[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Meeting of the Town of Suffield
as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted where applicable.]
[Adopted 8-13-1987 by Ord. No. 87-1 as §§ 1-1, 1-2, 1-5,
1-9, 1-10 and 1-11 of the 1987 Code]
The ordinances embraced in the following chapters and sections
shall constitute and be designated the "Code of Ordinances, Town of
Suffield, Connecticut," and may be so cited.
A.
In
the construction of this Code, and of all ordinances, the following
rules shall be observed, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:
(1)
Board
of Selectmen; Selectmen. Whenever the words "Board of Selectmen" or
"Selectmen" are used, they shall be construed to mean the Board of
Selectmen of the Town of Suffield, Connecticut.
(2)
Business.
"Business" includes businesses, professions, trades and occupations,
and all and every kind of calling.
(3)
County.
The words "the county" or "this county" shall mean the County of Hartford,
in the State of Connecticut.
(4)
Director
of Health. Whenever reference is made to the Director of Health, it
shall be construed to mean the North Central District Health Department
or its designee.
[Added 12-19-2019]
(5)
Engage
in. "Engage in" includes commence, engage in, carry on, conduct, maintain,
manage and operate.
(6)
First
Selectmen. Whenever the term "First Selectman" is used, it shall be
construed to mean the First Selectman of the Town of Suffield, Connecticut.
(7)
Gender.
The use of any gender shall include the other genders.
(8)
Goods.
"Goods" includes wares or merchandise.
(9)
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.
(10)
Keeper
and proprietor. The words "keeper" and "proprietor" shall mean and
include persons, firms, associations, corporations, clubs, copartnerships
and joint ventures, whether acting by themselves or through a servant,
agent or employee.
(11)
License
fee. "License fee" shall include any charge imposed for a license,
whether the object be regulation or revenue, or both regulation and
revenue, but when applied to any business, profession, occupation,
trade or calling regulated by the state as a matter of statewide concern
the object shall be revenue only.
(12)
Number.
The use of the singular shall include the plural and the use of the
plural shall include the singular.
(13)
Oath.
"Oath" includes an affirmation.
(14)
Office.
"Office" shall mean the use of the title of any officer, employee
or office of the Town, unless otherwise specifically designated.
(15)
Officers;
employees. The title of any officer or employee used herein shall
be construed as if the words "of the Town" followed it, and shall
include his duly authorized representative.
(16)
Operate.
"Operate" includes carry on, keep, conduct, maintain or manage.
(17)
Owner.
"Owner," when applied to a building or land, shall include any part
owner, joint owner, or owner of a community or partnership interest,
life tenant, tenant in common, or joint tenant, of the whole or a
part of such building or land.
(18)
Person.
"Person" shall mean natural person, joint venture, joint stock company,
partnership, association, club, company, corporation, business trust,
organization, or the manager, lessee, agent, servant, officer or employee
of any of them, and shall include all political subdivisions and governmental
agencies (except the United States of America and the state), and
every department of such political subdivisions, together with every
officer and employee thereof while working in the course of his employment.
(19)
Personal
property shall include every species of property except real property
as herein defined.
(20)
Property.
The word "property" shall include real and personal property.
(21)
Public
place. The term "public place" shall include any and all streets,
highways and boulevards, alleys or other publicly owned or controlled
ways and any and all publicly owned or controlled parks, squares,
spaces, grounds and buildings.
(22)
Real
property shall include lands, tenements and hereditaments.
(23)
Sale.
"Sale" includes any sale, exchange, barter or offer for sale.
(24)
Shall;
may; must. "Shall" and "must" are mandatory; "may" is permissive.
(25)
Sidewalk.
The word "sidewalk" shall mean the paved portion of a street between
the street right-of-way and the adjacent property line, intended for
the use of pedestrians.
(26)
State.
The words "the state" or "this state" shall mean the State of Connecticut.
(27)
State
law, general law or General Statutes shall refer to the General Statutes
of Connecticut, Revision of 1958, as amended.
(28)
Street.
"Street" shall mean the entire width between the boundary lines of
every way publicly maintained when any part thereof is open to the
use of the public for purposes of vehicular or pedestrian travel,
including but not limited to alleys, lanes, courts, greens, public
squares and places, and sidewalks.
(29)
Tenant;
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.
(30)
Tense.
Words used in the past or present tense include the future as well
as the past and present.
(31)
Town.
Whenever the words "the Town" are used, they shall be construed to
mean the Town of Suffield in the County of Hartford and the State
of Connecticut.
(32)
Vote,
approval or consent. Except as may be otherwise provided in connection
therewith, the phrase "vote, approval or consent" of the Board of
Selectmen or other body shall mean the affirmative vote of a majority
of those members present at a meeting having a quorum in attendance.
Whenever such phrase refers to the members of the Board of Selectmen
or other body rather than to the Board of Selectmen or body as such,
the vote required shall be in relation to the total membership rather
than to those present at the meeting.
[Amended 12-19-2019]
(33)
Writing.
"Writing" includes any form of recorded message capable of comprehension
by ordinary visual means.
B.
In
the construction of this Code of Ordinances, except as otherwise provided
in this Code of Ordinances, words and phrases shall be construed according
to the common usage of the language and according to the General Statutes;
technical words and phrases, and such as have acquired a peculiar
and appropriate meaning in the law, shall be construed and understood
accordingly.
A.
The
headings of the several sections of this Code printed in boldface
type are intended to indicate the contents of the sections and shall
not be deemed or taken to be titles of such sections, nor as any part
of the sections, nor, unless expressly so provided, shall they be
so deemed when any of such sections, including the headings, are amended
or reenacted.
B.
The
headings of chapters, articles, divisions and sections contained in
this Code shall not be deemed to govern, limit, modify or in any manner
affect the scope, meaning or intent of the provisions of any chapter,
article, division or section hereof.
Whenever a notice is required to be given under this Code, unless
different provisions herein are otherwise specifically made, such
notice may be given either by personal delivery thereof to the person
to be notified or by deposit in the United States Mail in a sealed
envelope, postage prepaid, addressed to such person to be notified
at his last known business or residence address as the same appears
in the public records or other records pertaining to the matter to
which such notice is directed. Service by mail shall be deemed to
have been completed at the time of deposit in the post office, or
any United States mailbox. Proof of giving any notice may be made
by the certificate of any officer or employee of this Town or by affidavit
of any person over the age of 18 years which shows service in conformity
with this Code or other provisions of law applicable to the subject
matter concerned.
A.
By
contract or by Town personnel, supplements to this Code shall be prepared
and printed whenever authorized or directed by the Board of Selectmen.
A supplement to the Code shall include all substantive permanent and
general parts of ordinances passed by the Town Meeting 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 the adoption of the latest ordinance
included in the supplement.
[Amended 12-19-2019]
B.
In
preparing 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,
agency or organization 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 the unified Code. For example, the codifier may:
(1)
Organize the ordinance material into appropriate subdivisions;
(2)
Provide appropriate headings and titles for sections and other subdivisions
of the Code printed in the supplement, and make changes in such 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 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.
D.
The
Town Clerk shall cause copies of each and every such reprint to be
distributed to each distributee and to every purchaser of the Code
who has ordered and paid for maintenance service.
A.
Whenever
in this Code or any other ordinance of the Town, or rule or regulation
promulgated by any officer thereof under authority vested in him/her
by law or ordinance, any act is prohibited or is declared to be unlawful
or an offense, or the doing of any act is required, or the failure
to do any act is declared to be unlawful, where no specific penalty
is provided, the violation of such ordinance, rule or regulation shall
be punished by a fine not exceeding the maximum amount authorized
by the Connecticut General Statutes. Each day any such violation shall
continue shall constitute a separate offense.
[Amended 12-19-2019]
B.
The
imposition of any punishment hereunder shall not prevent the enforced
abatement of any lawful condition by the Town.
C.
In
all cases where the same offense is made punishable or is created
by different clauses or sections of this Code, the Town Counsel may
elect under which to proceed, but not more than one recovery shall
be had against the same person for the same offense.
D.
Any
condition caused or permitted to exist in violation of any of the
provisions of this Code, officially designated as such, and each day
that such condition continues shall be regarded as a new and separate
offense.
[Adopted 12-19-2019]
The compilation of the ordinances of the Town of Suffield, codified and consolidated into chapters and sections in the form attached hereto and made a part hereof, and consisting of Chapters 1 through 290, together with an Appendix, is hereby approved, adopted, ordained and enacted as the "Code of the Town of Suffield, Connecticut," hereinafter called the "Code." All provisions contained in the compilation provided for herein and known as the "Code of the Town of Suffield" shall be in force and effect on and after the effective date of this ordinance.
The provisions of the Code, insofar as they are substantively
the same as those ordinances in force immediately prior to the enactment
of the Code by this ordinance, are intended as a continuation of such
ordinances and not as new enactments, and the effectiveness of such
provisions shall date from the date of adoption of the prior ordinance.
All such provisions are hereby continued in full force and effect
and are hereby reaffirmed as to their adoption by the Town.
A.
All ordinances
or parts of ordinances inconsistent with the provisions contained
in the Code adopted by this ordinance are hereby repealed; provided,
however, that such repeal shall only be to the extent of such inconsistency,
and any valid legislation of the Town of Suffield which is not in
conflict with the provisions of the Code shall be deemed to remain
in full force and effect.
B.
The repeal
of an ordinance shall not revive any ordinances in force before or
at the time the ordinance repealed took effect. 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 under the ordinance repealed.
C.
The following
ordinances are specifically repealed:
(3)
Board of Education, ordinance adopted July 27, 1945, amended February 23, 1982 (§ 8-4 of the 1987 Code).
(4)
Uniform
fiscal year, ordinance adopted June 29, 1961 (§ 2-2 of the
1987 Code).
(5)
Annual
budget meeting, ordinance adopted April 13, 1962 (§ 2-3
of the 1987 Code).
(6)
Capital Region Planning Agency, ordinance adopted October 6, 1969 (Ch. 14, Art. VIII, of the 1987 Code).
(11)
Public
Works Commission, Ordinance No. 2002-02, adopted May 16, 2002.
If any clause, sentence, paragraph, section, article or part
of this ordinance or of any ordinance appearing in the Code or included
in this Code through supplementation, or the application thereof to
any person or circumstances, shall be adjudged by any court of competent
jurisdiction to be invalid, such judgment shall not affect, impair
or invalidate the remainder thereof or the application thereof to
other persons and circumstances but shall be confined in its operation
to the clause, sentence, paragraph, section, article or part thereof
and the persons and circumstances directly involved in the controversy
in which judgment shall have been rendered.
A copy of the Code has been filed in the office of the Town
Clerk of the Town of Suffield and shall remain there for use and examination
by the public until final action is taken on this ordinance; and,
if this ordinance shall be adopted, such copy shall be certified to
by the Town Clerk of the Town of Suffield, and such certified copy
shall remain on file in the office of said Town Clerk to be made available
to persons desiring to examine the same during all times while said
Code is in effect. The enactment and publication of this ordinance,
coupled with the availability of a copy of the Code for inspection
by the public, shall be deemed, held and considered to be due and
legal publication of all provisions of the Code for all purposes.
Any and all additions, deletions, amendments or supplements
to any of the ordinances in the Code of the Town of Suffield, or any
new ordinances, when enacted or adopted in such form as to indicate
the intention that they be a part thereof, shall be deemed to be incorporated
into such Code so that reference to the Code shall be understood and
intended to include such additions, deletions, amendments or supplements.
Whenever such additions, deletions, amendments or supplements to the
Code shall be enacted or adopted, they shall thereafter be included
in the Code as amendments and supplements thereto.
It shall be the duty of the Town Clerk or designee to keep up-to-date
the certified copy of the Code of the Town of Suffield required to
be filed in the office of the Town Clerk for use by the public. All
changes in said Code and all ordinances adopted by the Town subsequent
to the enactment of this ordinance in such form as to indicate the
intention that they be a part of said Code shall, when finally enacted
or adopted, be included therein by temporary attachment of copies
of such changes until such changes are included as supplements to
said Code.
Copies of the Code, or any chapter or portion of it, may be
purchased from the Town Clerk of the Town of Suffield or an authorized
agent of the Town Clerk upon the payment of a fee to be set by the
Town. The Town Clerk may also arrange for procedures for the periodic
supplementation thereof.
Any person who, without authorization from the Town Clerk, changes
or amends, by additions or deletions, any part or portion of the Code
of the Town of Suffield, or who alters or tampers with such Code in
any manner whatsoever which will cause the legislation of the Town
of Suffield to be misrepresented thereby, or who violates any other
provision of this ordinance, shall, upon conviction thereof, be subject
to a fine of not more than $250.
A.
In compiling and preparing the ordinances for publication as the Code of the Town of Suffield, no changes in the meaning or intent of such ordinances have been made, except as provided in Subsection B of this section. Certain other minor nonsubstantive corrections were made in one or more of said ordinances. It is the intention of the Town Meeting that all such changes be adopted as part of the Code as if the ordinances had been previously formally amended to read as such.
B.
The amendments
as set forth in Schedule A attached hereto and made a part hereof
are made herewith, to become effective upon the effective date of
this ordinance. (Chapter and section number references are to the
ordinances as they have been renumbered and appear in the Code.)[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: Schedule A is on file with the Town Clerk.
Whenever any words in any section of this Code import the plural
number, the singular number shall be deemed to be included, and whenever
the singular number shall be used, it shall be deemed to include the
plural. Any word of masculine gender includes the feminine and the
neuter and may refer to a corporation or to a board or other body
or assemblage of persons, and when the sense so indicates, words of
the neuter gender may refer to any gender. Words used in the present
tense include the future.
This ordinance shall take effect upon passage and publication
as required by law.
