Chapter 1: Code Of Ordinances

§ 1.02 Definitions

The text in force today, and every version since 2010.

Unofficial compilation built from the City's published 2010 Code chapters and the text of adopted ordinances. Effective dates are inferred from adoption records; scanned chapters were OCR'd. The City of Tiffin's adopted Code of Ordinances governs. Not legal advice.

1.02 DEFINITIONS

Where words and phrases used in this Code of Ordinances are defined in the Code of Iowa, such definitions apply to their use in this Code of Ordinances unless such construction would be inconsistent with the manifest intent of the Council or repugnant to the context of the provision. Other words and phrases used herein have the following meanings, unless specifically defined otherwise in another portion of this Code of Ordinances or unless such construction would be inconsistent with the manifest intent of the Council or repugnant to the context of the provision:

1. “Alley” means a public right-of-way, other than a street, affording secondary means of access to abutting property.

2. “City” means the City of Tiffin, Iowa.

3. “Clerk” means the city clerk of Tiffin, Iowa.

4. “Code” means the specific chapter of this Code of Ordinances in which a specific subject is covered and bears a descriptive title word (such as the Building Code and/or a standard code adopted by reference).

5. “Code of Ordinances” means the Code of Ordinances of the City of Tiffin, Iowa.

6. “Council” means the city council of Tiffin, Iowa.

7. “County” means Johnson County, Iowa.

8. “May” confers a power.

9. “Measure” means an ordinance, amendment, resolution or motion.

10. “Must” states a requirement.

11. “Occupant” or “tenant,” applied to a building or land, includes any person who occupies the whole or a part of such building or land, whether alone or with others.

12. “Ordinances” means the ordinances of the City of Tiffin, Iowa, as embodied in this Code of Ordinances, ordinances not repealed by the ordinance adopting this Code of Ordinances, and those enacted hereafter.

13. “Person” means an individual, firm, partnership, domestic or foreign corporation, company, association or joint stock association, trust or other legal entity, and includes a trustee, receiver, assignee, or similar representative thereof, but does not include a governmental body.

14. “Public way” includes any street, alley, boulevard, parkway, highway, sidewalk, or other public thoroughfare.

15. “Shall” imposes a duty.

16. “Sidewalk” means that surfaced portion of the street between the edge of the traveled way, surfacing, or curb line and the adjacent property line, intended for the use of pedestrians.

17. “State” means the State of Iowa.

18. “Statutes” or “laws” means the latest edition of the Code of Iowa, as amended.

19. “Street” or “highway” means the entire width between property lines of every way or place of whatever nature when any part thereof is open to the use of the public, as a matter of right, for purposes of vehicular traffic. Words that are not defined in this Code of Ordinances or by the Code of Iowa have their ordinary meaning unless such construction would be inconsistent with the manifest intent of the Council, or repugnant to the context of the provision.

2010 Code (city website file), in force from August 11, 2010 · source page

Confirmed by the city's current text: the 2026 draft recodification (August 2026, not adopted) has the same words (§ 1.02, p. 11), apart from minor wording.

In the 2026 draft (a comparison with a draft, not adopted): § 1.02 — wording changed, minor wording · compare

History

FromToSourceHowDocument
Aug 11, 2010today 2010 Code base text · text p. 1

Dates: an Iowa ordinance takes effect when it is published after adoption. Where the clerk's certificate records the publication date it is used; otherwise the adoption date stands in for it. "Not yet consolidated" means the ordinance amends this section but its new text has not been checked into this compilation yet: read the ordinance.

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Data last updated October 22, 2026. Built from the archive's documents; see how the data is built.