Chapter 1-100. Definitions, Construction, Penalties and Enforcement
§ 1-101. Title.
§ 1-102. Effective Date.
§ 1-103. Definitions.
§ 1-104. Construction.
§ 1-105. Amendments and Additions.
§ 1-106. Severability.
§ 1-107. Repeals and Saving Provisions.
§ 1-108. Certification.
§ 1-109. Fines and Penalties.
§ 1-110. Service of Notice of Violation.
§ 1-111. Fraud or Deceit in Obtaining Licenses or Permits.
§ 1-112. Notices of Violation.
(1) The Code shall become effective sixty days after its approval.
(2) The authority to promulgate regulations under the Code shall become effective immediately upon the approval of the Code.
(3) Rules and regulations promulgated prior to the enactment of the Code shall remain in force until revoked, modified, or superseded.
(1) Unless otherwise provided in the Code, the following definitions apply:
(a) Agency. Any office, department, board, or commission of the City including any officer, employee, or other authorized representative thereof, other than the Council or the courts.
(b) Charter. The Philadelphia Home Rule Charter.
(c) City. The City of Philadelphia.
(d) Code. The Philadelphia Code.
(e) Commonwealth. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
(f) Council. The Council of the City of Philadelphia.
(i) Person. 4 An individual, partnership, corporation, or association, including those acting in a fiduciary or representative capacity whether appointed by a court or otherwise. Whenever used in any clause prescribing or imposing a penalty, the term "person" as applied to partnerships or associations shall include the partners or members thereof, and if applied to corporations, the officers thereof.
(j) Whoever. 5 Any "person" as herein defined. Whenever used in any clause prescribing or imposing a penalty, the term "whoever" shall include any person who causes an act to be done, whether directly performed by himself or otherwise or who aids, abets, counsels, commands, induces or procures its commission.
(2) The singular shall include the plural, and the plural, the singular. Words used in the masculine gender shall include the feminine and neuter. Words used in the past or present tense shall include the future.
(3) Any word not specifically defined shall be construed according to its common usage.
Notes
2 | Added, Bill No. 130224 (approved May 8, 2013). |
3 | Added, Bill No. 130224 (approved May 8, 2013). |
4 | Renumbered, Bill No. 130224 (approved May 8, 2013). |
5 | Renumbered, Bill No. 130224 (approved May 8, 2013). |
(1) The arrangement and classification of the several provisions of the Code have been made for the purpose of a convenient and orderly arrangement. No inference, implication, or presumption of legislative construction shall be drawn because of the location of any provision, nor shall any outline, analysis, index, or descriptive matter relating to the contents of the Code be given any legal effect.
(2) Section captions are part of this Code. However, references to Sections are not intended to be exclusive, or to exclude other Sections which may be applicable.
(3) Footnotes are not part of the Code. They are included to indicate the historical sources of the provisions of the Code.
(4) Regulations may be issued by the appropriate agency, pursuant to Section 8-407 of the Charter, to implement any of the provisions of this Code.
(1) Amendments and additions to the Code shall be enacted in such form that pertinent provisions are set forth in full with:
(a) words which are eliminated by the adoption of the amendment printed between brackets; and
(b) words which are added by the passage of the amendment underscored or italicized.
(2) After the approval of any such amendment or addition, the substantive changes made shall be incorporated into the Code under the supervision of the Law Department. The Law Department is authorized, when incorporating changes into the Code or when updating prior versions of the Code, and without denoting in the Code that changes were made: 7
(a) to standardize into a single format regularly occurring words or symbols for which there are two or more generally accepted methods of representing precisely the same term (such as "feet" and "ft."; or "percent" and "%"); and
(b) to standardize numbering and lettering of Code Sections and subsections.
(c) In no instance shall a word be replaced by a synonym of that word and no change shall be made in a circumstance where the use of the replacement word or symbol, or a change in Section or subsection numbering or lettering, could alter the meaning of the Code language.
(d) The Law Department shall periodically provide to the Chief Clerk of Council a listing of the standardized words or symbols being used.
(e) In the event of a discrepancy between the Code and the certified copy of an ordinance, the certified ordinance shall control.
(3) The Procurement Department, with the assistance of the Law Department, shall publish and distribute by March 31 of each year a supplement to the Code which shall include all amendments and additions to the Code during the previous calendar year. Each amendment or addition shall be designated by Title, Chapter and Section numbers for easy reference. Each supplement shall be placed after the index in the Code.
(4) Commencing on March 31, 1984 and every four (4) years thereafter, the Procurement Department, with the assistance of the Law Department, shall publish and distribute a new and up-to-date edition of the Code in lieu of an annual supplement.
(5) The initial annual supplement to the Code, which supplement shall make the Code current through December 31, 1982, shall be published by December 31, 1983.
(6) At least five (5) copies of the Code, with annual supplements, shall be available for public inspection during regular City office hours. Notice of time and place where the Code is on public display shall be advertised at least once a year in the same publications as are used for publication of Councilmanic notices.
Notes
6 | Amended and new subsection added, 1983 Ordinances, p. 1157. |
7 | Amended, Bill No. 170243 (approved May 17, 2017). |
(1) The provisions of the Code are severable, and if any provision or application is held illegal, such illegality shall not affect the remaining provisions. It is the legislative intent of the Council that the Code would have been adopted if such illegal provision had not been included and any illegal application had not been made.
(1) The ordinances listed in Appendix "A" of the Code, entitled "Repealer of All General Ordinances Herein Codified", are repealed as of the effective date of this Code.
(2) The ordinances listed in Appendix "B" of the Code, entitled "Repealer of General Ordinances Since January 1, 1854 and Heretofore Repealed by Implication, Superseded, or Otherwise No Longer in Effect" are repealed as of the effective date of the Code.
(3) Except as otherwise provided, all other general ordinances, enacted or approved from January 1, 1701 to the effective date of the Code, are repealed as of the effective date of the Code.
(4) All special ordinances enacted from January 1, 1701 to the effective date of the Code are saved to the extent that they are not superseded or repealed by the Charter, subsequent ordinance, or statute, and except insofar as they may be in any way inconsistent with the provisions of the Code. Special ordinances include, but are not limited to, ordinances which are enacted to:
(a) authorize loans by the City and to provide for the issuance, redemption, and payment of City bonds;
(b) make appropriations of public funds and to adopt capital budgets and capital programs;
(c) ratify or approve any contract or agreement to which the City is a party, such as:
(.1) Airport Authority Agreement (1953 Ordinances, p. 766);
(.2) Housing Authority Agreement (1938 Ordinances, p. 441);
(.3) Parking Authority Agreement (1950 Ordinances, p. 8);
(.4) Penn Tower Agreement (1955 Ordinances, p. 407);
(.5) Philadelphia Transportation Company Agreement (1907 Ordinances, p. 153, as amended);
(.6) Southeast Philadelphia Railroad Agreement (1954 Ordinances, p. 764);
(.7) United Gas Improvement Company Agreement (1926 Ordinances, p. 22, as amended);
(d) validate or legalize any act or omission of any department, board, or commission of the City;
(e) grant any right, privilege, or franchise to any person;
(f) establish the name or to change the name of any street;
(g) authorize the opening, grading, improving, or paving of any street;
(h) authorize the construction of sewers;
(i) authorize the laying of water pipe and water mains;
(j) establish parks, playgrounds, recreation centers, or public squares;
(k) place any street upon or to strike any street from the City plan, or to vacate any street;
(l) authorize the sale, lease, or other grant of any interest in City-owned real estate;
(m) establish or to revise the lines and grades of any street;
(n) authorize district changes in zoning maps;
(o) levy and fix the annual tax rate on real estate;
(p) authorize the purchase, condemnation, lease, or other acquisition of premises, structures, and facilities required by the City.
(5) Subject to the limitations contained in Section 18 of the Act of April 21, 1949, P.L. 665, 53 P.S. § 3421.18, all Acts of Assembly applicable to cities of the first class are superseded to the extent that they are in any way inconsistent with the Code.
(6) The repealer provisions of this Chapter or elsewhere in the Code shall not affect:
(a) any act done or any right or liability accrued, but all rights and liabilities accrued under any ordinance or statute herein repealed or superseded shall continue and may be enforced in the same manner as if such repeal had not been made;
(b) any offense or violation committed and any penalty or forfeiture incurred under any ordinance or statute hereby repealed or superseded, all of which may be prosecuted and punished in the same manner as if the Code had not been approved;
(c) any petition, hearing, or other process pending before any agency;
(d) any ordinance or part of any ordinance relating to the indebtedness of the City.
(7) Nothing in the Code shall be construed to repeal the provisions of the Municipal Lien Act of May 16, 1923, P.L. 207, as amended, 53 P.S. § 2021.
(8) Regulations issued under any ordinance codified by this Code, but not inconsistent with its policy, shall continue in full force and effect unless changed by the appropriate agency.
Notes
8 | Appendix A and Appendix B, referenced in this Section and relating to ordinances repealed by the first adoption of this Code in 1956, have been omitted from the Code as obsolete. |
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