Section 1.13Specific powers

(a) Animal regulations. To regulate and license or to prohibit the keeping or running at large of animals and fowl, and to provide for the impoundment of the same if in violation of any ordinance or lawful order; to provide for the disposition by sale, gift, or humane destruction of animals and fowl when not redeemed as provided by ordinance; and to provide punishment for violation of ordinances enacted hereunder.

(b) Appropriations and expenditures. To make appropriations for the support of the government of the city; to authorize the expenditure of money for any purposes authorized by this Charter or for municipalities by the laws of the State of Georgia; and to provide for the payment of expenses of the city.

(c) Building regulation. To regulate and to license the erection and construction of buildings and all other structures; to adopt building, housing, plumbing, electrical, gas, and heating and air-conditioning codes; and to regulate all housing and building trades.

(d) Business regulation and taxation. To levy and to provide for the collection of regulatory fees and taxes on privileges, occupations, trades, and professions as authorized by Title 48 of the O.C.G.A. or other such applicable laws as are or may hereafter be enacted; to permit and regulate the same; to provide for the manner and method of payment of such regulatory fees and taxes; and to revoke such permits after due process for failure to pay any city taxes or fees.

(e) Condemnation. To condemn property inside or outside the corporate limits of the city for present or future use and for any corporate purpose deemed necessary by the governing authority, utilizing procedures provided by the O.C.G.A. as the same shall exist from time to time.

(f) Contracts. To enter into contracts and agreements with other governmental entities and with private persons, firms, and corporations.

(g) Emergencies. To establish procedures for determining and proclaiming that an emergency situation exists within or outside the city, and to make and carry out all reasonable provisions deemed necessary to deal with or meet such an emergency for the protection, safety, health, or well-being of the citizens of the city.

(h) Environmental protection. To protect and preserve the natural resources, environment, and vital areas of the city through the preservation and improvement of air quality, the restoration and maintenance of water resources, the control of erosion and sedimentation, the management of solid and hazardous waste, and other necessary actions for the protection of the environment.

(i) Fire regulations. To fix and establish fire limits and from time to time to extend, enlarge, or restrict the same; to prescribe fire safety regulations not inconsistent with general law, relating to fire prevention and detection and to firefighting; and to prescribe penalties and punishment for violations thereof.

(j) Garbage fees. To levy, fix, assess, and collect a garbage, refuse, and trash collection and disposal, and other sanitary service charge, tax, or fee for such services as may be necessary in the operation of the city from all individuals, firms, and corporations residing in or doing business therein benefiting from such services or to whom such services are available; to enforce the payment of such charges, taxes, or fees; and to provide for the manner and method of collecting such service charges.

(k) General health, safety, and welfare. To define, regulate, and prohibit any act, practice, conduct, or use of property which is detrimental to health, sanitation, cleanliness, welfare, and safety of the inhabitants of the city, and to provide for the enforcement of such standards.

(l) Gifts. To accept or refuse gifts, donations, bequests, or grants from any source for any purpose related to powers and duties of the city and the general welfare of its citizens, on such terms and conditions as the donor or grantor may impose.

(m) Health and sanitation. To prescribe standards of health and sanitation and to provide for the enforcement of such standards.

(n) Jail sentences. To provide that persons given jail sentences in the city's court may work out such sentences in any public works or on the streets, roads, drains, and other public property in the city; to provide for commitment of such persons to any jail; or to provide for commitment of such persons to any county work camp or county jail by agreement with the appropriate county officials.

(o) Motor vehicles. To regulate the operation of motor vehicles and exercise control over all traffic, including parking upon or across the streets, roads, alleys, and walkways of the city.

(p) Municipal agencies and delegation of power. To create, alter, or abolish departments, boards, offices, commissions, and agencies of the city, and to confer upon such agencies the necessary and appropriate authority for carrying out all the powers conferred upon or delegated to the same.

(q) Municipal debts. To appropriate and borrow money for the payment of debts of the city and to issue bonds for the purpose of raising revenue to carry out any project, program, or venture authorized by this Charter of the laws of the State of Georgia.

(r) Municipal property ownership. To acquire, dispose of, lease, option, and hold in trust or otherwise, any real, personal, or mixed property, in fee simple or lesser interest, inside or outside the property limits of the city.

(s) Municipal property protection. To provide for the preservation and protection of property and equipment of the city and the administration and use of same by the public; and to prescribe penalties and punishment for violations thereof.

(t) Utilities. To acquire, lease, construct, operate, maintain, sell, and dispose of public utilities, including, but not limited to, systems of waterworks, sewers and drains, sewage disposal, gas works, including the provision of natural gas, butane gas and propane gas in natural and/or liquified form and other forms of LP gas, and the facilities and equipment necessary to furnish the same, electric light plants, cable television, telecommunications, transportation facilities, public airports, and any other public utility; and to fix the taxes, charges, rates, fares, fees, assessments, regulations, and penalties, and to provide for the withdrawal of service for refusal or failure to pay the same, and to provide any and all of the aforementioned utility services with necessary facilities and equipment both inside the corporate limits and outside the corporate limits of the city.

(u) Nuisance. To define a nuisance and provide for its abatement whether on public or private property.

(v) Penalties. To provide penalties for violation of any ordinances adopted pursuant to the authority of this Charter and the laws of the State of Georgia.

(w) Planning and zoning. To provide comprehensive city planning for development by zoning; and to provide subdivision regulation and the like as the city council deems necessary and reasonable to ensure a safe, healthy, and aesthetically pleasing community.

(x) Police and fire protection. To exercise the power of arrest through duly appointed police officers and to establish, operate, or contract for a police and a firefighting agency.

(y) Public hazards: removal. To provide for the destruction and removal of any building or other structure which is or may become dangerous or detrimental to the public.

(z) Public improvements. To provide for the acquisition, construction, building, operation, and maintenance of public ways, parks and playgrounds, recreational facilities, cemeteries, markets and market houses, public buildings, libraries, public housing, airports, hospitals, terminals, docks, parking facilities, or charitable, cultural, educational, recreational, conservation, sport, curative, corrective, detentional, penal, and medical institutions, agencies, and facilities; to provide any other public improvements, inside or outside the corporate limits of the city; to regulate the use of public improvements; and for such purposes, property may be acquired by condemnation under procedures provided by the O.C.G.A. as the same shall exist from time to time.

(aa) Public peace. To provide for the prevention and punishment of drunkenness, riots, and public disturbances.

(bb) Public transportation. To organize and operate such public transportation systems as are deemed beneficial.

(cc) Public utilities and services. To grant franchises or make contracts for or impose taxes on public utilities and public service companies; and to prescribe the rates, fares, regulations and standards, and conditions of service applicable to the service to be provided by the franchise grantee or contractor, insofar as not in conflict with valid regulations of the Public Service Commission.

(dd) Regulation of roadside areas. To prohibit or regulate and control the erection, removal, and maintenance of signs, billboards, trees, shrubs, fences, buildings, and any and all other structures or obstructions upon or adjacent to the rights of way of streets and roads or within view thereof, within or abutting the corporate limits of the city; and to prescribe penalties and punishment for violation of such ordinances.

(ee) Retirement. To provide and maintain a retirement plan for officers and employees of the city.

(ff) Roadways. To lay out, open, extend, widen, narrow, establish, or change the grade of, abandon or close, construct, pave, curb, gutter, provide drainage for, adorn with shade trees, or otherwise improve, maintain, repair, clean, prevent erosion of, and light the roads, alleys, and walkways within the corporate limits of the city; and to grant franchises and rights of way throughout the streets and roads and over the bridges and viaducts for the use of public utilities; and to require real estate owners to repair and maintain in a safe condition the sidewalks adjoining their lots or lands, and to impose penalties for failure to do so.

(gg) Sewer fees. To levy a fee, charge, or sewer tax as necessary to assure the acquiring, constructing, equipping, operating, maintaining, and extending of a sanitary sewage disposal plant and sewerage system, and to levy on those to whom sewers and sewerage systems are made available a sewer service fee, charge, or sewer tax for the availability or use of the sewers; to provide for the manner and method of collecting such service charges and for enforcing payment of the same; and to charge, impose, and collect a sewer connection fee or fees to those connected with the system.

(hh) Solid waste disposal. To provide for the collection and disposal of garbage, rubbish, and refuse, and to regulate the collection and disposal of garbage, rubbish, and refuse by others; and to provide for the separate collection of glass, tin, aluminum, cardboard, paper, and other recyclable materials, and to provide for the same of such items.

(ii) Special areas of public regulation. To regulate or prohibit junk dealers, pawnshops, the manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors, and the use and sale of firearms; to regulate the transportation, storage, and use of combustible, explosive, and inflammable materials, the use of lighting and hearing equipment, and any other business or situation which the city may deem to be dangerous to persons or property; to regulate and control the conduct of peddlers and itinerant traders, theatrical performances, exhibitions, and shows of any kind, by taxation or otherwise; and to license, tax, regulate, or prohibit professional fortunetelling, palmistry, adult bookstores, and massage parlors.

(jj) Special assessments. To levy and provide for the collection of special assessments to cover the costs for any public improvements.

(kk) Taxes: ad valorem. To levy and provide for the assessment, valuation, revaluation, and collection of taxes on all property subject to taxation.

(ll) Taxes: other. To levy and collect such other taxes as may be allowed now or in the future by law.

(mm) Taxicabs. To regulate and license vehicles operated for hire in the city; to limit the number of such vehicles; to require the operators thereof to be licensed; to require public liability insurance on such vehicles in the amounts to be prescribed by ordinance; and to regulate the parking of such vehicles.

(nn) Urban redevelopment. To organize and operate an urban redevelopment program.

(oo) Other powers. To exercise and enjoy all other powers, functions, rights, privileges, and immunities necessary or desirable to promote or protect the safety, health, peace, security, good order, comfort, convenience, or general welfare of the city and its inhabitants; and to exercise all implied powers necessary or desirable to carry into execution all powers granted in this Charter as fully and completely as if such powers were fully stated herein; and to exercise all powers now or in the future authorized to be exercised by other municipal governments under other laws of the State of Georgia; and no listing of particular powers in this Charter shall be held to be exclusive of others, nor restrictive of general words and phrases granting powers, but shall be held to be in addition to such powers unless expressly prohibited to municipalities under the Constitution or applicable laws of the State of Georgia.

History: (Ord. No. 04-01, § 1, 1-1-2004)