such Code all provisions which may be from time to time repealed by the Council. These copies of such Code shall be available to all persons desiring to examine the same and shall be considered the official Code of the City of Attica, Indiana.

b.   It shall be unlawful for any persons, firm or corporation to change by additions or deletions, any part or portion of such Code, or to insert or delete pages or portions thereof, or to alter or tamper with such Code, or to insert or delete pages or portions thereof, or to alter or tamper with such Code in any manner whatsoever which will cause the Code, any Ordinance, or the law of the City of Attica, Indiana, to be misrepresented thereby. Any person, firm or corporation violating this section shall be punished as provided in Section 1-17 of such Code.

Sec. 1-23 through Sec. 1-29 Reserved for Future Use.