CODE OF DECATUR, ALABAMA

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Adopted, May 26, 1987

Effective, June 10, 1987

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Published in 1987 by Order of the City Council

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OFFICIALS
of the
CITY OF DECATUR, ALABAMA
AT THE TIME OF THIS CODIFICATION

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Bill J. Dukes
Mayor

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Thomas G. Counts, President
Jack Allen
Ray Nixon
Phil D. Raths
James L. Roberts
City Council

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Herman H. Marks, Jr.
City Attorney

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Gail Busbey
City Clerk

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PREFACE

This Code constitutes a complete recodification of the ordinances of the City of Decatur, Alabama of a general and permanent nature.

Source materials used in the preparation of the Code were the 1956 Code, as supplemented through June 5, 1978, and ordinances subsequently adopted by the Council. The source of each section is included in the history note appearing in parentheses at the end thereof. The absence of such a note indicates that the section is new and was adopted for the first time with the adoption of the Code. By use of the Comparative Tables appearing in the back of this volume, the reader can locate any section of the 1956 Code, as supplemented, and any subsequent ordinance included herein.

The chapters of the Code have been conveniently arranged in alphabetical order and the various sections within each chapter have been catchlined to facilitate usage. Footnotes which tie related sections of the Code together and which refer to relevant state laws have been included. A table listing the state law citations and setting forth their location within the Code is included at the back of this volume.

Numbering System

The numbering system used in this Code is the same system used in many state and municipal codes. Each section number consists of two component parts separated by a dash, the figure before the dash referring to the chapter number and the figure after the dash referring to the position of the section within the chapter. Thus, the first section of Chapter 4 is numbered 4-1 and the third section of Chapter 9 is 9-3. Under this system, each section is identified with its chapter and at the same time new sections or even whole chapters can be inserted in their proper place simply by using the decimal system for amendments. By way of illustration: If new material consisting of three sections that would logically come between sections 4-1 and 4-2 is desired to be added, such new sections would be numbered 4-1.1, 4-1.2 and 4-1.3 respectively. New chapters may be included in the same manner. If the new material is to be included between Chapters 3 and 4, it will be designated as Chapter 3.5. Care should be taken that the alphabetical arrangement of chapters is maintained when including new chapters. New articles and new divisions may be included in the same way or, in the case of articles, may be placed at the end of the chapter embracing the subject, and, in the case of divisions, may be placed at the end of the article embracing the subject, the next successive number being assigned to the article or division.

Index

The index of the Code has been prepared with the greatest of care. Each particular item has been placed under several headings, some of the headings being couched in lay phraseology, others in legal terminology, and still others in language generally used by municipal officials and employees. There are numerous cross references within the index which stand as guideposts to direct the user to the particular item in which he is interested.

Looseleaf Supplements

A special feature of this Code to which the attention of the user is especially directed is the looseleaf system of binding and supplemental servicing for the Code. With this system, the Code will be kept up-to-date periodically. Upon the final passage of amendatory ordinances, they will be properly edited and the appropriate page or pages affected will be reprinted. These new pages will be distributed to holders of copies of the Code, with instructions for the manner of inserting the new pages and deleting the obsolete pages. Each such amendment, when incorporated into this Code, may be cited as a part hereof.

The successful maintenance of this Code up-to-date at all times will depend largely upon the holder of the volume. As revised sheets are received, it will then become the responsibility of the holder to have the amendments inserted according to the attached instructions. It is strongly recommended by the publishers that all such amendments be inserted immediately upon receipt to avoid misplacing them and, in addition, that all deleted pages be saved and filed for historical reference purposes.

Acknowledgments

The publication of this Code was under direct supervision of George R. Langford, President, and Milton E. Lefkoff, Editor, of the Municipal Code Corporation, Tallahassee, Florida. Credit is gratefully given to the other members of the publisher's staff for their sincere interest and able assistance throughout the project.

The publishers are most grateful to Mr. A. J. Coleman, Corporate Counsel, and Mr. Herman H. Marks, Jr., City Attorney, for their cooperation and assistance during the progress of the work on this Code. It is hoped that their efforts and those of the publishers have resulted in a Code of Ordinances which will make the active law of the City readily accessible to all citizens and which will be a valuable tool in the day-to-day administration of the City's affairs.

	MUNICIPAL CODE CORPORATION
	Tallahassee, Florida

 

ORDINANCE NO. 87-2653

BE IT ORDAINED by the City Council of the City of Decatur in the State of Alabama as follows:

Section 1. That pursuant to section 11-45-7, Code of Alabama, 1975, the code of ordinances, consisting of Chapters 1 to 25, each inclusive, entitled "Code of Decatur, Alabama," published by Municipal Code Corporation, Tallahassee, Florida, under contract with the City of Decatur, as amended by Supplement Number 1, published in July of 1985, Supplement Number 2, published in April of 1986, and Supplement Number 2, Revision, published in April of 1987 (herein referred to as "the Code" and the "Code of Decatur, Alabama"), is hereby adopted and enacted as a revision and codification of the ordinances of the City of Decatur, Alabama, (including within the phrase "ordinances of the City of Decatur, Alabama", the provisions of the Code of Decatur, Alabama, 1956, as amended).

Section 2. That all provisions of the Code shall be in full force and effect from and after the 10th day of June, 1987, and all ordinances general and permanent in nature enacted on or before February 4, 1985, and not included in the Code or recognized and continued in force by reference therein, are hereby repealed from and after said effective date, except as hereinafter provided and except as provided within the Code. Unless specifically mentioned, no resolution of the City is hereby repealed.

Section 3. That Section 1-11 of the Code of Decatur, Alabama, herein adopted, is hereby amended to read as follows:

"Sec. 1-11. 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:

(1)

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;

(2)

Any ordinance 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;

(3)

Any contract or obligation assumed by the city;

(4)

Any and all subdivision regulations;

(5)

Any right or franchise granted by the city;

(6)

Any ordinance dedicating, naming, establishing, locating, opening, widening, paving, etc., any street or public way in the city;

(7)

Any appropriation ordinance, or ordinance levying or imposing any tax;

(8)

Any ordinance which, by its own terms, is effective only for a stated or limited time;

(9)

Any ordinance providing for local improvements and any ordinance making assessments therefor;

(10)

Any ordinance dedicating or accepting any subdivision plat;

(11)

Any ordinance or resolution not in conflict with this Code regulating traffic, on specific streets or portions thereof or in specific areas of the city;

(12)

Any ordinance or resolution establishing city boundary lines or annexing territory to the city;

(13)

Zoning ordinance provisions codified as Section 27-1 to Section 27-27, inclusive, Code of Decatur, Alabama, 1956, to the extent that such sections are not effectively readopted and brought forward in this Code, although printed herein, in a manner so as to continue in full force and effect;

(14)

Section 27-28, Code of Decatur, Alabama, 1956, as amended. Zoning map amendments will not be codified;

(15)

Rules and regulations which have been printed as a code in book or pamphlet form as authorized by Section 11-45-8, Code of Alabama, 1975, together with amendments thereto, to the extent that such as not effectively readopted and brought forward in this Code, although printed herein, in a manner so as to continue in full force and effect;

(16)

Any ordinance or other action adopted under or pursuant to Act Number 324, Acts of Alabama, 1965 (Regular Session), as amended, including without limitation, ordinances and resolutions establishing and amending merit system rules, plans and regulations authorized thereunder;

and, all such ordinances and other matters are hereby recognized as continuing in full force and effect to the same extent as if set out at length herein."

Section 4. That the repeal provided for in Section 2 hereof shall not be construed to revive any ordinance or part thereof that has been repealed by a subsequent ordinance which is repealed by this ordinance.

Section 5. Unless another penalty is expressly provided, a violation of any provision of the Code of Decatur, Alabama, or any other bylaw or ordinance of the City of Decatur, Alabama, shall be punished as provided from time to time in Section 1-8 of the Code.

Section 6. Any and all additions and amendments to the Code, when passed in such form as to indicate the intention of the council to make the same a part of the Code, shall be deemed to be incorporated in the Code, so that reference to the Code shall be understood and intended to include such additions and amendments.

Section 7. That in case of the amendment of any section of the Code for which a penalty is not provided, the general penalty as provided in Section 1-8 of the Code shall apply to the section as amended, or in case such amendment contains provisions for which a penalty, other than the aforementioned general penalty, is provided in another section in the same chapter, the penalty so provided in such other section shall be held to relate to the section as amended, unless such penalty is specifically repealed therein.

Section 8. Any ordinance adopted after September 9, 1985, which amends or refers to ordinances or provisions of the Code of Decatur, Alabama, 1956, which have been codified and included in the Code of Decatur, Alabama, shall be construed as if they amend or refer to like provisions of the Code of Decatur, Alabama, herein adopted, and shall be codified in the Code.

Section 9. No repeal, revision, amendment or alteration of any law shall in any manner affect any prosecution for any offense committed under the law so repealed, revised, amended or altered, unless the repealing, revising, amending or altering law shall otherwise expressly provide. Every such prosecution, whether begun before or after the enactment of such repealing, revising, amending or altering law, is governed by the law under which the offense was committed. In cases where the penalty for the offense has been altered, the defendant may elect to take the new penalty, but such election must be made before the case is submitted. The prosecution for the recovery of any penalty, or the enforcement of any forfeiture, shall not in any manner be affected by the repeal or amendment of an ordinance or code provision, but such prosecution shall be carried on to final judgment in all respects as if such ordinance or code provision had not been repealed or amended.

Adopted this 26th day of May, 1987.

Thomas G. Counts
President of the City
Council

Authenticated:

Gail Busbey
City Clerk

Approved this 26th day of May, 1987.

Bill J. Dukes, Mayor
City of Decatur, Alabama