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Sec. 1-1. - Designation and citation of Code.#
The ordinances embraced in this and in the following chapters shall be designated and cited as the "Revised Ordinances, City of Central Falls, Rhode Island." Such provisions may also be cited as the "Central Falls Code."
(Code 1973, § 1-1; Code 1994, § 1-1)
Sec. 1-2. - Definitions and rules of construction.#
In the construction of this Code and of all ordinances enacted, the following interpretation shall be placed on the words and phrases mentioned in this section, unless such construction or interpretation shall be manifestly inconsistent with the evident intent of the city council or repugnant to the context or to the evident purport of any ordinance:
Charter. The term "Charter" means and refers to the Charter of the City of Central Falls, Rhode Island, as printed in part I of this volume.
City. The term "the city" means the City of Central Falls in Providence County in the State of Rhode Island.
Code. References to "this Code" or "the Code" mean and refer to the Revised Ordinances, City of Central Falls, Rhode Island, as designated in section 1-1. State Law reference— Similar provisions, G.L. 1956, § 43-3-13.
Computation of time. The time in which an act is to be done shall be computed by excluding the first and including the last day, except that when the last day falls on a Sunday or a legal holiday, the act may be done on the next succeeding day which is not a Sunday or a legal holiday. When a public office in which an act is to be performed is closed to the public for the entire day which constitutes the last day for doing such act, or before its usual closing time on such day, then such act may be performed on the next succeeding day which is not a Sunday or legal holiday. State Law reference— Similar provisions, G.L. 1956, § 43-3-13.
Corporate limits, corporation limits. Whenever the terms "corporate limits," "corporation limits," or "city limits" are used, they mean the legal boundary of the City of Central Falls.
Council. The terms "the council" or "council" mean the City Council of the City of Central Falls.
County. The term "the county" or "this county" means Providence County, Rhode Island.
Delegation of authority. Whenever a provision appears requiring the head of a department or other officer of the city to do some act or to make certain inspections, it is to be construed to authorize the head of the department or other officer of the city, as the case may be, 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. State Law reference— Similar provisions, G.L. 1956, § 43-3-3.
G.L. The term "G.L." means the latest edition or reenactment of the General Laws of Rhode Island, Reenactment of 1956, as amended.
Interpretation. In the interpretation and application of any provision 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 the Code imposes greater restrictions upon the subject matter than the general provision imposed by the Code, the provision imposing the greater restriction or regulation shall be deemed to be controlling.
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. State Law reference— Similar provisions, G.L. 1956, § 43-3-5.
Keeper, proprietor. The terms "keeper" and "proprietor" mean and include persons, firms, associations, corporations, clubs and partnerships, whether acting by themselves or through a servant, agent or employee.
Month. The term "month" means a calendar month. State Law reference— Similar provisions, G.L. 1956, § 43-3-12.
Name of officer. Whenever the name of an officer is given it shall be construed as though the words "of the City of Central Falls" were added.
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 person and thing. State Law reference— Similar provisions, G.L. 1956, § 43-3-4.
Oath. The term "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." State Law reference— Similar provisions, G.L. 1956, § 43-3-11.
Or, and. The term "or" may be read "and," and the term "and" may be read "or," if the sense requires it.
Owner. The term "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 term "person" includes a corporation, firm, partnership, association, organization, club, society, body corporate or politic, or any other group acting as a unit, as well as a natural person. State Law reference— Similar provisions, G.L. 1956, § 43-3-6.
Personal property. The term "personal property" includes every species of property except real property, as defined in this section.
Preceding, following. The terms "preceding" and "following" mean next before and next after, respectively. State Law reference— Similar provisions, G.L. 1956, § 43-3-16.
Premises. Whenever the term "premises" is used, it shall mean place or places.
Property. The term "property" includes real and personal property.
Public place. The term "public place" includes, without limitation, any park, cemetery, schoolyard or open space adjacent thereto, and all beaches, canals or other waterways, and any public street or way.
Real property. The term "real property" includes lands, tenements and hereditaments and rights thereto and interests therein. State Law reference— Similar provisions, G.L. 1956, § 43-3-10.
Residence. The term "residence" shall be construed to mean the place adopted by a person as his place of habitation, and to which, whenever he is absent, he has the intention of returning. When a person eats at one place and sleeps at another, the place where such person sleeps shall be deemed his residence.
Seal. Whenever the term "seal" is used, it shall mean the town or corporate seal.
Sidewalk. The term "sidewalk" means any portion of a street between the vertical curbline or edge of pavement or edge of a traveled way and the adjacent property line, intended for the use of pedestrians, excluding parkways; such portion or "sidewalk" is sometimes designated and known as the pavement "border" area.
Signature, subscription. The "signature" or "subscription" of a person shall include a mark when the person cannot write.
State. The term "the state" shall be construed to mean the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations.
Streets, highways, ways. The terms "streets," "highways" and "ways" when used in an ordinance shall be construed as including public boulevards, avenues, courts, lanes, alleys, squares, drives, roads, corners and sidewalks.
Tenant, occupant. The term "tenant" or "occupant" applied to a building or land includes 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.
Tense. Words used in the past or present tense include the future as well as the past and present.
Week. The term "week" shall be construed to mean seven days.
Written, in writing. The term "written" or "in writing" shall be construed to include any representation of words, letters or figures, whether by printing or otherwise. State Law reference— Similar provisions, G.L. 1956, § 43-3-16.
Year. The term "year" means a calendar year.
(Code 1973, § 1-2; Code 1994, § 1-2)
State Law reference— Similar provisions, G.L. 1956, § 43-3-12.
Sec. 1-3. - Catchlines of sections, history notes and references.#
(a)
The catchlines of the several sections of this Code printed in boldface type and the history notes appearing in parentheses after sections of the Code shall not be deemed or taken to be a substantive part of any section nor, unless expressly so provided, shall they be so deemed when any of such sections, including the catchlines, are amended or reenacted.
(b)
History notes, editor's notes, cross references and state law references that appear in this Code after sections or subsections or that otherwise appear in footnote form are provided for the convenience of the user of the code and have no legal effect.
(c)
Unless specified otherwise, all references to chapters or sections are to chapters or sections of this Code.
(Code 1973, § 1-3; Code 1994, § 1-3)
Sec. 1-4. - Effect of repeal of ordinance.#
(a)
The repeal of an ordinance shall not revive any ordinances that have been repealed.
(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 or cause of action arising under the ordinances repealed.
(Code 1973, § 1-8; Code 1994, § 1-4)
State Law reference— Similar provisions, G.L. 1956, §§ 43-3-22—43-3-24.
Sec. 1-5. - Severability of parts of Code.#
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, invalid or unenforceable by the valid judgment or decree of any court of competent jurisdiction, such unconstitutionality, invalidity or unenforceability shall not affect any of the remaining phrases, clauses, sentences, paragraphs and sections of the Code, since such part of the Code would have been enacted by the city council without the incorporation in this Code of any such unconstitutional phrase, clause, sentence, paragraph or section.
(Code 1973, § 1-6; Code 1994, § 1-5)
Sec. 1-6. - Amendments to Code.#
(a)
All ordinances passed subsequent to the adoption of this Code which amend, repeal or in any way affect this Code may be numbered in accordance with the numbering system of this Code and printed for inclusion therein, or in the case of repealed chapters, sections and subsections or any part thereof, by subsequent ordinances, such repealed portions may be excluded from the Code by omission thereof from reprinted pages affected thereby, and the subsequent ordinances as numbered and printed or omitted, in the case of repeal, shall be prima facie evidence of such subsequent ordinances until such time that this Code and subsequent ordinances numbered or omitted are readopted as a new code of ordinances by the city council.
(b)
Amendments to any of the provisions of this Code should be made by amending such provisions by specific reference to the section of the Code in substantially the following language: "Section _____ of the Revised Ordinances, City of Central Falls, Rhode Island, is hereby amended to read as follows:…(set out new provisions in full)… ."
(c)
If a new section not then existing in the Code is to be added, the following language may be used: "The Revised Ordinances, City of Central Falls, Rhode Island, is hereby amended by adding a section (or article, chapter or other designation, as the case may be), to be numbered _____, which reads as follows:…(set out new provisions in full)… ."
(d)
In lieu of the foregoing subsection, when the city council desires to enact an ordinance of a general and permanent nature embracing a subject not previously existing in the Code, which the city council desires to incorporate into the Code, a provision in substantially the following language may be made a part of the ordinance: "It is the intention of the city council, and it is hereby ordained, that the provisions of this ordinance shall become and be made part of the Revised Ordinances, City of Central Falls, Rhode Island, and the sections of this ordinance may be renumbered to accomplish such intention."
(e)
All sections, articles, chapters or other provisions of this Code desired to be repealed should be specifically repealed by section number, article number, chapter or other number, as the case may be.
(Code 1994, § 1-6)
Sec. 1-7. - Supplementation of Code.#
(a)
By contract or by city personnel, 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 city council or adopted by initiative and referendum 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 adoption of the latest ordinance included in the supplement.
(b)
In the preparation of 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 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," 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.
(Code 1994, § 1-7)
Sec. 1-8. - Provisions deemed continuation of existing ordinances.#
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.
Sec. 1-9. - Code does not affect prior offenses or rights.#
(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.
Sec. 1-10. - 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 ordinances when not inconsistent with this Code: (1)
Any ordinance promising or guaranteeing the payment of money by the city, or authorizing the issuance of any bonds of the city, or any evidence of the city's indebtedness, or any contract, agreement, lease, deed or other instrument or obligation assumed by the city or creating interest and sinking funds;
(2)
Any right or franchise, permit, or other right granted by any ordinance;
(3)
Any personnel regulations; any ordinance or resolution establishing salaries of city officers and employees or civil service rules;
(4)
Any ordinance dedicating, naming, establishing, locating, relocating, opening, paving, widening, repairing or vacating any street, alley or other public way in the city;
(5)
Any ordinance establishing and prescribing the street grades in the city;
(6)
Any appropriation ordinance or any ordinance levying or imposing taxes;
(7)
Any ordinance providing for local improvements and assessing taxes therefor;
(8)
Any ordinance dedicating or accepting any plat or subdivision in the city;
(9)
Any ordinance establishing the official plat of the city;
(10)
Any zoning map amendment or land use, rezoning or zoning ordinance;
(11)
Any ordinance annexing territory or excluding territory from the city;
(12)
Any ordinance prescribing traffic regulations for specific locations, prescribing through streets, parking limitations, parking prohibitions, one-way traffic, limitations on loads of vehicles or loading zones;
(13)
Any subdivision ordinance;
(14)
Any ordinance creating special districts or assessing taxes therefor;
(15)
Any ordinance granting specific tax exemptions;
(16)
Any sewer use ordinance;
(17)
Any temporary or special ordinance;
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 1994, § 1-8)
Sec. 1-11. - Altering Code.#
It shall be unlawful for any person in the city to change or amend by additions or deletions any part or portion of this 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 law of the city to be misrepresented thereby. Any person violating this section shall be punished as provided in section 1-12.
(Code 1994, § 1-9)
Sec. 1-12. - General penalty; continuing violations.#
(a)
In this section the term "violation of this Code" means any of the following:
(1)
Doing an act that is prohibited or made or declared unlawful, an offense, a violation or by ordinance or by rule or regulation authorized by ordinance.
(2)
Failure to perform an act that is required to be performed by ordinance or by rule or regulation authorized by ordinance.
(3)
Failure to perform an act if the failure is prohibited or is made or declared unlawful, an offense, a violation or by ordinance or by rule or regulation authorized by ordinance.
(b)
In this section the term "violation of this Code" does not include the failure of a city officer or city employee to perform an official duty unless it is specifically provided that the failure to perform the duty is to be punished as provided in this section.
(c)
Except as otherwise provided by law or ordinance, a person convicted of a violation of this Code may be punished by a fine of not exceeding $500.00 for each violation, and/or the person shall be required to pay restitution in cases involving property damage or personal injury in an amount up to $2,500.00, and/or be required to provide voluntary community service for the city or its agencies for not more than 50 hours for any one violation. Each violation is subject to appeal in the municipal court with the person having notice and an opportunity to be heard.
(d)
Except as otherwise provided by law or ordinance:
(1)
With respect to violations of this Code that are continuous with respect to time, each day that the violation continues is a separate offense.
(2)
With respect to violations of this Code that are not continuous with respect to time, each act constitutes a separate offense.
(e)
The imposition of a penalty does not prevent suspension or revocation of a license, permit or franchise or other administrative sanctions.
(f)
Violations of this Code that are continuous with respect to time are a public nuisance and may be abated by injunctive or other equitable relief. The imposition of a penalty does not prevent injunctive relief.
(Code 1973, § 1-4; Code 1994, § 1-10; Ord. of 9-14-2015(3), § 2)
State Law reference— Limitation on penalties, G.L. 1956, § 45-6-2.
Sec. 1-13. - Fee schedule.#
Office of the City Clerk Fee or License Amount
Abutters list $200.00
Amusement $150.00
Auto repair permit $200.00
Class D bakery $200.00
Bowling $100.00
Caterer $100.00
Class A liquor $1,500.00
Class A restaurant $200.00
Class B liquor $2,000.00
Class B LTD liquor $1,750.00
Class C variety $200.00
Class D liquor $750.00
Constable $35.00
Employment agency $125.00
Entertainment $10.00/per diem, $80.00/year
Game room $1,500.00
Gun dealer $100.00
Holiday sales $75.00
Itinerant/traveling restaurant $100.00
Jiu-jitsu and karate $25.00
Junkyard $100.00
Late license renewal $70.00
Late liquor renewal $600.00
Laundry $20.00
Liquor advertisement (new) $700.00
Liquor advertisement (renewal) $150.00
New application fee $25.00
One day peddler/hawker $10.00
Pawnshop $200.00
Peddler/hawker $70.00
Peddler/hawker badge $25.00
Personal service $125.00
Pigeon $25.00
Pool $50.00/table
Private detective $200.00
Second hand $200.00
Second hand advertisement $320.00
Solicitors $50.00
Special event (F and F1) $500.00
Tobacco $100.00
Trade name certificates $10.00
Transfer of alcohol beverage $400.00
Yard sale $10.00
Department of Planning and Economic Development Fee or License Amount
Zoning application $50.00 + cost of advertising and postage
Administrative subdivision or merger $50.00
Minor subdivision or land development $100.00
Major subdivision or land development $200.00 + cost of advertising and postage
Purchase zoning ordinance $25.00
Purchase subdivision regulations $25.00
Purchase comprehensive plan $25.00
Department of Parks, Recreation and Community Service Fee or License Amount
Park permit $30.00/hour
(Ord. of 2-10-2016; Ord. of 3-11-2019(1), § 1; Ord. of 3-11-2019(5), § 1; Ord. of 6-11-2019(3), § 1; Ord. of 6-12-2023(2), § 1)