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ITEM: ORDINANCE NO. 2023-12 (AMENDMENTS TO CHAPTERS 1, 2, 3, 9, 20, AND 22 OF WELLINGTON’S CODE OF ORDINANCES)
AN ORDINANCE OF WELLINGTON, FLORIDA’S COUNCIL AMENDING THE WELLINGTON CODE OF ORDINANCES, MORE SPECIFICALLY, TEXT AMENDMENTS TO MODIFY CERTAIN PROVISIONS IN CHAPTER 1 (GENERAL PROVISIONS), CHAPTER 2 (ADMINISTRATION), CHAPTER 3 (ALCHOLIC BEVERAGES), CHAPTER 9 (ENVIRONMENT), CHAPTER 11 (MORTGAGED PROPERTY REGISTRATION), CHAPTER 20 (STREETS, SIDEWALKS AND OTHER PLACES), AND CHAPTER 22 (TRAFFIC & VEHICLES) AS CONTAINED HEREIN; TO FACILITATE IMPROVED EFFICIENCY FOR THE CITATION METHOD OF CODE COMPLIANCE; FOR CLARIFICATION OF PROVISIONS BY ADDING, MODIFYING, OR ELIMINATING CONFUSING LANGUAGE, INCLUDING DEFINITIONS; MODIFYING PROVISIONS TO BE CONTEMPORARY OR TO COMPLY WITH CHANGES IN STATE LAW ADOPTED DURING THE 2023 LEGISLATIVE SESSION; PROVIDING A CONFLICTS CLAUSE; PROVIDING A SEVERABILITY CLAUSE; AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE.
REQUEST: Approval of Ordinance No. 2023-12 on First Reading.
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EXPLANATION: On October 11, 2022, the Village Council adopted the current Code of Ordinances, updating the “original” Code that was adopted in 1997 (and amended numerous times over 25 years). The amendments currently being proposed were initiated at the request of PBSO to establish specific fines for violations that may be enforced by PBSO through the citation method. This is accomplished by amending the table of fines in Section 2-47. The amendments will eliminate the need for law enforcement personnel and the violator to go to County Court if the person chooses to simply pay the fine. PBSO also requested a reduction of the time necessary to declare a vehicle parked on public roadways abandoned, and therefore subject to towing, from 48 hours to 24 hours.
A new single definition of Law Enforcement Officer is recommended to be used throughout the Code and replace various other definitions for consistency and clarity. Numerous minor wording changes were made in the affected chapters for consistency and clarification without functionally changing the provisions (such as the alphabetizing of certain charts and tables).
Other changes are being proposed to update code provisions to be compliant with changes in Florida law made in the 2023 legislative session, such as golf cart regulations (effective October 1, 2023) or to make provisions consistent with current practices that were not addressed in the drafting of the Code of Ordinances update, such as changing the limitations of commercial vehicles on public roads from regulation by number of wheels to regulation by weight.
BUDGET AMENDMENT REQUIRED: NO
PUBLIC HEARING: YES QUASI-JUDICIAL: NO
FIRST READING: YES SECOND READING:
LEGAL SUFFICIENCY: YES
FISCAL IMPACT: N/A
WELLINGTON FUNDAMENTAL: Responsive Government
RECOMMENDATION: Approval of Ordinance No. 2023-12 on First Reading.