Legal Research– Spring 2018

Homework 6- Municipal Codes/Ordinances

1.
a. Is there a Dallas ordinance (city or county) that tells me if me and my six cats and
dogs can live in a house on less than an acre of land, or am I going to have to
move to a larger property? Please provide a citation to the ordinance.

It depends. If your house is situated on one-half acre or less of land, then, by

keeping six cats and dogs, you would be in violation of the relevant ordinance.
Conversely, if your house is situated on more than one-half acre of land, you
would not be in violation of the ordinance by keeping six cats and dogs on the
premises.
Dallas, Tex., Dallas City Code, vol. 1, ch. 7, art. IV, § 7-4.6(c)(1) (2018).

b. Is this a Dallas County or Dallas City Ordinance?

Dallas City Ordinance

c. Under the ordinance can I foster a couple more cats, in addition to the six pets I
already have? Why or why not?

Yes, you may foster additional pets as long as (1) you are approved by the
director as a foster care provider, and you foster no more animals than the director
has approved, and you have agreed, via written and notarized document, to
unannounced inspections by the director or (2) on June 25, 2008, you were the
owner of the property and were already keeping more than six dogs and cats, and
prior to September 25, 2008, you provided information to the director on each dog
or cat kept on the property, and you kept no additional dogs or cats on the
property on or after June 25, 2008, and you were “in compliance with all other
requirements of this chapter applicable to dogs and cats.”

d. What is the Ordinance Number for this code?

Ord. Nos. 26024; 27250

2.
a. Find the Frisco (TX) code that defines food trucks. Please provide a citation for
this section of the code.

Frisco, Tex., City of Frisco Code of Ordinances, ch. 22, art. II, § 22.20(5) (2018).
 b. Does the Dallas City Code have a code concerning food trucks? Please provide a
citation for this section of the code.

Yes
Dallas, Tex., Dallas City Code, vol. 1, ch. 17, art. VIII, § 17-8.2 (2018).

3.
a. In the city of Dallas are you allowed to drive in a truck with a dog loose in the
uncovered bed of the truck? Please provide a citation for this section of the code.
Dallas City Code

No, you may not drive a truck with a loose dog in an uncovered bed. Dallas, Tex.,
Dallas City Code, vol. 1, ch. 7, art. III, § 7-3.5 (2018).

b. What is the Ordinance Number for this section of code?

Ord. No. 26024

4.
a. Does the city of Richardson (TX) allow you to hire someone to stand on the
sidewalk dressed as Lady Justice holding a sign advertising your law firm? Please
provide a citation for this section of the code.

No, “signs that are held by or attached to a human being, with the exception of
political signs, are prohibited. A human sign includes a person dressed in costume
for the purpose of advertising or otherwise drawing attention to an individual,
business, commodity, service, activity or product.”

Richardson, Tex., Code of Ordinances ch. 18, art. I, § 18-5 (2018).

b. What is the initial Ordinance Number and when was it initially adopted?

Ord. No. 3885, 9-24-12

5.
a. Is it illegal to sell dyed baby ducklings in Lexington, Kentucky? If so, what are
the penalties? Please provide a citation for this section of the code.

It is illegal to sell dyed baby ducklings in Lexington, Kentucky.

The ordinance states that “any person who shall sell or offer for sale at retail
living baby chicks, ducklings or other fowl which have been dyed, colored or
 otherwise treated so as to import artificial color, shall be subject to a fine of not
less than one hundred dollars ($100.00) nor more than five hundred dollars
($500.00) or imprisonment for a term not to exceed twelve (12) months, or both,
for each act which shall be a separate offense.”

Lexington, Ky., Code of Ordinances ch. 4, art. I, § 4-7 (2018).

b. What is the Ordinance Number and when was this ordinance adopted?

Ord. No. 10-99, 1-28-99

6. Many cities and counties have started regulating “bike share” companies (like all of those
Green bikes we see lying around downtown), in fact Durham (NC) was one of the first to
codify an ordinance regulating their permitting.

a. Cite the code section that covers bike share permitting?

Durham, N.C., Code of Ordinances, art. V, div. 2, § 66-314 (2018).

b. What is the Ordinance Number and when was this ordinance adopted?

Ord. 15209, 10-16-2017

c. How does Durham’s code define “bike share system”?

Durham’s code defines a bike share system as “providing bicycles for short-term
rentals for point to point trips where, by design of the bike share operator, the
bicycles are intended to remain in the public way, even when not being rented
by a customer.”