CODE OF ORDINANCES CITY OF GRAND PRAIRIE, TEXAS

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CHARTER
AND
GENERAL ORDINANCES OF THE CITY

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Published in 1981 by Order of the City Council

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CURRENT OFFICIALS
of the
CITY OF GRAND PRAIRIE, TEXAS

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Ron Jensen
Mayor

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Jorja Clemson	District 1
Jim Swafford	District 2
Mike Del Bosque	District 3
Richard Fregoe	District 4
Tony Shotwell	District 5
Jeff Wooldridge	District 6
Jeff Copeland	Place 7 at large
Greg Giessner	Place 8 at large

 

City Council

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Tom Hart
City Manager

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Don Postell
City Attorney

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Catherine DiMaggio
City Secretary

PREFACE

This volume contains the Charter of the City of Grand Prairie, Texas, as amended, and a disposition table of each enactment included herein, amending or relating to the Charter of the City; and the Code of Ordinances, constituting a revision and recodification of the 1964 Code of the City, containing ordinances of a general and permanent nature of the City which were deemed appropriate to be included. The 1964 Code has been updated by the City weekly to the time of this recodification.

The Code of Ordinances is an entire new codification, as expressed in the Adopting Ordinance, supersedes all ordinances not included herein or expressly saved from repeal by the Adopting Ordinance. Only ordinances of a general and permanent nature prescribed for and affecting the public as a whole are included herein. Special ordinances or ordinances dealing with only a portion of the inhabitants of the City, rather than all of them, or relating to special purposes are not included herein. For an enumeration of the type of ordinances which are not included herein, see Section 3 of the Adopting Ordinance.

The source of each section is included in the history note 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 this Code.

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 1 is numbered 1-1 and the twenty-fifth section of Chapter 2 is 2-25. Under this system, each section is identified with its Chapter, and at the same time new sections can be inserted in their proper places 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 5-3 and 5-4 is desired to be added, such new sections would be numbered 5-3.1, 5-3.2, 5-3.3, respectively. Sections have been reserved at the end of the articles and divisions to provide for future expansion.

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 the holders of copies of the Code with instructions for the manner of inserting the new pages and deleting the obsolete pages. Each such subsequent amendment, when incorporated into this Code, may be cited as a part hereof, as provided in Section 5 of the Adopting Ordinance.

The successful maintenance of this Code up-to-date at all times will depend largely upon the holder of the Code. 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 and that all deleted pages be saved and filed for historical reference purposes.

The general 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 city officials and employees. There are numerous cross references within the index itself which stand as guideposts to direct the user to the particular item in which he is interested.

The publishers are most grateful to all city officers and employees for their supervision, cooperation and interest during the preparation of this Code. Special appreciation is due to Mr. R. Clayton Hutchins, City Attorney, for his efforts and assistance to the publisher.

The publication of this Code was under the direct supervision of B. Meade White, Editor, of the Municipal Code Corporation, Tallahassee, Florida.

	MUNICIPAL CODE CORPORATION
	Tallahassee, Florida

 

ADOPTING ORDINANCE
ORDINANCE NO. 3212

An Ordinance Adopting and Enacting a New Code of Ordinances of the City of Grand Prairie, Texas; Establishing the Same; Providing for the Repeal of Certain Ordinances Not Included Therein, Except as Herein Expressly Provided, and Providing for the Effective Date of such Code and a Penalty for the Violation Thereof; Providing for the Manner of Amending Such Code; and Providing When This Ordinance Shall Become Effective.

Be It Ordained by the City Council of the City of Grand Prairie, Texas:

Section 1.  That the Code of Ordinances, consisting of Chapters 1 to 28, each inclusive, is hereby adopted and enacted as the "Code of Ordinances, City of Grand Prairie, Texas," and shall be treated and considered as a new and original comprehensive ordinance which shall supersede all other general and permanent ordinances passed by the city council, to the extent provided in Section 2 hereof.

Section 2.  That all provisions of such Code shall be in full force and effect from and after the effective date of this ordinance, and the substantive provisions of all ordinances of a general and permanent nature of the City of Grand Prairie, enacted on final passage on or before April 3, 1979, and not included in such Code or recognized and continued in force by reference therein are hereby repealed from and after the effective date of this ordinance, except as hereinafter provided. Resolutions of the city not specifically mentioned are not hereby repealed.

(a)

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 such Code;

(b)

Any ordinance promising or guaranteeing the payment of money for the city, or authorizing the issuance of any bond of the city or any evidence of the city's indebtedness;

(c)

Any contract or obligation assumed by the city;

(d)

Any right or franchise granted by the city, whether or not all portions of such franchises are set out in such code;

(e)

Any ordinance relating to railroad crossings, or relating to the conduct, duties, service or rates of public utilities;

(f)

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

(g)

Any ordinance relating to municipal street maintenance agreements with the State of Texas;

(h)

Any ordinance establishing or prescribing grades for streets in the city;

(i)

Any appropriation ordinance or ordinance providing for the levy of ad valorem taxes or other taxes not mentioned herein, or providing for an annual budget;

(j)

Any ordinance relating to local improvements and assessments therefor;

(k)

Any ordinance annexing territory to the city or discontinuing territory as a part of the city;

(l)

Any ordinance dedicating or accepting any plat or subdivision in the city;

(m)

Ordinances prescribing traffic regulations, not in conflict herewith;

(n)

Any ordinance relating to elections;

(o)

Any zoning ordinance; or any platting ordinance;

(p)

Any ordinance relating to the transfer or acceptance of real estate by or from the city;

(q)

Any administrative ordinance not in conflict with such Code;

(r)

Any ordinance prescribing personnel policies, procedures, civil service regulations or rules, or salaries and wages, or adopting any retirement system;

(s)

Any ordinance included in this Code the validity of which depends on it having been enacted by a certain date, and all such provisions herein shall be deemed continuations of such ordinance;

(t)

Any ordinance prescribing rates or charges of utility companies, not included herein;

(u)

The preambles, recitals and findings of facts contained in all ordinances included in such Code;

(v)

Any ordinance enacted after April 3, 1979.

Provided, this ordinance may be amended from time to time to incorporate any of the matters listed above into the Code of Ordinances, at which time said exception or exceptions will be deemed to be deleted, whether or not expressly done so.

Section 3.  This ordinance shall not be construed to revive any previously repealed ordinance.

Section 4.  That whenever in such Code an act is prohibited or is made or declared to be unlawful or an offense or a misdemeanor, or whenever in such Code the doing of any act is required or the failure to do any act is declared to be unlawful and no specific penalty is provided therefor, the violation of any such provision of this Code, including any secondary Code adopted by reference therein, shall be punished by a fine of not exceeding two hundred dollars ($200.00), as provided in section 1-8 of such Code.

Section 5.  That any and all additions and amendments to such Code, when passed in such form as to indicate the intention of the city council to make the same a part thereof, shall be deemed to be incorporated in such Code so that reference to the "Code of Ordinances, City of Grand Prairie, Texas," shall be understood and intended to include such additions and amendments.

Section 6.  In case of the amendment of any section of such Code for which a penalty is not provided, the general penalty as provided in Section 4 of this ordinance and section 1-8 of such 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 so amended; unless such penalty is specifically repealed therein.

Section 7.  That a copy of such Code shall be kept on file in the office of the city secretary preserved in looseleaf form, or in such form as the city secretary may consider most expedient. It shall be the express duty of the city secretary, or someone authorized by the city secretary to insert in their designated places all amendments or ordinances which indicate the intention of the city council to make the same a part of such Code when the same have been printed or reprinted in page form, and to extract from such Code all provisions which may be from time to time repealed by the city council. This copy of such Code shall be available for all persons desiring to examine the same.

Section 8.  That it shall be unlawful for any person to change or amend, by additions or deletions, any part or portion of such Code, or to insert or delete pages or portions of such Code, or to alter or tamper with such Code in any manner whatsoever which will cause the law of the City of Grand Prairie to be misrepresented thereby. Any person violating this section shall be punished as provided in Section 4 of this ordinance.

Section 9.  That all ordinances or parts of ordinances in conflict herewith are, to the extent of such conflict, hereby repealed.

Section 10.  That this ordinance shall become effective on the 14th day of April, 1981.

PASSED AND APPROVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF GRAND PRAIRIE, TEXAS, this the 14th day of April, 1981. ;sigr; James D. Weems, Sr.\Mayor, City of Grand Prairie, Texas

ATTEST: ;sigl; Melba Flagg\City Secretary.