Subtitle 1. General Provisions

Administrative regulations shall mean written orders which are issued by the County Executive or Chief Administrative Officer of the County and compiled in a manual.

And/or shall mean and may read or and or may be read and if the sense requires it.

Charter shall mean the Prince George's County Charter adopted by referendum, November 3, 1970, as amended.

Clerk shall mean the Clerk of the Council.

Council shall mean the legislative branch of the County government, the County Council.

County shall mean Prince George's County, Maryland.

County limits shall mean within the County and includes not only the corporate limits of the County, but also any property which it owns or which is under its jurisdiction.

Day shall mean the period of time between any midnight and the midnight following.

Daytime shall mean the period of time between sunrise and sunset.

Definitions given within a Subtitle or Division shall apply only to words or phrases used in such Subtitle or Division unless otherwise provided.

Designee, following the use of the title of an official of the County, shall mean the authorized agent, employee, or representative of such official.

Director means the chief executive officer of the Office or Department to which the particular Division, Bureau, Board, Agency, or subordinate municipal administrative body has been assigned by the County Executive.

Gender: Words in any Section importing the masculine gender shall include the feminine and neuter as well as the masculine.

Health Officer means the head of the Health Department or any person designated to perform the County health functions and duties.

Laws mean and include all acts, public local laws, ordinances, resolutions, and other legislative acts of the Council, and all public general and public local laws of the General Assembly of the State.

May: The word may is permissive and discretionary.

Month means a calendar month.

Nighttime shall mean the period of time between sunset and sunrise.

Number: Words used in the singular include the plural and the plural includes the singular.

Oath means any form of attestation by which a person signifies that he is bound in conscience to perform an act or to speak faithfully and truthfully, and includes an affirmation or declaration in cases where by law an affirmation may be substituted for an oath.

Occupant means tenant or person in actual possession.

Operate means set up, carry on, keep, conduct, maintain, manage, direct, or superintend.

Owner means one who has complete dominion over particular property and who is the one in whom legal or equitable title rests; when applied to a building or land, owner means any part owner, joint owner, owner of a community or partnership interest, life tenant, tenant in common, tenant by the entireties, or joint tenant of the whole or part of such building or land.

Person means any individual, natural person, legal entity, joint stock company, partnership, voluntary association, society, club, firm, company, corporation, business trust, organization, owner, occupant, or any other group acting as a unit, principal or agent, or the manager, lessor, lessee, agent, servant, partner, member, director, officer, or employee of any of them including an executor, administrator, trustee, receiver, or other representative appointed according to law.

Personal Property means any money, goods, movable chattels, things in action, evidence of debt, all objects and rights which are capable of ownership, and every other species of property except real property.

Place open to the public means any privately-owned place of business operated for a profit to which the public is invited, including, but not limited to, any place of amusement or entertainment, regardless of whether a charge for admission or entry is made.

Preceding and following mean next before and next after, respectively.

Public local laws mean and include all acts, ordinances, and legislative acts of the Council.

Public place means any park, lake, stream, stadium, athletic field, playground, school yard, street, avenue, plaza, square, bus, train or railroad depot, station, terminal, cemetery, open space adjacent thereto, or any other place commonly open to the public.

Real Property means land, together with all things attached to the land so as to become a part thereof.

Shall; must: The words shall or must are mandatory.

Sidewalk means that portion of a street between the curb line and the adjacent property along the margin of a street or other highway, designed, constructed, and intended for the use of pedestrians to the exclusion of vehicles.

Signature and subscription mean the name of a person, mark, or symbol appended by him to a writing with intent to authenticate the instrument as one made or put into effect by him.

State means the State of Maryland.

Street means all streets, highways, avenues, boulevards, parkways, roads, lanes, viaducts, bridges and the approaches thereto, docks built on the public street, alleys, courts, places, squares, curbs, sidewalks, recreation and park lands used for vehicular traffic, or other public ways or thoroughfares in the County, over which it has jurisdiction, which have been or may hereafter be dedicated and open to public use, or such other public property so designated in any law of this State.

Tenant means any person occupying the premises, building, or land of another in subordination to such other person's title and with his express or implied assent, whether he occupies the whole or part of those premises, building or land, whether alone or with others.

Tense: Words used in the past or present tense include the future, past, and present where applicable unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.

Time means an hour of the day according to the official time of the County.

Time computation: In computing any period of time prescribed by this Code or by any applicable law, the day of the act, event, or default, after which the designated period of time begins to run, is not to be included. The last day of the period so computed is to be included unless:

Beginning at a point on the District of Columbia Line, where formerly stood a stone established to mark the point common to Montgomery and Prince George's Counties by a survey of the county line in 1868 to 1872, said point having been reestablished by this survey from reference notes recorded by the District of Columbia Surveyor prior to the removal of the stone during the reconstruction of Eastern Avenue in 1947 and 1948, said point now being marked by a brass screw cemented in a two-inch iron pipe standing two inches above the macadam and at the base of a concrete retaining wall on the northeast side of Eastern Avenue approximately thirty-six (36) feet northwest of the southeast end of said retaining wall, with coordinates of the beginning point of North 413,898.60 and East 797,723.97, and running thence with the County line, as now determined, N 30 o 06' 02" E (north thirty degrees six minutes two seconds east) for 17,351.72 (seventeen thousand three hundred fifty-one and seventy-two one hundredths) feet to a granite stone marked "M.C.P.G. 1872" and with coordinates of N 428,910.38 and E 806,426.19 established by the 1868-72 survey and set flush with the ground on the northeasterly side of Mt. Pisgah Road;

Thence N 29 o 59' 05" E (north twenty-nine degrees fifty-nine minutes five seconds east) for 38,363.53 (thirty-eight thousand three hundred sixty-three and fifty-three one hundredths) feet to the outline of part of a conveyance from Theodore B. Siehler and Bessie M. Siehler, his wife, and Eugene Dustin and Goldie M. Dustin, his wife, to Martin C. Darnall and Mildred T. Darnall, his wife, by a deed dated the 2nd of May 1950 and recorded among the land records of Prince George's County, Maryland, in Liber 1227 at Folio 389;

Thence N 49 o 29' 11" W (north forty degrees twenty-nine minutes eleven seconds west) for 271.84 (two hundred seventy-one and eighty-four one hundredths) feet to an iron pipe (pin) previously set;

Thence N 48 o 0' 29" E (north forty-eight degrees zero minutes twenty-nine seconds east) for 383.09 (three hundred eighty-three and nine one hundredths) feet to an iron pipe (pin) previously set;

Thence S 23 o 3' 08" E (south twenty-three degrees thirteen minutes eight seconds east) for 171.93 (one hundred seventy-one and ninety-three one hundredths) feet to a point on the Montgomery County and Prince George's County line, said point being 39.73 (thirty-nine and seventy-three one hundredths) feet from an iron pipe (pin) previously set opposite Station 92 + 50.00 as shown on State Roads Commission Plat 46592;

Thence leaving said outline of the M. C. and M. T. Darnall property and with the Montgomery County and Prince George's County line N 29 o 9' 05" E (north twenty-nine degrees fifty-nine minutes five seconds east) for 89.55 (eighty-nine and fifty-five one hundredths) feet to a granite stone established by the 1868-72 survey and with coordinates of N 462,521.90 and E 825,819.86, marked "M.C.P.G. 1872" standing about two feet above ground and on the northerly side of Sandy Spring Road (State Route 198), and about 1,056 feet westerly from the centerline of Gunpowder Road;

Thence N 19 o 2' 18" E (north nineteen degrees twenty-two minutes eighteen seconds east) 4,405.13 (four thousand four hundred five and thirteen hundredths) feet to an iron pipe with coordinates of North 466,677.64 and East 827,281.01 on the easterly side of Riding Stable or Brooklyn Bridge Road at or near the westerly corner of the C. Shamel property as per deed recorded among the Land Records of Prince George's County in Liber 1043 at Folio 206;

Thence N 40 o 0' 20" W (north forty degrees no minutes twenty seconds west) 1666.58 (sixteen hundred sixty-six and fifty-eight hundredths) feet to a point with coordinates of North 467,954.22 and East 826,209.63 at the end of the fourth line of a conveyance from James W. Smith, et ux., to the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission by a deed dated the 6th day of January 1953, and recorded among the land records of Montgomery County, Maryland, in Liber 1753 at Folio 89, thence with said fourth line reversed N 54 o 9' 39" E (north fifty-four degrees nineteen minutes thirty-nine seconds east) 622.40 (six hundred twenty-two and forty hundredths) feet to a concrete monument with coordinates of North 468,317.17 and East 826,715.25 at the southwest corner of a conveyance from Thomas I. Burton, et ux., to the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission by a deed dated the 25th day of July 1950, and recorded among the Land Records of Montgomery County, Maryland, in Liber 1412 at Folio 395;

Thence with the last line of said deed N 54 o 9' 39" (north fifty-four degrees nineteen minutes thirty-nine seconds east) 683.61 (six hundred eighty-three and sixty-one hundredths) feet to a concrete monument with coordinates of North 468,715.81 and East 827,270.58 at the end thereof;

Thence with the full length of the first line of said deed and in extension thereof through parcel one of a conveyance from Norman C. Dustin to the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission by a deed dated the 19th day of October 1950 and recorded among the Land Records of Montgomery County in Liber 1448 at Folio 106, N 55 o 5' 10" E (north 55 degrees twenty-five minutes ten seconds east) 292.35 (two hundred ninety-two and thirty-five hundredths) feet to a point with coordinates of North 468,881.74 and East 827,511.28;

Thence N 31 o 9' 50" W (north thirty-one degrees nine minutes fifty seconds west) 313.40 (three hundred thirteen and forty hundredths) feet to a concrete monument with coordinates of North 469,149.92 and East 827,349.10 at or near the southwest corner of a conveyance by L. Marshall Cuvillier, Jr., et ux., to the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission by a deed dated the 16th day of February 1951, recorded among the Land Records of Montgomery County in Liber 1497 at Folio 117;

Thence N 58 o 0' 10" E (north fifty-eight degrees fifty minutes ten seconds east) 489.99 (four hundred eighty-nine and ninety-nine hundredths) feet, to a point with coordinates of North 469,403.48 and East 827,768.38; thence S 31 o 9' 50" E (south thirty-one degrees nine minutes fifty seconds east) 399.44 (three hundred ninety-nine and forty-four hundredths) feet to a point on a concrete monument with coordinates of North 469,061.68 and East 827,975.09 at or near the southwest corner of a tract of land conveyed by Howard B. Shipley, et ux., to the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission by a deed dated the 22nd day of May 1952 and recorded among the Land Records of Montgomery County, in Liber 1672 at Folio 201;

Thence with the fifth line of said deed N 68 o 1' 20" E (north sixty-eight degrees forty-one minutes twenty seconds east) 466.97 (four hundred sixty-six and ninety-seven hundredths) feet to a concrete monument at the end thereof with coordinates of North 469,231.40 and East 828,410.13;

Thence with the southerly line of a tract of land conveyed by Richard D. Boyle to the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission by a deed dated the 17th day of July 1951, and recorded among the Land Records of Montgomery County in Liber 1782 at Folio 469, for the full length thereof and passing over a concrete monument at the southeast corner of said tract and continuing with the southerly line of a tract of land conveyed by Gilmer B. Randolph, et ux., to the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission by a deed dated the 26th day of March 1952 and recorded among the Land Records of Montgomery County in Liber 1663 at Folio 457, N 64 o 6' 30" E (north sixty-four degrees twenty-six minutes thirty seconds east) 1680.37 (sixteen hundred eighty and thirty-seven hundredths) feet to a point with coordinates of North 469,956.35 and East 829,926.06;

Thence so as to include a part of Parcel "A" conveyed by Chester F. Naumowicz, Jr. to the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission by a deed dated the 7th day of March 1952 and recorded among the Land Records of Montgomery County, in Liber 1644 at Folio 293, N 22 o 7' 57" E (north twenty-two degrees seventeen minutes fifty-seven seconds east) 961.88 (nine hundred sixty-one and eighty-eight hundredths) feet to a point with coordinates of North 470,846.30 and East 830,291.04, said point being about six-tenths of a foot southwest of a fence corner;

Thence N 64 o 8' 00" E (north sixty-four degrees eight minutes no seconds east) 509.38 (five hundred nine and thirty-eight hundredths) feet to the end of the third line in said deed at a point with coordinates of North 471,068.53 and East 830,749.39, said point being 9866.36 feet N 29 o 8' 32" E from a granite stone marked "M.C.P.G. 1872," standing about two feet above ground on the northerly side of the Sandy Spring Road (State Route 198);

Then crossing said conveyance from Naumowicz to the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission N 29 o 8' 30" E (north twenty-nine degrees fifty-eight minutes thirty seconds east) 2085.80 (two thousand eighty-five and eighty hundredths) feet to a point with coordinates of North 472,875.34 and East 831,791.50 at the end of the 17th (seventeenth) line of said deed recorded among the Land Records of Montgomery County in Liber 1644 at Folio 293, said point having been in the centerline of the channel of the Patuxent River as established prior to the flooding of said river by the construction of the Rocky Gorge Reservoir.

The flag should not be displayed on a float in a parade except from a staff, or as provided in paragraph (9) of this Subsection.

The flag should not be draped over the hood, top, sides, or back of a vehicle or of a railroad train or boat. When the flag is displayed on a motorcar, the staff shall be fixed firmly to the chassis or clamped to the right fender.

No other flag or pennant should be placed above or, if on the same level, to the right of the flag of the United States of America, except during church services conducted by naval chaplains at sea when the church pennant may be flown above the flag during church services for the personnel of the Navy. No person shall display the flag of the United Nations or any other national or international flag equal, above, or in a position of superior prominence or honor to, or in place of, the flag of the United States at any place within the United States or any Territory or possession thereof; provided, that nothing in this Section shall make unlawful the continuance of the practice heretofore followed of displaying the flag of the United Nations in a position of superior prominence or honor, and other national flags in positions of equal prominence or honor, with that of the flag of the United States at the headquarters of the United Nations.

The flag of the United States of America, when it is displayed with another flag against a wall from crossed staffs, should be on the right, the flag's own right, and its staff should be in front of the staff of the other flag.

The flag of the United States of America should be at the center and at the highest point of the group when a number of flags of States or localities or pennants of societies are grouped and displayed from staffs.

When flags of States, cities, or localities, or pennants of societies are flown on the same halyard with the flag of the United States, the latter should always be at the peak. When the flags are flown from the adjacent staffs, the flag of the United States should be hoisted first and lowered last. No such flag or pennant may be placed above the flag of the United States or to the United States flag's right.

When flags of two or more nations are displayed, they are to be flown from separate staffs of the same height. The flags should be of approximately equal size. International usage forbids the display of the flag of one nation above that of another nation in time of peace.

When the flag of the United States is displayed from a staff projecting horizontally or at an angle from the window sill, balcony, or front of a building, the union of the flag should be placed at the peak of the staff unless the flag is at half-staff. When the flag is suspended over a sidewalk from a rope extending from a house to a pole at the edge of the sidewalk, the flag should be hoisted out, union first, from the building.

When displayed either horizontally or vertically against a wall, the union should be uppermost and to the flag's own right, that is, to the observer's left. When displayed in a window, the flag should be displayed in the same way, with the union or blue field to the left of the observer in the street.

When the flag is displayed over the middle of the street, it should be suspended vertically with the union to the north in an east and west street or to the east in a north and south street.

When used on a speaker's platform, the flag, if displayed flat, should be displayed above and behind the speaker. When displayed from a staff in a church or public auditorium, the flag of the United States of America should hold the position of superior prominence, in advance of the audience, and in the position of honor at the clergyman's or speaker's right as he faces the audience. Any other flag so displayed should be placed on the left of the clergyman or speaker or to the right of the audience.

The flag should form a distinctive feature of the ceremony of unveiling a statue or monument, but it should never be used as the covering for the statue or monument.

The flag, when flown at half-staff, should be first hoisted to the peak for an instant and then lowered to the half-staff position. The flag should be again raised to the peak before it is lowered for the day. On Memorial Day the flag should be displayed at half-staff until noon only, then raised to the top of the staff. By order of the President, the flag shall be flown at half-staff upon the death of principal figures of the United States Government and the Governor of a State, territory, or possession as a mark of respect to their memory. In the event of the death of other officials or foreign dignitaries, the flag is to be displayed at half-staff according to Presidential instructions or orders, or in accordance with recognized customs or practices not inconsistent with law. In the event of the death of a present or former official of the government of any State, territory, or possession of the United States, the Governor of that State, territory, or possession may proclaim that the National flag shall be flown at half-staff. The flag shall be flown at half-staff thirty days from the death of the President or a former President; ten days from the day of death of the Vice President, the Chief Justice or a retired Chief Justice of the United States, or the Speaker of the House of Representatives; from the day of death until interment of an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, a Secretary of an executive or military department, a former Vice President, or the Governor of a State, territory, or possession; and on the day of death and the following day for a Member of Congress.

When the flag is used to cover a casket, it should be so placed that the union is at the head and over the left shoulder. The flag should not be lowered into the grave or allowed to touch the ground.

When the flag is suspended across a corridor or lobby in a building with only one main entrance, it should be suspended vertically with the union of the flag to the observer's left upon entering. If the building has more than one main entrance, the flag should be suspended vertically near the center of the corridor or lobby with the union to the north when entrances are to the east and west, or to the east when entrances are to the north and south. If there are entrances in more than two directions, the union should be to the east.

The flag should never be displayed with the union down, except as a signal of dire distress in instances of extreme danger to life or property.

The flag should never touch anything beneath it, such as the ground, the floor, water, or merchandise.

The flag should never be carried flat or horizontally, but always aloft and free.

The flag should never be used as wearing apparel, bedding, or drapery. It should never be festooned, drawn back, nor up, in folds, but always allowed to fall free. Bunting of blue, white, and red, always arranged with the blue above, the white in the middle, and the red below, should be used for covering a speaker's desk, draping the front of the platform, and for decoration in general.

The flag should never be fastened, displayed, used, or stored in such a manner as to permit it to be easily torn, soiled, or damaged in any way.

The flag should never be used as a covering for a ceiling.

The flag should never have placed upon it, nor on any part of it, nor attached to it any mark, insignia, letter, word, figure, design, picture, or drawing of any nature.

The flag should never be used as a receptacle for receiving, holding, carrying, or delivering anything.

The flag should never be used for advertising purposes in any manner whatsoever. It should not be embroidered on such articles as cushions or handkerchiefs and the like, printed or otherwise impressed on paper napkins or boxes or anything that is designed for temporary use and discard. Advertising signs should not be fastened to a staff or halyard from which the flag is flown.

No part of the flag should ever be used as a costume or athletic uniform. However, a flag patch may be affixed to the uniform of military personnel, firemen, policemen, and members of patriotic organizations. The flag represents a living country and is itself considered a living thing. Therefore, the lapel flag pin, being a replica, should be worn on the left lapel near the heart.

The flag, when it is in such condition that it is no longer a fitting emblem for display, should be destroyed in a dignified way, preferably by burning.