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Ordinance No. 2024-044d CITY OF CLERMONT ORDINANCE NO.2024-044 AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF CLERMONT, LAKE COUNTY, FLORIDA, CREATING AND ENACTING CHAPTER 24, "OFFENSES AND MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS" ARTICLE I, "IN GENERAL" SECTION 24-15 "PUBLIC CAMPING OR SLEEPING OF THE CLERMONT CITY CODE, PROVIDING FOR FINDINGS, PURPOSE, INTENT AND DEFINITIONS; MAKING THE ACT OF PUBLIC CAMPING AN OFFENSE PUNISHABLE BY LAW, PROVIDING FOR PROGRAM IMPLEMENTATION REQUIREMENTS AND PROVIDING FOR ENFORCEMENT AND ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURES; PROVIDING FOR CONFLICT, SEVERABILITY, ADMINISTRATIVE CORRECTION, CODIFICATION, PUBLICATION AND EFFECTIVE DATE. WHEREAS, Chapter 166 of the Florida Statutes and Article VIII of the Florida Constitution authorizes the legislative body of each municipality to enact ordinances to protect the health, safety, and welfare of its residents; and WHEREAS, the Florida Legislature has enacted HB 1365 codified under 125.0231 Florida Statutes forbidding municipalities from authorizing or otherwise allowing any person to regularly engage in public camping or sleeping on any public property; and WHEREAS, the Florida Statute creates a cause of action whereby an affected member of the public can bring legal action against the municipality seeking damages for failing to act to prohibit public camping or sleeping on or after January 1, 2025; and WHEREAS, the City has a substantial interest in protecting against unsanitary conditions and safety issues in the areas where the public generally traverse and congregate, and to promote the public health and peaceful enjoyment of public property; and WHEREAS, prohibiting camping in areas without adequate resources is a reasonable means to achieving those goals; and WHEREAS, the unauthorized use of public property for camping where the property in question is neither intended nor designed as a campsite, campground, or site for temporary human habitation tends to impair, obstruct, and otherwise detract from the use of the property for its intended and designed purpose; and WHEREAS, public property is also an inappropriate setting for camping activities for reasons that include, but are not limited to, the lack of adequate means for disposing of waste and access to utilities; and WHEREAS, camping in areas not equipped for such activities leads to the physical deterioration of such areas; and (. CLER ' NT CITY OF CLERMONT 0.�« ORDINANCE NO.2024-044 WHEREAS, the City Council desires to protect and preserve the health, safety, and welfare of its residents, visitors, and the general public, by adding Section 24-15 to the City's Code prohibiting camping and public sleeping (which conduct is specifically identified and defined herein) in public places; and WHEREAS, the City Council finds that prohibiting camping in public places in the City furthers the legitimate governmental interest in protecting the public health, safety and welfare of all persons within the City as more particularly set forth above; and NOW, THEREFORE BE IT ORDAINED by the City Council of the City of Clermont, Lake County, Florida as follows: SECTION 1: The foregoing recitals are incorporated herein and are true and correct and accepted as Findings in support of this Ordinance. SECTION 2: Chapter 24, "OFFENSES AND MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS", Article I. "In General" of the Clermont City Code, is amended to enact and create Section 24-15 "Public Camping or Public Sleeping" to read as follows: (underlined indicates added language and strike through indicates deleted language. Sec. 24-15. Public Camping or Public Sleeping. (a) Definitions. (a) Definitions. (1) "Enforcement officer" means a sworn Law Enforcement Officer of the City of Clermont or any other employee duly authorized to enforce City of Clermont codes and ordinances. (2) "Public campingor sleeping" means: a. Lodging or residingovernight vernight in a temporary outdoor habitation used as a dwelling or living space and evidenced by the erection of a tent or other temporary shelter, the presence of bedding or pillows, or the storage of personal belongs: or b. Lodging or residingoght in an outdoor space without a tent or other temporary shelter. C. Cooking over an open flame or fire out-of-doors or utilizing non -city designated cooking facilities outdoor. (3) "Public Camping" does not include: a. Lodging or residing overnight in a motor vehicle that is registered, insured, and located in a place where it may lawfully be. S CLER � OIL CITY OF CLERMONT «,�« ORDINANCE NO.2024-044 b. Camping for recreational purposes on propegy designated for such purposes. (4) "Public Place" means any structure owned or leased by the City, public street, sidewalk, alley, or other public right-of-way, park, playground, or government -owned area within the City. (5) "Lodging" means sleeping accommodations or temporaryplace to stay. (6) "Overnight" means any time during the hours between sundown and sunset. (7) "Residing" means to dwell or live in a place. (b) Public Camping Prohibited. It is prohibited, unlawful, and a violation of this Section for any person to engage in public campingor r sleeping on or in any Public Place. (c) Procedures; investigation of violations; issuance of citations; other enforcement. (l) Any person violating this Section shall, upon being warned by an Enforcement Officer, cease the prohibited activity. An Enforcement Officer is hereby authorized to issue a written warningto any for violation of this Section when the Enforcement Officer has reasonable cause to believe that the person has committed a violation of this Section. (2) The written warning may be provided to the person that has committed a violation of this Section and shall establish a reasonable time within which the person must leave the public property, including removing any and all tents, temporary structures, and personal belongs. Such time period to comply will not exceed sixty (60,) minutes. 3) If the violator does not comply with the warniniz within the time period, the Enforcement Officer may take enforcement action, including but not limited to issuance of a citation pursuant to Sec. 1-129 et. seq. of the City Code, as amended or renumbered; arrest, or other enforcement action, as necessary and applicable. The Enforcement Officer shall record on the applicable documents with as much particularity as possible, the identification of the subject Public Place. 4) In the event that a person has been warned, issued a citation, or arrested within the preceding six (6) months and the Enforcement Officer has reasonable cause to believe that the person has committed a violation of this Section on the same property for which the prior warning, citation, or arrest was issued, the Enforcement Officer shall take enforcement action and shall consider whether a violation of F.S. § 810.09, as amended or renumbered, has been committed. . 5) The citv may pursue anv enforcement action or legal remedv available under controllin state law and any legal remedy available to the city to include, but not be limited to a written warning to be followed by a fine not exceeding $500.00 unless otherwise authorized by state law, followed by imprisonment for a term not exceeding 60 days unless otherwise authorized by state law. (d) This section does not apply during any time period in which: d CITY OF CLERMONT C� 7 � � ORDINANCE NO.2024-044 (1) The Governor has declared a state of emergency in Lake County or another county immediately adjacent to Lake County and has suspended the provisions of this section pursuant to s. 252.36. (2) A state of emergency has been declared in Lake County under F.S. Chapter 870. SECTION 3: CONFLICT All ordinances or parts of ordinances, all City Code sections or parts of City Code sections, and all resolutions or parts of resolutions in conflict with this Ordinance are hereby repealed to the extent of such conflict. SECTION 4: SEVERABILITY If any portion of this ordinance is declared invalid or unenforceable, then, to the extent it is possible to do so without destroying the overall intent and effect of this ordinance, the portion deemed invalid or unenforceable shall be severed herefrom, and the remainder of this ordinance shall continue in full force and effect as if it were enacted without including the portion found to be invalid or unenforceable. SECTION 5: ADMINISTRATIVE CORRECTION Regardless of whether such inclusion in the Code as described in Section 4 is accomplished, Section 2 of the Ordinance may be re -numbered or re -lettered and the correction of typographical and/or scrivener's errors which do not affect the intent may be authorized by the City Manager or designee, without need of public hearing, by filing a corrected or re -codified copy of same with the City Clerk. SECTION 6: CODIFICATION The text of Section 2 of this ordinance shall be codified as a part of the Clermont City Code The codifier is authorized to make editorial changes not effecting the substance of this ordinance by the substitution of "article" for "ordinance", "section" for "paragraph", or otherwise to take such editorial license. SECTION 7: PUBLICATION AND EFFECTIVE DATE This Ordinance shall be published as provided by law and it shall become law and shall take effect immediately upon its Second Reading and Final Passage. d CLER' M, CITY OF CLERMONT ��d� ORDINANCE N0. 2024-044 PASSED AND ADOPTED by the City Council of the City of Clermont, Lake County, Florida on this 14th day of January 2025. ATTEST: Tracy Ackr6yd'Howe, MMC City Clerk CITY OF CLERMONT Tim Murry, day APPROVED AS TO FORM AND LEGALITY: ney