Sec. 1-1. Designation and citation of Code.
The ordinances contained in this chapter and in the following chapters shall be designated and cited as the "Code of Ordinances, Town of Tiverton, Rhode Island," and may be so cited. Such Code may also be cited "Tiverton Town Code."
(Code 1967, § 1-1)
Charter reference(s)—Codification and revision of ordinances, § 1215.
Sec. 1-2. Definitions and rules of construction.
In the construction of this Code and of all other ordinances of the town, the following rules shall be observed, unless such construction would be inconsistent with the manifest intent of the town council:
Charter. Reference to "this Charter" or "the Charter" shall mean the Home Rule Charter of the Town of Tiverton, Rhode Island, as printed in Part I of this volume.
Code. Reference to "the Code" or "this Code" shall mean the Code of Ordinances, Town of Tiverton, 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; and if the last day is Sunday or a legal holiday, that shall be excluded.
Council. The words "the council" or "town council" shall mean the town council of the Town of Tiverton, Rhode Island.
County. The words "the county" or "this county" shall mean Newport County, Rhode Island.
Gender. Words used in the masculine gender shall include the feminine and neuter.
In the town. The words "in the town" or "within the town" shall mean and include all territory over which the town now has, or shall hereafter acquire jurisdiction for the exercise of its police powers or other regulatory powers.
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 and proprietor. The words "keeper" and "proprietor" shall mean and include persons, firms, associations, corporations, clubs and copartnerships, whether acting by themselves or as a servant, agent or employee.
Land. "Land" and "real estate" include rights and easements of incorporeal nature.
Month. The word "month" shall mean a calendar month.
Name of officer. Whenever the name of an officer is given it shall be construed as though the words "of the Town of Tiverton" were added.
Oath. When an oath is required or authorized by law, an affirmation in lieu thereof may be taken by a person having conscientious scruples against taking an oath. An affirmation has the same effect as an oath.
Or, and. "Or" may be read "and" and "and" may be read "or," if the sense requires it.
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 or 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 or any other group acting as a unit, as well as a natural person.
Personal property. "Personal property" includes every species of property except real property.
Plural, singular. Words importing the singular shall include the plural, words importing the plural shall include the singular.
Preceding, following. The words "preceding" and "following" mean next before and next after, respectively.
Property. "Property" includes real, personal and mixed estates and interests.
Real property. "Real property" shall include lands, tenements and hereditaments.
Shall, may. "Shall" is mandatory; "may" is permissive.
Sidewalk. "Sidewalk" shall mean that part of the street exclusively reserved for pedestrians and constructed for such purpose.
Signature or subscription. "Signature" or "subscription" includes a mark when the person cannot write.
State. The words "the state" or "this state" shall be construed to mean the State of Rhode Island.
State law references. Whenever reference is made to the "General Laws" or "G.L. 1956," this shall mean the General Laws of Rhode Island, 1956, as amended. Whenever reference is made to "Public Laws" or "P.L.," this shall mean the Public Laws of Rhode Island.
Tenant or occupant. The word "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 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 words "the town" or "this town" shall be construed as if the words "of Tiverton, Rhode Island" followed them.
Ways, streets, highways. The words "ways," "streets" and "highways" shall be construed as including boulevards, avenues, courts, lanes, alleys, squares, places and sidewalks, and each of these words includes every other of them.
Written, in writing. "Written" or "in writing" shall be construed to include any representation of words, letters or figures, whether by printing or otherwise.
Year. The word "year" shall mean a calendar year.
(Code 1967, § 1-2)
Sec. 1-3. Catchlines of sections, history notes and references.
The catchlines of the several sections of this Code printed in boldface type, the history notes appearing in parentheses after sections of the Code, and the references scattered throughout the Code shall not be deemed or taken to be a substantive part of any section nor, unless expressly so provided, shall they be so deemed when any of such sections, including the catchlines, are amended or reenacted.
(Code 1967, § 1-3)
Sec. 1-4. Provisions deemed continuation of prior ordinances.
The provisions of this Code, so far as they are in substance the same as those ordinances existing on the effective date of this Code, shall be considered as continuations thereof and not as new enactments.
(Code 1967, § 1-4)
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 ordinances repealed.
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 or otherwise invalid by the valid judgment or decree of a court of competent jurisdiction, such unconstitutionality or invalidity shall not affect any of the remaining phrases, clauses, sentences, paragraphs and sections of this Code.
(Code 1967, § 1-5)
Sec. 1-7. General penalty; continuing violations.
(a) Whenever in this Code or in any ordinance or resolution of the town any 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 either in this Code or in state law, 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 imprisonment not exceeding 30 days in some jail or house of correction, and/or the violator shall be required to pay restitution in cases involving property damage or personal injury in an amount up to $2,500.00, and/or be required to provide voluntary community service for the town or its agencies 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. Each day any violation of this Code or of any such ordinance or resolution shall continue shall constitute a separate offense.
(b) In addition to the penalty provided in subsection (a) of this section, any condition caused or permitted to exist in violation of any of the provisions of this Code or any town ordinance or resolution shall be deemed a public nuisance and may be, by the town, abated as provided by law. Each day that such condition continues shall be regarded as a new and separate offense.
(a) All ordinances passed subsequent to the adoption of 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 therein, 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 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 Tiverton, Rhode Island, is hereby amended to read as follows:… (Set out new provisions in full)…".
(c) If a new section not then existing in the Code is to be added, the following language may be used: "That the Code of Ordinances, Town of Tiverton, 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)…". Adopted new language shall be indicated by underlining and language repealed shall be indicated by striking through the text.
(d) In lieu of subsection (c) of this section, when the council desires to enact an ordinance of a general and permanent nature embracing a subject not previously existing in the Code, which the 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 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 Tiverton, 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 or other number, as the case may be.
(Ord. of 8-22-11, § 1)
Sec. 1-9. 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 council. A supplement to the Code shall include all substantive permanent and general parts of ordinances passed by the 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 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 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. 1-10. 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 ordinances 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 or resolution establishing salaries of town officers and employees or civil service rules;
(4) Any ordinance dedicating, naming, establishing, locating, relocating, opening, paving, widening, repairing, abandoning 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 therefore;
(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 annexing territory or excluding territory from the town;
(12) Any subdivision ordinance;
(13) Any ordinance creating special districts or assessing taxes therefore;
(14) Any ordinance granting specific tax exemptions;
(15) Any temporary or special ordinance;
(16) Any personnel ordinance;
(17) Any ordinance concerning soil erosion and sedimentation control;
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 Code.
(Ord. of 8-22-11, § 1)
Sec. 1-11. Comprehensive plan incorporated by reference.
The Comprehensive Plan of the Town of Tiverton, as duly adopted and amended from time to time, and as most recently amended April 30, 2018, is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
(Ord. of 9-25-06(1); Ord. of 4-30-18)