Sec. 1. Incorporation.
The inhabitants of the City of Peoria, within the corporate limits as now
established or as hereafter established in the manner provided by law, shall continue to
be a municipal body politic and corporate in perpetuity, under the name of the ``City of
Peoria, Arizona.''
Back to Top of Page
Sec. 2. Form of government.
The municipal government provided by this charter shall be known as
council-manager government. Pursuant to its provisions and subject only to the limitations
imposed by the state constitution, applicable laws of the state and by this charter, all
powers of the city shall be vested in an elective council, hereinafter referred to as
``the council'', which shall enact local legislation, adopt budgets, determine policies,
and appoint the city manager and such other officers deemed necessary and proper for the
orderly government and administration of the affairs of the city, as prescribed by the
constitution and applicable laws, and ordinances hereafter adopted by the city. All powers
of the city shall be exercised in the manner prescribed by this charter, or if they be not
prescribed, then in such manner as may be prescribed by ordinance.
(Approved by voters on 11-8-83; approved by Governor on 12-5-83)
Back to Top of Page
Sec. 3. Powers
of the city.
The city shall have all the powers, functions, rights, privileges and
immunities possible under the Constitution and general laws of Arizona as fully as though
they were specifically enumerated in this charter, and all of the powers, functions,
rights, privileges and immunities granted or to be granted, either expressly or by
implication, to charter cities and to cities and towns incorporated under the provisions
of title 9, Arizona Revised Statutes [A.R.S. ? 9-101 et seq.], not in conflict herewith,
and in addition, the city:
(1) May acquire property within or without its corporate limits for any city purposes
in fee simple or lesser interest or estate by purchase, gift, devise, lease or
condemnation. The city may lease, sell, convey and otherwise dispose of any real or
personal property owned by the city in the manner, for such consideration, and upon such
conditions as may be determined by the council.
(2) May designate and establish as floodways or floodplains, areas of land
within the boundaries of the city reasonably required or necessary to improve, extend,
maintain or facilitate the control or discharge of waters of rivers and streams and
intermittent flowing creeks, washes, arroyos, drains and channels together with surface
and floodwaters so as to prevent the loss of or injury to lives and damage to property and
prevent and prohibit encroachments and obstructions within the floodway and floodplain
areas so designated and established by the city, together with criminal and civil
penalties for the violations thereof.
(3) May adopt, and may from time to time modify, a comprehensive plan of
the future physical development of the city to serve as a guide to all future council
action concerning land use regulations and expenditures for capital improvements, and the
council may by ordinance implement said comprehensive plan by adopting land use and
development regulations including, but not limited to, an official map and zoning and
subdivision regulations.
(4) May levy and collect assessments and file liens on real property to
collect amounts owed to the city for garbage and trash collection, sewer and water
charges, and reasonable amounts expended by the city in the abatement of any nuisance,
demolition and removal of any legally condemned building or structure and the cleaning and
renovating of vacant lots which are offensive to the sight or smell or hazardous to the
public health.
(5) May prescribe the number of times a notice is to be published, the
place of publications and the form of such notice when publication of a notice in a
newspaper is directed or authorized by law.
(6) May control and regulate the use and enjoyment of its streets and
alleys, public grounds, or ways.
(7) May compel the owner or occupant of buildings or grounds to remove
dirt, rubbish or weeds therefrom and from the sidewalks adjacent thereto; and in his
default to authorize the removal or destruction thereof by some officer of the city at the
expense of such owner or occupant, and to make such expense a lien upon such buildings or
grounds, and to provide for the imposition of a penalty as in cases of misdemeanor for the
failure of such owner or occupant to effect such removal.
(8) May require all persons, firms, or corporations responsible for new
physical development within the city to provide for or furnish, or pay a fee for
furnishing: (a) public utility easements; (b) water production, storage and transmission;
(c) sewage collection, treatment and disposal; (d) park land and development; (e) school
sites; (f) dedication and improvement of public rights-of-way; (g) bike paths and other
necessary transportation; (h) detention, retention, drainage, stormwater management
facilities and water resources acquisition costs, storage and transmission; (i) flood
control; and (j) other public facilities necessary to maintain satisfactory levels of
service for said new development, as provided by ordinance which shall include definite
standards basing the foregoing requirements on the needs of the inhabitants of said new
development.
(9) May, when authorized by law, fix and determine by ordinance the rates
of compensation to be collected by any firm or corporation for cable television services
supplied to the city, or to the inhabitants thereof, and to prescribe the quality of the
service.
(10) May compel the owner or occupant of buildings or grounds to keep the
sidewalks adjacent thereto in good repair, and in his default to authorize the repair
thereof by some officer of the city at the expense of such owner or occupant, and the city
may make such expense a lien upon such buildings or grounds and to provide for the
imposition of a penalty as in cases of misdemeanors for the failure of such owner to
effect such repairs.
(11) May require architectural and site plan review and approval prior to
the development, construction, reconstruction, or conversion of any building.
(12) May adopt specific plans for the use of areas within the city, and
for the purpose of refining such comprehensive plans.
(13) May require removal of all signs not conforming to the zoning
ordinance. Signs not in conformance upon the effective date of this charter shall have the
privilege of amortization as determined by ordinance.
(14) May provide remedies to prevent, abate, and control pollution,
including pollution of the air, water, and noise pollution, and exercise its rights and
privileges under equity or under common law or statutory law to suppress nuisances or to
abate pollution in any form.
(15) May exercise any of its powers or perform any of its functions, and
may participate in the financing thereof jointly or in cooperation, by contract or
otherwise, with any one or more states, political subdivisions, school districts, Indian
tribal councils, or any board, commission or agency, a combination of them, or with the
United States or any department or agency thereof.
(16) In this charter mention of a particular power shall not be construed
to be exclusive or to restrict the scope of the powers which the city would have if the
particular power were not mentioned. The charter shall be liberally construed to the end
that the city shall have all powers necessary or convenient for the conduct of its
municipal affairs, and for the health, safety, and general welfare of its inhabitants,
including all powers that cities may assume pursuant to state law and the state
constitution.
(Approved by voters on 3-19-93; Approval by Governor on 6-28-93)
Back to Top of Page
Sec. 4. Boundaries.
The boundaries of the city shall be the boundaries as established at the
time this charter takes effect, or as such boundaries may be changed thereafter in the
manner authorized by law.
Back to Top of Page |
