The ordinances embraced in the following chapters and sections shall constitute and be designated as the "Code of Ordinances, City of Alachua, Florida" and shall be referred to herein as the "Code."

(Code 1976, § 1-1)

The following definitions and rules of construction shall apply to this Code and to all ordinances unless the context requires otherwise:

Generally.

(1)

When provisions conflict, the specific shall prevail over the general. All provisions shall be liberally construed so that the intent of the City Commission may be effectuated.

(2)

Terms shall have the meanings prescribed by the statutes of the State for the same terms.

(3)

Words and phrases shall be construed according to the common and approved usage of the language, but technical words, technical phrases and words and phrases that have acquired peculiar and appropriate meanings in law shall be construed according to such meanings.

(4)

Grammatical errors shall not vitiate, and a transposition of words and clauses may be resorted to when the sentence or clause is without meaning as it stands.

(5)

Scrivener's errors shall be ignored.

Charter. The term "Charter" means the Charter of the City of Alachua, Florida.

City. The term "City" means the City of Alachua, Florida.

City Commission, Commission. The terms "City Commission" and "Commission" mean the City Commission of the City of Alachua, Florida, consisting of a Mayor and four Commissioners, who shall be elected by the electors of the City.

City Manager. The term "City Manager" means the City Manager of the City of Alachua, Florida or any designee thereof.

Computation of time. In computing any period of time prescribed or allowed, the day of the act, event, or default from which the designated period of time begins to run shall not be included. The last day of the period so computed shall be included unless it is a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday, in which event the period shall run until the end of the next day which is neither a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday. When the period of time prescribed or allowed is less than seven days, intermediate Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays shall be excluded in the computation.

Conjunctions. Unless the context clearly suggests the contrary, conjunctions shall be interpreted as follows:

(1)

"And" indicates that all connected items, conditions, provisions or events apply; and

(2)

"Or" indicates that one or more of the connected items, conditions, provisions or events apply;

(3)

"Either … or" indicates that the connected terms, conditions, provisions or other events apply singly but not in combination.

County. The term "County" means Alachua County, Florida.

Delegation of authority. A provision that authorizes or requires a City officer or City employee to perform an act or make a decision authorizes such officer or employee to act or make a decision through subordinates.

F.A.C. The abbreviation "F.A.C." refers to the Florida Administrative Code, as amended.

F.S. The abbreviation "F.S." refers to the latest edition of Florida Statutes, as amended. Any reference to a State law by short title or session law chapter is a reference to such law as amended.

Includes. The term "includes" does not limit a term to a specified example.

Joint authority. Words giving a joint authority to three or more persons give such authority to a majority of such persons.

Keeper and proprietor. The terms "keeper" and "proprietor" mean and include persons, firms, associations, corporations, clubs and copartnerships, whether acting by themselves or a servant, agent or employee.

Mandatory and discretionary terms The terms "shall," "must," and "will" are mandatory in nature, establishing an obligation or duty to comply with the particular provision. The terms "may" and "should" are permissive in nature.

May not. The term "may not" states a prohibition.

Month. The term "month" means a calendar month.

Oath. A solemn affirmation is the equivalent to an oath, and a person shall be deemed to have sworn if such person makes such an affirmation.

Officers, departments, boards, committees, commissions, employees, etc. References to officers, departments, boards, committees, commissions or employees are to City officers, City departments, City boards, City committees, City commissions and City employees.

Ordinance. The term "ordinance" means any City ordinance, as amended.

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" means any individual, corporation, governmental agency, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, association, two or more persons having a joint or common interest, or any legal entity.

Personal property. The term "personal property" means any property other than real property.

Preceding. The term "preceding" means next before.

Premises. The term "premises," as applied to real property, includes land and structures.

Property. The term "property" includes real property, personal property and mixed property.

Reasonable time. The term "reasonable time" means such minimum amount of time as is reasonably necessary given the totality of the circumstances.

Shall. The term "shall" is to be construed as being mandatory.

Should. The term "should" is to be construed as being permissive and not mandatory.

Sidewalk. The term "sidewalk" means that portion of the street right-of-way outside the roadway, which is improved for the use of pedestrian or bike traffic.

State. The term "State" means the State of Florida.

Street. The term "street" means a public or private roadway which affords the principal means of access to abutting property. The term "street" includes lanes, ways, places, drives, boulevards, roads, avenues, or other means of ingress or egress regardless of the descriptive term used.

Tenant or occupant. The term "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 part of such building or land, either alone or with others.

Tenses, plurals, and gender. Words used in the present tense include the future tense. Words used in the singular number include the plural number and the plural number includes the singular number, unless the context of the particular usage clearly indicates otherwise. Words used in the masculine gender include the feminine gender, and vice versa.

Week. The term "week" shall be construed to mean seven days.

Will. The term "will" is to be construed as being mandatory.

Written or 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.

Year. The term "year" shall mean a calendar year, unless a fiscal year is indicated.

(Code 1976, § 1-2)

The catchlines of the 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 sections, nor, unless expressly so provided, shall they be so deemed when any of such sections, including the catchlines, are amended or reenacted.

(Code 1976, § 1-3)

(a)

The history or source notes appearing in parentheses after sections in this Code have no legal effect and only indicate legislative history. 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.

(b)

Unless specified otherwise, all references to chapters or sections are to chapters or sections of this Code.

(Code 1976, § 1-3)

The repeal of an ordinance shall not revive any ordinance in force before or at the time the ordinance repealed took effect. 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 1976, § 1-4)

(a)

All ordinances adopted subsequent to this Code that amend, repeal or in any way affect this Code may be numbered in accordance with the numbering system of the Code and printed for inclusion in the Code.

(b)

Amendments to provisions of this Code may be made with the following language: "Chapter (article, division, subdivision, section or subsection, as appropriate) _____ of the Code of Ordinances, City of Alachua, Florida, is hereby amended to read as follows:…."

(c)

If a new chapter, article, division, subdivision, section or subsection is to be added to the Code, the following language may be used: "Chapter (article, division, subdivision, section or subsection, as appropriate) _____ of the Code of Ordinances, City of Alachua, Florida, is hereby created to read as follows:…."

(d)

All provisions desired to be repealed should be repealed specially by section, subdivision, division, article or chapter number, as appropriate, or by setting out the repealed provisions in full in the repealing ordinance.

(Code 1976, § 1-6)

(a)

Supplements to this Code shall be prepared and printed whenever authorized or directed by the City. A supplement to this 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 the supplement shall be so numbered that they will fit properly into the Code and will, where necessary, replace pages that have become obsolete or partially obsolete. 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 that 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 person authorized to prepare the supplement may make formal, nonsubstantive changes in ordinances and parts of ordinances included in the supplement, insofar as necessary to do so in order to embody them into a unified code. For example, the person may:

(1)

Arrange the material into appropriate organizational units.

(2)

Supply appropriate catchlines, headings and titles for chapters, articles, divisions, subdivisions and sections to be included in the Code and make changes in any such catchlines, headings and titles or in any such catchlines, headings and titles already in the Code.

(3)

Assign appropriate numbers to chapters, articles, divisions, subdivisions and sections to be added to the Code.

(4)

Where necessary to accommodate new material, change existing numbers assigned to chapter, articles, divisions, subdivisions, sections or subsections.

(5)

Change the words "this ordinance" or similar words to "this chapter," "this article," "this division," "this subdivision," "this section," or "this subsection" or "sections _____ to _____" (inserting section numbers to indicate the sections of the Code that embody the substantive sections of the ordinance incorporated in the Code).

(6)

Make other nonsubstantive changes necessary to preserve the original meaning of the ordinances inserted in the Code.

(a)

In this section, "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 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.

(3)

Failure to perform an act if the failure is prohibited or is made or declared unlawful, an offense, a violation or a misdemeanor by ordinance or by rule or regulation authorized by ordinance.

(b)

In this section "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 provided by law or ordinance, a person convicted of a violation of this Code shall be sentenced to pay a fine, not to exceed $500.00, and may be sentenced to a definite term of imprisonment not to exceed 60 days. 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 other violations, each act constitutes a separate offense.

(d)

The imposition of a penalty does not prevent suspension or revocation of a license, permit or franchise or other administrative sanctions and any sanction may be employed in the case of a violation of this Code.

(e)

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 1976, § 1-8)

State Law reference— Designation of enforcement methods and penalties for violation of municipal ordinances, F.S. § 162.22.

The $2.00 court cost authorized by F.S. § 318.18(1)(d), to be used to fund criminal justice education degree programs and training courses, including basic recruit training is hereby adopted and shall be imposed on noncriminal traffic infractions as provided by law. The $2.00 court cost authorized by F.S. § 938.15, to be used to fund criminal justice education degree programs and training courses, including basic recruit training, is hereby adopted and shall be imposed on persons convicted of State criminal statutes for crimes committed within the territorial jurisdiction of the City, and shall also be imposed on persons convicted of violations of the ordinances, except for ordinance violations relating to the parking of vehicles.

(Ord. No. O-06-04, § 1, 2-27-2006)

If any provision of this Code or its application to any person or circumstances is held invalid or unconstitutional, the invalidity or unconstitutionality does not affect other provisions or application of this Code that can be given effect without the invalid or unconstitutional portion.

(Code 1976, § 1-5)

The provisions of this Code, insofar as they are substantially the same as ordinances previously adopted by the City relating to the same subject matter, shall be construed as restatements and continuations thereof and not as new enactments.

(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.

This Code is to be read in conjunction with the laws and regulations of the State of Florida, as amended from time to time. To the extent any portion of this Code conflicts with applicable State or Federal law or regulation, the state or federal law or regulation shall prevail to the extent necessary to allow the reasonable interpretation of this Code.

Nothing in this Code or the ordinance adopting this Code affects the validity of any ordinances or portion of any ordinance listed below. All such ordinances continue in full force and effect to the same extent as if published at length in this Code.

(1)

Amending the Charter as published in part I of this volume.

(2)

Annexing property into the City or describing the corporate limits.

(3)

Deannexing property or excluding property from the City.

(4)

Providing for salaries or other employee benefits not codified in this Code.

(5)

Providing personnel policies not published in this Code.

(6)

Promising or guaranteeing the payment of money or authorizing the issuance of bonds or other instruments of indebtedness.

(7)

Authorizing or approving any contract, deed or agreement.

(8)

Relating to the condemnation or acquisition of land.

(9)

Conveying any rights to public lands or any ordinance authorizing an encroachment on public land.

(10)

Making or approving any appropriation or budget.

(11)

Granting any right or franchise.

(12)

Adopting or amending the comprehensive plan not published in this Code.

(13)

Levying or imposing any special assessment.

(14)

Dedicating, establishing, naming, locating, relocating, opening, paving, widening, repairing or vacating any street, sidewalk or alley.

(15)

Establishing the grade of any street or sidewalk.

(16)

Dedicating, accepting or vacating any street, plat or subdivision.

(17)

Levying, imposing or otherwise relating to taxes not codified in this Code.

(18)

Approving the inclusion of the City or any part thereof in a municipal service taxing unit (MSTU) or municipal service benefit unit (MSBU) not codified in this Code.

(19)

Approving County assessments for a municipal service taxing unit (MSTU) or municipal service benefit unit (MSBU) not codified in this Code.

(20)

Rezoning property or amending the zoning map or land use changes to the future land use map.

(21)

Adopting or amending the City of Alachua Land Development Regulations, being Ord. No. 06-11, as amended.

(22)

That is temporary, although general in effect.

(23)

That is special, although permanent in effect.

(24)

The purpose of which has been accomplished.