City Council shall adopt by ordinance all legislation deemed
necessary to carry out the activities of the City as authorized by
law and this Charter. The legislative power of the City is vested
exclusively with the City Council, except as otherwise provided by
law. The forms of legislation shall be as follows:
(1)
Resolutions or motions: A resolution or motion shall be limited to
matters required or permitted to be done by the Charter, or by state
or federal laws or pertaining to the internal affairs or concerns
of the city government. A resolution is an official City Council action
in the form of a motion adopted by an affirmative vote of at least
four (4) members of the City Council.
(2)
Ordinances: An ordinance is an official City Council action by an
affirmative vote of at least four (4) members. An ordinance is a legislative
act establishing a more permanent influence on the City than a resolution
and requiring greater formalities in its adoption.
Within two (2) years after the effective date of this Charter,
the City Council shall adopt an ethics ordinance by which all persons
in the municipal service, whether compensated or voluntary, shall
abide. It shall encourage such persons to place the public interest
above self-interest.
In addition to other acts required by law or by specific provision
of this Charter to be adopted by ordinance, acts which do any of the
following shall be by ordinance:
(1)
Adopt or amend an administrative code or establish, alter or abolish
any City department, office or agency;
(2)
Amend or repeal any ordinance previously adopted;
(3)
Grant, renew or extend a franchise, except as otherwise provided
by law;
(4)
Authorize the borrowing of money;
(5)
Provide for a fine or other penalty or establish a rule or regulation
for violation of which a fine or other penalty is imposed;
(6)
Regulate land use and development.
All legislation by ordinance shall comply with the following
requirements:
(1)
Each proposed ordinance shall be introduced in written or printed
form, shall be identified by a number and a short title and shall
contain no more than one subject.
(2)
The enacting clause shall be "The City of Port Huron Ordains."
(3)
An ordinance may provide for new legislation, amend or repeal an
existing ordinance or a part or parts of an ordinance. It shall identify
the ordinance, sections or subsections to be amended or repealed and
shall clearly indicate the matter to be omitted and new matter to
be added. An ordinance may be repealed by reference to its number
and title only.
(4)
The City Council may adopt provisions of state law, or any code of
technical regulations, by reference thereto in an adopting ordinance
in the manner and to the extent provided by law.
(5)
No ordinance shall be finally passed at the same meeting at which
it is introduced, unless it is declared to be an emergency ordinance
or is allowed by law to be adopted at the same meeting at which it
is introduced.
(6)
An ordinance or amendment shall become effective upon its publication,
as provided in this Charter, but not less than five (5) days after
its passage, unless a different effective date is provided by law
or unless it shall be passed as an emergency ordinance.
(7)
Within five (5) days, ordinances shall be published as determined
by the City Council unless the law prescribes a specific mode of publication.
(8)
An enacted ordinance shall be authenticated by the Mayor and the
City Clerk with their signatures and shall be recorded by the City
Clerk in a book of ordinances.
(9)
Copies of adopted ordinances or codes adopted by reference shall
be made available by the City Clerk for inspection or distribution
at the City's cost for the copy.
The City Council may enact one or more emergency ordinances
under the following circumstances and subject to the following requirements:
(1)
An emergency ordinance may only be enacted to meet a public emergency;
(2)
An emergency ordinance shall be deemed necessary for the preservation
of the public peace, health or safety;
(3)
An emergency ordinance may be adopted on the date of its introduction;
(4)
Emergency ordinances may only be adopted by an affirmative vote of
not less than five (5) members of the City Council;
(5)
Emergency ordinances shall become effective immediately upon publication
by posting a copy thereof on the City's web site and in three
(3) public places within the City.
(6)
Emergency ordinances shall be published in the same manner as ordinances,
but not as a requirement for effectiveness.
(7)
An emergency ordinance shall expire at the end of sixty (60) days
unless subsequently enacted as a non-emergency ordinance or is amended
or repealed prior to its expiration.
The City Council may provide by a specific ordinance, or by
general ordinance, for the penalties to be assessed for a violation
of an ordinance. The violation of an ordinance may be classified as
a misdemeanor, a civil infraction or a municipal civil infraction
and penalties for such violation shall be provided in accordance with
the law.
(a)
Copies of all ordinances which are in effect and all amendments to
the Charter shall be kept in the office of the City Clerk and be available
for public inspection or distribution at the City's cost for
the copy.
(b)
Copies of ordinances and publications referred to in paragraph (a)
shall be certified by the City Clerk under the authority of the City
Council and shall be competent evidence in all courts and legally
established tribunals as to the matters contained therein.
(c)
At least once in every ten (10) years, the City Council shall direct
the compilation or codification of all current City ordinances in
a manner consistent with the law.
Unless an ordinance shall expressly provide to the contrary,
if any portion of an ordinance or its application to any person or
circumstance shall be found to be invalid by a court, such invalidity
shall not affect the remaining portions or applications of the ordinance.
The electors of the City shall have the powers of initiative
and referendum on all matters within the scope of the powers of the
City. Initiative means the power to propose and to enact ordinances.
Referendum means the power to reject ordinances adopted by the City
Council.
An initiatory or a referendum petition shall be governed by
the following rules:
(1)
It shall be governed by law unless otherwise provided in this section.
(2)
It shall be signed by qualified and registered electors of the City
in a number equal to five percent (5%) of the registered voters on
the date the City's attorney has filed the written opinion on
the proposal's compliance with the law.
(3)
It shall be substantially in the form required by law for initiation
of constitutional amendments or legislation, or referendum of legislation,
except as may otherwise be provided in this Charter.
(4)
An initiatory or referendum petition shall set forth in full the
ordinance it proposes to initiate or on which it seeks referendum
and no petition shall propose to initiate or seek referendum on more
than one ordinance.
(5)
Before being circulated, a petition for initiative or referendum
shall be submitted to the City Clerk who shall submit the petition
to the City's attorney for an opinion on the proposal's
compliance with the law. The City's attorney shall file a written
opinion with the City Clerk within fifteen (15) days.
(6)
Signed petitions for initiative or referendum shall be filed with
the City Clerk who shall give a receipt showing the date of the filing,
the number of petition sheets filed and the number of signatures claimed
by the filer. This shall constitute the total filing and the City
Clerk shall not accept additional petition sheets.
(7)
The City Clerk shall within fifteen (15) business days of receiving
the signed petitions, determine if the petition is in proper form
and shall determine the number and validity of the signatures on the
petition in accordance with the law and so certify.
(8)
Any petition signature is null and void if the signature was made
more than one hundred eighty (180) days before the petition is filed
with the Office of the City Clerk.
(9)
If the petition is found sufficient and proper, the City Clerk shall
present the petition to the City Council at its next regular meeting.
(10)
If the petition is found to be insufficient, the City Clerk shall
notify the person or organization sponsoring the petition of the insufficiency
of the petition.
Within thirty (30) days of the City Council receiving the petition
for initiative or referendum from the City Clerk, the City Council
shall:
(1)
Adopt the ordinance as submitted in the petition if it is an initiatory
petition or repeal the ordinance to which the petition refers if it
is a referendum petition; or
(2)
Submit the proposal to the electors at the next available election
date as provided by law. The result shall be determined by a majority
vote of the electors voting at the election, except where a greater
number is required by the Constitution, this Charter or the law.
(a)
Upon certification of the Board of Canvassers to the City Clerk of
the approval of the initiative or referendum, the City Clerk shall
within five (5) days publish each ordinance passed by the electorate
in the manner provided in this Charter for the publication of ordinances.
Such initiatory ordinance or ordinances shall take effect immediately
upon publication.
(b)
Should two (2) or more ordinances adopted at the same election have
conflicting provisions, the one receiving the highest vote shall prevail
as to those provisions.
(c)
An ordinance adopted by the electorate through initiatory proceedings
may not be amended or repealed, except by initiatory or referendum
proceedings, for a period of two (2) years from its adoption.
(d)
An ordinance containing the same provisions as that rejected by the
electorate through initiatory or referendum proceedings cannot be
adopted, except by initiative or referendum proceedings, for a period
of two (2) years from the date of the election rejecting the provisions.
[The electorate approved an initiatory petition ballot proposal
on Nov. 4, 2014, to add Section 3-13.]
Nothing in the Code of Ordinances shall apply to the use, possession,
or transfer of less than 1 ounce of marijuana, on private property,
or transportation of 1 ounce or less of marijuana, by a person who
has attained the age of 21 years.
