The ordinances embraced in this and the following chapters shall constitute and be designated the “Code of Ordinances, City of Concordia, Kansas,” and may be so cited. Such ordinances may also be cited as the “Concordia Code.”

(K.S.A. 12-3014 et seq.; Code 1971, § 1-1)

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

(a)   Generally. When provisions conflict, the specific shall prevail over the general. All provisions shall be liberally construed so that the intent of the governing body may be effectuated. Terms and phrases shall be construed according to the common and approved usage of the language, but technical terms, technical phrases and terms and phrases that have acquired peculiar and appropriate meanings in law shall be construed according to such meanings.

(b)   City. The term “city” means the City of Concordia, Kansas.

(c)   Code. The term “Code” means the Code of Ordinances, City of Concordia, Kansas, as designated in section 1-101.

(d)   Computation of time. In computing any period of time prescribed or allowed by this Code, 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 is to be included, unless it is a Saturday, Sunday or a legal holiday, in which event the period runs until the end of the next day which is not a Saturday, a Sunday or a legal holiday. When the period of time prescribed or allowed is less than 11 days, intermediate Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays shall be excluded in the computation. A half-holiday shall be considered as other days and not as a holiday. The term “legal holiday” includes any day designated as a holiday by the Congress of the United States, or by the legislature of this state.

(e)   State law reference— Similar provisions, K.S.A. 60-206.

(f)   County. The term “county” means Cloud County, Kansas.

(g)   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.

(h)   Gender. Terms of one gender include all other genders.

(i)    Governing body. The term “governing body” means the city commission of the city.

(j)    Joint authority. Terms giving a joint authority to three or more persons give such authority to a majority of such persons.

(k)   K.S.A. The abbreviation “K.S.A.” means the Kansas Statutes Annotated, as amended.

(l)    Month. The term “month” means a calendar month.

(m)  Number. Terms in the singular include the plural. Terms in the plural include the singular.

(n)   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.

(o)   Officers, departments, etc. References to officers, departments, boards, commissions or employees are to city officers, city departments, city boards, city commissions and city employees.

(p)   Owner. The term “owner,” as applied to property, includes any part owner, joint owner, tenant in common, tenant in partnership, joint tenant or tenant by the entirety of the whole or part of such property.

(q)   Person. The term “person” means any human being, any governmental or political subdivision or public agency, any public or private corporation, any partnership, any firm, association or other organization, any receiver, trustee, assignee, agent, or other legal representative of any of the foregoing or any other legal entity.

(r)    Personal property. The term “personal property” means any property other than real property.

(s)   Preceding. The term “preceding” means next before.

(t)    Premises. The term “premises,” as applied to real property, includes land and structures.

(u)   Property. The term “property” includes real property, personal property and mixed property.

(v)   Real property, real estate, land, lands. The terms “real property,” “real estate,” and “land” include lands, buildings, tenements and hereditaments and all rights and interests therein except chattel interests.

(w)  Roadway. The term “roadway” means that portion of a street improved or ordinarily used for vehicular traffic.

(x)   Sidewalk. The term “sidewalk” means that portion of a street between the curbline, or the lateral lines of a roadway where there is no curb, and the adjacent property line, intended for the use of pedestrians. If there is no public area between the lateral lines of the roadway and the abutting property line, then the area immediately abutting the street line shall be construed as the sidewalk.

(y)   Signature and subscription by mark. The terms “signature” and “subscription” include a mark when the signer or subscriber cannot write. In such situations, such person’s name shall be written near the mark by a witness who writes his/her own name near such person’s name.

(z)   Street. The term “street” means any alley, avenue, boulevard, highway, road, lane, viaduct, bridge and the approach thereto, and any other public thoroughfare in the city. The term “street” also means the entire width thereof between abutting property lines. The term “street” includes a sidewalk or footpath.

(aa) Tenant, occupant. The terms “tenant” and “occupant,” as applied to a building or land, include:

(1)   Any person holding either alone or with others a written or oral lease of such building or land.

(2)   Any person who either alone or with others occupies such building or land.

(Code 1971, §§ 1-17, 1-18, 1-22—1-46)

(a)   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 are not titles of such sections, or of any part of the section, nor unless expressly so provided shall they be so deemed when any such section, including the catchline, is amended or reenacted.

(b)   The history or source notes appearing in parenthesis 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.

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

(Code 1971, § 1-21)

The provisions of this Code and all other ordinances of the city apply to all real property belonging to the city outside of the corporate limits of the city to the maximum extent authorized by law. The use of the term “in the city” in this Code or in any ordinance shall not limit the application of this Code and city ordinances to property belonging to the city outside of the corporate limits of the city.

(K.S.A. 3-117, 112-851; Code 1971, § 1-19)

(a)   Unless specifically provided otherwise, the repeal of an ordinance does not revive any repealed ordinance.

(b)   The repeal or amendment of an ordinance does not affect any punishment or penalty incurred before the repeal took effect, nor does such repeal or amendment affect any suit, prosecution or proceeding pending at the time of the amendment or repeal.

(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:

       “Section (chapter, article or subsection, as appropriate) of the Code of Ordinances, City of Concordia, Kansas, is amended to read as follows: ….”

(c)   If a new section, subsection, article or chapter is to be added to the Code, the following language may be used:

       “Section (chapter, article, or subsection, as appropriate) of the Code of Ordinances, City of Concordia, Kansas, is created to read as follows: ….”

(d)   All provisions desired to repeal should be repealed specifically by section, subsection, article or chapter number, as appropriate, or by setting out the repealed provisions in full in the repealing ordinance.

(Code 1971, § 1-3)

(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 of a general and permanent nature 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 or 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 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, sections and subsections to be added to the code.

(4)   Where necessary to accommodate new material, change existing numbers assigned to chapters, articles, sections and subsections.

(5)   Change the terms “this ordinance” or similar terms to “this chapter,” “this article,” “this subsection,” “this section” 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 the term “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.

(4)   Counseling, aiding or abetting a violation of this Code as defined in this subsection (a).

(b)   In this section the term “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)   For the purpose of sentencing, unless otherwise specified in this Code, the following classes of violations of this Code and the punishment and terms of confinement authorized for each class are established:

(1)   Class A violation, the sentence for which shall be a definite term of confinement in the county jail which shall be fixed by the court and shall not exceed one year;

(2)   Class B violation, the sentence for which shall be a definite term of confinement in the county jail which shall be fixed by the court and shall not exceed six months;

(3)   Class C violation, the sentence for which shall be a definite term of confinement in the county jail which shall be fixed by the court and shall not exceed one month; and

(4)   Unclassified violations, which shall include all offenses declared to be violations without specification as to class, the sentence for which shall be in accordance with the sentence specified in the section that defines the offense; if no penalty is provided, the sentence shall be the same penalty as provided herein for a class C violation.

(d)   A person convicted of a violation of this Code may, in addition to, or instead of, the confinement authorized by ordinance, be sentenced to pay a fine which shall be fixed by the court, unless otherwise specified in this Code, as follows:

(1)   Class A violation, a sum not exceeding $2,500.00.

(2)   Class B violation, a sum not exceeding $1,000.00.

(3)   Class C violation, a sum not exceeding $500.00.

(4)   Unclassified violation, any sum authorized by the section that defines the offense. If no penalty is provided for same, the fine shall not exceed the fine provided in this subsection for a class C violation.

(e)   As an alternative to the fines provided for in subsection (d) of this section, a person convicted of a violation of this Code may be fined any greater sum not exceeding double the pecuniary gain derived from the offense by the person convicted.

(f)   Any person who is incarcerated as a punishment for a violation of this Code may be required to work at suitable public employment under the supervision and custody of the director of public works or a police officer, as determined by the chief of police. While so working, such person may be secured by chains, guards or other means of confinement and restraint as may be necessary to prevent escape.

(g)   Except as otherwise provided by law or ordinance:

(1)   Each day that a violation of this Code that is continuous with respect to time constitutes a separate offense.

(2)   Each violation of this Code that is not continuous with respect to time constitutes a separate offense.

(h)   The imposition of a penalty does not prevent suspension or revocation of a license, permit or franchise or other administrative sanctions.

(i)    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.

(K.S.A. 22-4603; Code 1971, §§ 1-5, 20-3(b))

The sections, subsections, paragraphs, sentences, clauses and phrases of this Code and all provisions adopted by reference in this Code are severable so that if any section, subsection, paragraph, sentence, clause and phrase of this Code or of any provision adopted by reference in this Code is declared unconstitutional or invalid by a valid judgment of a court of competent jurisdiction, such judgment shall not affect the validity of any other section, subsection, paragraph, sentence, clause and phrase of this Code or of any provision adopted by reference in this Code, for the governing body declares that it is its intent that it would have enacted this Code and all provisions adopted by reference in this Code without such invalid or unconstitutional provisions. If any provision of this Code is declared to be inapplicable to specific property by a valid judgment of a court of competent jurisdiction, such judgment shall not restrict the applicability of such provision to other property.

(Code 1971, § 1-6)

The provisions of this Code, insofar as they are substantially the same as legislation 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 ordinance on the effective date of this Code.

Nothing in this Code or the ordinance adopting this Code affects the validity of any charter ordinance or any of the following ordinances or portions of ordinances. Such ordinances continue in full force and effect to the same extent as if published at length in this Code.

(1)   Annexing property into the city, deannexing property or excluding property from the city or describing the corporate limits.

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

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

(4)   Authorizing or approving any contract, deed, or agreement.

(5)   Making or approving any appropriation or budget.

(6)   Relating to the purchase, condemnation, acquisition or dedication of property for public use.

(7)   Authorizing, directing or otherwise relating to any public improvement.

(8)   Granting any right or franchise.

(9)   Vacating any easement or park land.

(10) Adopting or amending the comprehensive plan.

(11) Levying or imposing any special assessment.

(12) Dedicating, establishing naming, locating, relocating, opening, paving, widening, repairing or vacating any street.

(13) Establishing the grade of any street or sidewalk or designating main trafficways.

(14) Dedicating, accepting or vacating any plat or subdivision or otherwise pertaining to the subdivision of land.

(15) Adopting or providing subdivision regulations.

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

(17) Rezoning specific property or otherwise pertaining to zoning.

(18) That is a charter ordinance.

(19) That is temporary, although general in effect.

(20) That is special, although permanent in effect.

(21) The purpose of which has been accomplished.

(Code 1971, §§ 1-2, 22-1)