[CC 1970 §1-1]
This Code shall be known and may be cited as the "Code of Ordinances, City of Clayton, Missouri" or simply as "the Code of Ordinances" or "the Code" and shall be treated and considered as a new and comprehensive original ordinance which shall completely supersede all general ordinances passed by the Board of Aldermen prior to the effective date of this Code, except such as are by reference thereto expressly saved from repeal or continued in force and effect for any purpose.
[CC 1970 §1-2]
A. 
In the construction of this Code of Ordinances and of all ordinances, the following definitions and rules of construction shall be observed, unless it shall be otherwise expressly provided in any section or ordinance or unless inconsistent with the manifest intent of the Board of Aldermen or unless the context clearly requires otherwise:
BOARD OF ALDERMEN, BOARD
Whenever the term "Board of Aldermen" or "Board" is used, unless the context requires otherwise, said terms shall be construed to refer to the Board of Aldermen of the City of Clayton.
CITY
The words "the City" shall mean the City of Clayton in the State of Missouri and shall include the appropriate officers and employees thereof when any action by "the City" is indicated.
CODE 1947
Citations to the 1947 Code of Ordinances shall be deemed to include all amendments to the Sections thereof to which such citations are appended herein.
CODE OF ORDINANCES, CODE
The term "Code of Ordinances" or "Code" shall mean the Code of Ordinances, City of Clayton, Missouri.
COMPUTATION OF TIME
The time within which an act is to be done shall be computed by excluding the first and including the last day; and if the last day be Sunday or a legal holiday, that shall be excluded.
COUNTY
The words "the County" shall mean St. Louis County in the State of Missouri.
DELEGATION OF AUTHORITY
Whenever a provision appears requiring the head of a department of the City to do some act or make certain inspections, it is to be construed to authorize the head of the department to designate, delegate and authorize subordinates to perform the required act or make the required inspection unless the terms of the provision or Section designates otherwise. All such delegations of authority shall be certified in writing to the City Manager at the time made and likewise with recisions thereof.
GENDER
When any subject matter, party or person is described or referred to by words importing the masculine, females as well as males, and associations and bodies corporate as well as individuals, shall be deemed to be included.
JOINT AUTHORITY
Words importing joint authority to three (3) or more persons shall be construed as authority to a majority of such persons.
KEEPER, PROPRIETOR
Includes persons, firms, associations, corporations, clubs and partnerships, whether acting by themselves or through a servant, agent or employee.
NON-TECHNICAL AND TECHNICAL WORDS
Words and phrases shall be construed according to the common and approved usage of the language; but technical words and phrases and such others as may have acquired a peculiar and appropriate meaning in law shall be construed and understood according to such meaning.
NUMBER
When any subject matter, party or person is described or referred to by words importing the singular number, the plural and separate matters and persons and bodies corporate shall be deemed to be included.
OATH
Includes an affirmation in all cases in which, by law, an affirmation may be substituted for an oath and in such cases the words "swear" and "sworn" shall be equivalent to the words "affirm" and "affirmed".
OFFICERS
Reference to any officer by title, such as "Mayor", "City Manager", etc., shall be deemed to refer to such officers of the City of Clayton, Missouri.
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, joint tenant or tenant by the entirety of the whole or a part of such building or land.
PERSON
Includes a corporation, firm, partnership, association, organization and any other group acting as a unit as well as individuals. It shall also include an executor, administrator, trustee, receiver or other representative appointed according to law. Whenever the word "person" is used in any Section of this Code of Ordinances prescribing a penalty or fine, it shall include agents and employees thereof; as to partnerships or associations, the word shall include the partners, members, agents and employees thereof and as to corporations, the word shall include the officers, members, agents and employees thereof who are responsible for any violation of such Section, as well as the principal.
PERSONAL PROPERTY
Includes money, goods, chattels, things in action and evidences of debt.
PRECEDING, FOLLOWING
The words "preceding" and "following" shall mean next before and next after, respectively.
PREMISES
Whenever the word "premises" is used, it shall mean place or places.
PROPERTY
Includes real and personal property.
REAL PROPERTY
The terms "real property" or "premises" or "real estate" or "lands" shall be deemed to be co-extensive with lands, tenements and hereditaments.
RESIDENCE
The place adopted by a person as his/her place of habitation and to which, whenever he/she is absent, he/she has the intention of returning. When a person eats at one place and sleeps at another, the place where such person sleeps shall be deemed his/her residence.
SIDEWALK
The portion of the street between the curb line and the adjacent property line intended for the use of pedestrians.
SIGNATURE
Where the written signature of any person is required, the proper handwriting of such person or his/her mark shall be intended.
STATE
The words "the State" shall mean the State of Missouri.
STREET
Includes any public way, highway, street, avenue, boulevard, parkway, alley or other public thoroughfare and each of such words shall include every other of them.
TENANT, OCCUPANT
The word "tenant" or "occupant", applied to a building or land, shall include any person who occupies the whole or a part of such building or land, whether alone or with others.
TENSE
Words used in the past or present tense include the future as well as the past and present.
WRITTEN, IN WRITING AND WRITING WORD FOR WORD
Includes printing, lithographing, or other mode of representing words and letters, but in all cases where the signature of any person is required, the proper handwriting of the person, or his/her mark, is intended.
B. 
All general provisions, terms, phrases and expressions contained in this Code of Ordinances shall be liberally construed in order that the true intent and meaning of the Board of Aldermen may be fully accomplished.
[1]
State Law References—Definitions of many terms defined in this Section, §§1.020—1.050, RSMo.
[CC 1970 §1-3]
In the interpretation and application of any provision of this Code, it shall be held to be the minimum requirements adopted for the promotion of the public health, safety, comfort, convenience and general welfare. Where any provision of this Code imposes restrictions upon the subject matter differing from a general provision imposed by the Code, the provision imposing the greater restriction shall be deemed to be controlling.
[CC 1970 §1-4]
The catchlines of the several Sections of this codification printed in boldface type are intended as mere catchwords to indicate the contents of the Section and shall not be deemed or taken to be titles of such Sections, nor as any part of the Section, nor, unless expressly so provided, shall they be so deemed when any of such Sections, including the catchlines, are amended or re-enacted.
[CC 1970 §1-5; Ord. No. 6534, 5-8-2018]
A. 
No offense committed and no fine, penalty or forfeiture incurred, or prosecution commenced or pending previous to or at the time when any statute, ordinance or provision of this Code is repealed or amended, shall be affected by the repeal or amendment, but the trial and punishment of all such offenses, and the recovery of the fines, penalties or forfeitures shall be had, in all respects, as if the provision had not been repealed or amended, except that all such proceedings shall be conducted according to existing procedural laws.
B. 
When any ordinance repealing another ordinance or a provision of this Code shall itself be repealed, such repeal shall not constitute a revival of such other ordinance or provision, unless it is expressly so provided.
[CC 1970 §1-6]
It is hereby declared to be the intention of the Board of Aldermen 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 any court of competent jurisdiction, such unconstitutionality shall not affect any of the remaining phrases, clauses, sentences, paragraphs and Sections of this Code, since the same would have been enacted by the Board of Aldermen without the incorporation in this Code of any such unconstitutional or invalid phrase, clause, sentence, paragraph or Section.
[CC 1970 §1-7]
A. 
All ordinances passed subsequent to this Code of Ordinances which amend, repeal or in any way affect this Code of Ordinances 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 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 of Ordinances and subsequent ordinances numbered or omitted are readopted as a new Code of Ordinances by the Board of Aldermen.
B. 
Amendments to any of the provisions of this Code should be made by amending such provisions by specific reference to the Section amended.
C. 
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.
[CC 1970 §§1-16—1-18; CC 1947 §§12-15—12-17]
A. 
Established. United States standard time for the zone in which the City is located shall be the official time of the City, but if that time is not later than the mean astronomical time of the ninetieth degree (90°) of longitude west from Greenwich, the official time of the City shall be advanced one (1) hour from 2:00 A.M. on the last Sunday in April until 2:00 A.M. on the last Sunday in October in each year.
B. 
References To Time. When reference is made to any time without qualification in any ordinance, resolution or order heretofore passed or which may be passed hereafter by the Board of Aldermen or in any official notice, advertisement or document of the City or in any contract to which the City is a party, it shall be understood to refer to the official time of the City as herein described. When the words "daylight-saving time" are used, the reference shall be to the advanced time herein prescribed as the official time from the last Sunday in April until the last Sunday in October.
C. 
Time Prescriptions To Be Of Official Time. In all ordinances, resolutions or orders of the Board of Aldermen and in all official notices, advertisements or documents of the City and in all contracts to which the City is a party relating to the time of performance of any act by any officer or department of the City or relating to the time within which any rights shall accrue or determine or which any act shall or shall not be performed by any person, it shall be understood and intended that the time shall be the official time of the City as herein prescribed.
[CC 1970 §1-15]
A. 
The City Clerk shall keep three (3) copies of this Code of Ordinances. These copies shall be so preserved by the City Clerk that all amendments to, or general ordinances affecting, such codification shall be shown by appropriate notes. The purpose of this provision is to insure the maintenance in the office of the City Clerk of three (3) master copies of the codification in which shall be shown all changes which have taken place since the publication thereof.
B. 
In determining whether any ordinances hereafter passed or any part thereof shall be noted in the copies of the codification so preserved by the City Clerk and in determining the form of any such note and its location, if any doubt arises, the City Clerk shall be guided by the advice of the City Attorney or his/her assistants.