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Gahanna city attorney proposes code amendments to mirror state law; OVI penalties to increase, waiver sought
Summary
City Attorney Tamela Larson asked council to adopt updates to the general offenses and traffic code to mirror state law changes, including higher penalties for OVI; she requested a waiver of second reading so municipal code takes effect April 9 with state statutes.
City Attorney Tamela Larson told the Committee of the Whole on Feb. 24 that the administration is proposing amendments to the general offenses chapter and the traffic code to conform municipal code to recent state law changes.
Larson said most changes mirror state law; "the biggest substantive change is the increase in penalties for OVI offenses," she said. She asked the council to waive a second reading because the referenced state code sections take effect April 9 and the city wants its code to take effect on the same date.
Larson described the redline received from the city’s codifier as non-substantive in part and said she turned the ordinance around quickly to align Gahanna’s code with the state. Council members asked procedural questions about timing. When a council member asked why the city would not adopt an emergency clause to make the ordinance effective immediately, Larson explained that an emergency would make the city code effective ahead of the state law; the waiver of a second reading would allow the city ordinance to become effective April 9 — coinciding with the state changes — and avoid being either ahead of or more restrictive than state law.
The committee did not vote on the ordinance; Larson asked that it be placed on the regular agenda for a third reading so the city’s effective date will coincide with the state statute effective date.
