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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda - 12-05-2011 - 8dORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT Meeting Date: December 5, 2011 Action Agenda Item No. ~_ SUBJECT: Ado tion of the Code of General Ordinances DEPARTMENT: Attorney's Office PUBLIC HEARING: (YIN) No ATTACHMENT(S): INFORMATION CONTACT: Codification Adoption Ordinance John Roberts, (919) 245-2318 PURPOSE: To codify and adopt Orange County's general ordinances into a Code of Ordinances. BACKGROUND: On December 17, 1996 the Orange County Board of County Commissioners, pursuant to North Carolina General Statute §153A-49, authorized the codification of its ordinances into a Code of Ordinances, subject to attorney approval. Work commenced on this project and in early 2001 a draft code was received by County staff. Further work was performed preparing the Code for adoption. However, for various reasons, the Code of Ordinances was never formally adopted. The Code, in its un-adopted form, remained accessible on the County's web site and over the years caused confusion both to Orange County staff who occasionally referenced the Code as the law of Orange County and also by attorneys and local residents who engaged in business with the County. In April 2009 the Board of County Commissioners employed a County Attorney as its first in- house counsel. One of the initial directives the Board issued to the County Attorney was to bring forward the codification of Orange County's ordinances for adoption. Since April 2009 the office of the County Attorney has been preparing the Code for adoption. This task was made more difficult by the vast number of amendments made to the ordinances from 2001 when the Code was initially drafted through 2011 when the final draft Code was completed. The Code of Ordinances does not include the Ordinance to Assign and Regulate Road Names, House and Building Numbers in Orange County. This is a proposed ordinance that may soon be adopted. If adopted, it will be submitted to Municipal Code Corporation for inclusion in the Code. This Code of Ordinances also does not include the Unified Development Ordinance ("UDO"). It is the intent of the County Attorney to present the UDO for codification in the Summer of 2012 as an appendix to the General Code. Once the UDO is codified, the codification of Orange County's Ordinances will be complete. 2 In an effort to conserve paper and prevent the unnecessary expenditure of tax dollars, multiple proofs of the 424-page draft code were not ordered. The Code of General Ordinances may be viewed online by navigating to http://www.co.orange.nc.us/OCCLERKS/Ordinances.asp and clicking on the link entitled "Draft Code of Ordinances." FINANCIAL IMPACT: The one-time cost of the re-publication is $8,000 for the General Ordinances. The annual cost charged by Municipal Code Corporation is $500 for maintaining the Code on the Internet. Also there is an estimated $2,500 - $3,000 annual cost for supplementation of the Code. This cost is dependent on the amount of legislation adopted, amended, or repealed by the Board of Commissioners. RECOMMENDATION(S): The Manager recommends the Board formally adopt the Codification Adopting Ordinance and codify the General Ordinances of Orange County. 3 vRD- ao11-o43 ADOPTING ORDINANCE AN ORDINANCE ADOPTING AND ENACTING A NEW CODE OF ORDI- NANCES FOR ORANGE COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA; PROVIDING FOR THE REPEAL OF CERTAIN ORDINANCES NOT INCLUDED THEREIN; PROVIDING A PENALTY FOR THE VIOLATION THEREOF; PROVIDING FOR THE MANNER OF AMENDING SUCH CODE; AND PROVIDING WHEN SUCH CODE AND THIS ORDINANCE SHALL BECOME EFFEC- TIVE. BE IT ORDAINED BY THE BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS OF ORANGE COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA: Section 1. The Code entitled "Code of Ordinances, Orange County, North Carolina," published by Municipal Code Corporation, consisting of chapters 1 through 50, each inclusive, is adopted. Such Code updates references to certain state and county agencies and departments as specified in the Memorandum of Agency and Department Namesl dated November 1, 2011, which memoran- dum is incorporated in this Ordinance by reference. Section 2. All ordinances of a general and permanent nature enacted on or before December 5, 2011, and not included in the Code or recognized and continued in force by reference therein, are repealed; provided, however that the Code does not contain, and is not intended to affect: (a) The Unified Development Ordinance of Orange County, North Caro- lina, as adopted on Apri15, 2011 shall continue in full force and effect. (b) The Facilities Use Policy adopted on May 17, 2011, as amended, shall. continue in full force and effect. In the event of a conflict between the provisions of the Facilities Use Ordinance (chapter 18 of such Code) and the Facilities Use Policy, the provisions of the Facilities Use Policy shall prevail. The Facilities Use Policy is available for review at the Orange County Clerk's Office. (c) Budget Ordinances and the annually adopted Schedule of Fees. (d) Bond Orders and Ordinances. (e) Any franchise ordinances not specifically incorporated in the Code. Section 3. The repeal provided for in section 2 hereof shall not be construed to revive any ordinance or part thereof that has been repealed by a subsequent ordinance that is repealed by this ordinance. Section 4. Unless another penalty is expressly provided, every person convicted of a violation of any provision of the Code or any ordinance, rule or regulation adopted or issued in pursuance thereof shall be punished by a fine not to exceed $500.00, or shall be imprisoned for not more than 30 days, for each offense. Each act of violation and each day upon which any such violation shall continue or occur shall constitute a separate offense. The penalty provided by this section, unless another penalty is expressly provided, shall apply to the amendment of any Code section, whether or not such penalty is reenacted in the amendatory ordinance. In addition to the penalty prescribed above, the county may pursue other remedies such as abatement of nuisances, injunctive relief and revocation of licenses or permits. 4 Section 5. Additions or amendments to the Code when passed in such form as to indicate an intention to make the same a part of the Code shall be deemed to be incorporated in the Code, so that reference to the Code includes the additions and amendments. Section 6.Ordinances adopted after December 5, 2011, that amend or refer to ordinances that have been codified in the Code shall be construed as if they amend or refer to like provisions of the Code. Section 7. Any typographical, reference, spelling or name errors may be corrected during final production of the Code. Section 8. If any portion of this Code or the application thereof to any person or circumstance is held invalid,. such invalidity shall not affect other provisions or applications of this Code which can be given effect without the invalid provision or application, and to this end the provisions of this Code are declared to be severable. Section 9. A copy of this Code shall be kept on file in the office of the Clerk to the Board. It shall be the express duty of the Clerk, or the Clerk's designee, in consultation with the County Attorney, to insert in their designated places all duly adopted amendments to this Code, and to extract from this Code all provisions which may from time to time be duly repealed. A copy of this Code shall be available for all persons desiring to examine it during reasonable times, under the supervision of the Clerk or the Clerk's designee. Section 10. No action or proceeding of any nature, whether civil or criminal, judicial or administrative, or otherwise, pending on the effective date of this Ordinance by or against Orange County or any of its departments or agencies shall be abated or otherwise affected by the adoption of this Code. Section 11. This Ordinance shall become effective upon adoption. Adopted by the Orange County Board of Commissioners this 5`b day of December, 2011. By: Attest: Bernadette Pelissier, Chair Donna Baker, Clerk to the Board Orange County Board of Commis- sioners [SEAL] 1 The Memorandum of Agency and Department Names is available for re- view at the Orange County Clerk's Office. xiv 5 Office of the County Attorney ORANGE COUNTY P.O. BOX 8181 200 S. CAMERON STREET HILLSBOROUGH, NC 27278 MEMORANDUM TO: .John Roberts, County Attorney FROM: Sahana Ayer, Staff Attorney DATE: November 1, 2011 \~ ~ a a`% RE: Orange County Ordinances -Republication This memorandum is written to identify the specific technical revisions to Orange County ordinances for purposes of incorporation into and republication of the General Code of Ordinances. The manner of arrangement, classification and indexing of the Orange County ordinances is currently incomplete and inadequate to meet the needs of the County and the general public. Pursuant to the authority granted by N.C. Gen. Statute §153A-49, the Board of County Commissioners ("Board") instructed the County Attorney to codify and compile the existing ordinances and incorporate the said ordinances into a General Code of Ordinances. Since July 2009, the Orange County Attorney's Office has been editing, proofreading and preparing all Orange County Ordinances (excluding the Orange County Unified Development Ordinance) for republication by the MuniCode Corporation. During this process, the ordinances have been reformatted and renumbered in accordance with the MuniCode numbering and formatting guidelines. Each ordinance (excluding the Unified Development Ordinance) has been reviewed to ensure typographical and grammatical correctness, rectify conflicts and inconsistences between the ordinances and state statues and ensure accuracy of state law references, internal cross-references and historical notes. Additionally, the names of the following federal, state and Orange .County Departments and personnel designations have been changed as indicated below: Former Name Revision Chairperson Chair County of Orange Orange County Department of Emergency Management Department of Emergency Services Department of Inspections Department of Planning and Inspections Emergency Services Medical Advisory Committee Emergency Service Peer Review Committee North Carolina Department of Environment, Health and Natural Resources (DEHNR) North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) North Carolina Department of Human Resources .North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services North Carolina Department of Natural Resources North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Personnel Department Human Resources Department Personnel Director Human Resources Director The focus of the republication project has been to prepare the ordinances that have been enacted by the Board of County Commissioners for adoption and incorporation into the General Code of Ordinances, in their current form. Substantive amendments to the ordinances have been deferred until such time as the General Code of Ordinances is adopted by the Board. 6 2 MEMORANDUM OF AGENCY AND DEPARTMENT NAMES TO: John Roberts, County Attorney FROM: Sahana Ayer, Staff Attorney DATE: November 1, 2011 RE: Orange County Ordinances -Republication This memorandum is written to identify the specific technical revisions to Orange County ordinances for purposes of incorporation into and republication of the General Code of Ordinances. The manner of arrangement, classification and indexing of the Orange County ordinances is currently incomplete and inadequate to meet the needs of the County and the general public. Pursuant to the authority granted by N.C. Gen. Statute § 153A-49, the Board of County Commissioners ("Board") instructed the County Attorney to codify and compile the existing ordinances and incorporate the said ordinances into a General Code of Ordinances. Since July 2009, the Orange County Attorney's Office has been editing, proofreading and preparing all Orange County Ordinances (excluding the Orange County Unified Development Ordinance) for republication by the MuniCode Corporation. During this process, the ordinances have been reformatted and renumbered in accordance with the MuniCode numbering and formatting guidelines. Each ordinance (excluding the Unified Development Ordinance) has been reviewed to ensure typographical and grammatical correctness, rectify conflicts and inconsistences between the ordinances and state statues and ensure accuracy of state law references, internal cross-references and historical notes. Additionally, the names of the following federal, state and Orange County Departments, ordinance and personnel designations have been changed as indicated below: Former Name Revision Chairperson Chair County of Orange Orange County Department of Emergency Management Services Department of Emergency Services Department of Inspections Department of Planning and Inspections Department of Recreation and Parks Department of Environment Agriculture Parks and Recreation (DEAPR) Emergency Services Medical Advisory Committee Emergency Service Peer Review Committee Environment and Resource Conservation Department Department of Environment Agriculture Parks 5 and Recreation (DEAPR) North Carolina Department of Environment, Health and Natural Resources (DEHNR) North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) North Carolina Department of Human Resources North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services North Carolina Department of Natural Resources North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Personnel Department Human Resources Department Personnel Director Human Resources Director Zoning Ordinance Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) The focus of the republication project has been to prepare the ordinances that have been enacted by the Board of County Commissioners for adoption and incorporation into the General Code of Ordinances, in their current form. Substantive amendments to the ordinances have been deferred until such time as the General Code of Ordinances is adopted by the Board. 6