(a)
Unless otherwise provided or limited by law, the city shall possess
and be vested with all powers, functions, privileges, and immunities,
expressed or implied, to which cities are, or hereafter may be, entitled
under and in the spirit of the Constitution of Michigan and the home
rule traditions of the State, and may exercise all legislative power
not prohibited by or in contravention with law. In the exercise of
such powers, functions, and privileges, the city shall manage and
control its finances, rights, interests, buildings, and property;
enter into contracts; acquire by purchase, grant, lease, or condemnation,
hold, and utilize any property, both within and without the limits
of the city; acquire, own, and operate any utility, unless the power
to do so is denied by law; do any act to advance the interests, and
good government, and prosperity of the city and its inhabitants; and
protect the public peace, morals, health, and general welfare, and
the safety of persons and property.
(b)
The city may join with any municipal corporation or with any other
unit of government, or with any number or combination thereof, by
contract, or otherwise as may be permitted by law, in the ownership,
operation, or performance, jointly, or by one or more on behalf of
all, of any property, facility, or service which each would have the
power to own, operate, or perform separately. The city may also transfer
any of its health powers or functions to the County of Branch or to
any district health department, unless such power or function is specifically
provided to be executed or performed by the city or one or more of
its officers, departments, or agencies, or, unless prohibited by law.
(c)
The enumeration of particular powers, privileges, or immunities in
this chapter or elsewhere in this charter shall not be held or interpreted
to be exclusive.
Under authority of Act No. 279 of the Public Acts of 1909, as
amended, and other provisions of law, it is hereby provided in this
charter and the power of the city shall include, but shall not be
limited to, the following:
(1)
To declare as a hazard or nuisance any act or condition, upon public
or private property, or both, including, but not limited to, the accumulation
of rubbish and the growing of noxious weeds, which is or may be dangerous
to the health, safety, morals, or welfare of the inhabitants of the
city; to provide for the abatement thereof; and to provide that the
costs of such abatement shall be charged as a special assessment against
the real property on which the hazard or nuisance is located.
(2)
To provide for the public welfare by:
(a)
Regulating trades, occupations, and amusements within the city,
and prohibiting trades, occupations, and amusements which are detrimental
to the safety, health, morals, or welfare of its inhabitants;
(b)
Regulating the preparation, storage, transportation, and sale
of foods, drugs, and beverages for human consumption;
(c)
Collecting and disposing of garbage and rubbish;
(d)
Regulating and restricting the locations of oil and gasoline
stations;
(e)
Licensing, and regulating the number of vehicles, which carry
persons or property for hire, fixing the rates of fare and charges,
and determining the location of stands for such vehicles;
(f)
Licensing and regulating billboards and advertising signs and
the locations thereof;
(g)
Regulating the construction, erection, alteration, equipment,
repair, moving, removal, and demolition of buildings and structures
and their appurtenances and service equipment;
(h)
Establishing zones within the city and regulating therein the
use and occupancy of lands or structures; the height, area, size,
and location of buildings; the required open spaces for light and
ventilation of buildings, and the density of population;
(i)
Regulating, limiting, and prohibiting the construction and use
of buildings and structures, including the use, occupancy, and parking
of house trailers, and lands in order to promote the public health
and welfare and the safety of persons and property.
(j)
Regulating and controlling the use of streams, water, and water
courses within the city in any manner consistent with the provisions
of law.
(3)
To establish and reasonably control streets, alleys, bridges, and
public places, and the space above and beneath them, and the use thereof
by:
(a)
Creating and vacating the same and acquiring and disposing of
land, or any interest in land required therefor, including any surplus
land which may be incidental to or necessary for the purchase of land
required;
(b)
Providing a plan of streets and alleys within and for a distance
of not more than three miles beyond the limits of the city.
(c)
Requiring the owners of real property to build and maintain
public sidewalks in the area of streets immediately adjacent to such
property, and, upon the failure of any owner to do so; constructing
and maintaining such sidewalks and assessing the cost thereof against
such property as a special assessment;
(d)
Compelling all persons to care for the untraveled portions of
streets lying between the curbs and property line which abut upon
premises owned, controlled, or occupied by them, and to keep the same
free from weeds and from objects which are offensive or hazardous
to public health and safety, and, upon the failure to do so, cutting
and removing such weeds and removing such objects and assessing the
cost thereof against such property as a special assessment;
(e)
Compelling all persons to keep sidewalks which are in the area
of streets immediately adjacent to the premises owned, controlled,
or occupied by them, free from snow, ice, dirt, wood, weeds, shrubbery,
or any other object which obstructs such sidewalks, or which makes
the same offensive or hazardous to the public health or safety, and
upon the failure to do so, to cut and remove such weeds and remove
such objects and assess the cost thereof against such property as
a special assessment;
(f)
Providing for the grade of streets and requiring public utility
users of the street to conform thereto with respect to their tracks
or facilities located on, above, or under the streets; requiring railroads
to keep their tracks and the street surface between their tracks,
and for a distance of 1 1/2 feet on each side of them, in reasonable
repair at all times;
(g)
Regulating the speed of vehicles, trains, and locomotives upon
or across the streets within the provisions and limitations of law,
and the stopping and parking of the same upon the streets and at street
crossings;
(h)
Providing for and regulating the lighting of streets and alleys,
whether such lights be located on public or private property;
(i)
Preventing and abating the encumbering of streets and alleys
or any part thereof;
(j)
Regulating the location of buildings and structures and of trees
and shrubbery at and near street corners and street intersections
with alleys, so as to provide for the public safety and welfare in
the use of streets and alleys;
(k)
Providing for and regulating the numbering of buildings upon
property abutting the streets and alleys and compelling the owners
and occupants thereof to affix numbers thereto.
(l)
Providing for the use by other than the owner, of property located
on, above, or under the streets, alleys, and public places, in the
operation of a utility, upon the payment of a reasonable compensation
therefor to the owner thereof;
(m)
Providing for the planting and general care and protection of
trees and shrubbery within the streets and public places of the city
and preventing the cutting of limbs and branches for the placing and
maintenance of utility wires without the consent of the designated
officer or agency of the city.
(4)
To undertake any public work or make any public improvement or any
repair or replacement thereof, either directly or by contract with
public bodies or private persons; and to participate in any public
work or public improvement under any lawful plan by which the whole
or partial support of such work or improvement is provided by another
governmental unit or agency;
(5)
To construct, provide, maintain, extend, operate, and improve:
(a)
Within the city: a city hall; city office buildings; community
buildings; police stations; fire stations; civic auditoriums; public
libraries; and polling places; and,
(b)
Either within or without the corporate limits of the city or
of Branch County: public parks; recreation grounds and stadiums; municipal
camps; public grounds; zoological gardens; museums; airports and landing
fields; cemeteries; public wharves and landings upon navigable waters;
levees, embankments, and structures for flood control and other purposes
related to the public health, safety, and welfare; electric light
and power plants and systems; gas plants and systems; public heating
plants and systems; waterworks and water treatment plants and systems;
sewage disposal plants and systems; storm sewers; garbage collection
and disposal facilities; refuse and rubbish collection and disposal
facilities; market houses and market places; public transportation
facilities; facilities for the storage and parking of vehicles; hospitals;
facilities for the landing of helicopters and air vehicles having
like landing characteristics; and any other structure or facility
which is devoted to or intended for public purposes within the scope
of the powers of the city;
(6)
To acquire by purchase, gift, condemnation, lease, or otherwise,
real and personal property, and interests in property, either within
or without the corporate limits of the city or of Branch County, for
any public use or purpose within the scope of its powers, including,
but not by way of limitation, the uses and purposes set forth in this
section.
(7)
Receive and hold any property, whether real, personal or intangible,
in trust for park, cemetery, or any other municipal purpose and apply
the same to the execution of such trust.
