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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 "Code of Ordinances, Town of West Warwick, Rhode Island." Such ordinances may also be cited as the "West Warwick Code."
(Code 1970, § 1-1)
Sec. 1-2. - Definitions and rules of construction.#
(a)
In the construction of this Code and of all ordinances hereafter enacted, the following interpretations shall be placed on the words and phrases hereinafter mentioned, unless such construction or interpretation shall 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" means the Charter of the Town of West Warwick, Rhode Island.
Code or this Code. The term "Code" or "this Code" means the Code of Ordinances, Town of West Warwick, Rhode Island.
Computation of time. The time in which an act is to be done shall be computed by excluding the first day and including the last day; and if the last day is a Sunday or a legal holiday, that shall be excluded.
Corporate limits, corporation limits, town limits. Whenever the terms "corporate limits," "corporation limits" and "town limits" are used, they mean the legal boundary of the Town of West Warwick.
Council, town council. The term "the council" or "town council" means the town council of the Town of West Warwick.
County. The term "the county" or "this county" means the County of Kent in the State of 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 or section designate otherwise.
Fee schedule. The town council has adopted, and from time to time amends, a schedule of fees for various city services and related charges. The current schedule of fees is provided in appendix B to this Code.
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.
G.L. The abbreviation "G.L." refers to the most recent edition and version of the indicated portion of the State of Rhode Island General Laws.
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.
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.
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.
May. The term "may" is permissible and not mandatory.
Month. The term "month" means a calendar month.
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.
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 terms "swear" and "sworn" shall be equivalent to the terms "affirm" and "affirmed."
Officers, employees, departments, boards, committees, commissions, etc. Whenever the title of an officer, employee, department, board, committee or commission is used, it means the officer, employee, department, board, committee or commission of the Town of West Warwick, Rhode Island, and includes duly authorized subordinates.
Or, and. The term "or" may be read as "and" and the term "and" may be read as "or," if the sense requires it.
Owner. The term "owner," applied to a building or land, includes 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.
Personal property. The term "personal property" includes every species of property except real property, as herein described.
Preceding, following. The terms "preceding" and "following" mean next before and next after, respectively.
Premises. Whenever the term "premises" is used, it means a place or places.
President. Whenever the term "president" is used, it means the president of the town council.
Property. The term "property" includes real and personal property.
Public place. The term "public place" includes, without limitation, any park, cemetery, school yard 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.
Residence. The term "residence" means 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 means the town or corporate seal.
Shall. The term "shall" is to be construed as being mandatory.
Sidewalk. The term "sidewalk" means any portion of a street between the vertical curbline or edge of pavement or edge of travelled 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 term "signature" or "subscription" includes a mark when the person cannot write.
State. The term "state" or "the state" means the State of Rhode Island.
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.
Town. The term "town" or "the town" means the Town of West Warwick in the County of Kent and the State of Rhode Island.
Week. The term "week" means seven days.
Written, in writing. The term "written" or "in writing" includes any representation of words, letters or figures, whether by printing or otherwise.
Year. The term "year" means a calendar year.
(b)
The provisions of this Code shall be liberally construed to effect the purposes expressed therein or implied from the expression thereof. In case of doubt or ambiguity in the meaning of such provisions, the general shall yield to the specific. Reference for interpretation and construction shall tend to further the accomplishment of the elimination of the particular mischiefs for which the provisions were enacted. Words shall be construed in their common and usual significance unless the contrary is clearly indicated.
(Code 1970, § 1-2)
Sec. 1-3. - Editorial aids and features.#
(a)
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 unless otherwise expressly so provided, shall not be deemed or taken to be titles of such sections, or 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.
(b)
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.
(c)
Editorial references and 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.
(Code 1970, § 1-3)
Sec. 1-4. - Ordinances not affected by Code.#
Nothing in this Code or the ordinance adopting this Code shall affect the following when not in conflict with the Code: (1)
Any offense or act committed or done or any penalty or forfeiture incurred or any contract or right established or accruing before this Code.
(2)
Any ordinance promising or guaranteeing the payment of money for the town or authorizing the issuance of any bonds of the town or any evidence of the town's indebtedness, or any contract or obligation assumed by the town.
(3)
Any administrative ordinances of the town, not in conflict or inconsistent with the provisions of this Code.
(4)
Any ordinance fixing salaries of officers or employees of the town.
(5)
Any appropriation ordinance.
(6)
Any contract right or franchise granted by the council.
(7)
Any ordinance dedicating, naming, establishing, locating, relocating, opening, closing, paving, widening, vacating, etc., any street or public way in the town.
(8)
Any ordinance establishing and prescribing the street grades of any street in the town.
(9)
Any ordinance providing for local improvements or assessing taxes for such improvements.
(10)
Any ordinance dedicating or accepting any plat or subdivision in the town or providing regulations for the subdivision of land.
(11)
Any ordinance annexing property to the town.
(12)
Any ordinance rezoning property in the town.
(13)
Any ordinance prescribing traffic regulations for specific locations or prescribing through streets, parking limitations, parking prohibitions, one-way traffic, limitations on loads of vehicles or loading zones, not inconsistent with this Code.
(14)
Any ordinance fixing fees, rates and charges.
(15)
Any ordinance approving a redevelopment area.
(16)
Any ordinance levying or imposing taxes.
All such ordinances are recognized as continuing in full force and effect to the same extent as if set out at length in this Code.
Sec. 1-5. - 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 or proceeding pending at the time of the repeal, for an offense committed or cause of action arising under the ordinance repealed.
(Code 1970, § 1-4)
State Law reference— Similar provisions, G.L. 1956, §§ 43-3-22—43-3-24.
Sec. 1-6. - 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, 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 the same would have been enacted by the town council without the incorporation in this Code of any such unconstitutional phrase, clause, sentence, paragraph or section.
(Code 1970, § 1-5)
Sec. 1-7. - 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 herein, 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 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 West Warwick, Rhode Island, is hereby amended to read as follows: (set out new provisions in full)."
(c)
In the event 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 West Warwick, 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 subsection (c) of this section, when the town council desires to enact an ordinance of a general and permanent nature embracing a subject not previously existing in the Code, which the town 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 town council and it is hereby ordained that the provisions of this ordinance shall become and be made part of the Code of Ordinances, Town of West Warwick, 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 number or other number, as the case may be.
(Code 1970, § 1-6)
Sec. 1-8. - 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 clerk. 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 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 the 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 sections 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 in 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. 1-9. - Ordinances to be numbered consecutively.#
The town clerk shall number all ordinances consecutively in the order of their adoption from the number of the latest chapter of town ordinances.
(Code 1970, § 1-7; Ord. of 3-29-1927, § 2)
State Law reference— Similar provisions, numbering of laws, G.L. 1956, § 43-2-1.
Sec. 1-10. - Publication of ordinances.#
In addition to the procedures as defined and set forth in section 409 of the town Charter, the town council ordains that at the time of the advertising of public hearings pursuant to section 409(C) of the town Charter, the town clerk shall also publish in a newspaper of general circulation in the town a notice summarizing the subject matter of all proposed ordinances to be heard at such public hearing. This publication shall be in addition to the posting of the ordinance in its entirety at the town hall.
(Code 1970, § 1-8; Ord. of 10-5-1993, § 1-1)
Sec. 1-11. - Altering Code.#
It shall be unlawful for any person in the town 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 town to be misrepresented thereby. Any person violating this section shall be punished as provided in section 1-12 hereof.
(Code 1970, § 1-9)
Sec. 1-12. - General penalty; continuing violations.#
(a)
Whenever in this Code or in any ordinance or resolution of the town an act is prohibited or is made or declared to be unlawful or an offense, or whenever in such Code, ordinance, or resolution the doing of any act is required or the failure to do any act is declared to be unlawful or an offense, where no specific penalty is provided therefor, the violation of any such provision of this Code or any such ordinance or resolution shall be punished by a fine of not more than $500.00 or by imprisonment for not more than 30 days.
(b)
Each day any violation of this Code or of any such ordinance or resolution shall continue shall constitute a separate offense.
(c)
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 and by such other means as are provided by law. The imposition of a penalty does not prevent equitable relief.
(d)
The imposition of a penalty does not prevent revocation or suspension of a license, permit or franchise or other administrative sanctions.
(e)
In this section, the term "violation of this Code" means:
(1)
Doing an act that is prohibited or made or declared unlawful, an offense or a misdemeanor 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; or
(3)
Failure to perform an act if the failure is declared a misdemeanor or an offense or unlawful by ordinance or by rule or regulation authorized by ordinance.
(f)
In this section, the term "violation of this Code" does not include the failure of a town officer or town employee to perform an official duty unless it is provided that failure to perform the duty is to be punished as provided in this section or it is clear from the context that it is the intent to impose the penalty provided for in this section upon the officer or employee.
(Code 1970, § 1-10; Ord. of 1-31-1968, § 1; Ord. of 10-9-1974, § 1; Res. of 3-3-1987)
State Law reference— Limitation on penalties, G.L. 1956, § 45-6-2.
Sec. 1-13. - Prosecution where same act unlawful under different provisions.#
In all cases where the same offense may be made punishable or shall be created by different clauses or sections of the ordinances of the town, the prosecuting officer may elect under which to proceed, but not more than one recovery shall be had against the same person for the same offense.
(Code 1970, § 1-11)
Sec. 1-14. - Fees and charges.#
(a)
All fees and charges imposed by the town, specifically including, but not limited to, fees and charges for permits, licenses, services or copies, shall from time to time be set, repealed and/or changed by the town council by resolution.
(b)
Upon the passage and taking effect of this section and the passage and taking effect of a resolution setting the fees and charges of the town, all fees and charges, whether established by ordinance or elsewhere, that are inconsistent with any fee or charge established by said resolution are hereby repealed.
(Code 1970, § 1-12; Ord. No. 2013-45, 9-17-2013)