ordinance

A law, statute, or regulation enacted by a Municipal Corporation.

An ordinance is a law passed by a municipal government. A municipality, such as a city, town, village, or borough, is a political subdivision of a state within which a municipal corporation has been established to provide local government to a population in a defined area.

Ordinances constitute the subject matter of municipal law. The power of municipal governments to enact ordinances is derived from the state constitution or statutes or through the legislative grant of a municipal charter. The charter in large part dictates how much power elected officials have to regulate actions within the municipality. Municipalities that have been granted "home rule" charters by the legislature have the most authority to act. If, however, a municipality enacts an ordinance that exceeds its charter or is in conflict with state or federal law, the ordinance can be challenged in court and ruled void.

Many ordinances deal with maintaining public safety, health, morals, and General Welfare. For example, a municipality may enact housing ordinances that set minimum standards of habitability. Other ordinances deal with fire and safety regulations that residential, commercial, and industrial property owners must follow. Many municipalities have enacted noise ordinances, which prohibit prescribed levels of noise after certain hours of the evening.

Ordinances may also deal with public streets and sidewalks. They typically include regulations regarding parking, snow removal, and littering. Restrictions on pets, including "pooper scooper" and leash laws, are also governed by municipal ordinances.

One of the most significant areas of municipal law is Zoning. Zoning ordinances constitute a master plan for land use within the municipality. A municipality is typically divided into residential, commercial, and industrial zoning districts. Zoning attempts to conserve the value of property and to encourage the most appropriate use of land throughout a particular locality.

In the past, many U.S. municipalities enacted a variety of ordinances regulating public morals and behavior. Many, such as ordinances that prohibited spitting on a public sidewalk, have been repealed or are rarely enforced.

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ordinance n. A statute enacted by a city or town.

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ordinance noun authoritative rule, canon, charter, code, command, decree, decretum, direction, edict, enactment, fiat, imperative, law, legal command, legislative decree, legislative edict, local law, local legislation, local rule, mandate, maxim, municipal code, municipal regulation, ordainment, order, ordination, proclamation, regulation, requirement, rule, statute
Associated concepts: city ordinance, criminal ordinance, municipal ordinance, regulatory ordinance, traffic ordinance, violation of an ordinance, zoning ordinance

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See also: act, brevet, bylaw, canon, code, codification, dictate, direction, directive, edict, enactment, law, order, precept, prescription, regulation, rubric, rule, statute, writ

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ORDINANCE, legislation. A law, a statute, a decree.
     2. This word is more usually applied to the laws of a corporation, than to the acts of the legislature; as the ordinances of the city of Philadelphia. The following account of the difference between a statute and an ordinance is extracted from Bac. Ab. Statute, A. "Where the proceeding consisted only of a petition from parliament, and an answer from the king, these were entered on the parliament roll; and if the matter was of a public nature, the whole was then styled an ordinance; if, however, the petition and answer were not only of a public, but a novel nature, they were then formed into an act by the king, with the aid of his council and judges, and entered on the statute roll." See Harg. & But. Co. Litt. l59 b, notis; 3 Reeves, Hist. Eng. Law, 146.
     3. According to Lord Coke, the difference between a statute and an ordinance is, that the latter has not had the assent of the king, lords, and commons, but is made merely by two of those powers. 4 Inst. 25. See Barr. on Stat. 41, note (x).