Ord. No. 03-01-17341 ORDINANCE NO.3-01-1734
2
3 AN ORDINANCE OF THE MAYOR AND CITY COMMISSION OF THE
4 CITY OF SOUTH MIAMI,FLORIDA AMENDING SECTION 15-65
5 (SLEEPING ONSTREETS,AVENUES,ETC.)OF THE CODE OF
6 ORDINANCES OF THE CITY OF SOUTH MIAMI;PROVIDING FOR
7 SEVERABILITY,ORDINANCES INCONFLICT,AND AN EFFECTIVE
8 DATE.
9
10 WHEREAS,Sections 15-65 of theCityCode of Ordinances deals solely with
11 sleeping onpublic property;and,
12
13 WHEREAS,sincethe enactment of this ordinance in 1954 many social changes
14 have occurred whichwould bring into question the validity of the ordinance init's
15 current form;and
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17 WHEREAS,the City Commission has expressed their desire to have theCity's
18 Code of Ordinancesbroughtuptodate;and
19
20NOW,THEREFORE,BEIT ORDAINED BY THEMAYORANDCITY
21 COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF SOUTH MIAMI,FLORIDA:
22
23 Section 1.Section 15-65 of theCode of Ordinances of theCity of South Miami
24 is amended to read:
25
26 Section 15-65 Sleeping on streets,avenues,etc.Camping prohibited;exceptions
27
28It shall be unlawful to sloop on any ofthe otroots,avenues or other public property
29 of the city;provided,however,this provision shall not be applicable to any police
30 or fire personnel of this city using police or fire dormitories (Ord 297,4 20 54)
31
32 1.For the purpose ofthis section,"camping"is defined as:
33 a.Sleeping or otherwise being ina temporary shelter out-of-doors:or
34b.Sleeping our-of-doors:or
35 c.Cooking overan open flame or fire out-of-doors.
36
37 2.Camping is prohibited on all public property,except as mav be specifically
38 authorized bvthe appropriate governmental authority.
39
40 Section 2.If any section,clause,sentence,or phrase of this ordinance is for any
41 reason held invalid or unconstitutional bya court of competent jurisdiction,the holding
42 shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions ofthis ordinance.
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Page2 of Ordinance No.3-01-1734
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Section 3.Allordinancesorpartsofordinancesinconflictwiththeprovisions
of this ordinance are repealed.
Section 4.This ordinance shallbe effective immediately after the adoption
hereof.
PASSEDANDADOPTEDthis 16thday of ,iannary
ATTEST:APPROVED:
,2000.
CITY CLERK
1st Reading-12/19/OO
2nd Reading-1/16/01
READ AND APPROVED AS TO FORM:
^l,/<£r (gp^V
CITY ATTORNEY
A1*A ?/<~-c £
MAYOR
COMMISSION VOTE:
Mayor Robaina:
ViceMayor Feliu:
Commissioner Russell:
Commissioner Bethel:
Commissioner Wiscombe:
Additions shown hv nnderlinino and deletions shown hv ovorstrilnna
5-0
Yea
Yea
Yea
Yea
Yea
CITY OF SOUTH MIAMI
POLICE DEPARTMENT
INTER-OFFICE MEMORANDUM
TO:All Personnel
FROM:Cokes Watson,Jr.
Chief of Police
DATE:December 19,2000
SUBJECT:Administrative Order 4-44
The City Code of Ordinances,Section 15-65 has been amended to read:
1.Forthe purpose ofthis section,"camping"is defined as:
a.Sleeping or otherwise being ina temporary shelter out-of-doors;or
b.Sleepingour-of-doors:or
c.Cookingoveranopen flame orfire out-of-doors.
2.Camping is prohibited on all public property,except as mav be specifically
authorized bv the appropriate governmental authority.
In order to "camp,"the subject must do more than simply fall asleep on city
property.There must be some indication of actual camping.One or more of the
following should exist before an arrest under this section is appropriate:
(1)Thepropertymustbepublic property;
(2)The subject is inside a tent or sleeping bag,or the subject is asleep atop
and/or covered by materials (i.e.bedroll,cardboard,newspapers),or
insidesomeform of temporaryshelter;
(3)Thesubjecthasbuilta campfire;
(4)The subject is asleep and when awakened volunteers that he has no other
place to live.Homeless persons should additionally be advised of
alternative shelters available such as Camillus House,etc.
(5)Upon arrest,evidence of camping (sleeping bags,bedroll,cardboard,
newspapers,etc.),should not be destroyed,but should be seized and
placed in Evidence.Other personal property ofthe Defendant,which is
notevidence,shouldremainwiththeDefendant.
To guarantee the fair application of this ordinance to all persons,the following criteria
shouldbeconsideredbeforetakingenforcement action.
Simply being asleep ina public place during late night or early morning hours
makes the camping case stronger,but is not alone sufficient to justify an arrest under this
sectionunless mere issomeindicia oftrue"camping"asnotedabove.
CW/GF/sh
TO:
FROM:
City of South Miami
INTER-OFFICE MEMORANDUM
Honorable Mayor,Vice Mayor
and City Commission
Date:
Charles Scurr,
City Manager
fyfirfRe:
tfanuary -12r'2001
4AgendaItem#/
Comm.Mtg -ja^'aary i6,2001
Changes to City Code 15-65
REQUEST
AN ORDINANCE OF THE MAYOR AND CITY COMMISSION OF THE CITY
OF SOUTH MIAMI,FLORIDA AMENDING SECTION 15-65 (SLEEPING ON
STREETS,AVENUES,ETC.)OF THE CODE OF ORDINANCES OF THE CITY
OF SOUTH MIAMI;PROVIDING FOR SEVERABILITY,ORDINANCES IN
CONFLICT,AND AN EFFECTIVE DATE.
BACKGROUND AND ANALYSIS
TheexistingSection15-65 of theCode of Ordinancespreventspeoplefrom"sleeping"
onpublic property suchas streets,avenues,etc.Enactedin 1954 this ordinance is
outdatedand of questionableconstitutionality.
The proposed changetothe ordinance addresses "camping"asopposedto sleeping.Itis
modeledafterthecityordinance of theCity of Orlandowhichrecentlywasupheldbythe
UnitedStatesCourt of AppealsfortheEleventhCircuit.
Specific guidelinesfortheenforcement of thiscodehavebeenpromulgatedforthe
PoliceDepartmentupon final passage of this ordinance.Acopyisattached,anditisalso
modeledaftertheguidelinesfromtheCityofOrlando,whichwereincorporatedintothe
decision of the Court of Appeals.
RECOMMENDATION
Yourapprovalis recommended.
CS/GF/sh