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Sec. 1-1. - Designation, citation of Code.#
The ordinances embraced in this and the following chapters shall be designated and cited as the "Code of Ordinances, Town of Exeter, Rhode Island." Charter reference— Codification of ordinances, § 413.
State Law reference— Ordinances to be printed and published in manner directed by town council, G.L. 1956, § 45-6-7.
Sec. 1-2. - Definitions and rules of construction.#
In the construction of this Code and of all ordinances hereafter enacted, the following interpretations shall be placed on the words and phrases mentioned in this section, unless such construction or interpretation would be manifestly inconsistent with the evident intent of the town council or repugnant to the context or to the evident purport of any ordinance:
Charter. The term Charter shall mean the Charter of the Town of Exeter, Rhode Island, as printed in part I of this volume.
Code. The word Code shall mean the Code of Ordinances, Town of Exeter, Rhode Island, as designated in section 1-1.
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 may be performed on the next succeeding day which is not a Sunday or legal holiday. State Law reference— Computation of time, G.L. 1956, § 43-3-13.
County. The word county shall mean the County of Washington in the State of Rhode Island.
Corporate limits, corporation limits, town limits. Whenever the words corporate limits, corporation limits, or town limits are used they shall mean the legal boundary of the Town of Exeter, Rhode Island.
Delegation of authority. Whenever a provision appears requiring the head of a department or other officer of the town 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 town, 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 designate otherwise.
G.L. 1956. The term G.L. 1956 shall mean the latest edition or reenactment of the General Laws of Rhode Island.
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.
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 provisions imposed by the Code, the provision imposing the greater restriction or regulation shall be deemed to be controlling.
Keeper, proprietor. The words keeper and proprietor shall mean and include persons, firms, associations, corporations, clubs and partnerships, whether acting by themselves or through a servant, agent or employee.
Month. The word month shall mean a calendar month. State Law reference— Similar provisions, G.L. 1956, § 43-3-12.
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.
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. The word engaged shall be equivalent to the word sworn or affirmed. State Law reference— Similar provisions, G.L. 1956, § 43-3-11.
Officers, departments, boards, committees, and commissions, etc. Whenever the title of an officer, department, board committee, commission or other agency is given it shall be construed as though the words of the Town of Exeter, Rhode Island were added.
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 by the entirety of the whole or of a part of such building or land.
Person. The word person shall include 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.
Preceding, following. The words preceding and following shall mean next before and next after, respectively. State Law reference— Similar provisions, G.L. 1956, § 43-3-16.
State. The word state shall be construed to mean the State of Rhode Island.
Tense. Words used in the past or present tense include the future as well as the past and present.
Town. The word town shall mean the Town of Exeter in the County of Washington and the State of Rhode Island.
Town council. The term council and town council shall mean the town council of the Town of Exeter, Rhode Island.
Week. The word week shall be construed to mean seven days.
Sec. 1-3. - Catchlines of sections.#
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 unless otherwise expressly so provided, shall not be deemed or taken to be titles of such sections or of any part of the section, and are of no legal effect.
Sec. 1-4. - Arrangement and numbering.#
The ordinances shall be arranged by chapters and each subject shall be given a descriptive title and chapter number. Each chapter shall contain numbered sections pertaining to the subject. The numbering of the chapters and sections shall be by arabic numerals and may be cited by numbers separated by a dash, the first number referring to the chapter and the number following the dash referring to the section.
Sec. 1-5. - History notes.#
The history notes appearing in parentheses after sections of 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.#
The editor's notes, cross references and state law references appearing in this Code are merely information to assist the user of the Code and are of no legal effect.
Sec. 1-7. - Provisions considered as continuation, repeal or amendment of existing ordinances.#
The provisions appearing in this Code, so far as they are the same as those ordinances existing at the time of the effective date of this Code, shall be considered as continuations thereof and not as new enactments. These previously established ordinances which have not been republished and incorporated herein are repealed except as otherwise provided in section 1-10 and those which have been amended, added to or deleted in part and republished as changed, shall be considered continuations of the prior ordinance or ordinances as amended.
Sec. 1-8. - Revision does not affect prior offenses, rights, 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. 1-9. - Additions and amendments deemed incorporated in Code.#
Any and all additions and amendments to this Code, when passed in such form as to indicate the intention of the town to make the same a part of this Code, shall be deemed to be incorporated in this Code, so that reference to the Code shall be understood and intended to include such additions and amendments.
Sec. 1-10. - Effect of repeal of ordinance.#
(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 pending at the time of the repeal, for an offense committed or cause of action arising under the ordinance repealed.
State Law reference— Similar provisions, G.L. 1956, §§ 4-3-22—43-3-24.
Sec. 1-11. - 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 when not inconsistent with this Code: (1)
Any ordinance promising or guaranteeing the payment of money by the town, or authorizing the issuance of any bonds of the town, or any evidence of the town's indebtedness, or any contract, agreement, lease, deed or other instrument or obligation assumed by the town 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 establishing salaries of town officers and employees or civil service rules;
(4)
Any ordinance dedicating, naming, establishing, relocating, opening, paving, widening, repairing or vacating any street, alley or other public way in the town;
(5)
Any ordinance establishing and prescribing the street grades in the town;
(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 town;
(9)
Any ordinance establishing the official plat of the town;
(10)
Any zoning map amendment or land use, rezoning or zoning ordinance;
(11)
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, not inconsistent with such Code;
(12)
Any subdivision regulations adopted by the planning board;
(13)
Any ordinance creating special districts or assessing taxes therefor;
(14)
Any ordinance granting specific tax exemptions;
(15)
Any temporary or special ordinance;
(16)
Any administrative 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 section. A copy of the ordinance is on file in the town clerk's office.
Sec. 1-12. - Amendments to Code.#
(a)
All ordinances passed subsequent to 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 in this Code, 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 by the town 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: "That section _____ of the Code of Ordinances, Town of Exeter, Rhode Island, is hereby amended to read as follows: ___________ (Set out new provisions in full) ___________."
(c)
If a new section not heretofore existing in the Code is to be added, the following language may be used: "That the Code of Ordinances, Town of Exeter, 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)
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.
Sec. 1-13. - Supplementation of Code.#
(a)
By contract or by town personnel, supplements to this Code shall be prepared and printed whenever authorized or directed by the town council. A supplement to the Code shall include all substantive permanent and general parts of ordinances passed by the town 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 the 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, 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," 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. 1-14. - Severability of parts of Code.#
It is hereby declared to be the intention of the town 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 by the valid judgment or decree of any court of competent jurisdiction, such unconstitutionality shall not affect any of the remaining phrases, clauses, sentences, paragraphs and sections of this Code, since the same would have been enacted by the town council without incorporation in this Code of any such unconstitutional phrase, clause, sentence, paragraph or section.
Sec. 1-15. - General penalty.#
Except where otherwise provided in this Code, whenever in this Code or in any ordinance of the town any act is prohibited or is made or declared to be unlawful or an offense, or whenever in this 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 exceeding $500.00 and cost of prosecution or by imprisonment not exceeding 30 days, or by both such fine and imprisonment, and/or require restitution in cases involving property damage or personal injury in an amount up to $2,500.00 and/or for voluntary community service for a town or city agency for not more than ten days for any one offense, unless other penalties therefor, or penalties within other limits, are specially prescribed by statute, to be prosecuted by some officer appointed for that purpose, and to be recovered to the use of the town, or of such person and in such proportions, as they in such ordinances and regulations shall designate. Each day any violation of any provision of this Code or of any ordinance shall continue shall constitute a separate offense. State Law reference— Authority to enact general penalty, limitations on penalties, G.L. 1956, § 45-6-2.
Sec. 1-16. - Recovery of fines and penalties.#
All fines and penalties for the violation of this Code or other town ordinances, rules or regulations shall be recoverable by complaint and warrant, or other appropriate legal process, and when recovered shall inure to the use of the town, unless otherwise provided by general law or the ordinance respecting the same.