TOWN OF PALM BEACH Town Council Meeting on: January 14, 2014

Transcription

1 TOWN OF PALM BEACH Town Council Meeting on: January 14, 2014 Section of Agenda Ordinances - First Reading Agenda Title ORDINANCE NO An Ordinance of the Town Council of the Town of Palm Beach, Palm Beach County, Florida, Amending Chapter 106, Streets, Sidewalks and Other Public Places, Article I, in General, at Section 106-1, Making it Unlawful to Allow Vegetation or Any Other Item, Substance, Material or Thing to Obstruct Street Signs, Regulatory Signage, Street Lighting or Traffic Signals; Providing for Severability; Providing for Repeal of Ordinances in Conflict; Providing for Codification; Providing an Effective Date. Presenter Thomas G. Bradford, Deputy Town Manager Supporting Documents Memorandum dated January 2, 2014, from Thomas G. Bradford, Deputy Town Manager Ordinance No Memorandum dated January 3, 2014, from Raychel Houston, Parking-Code Enforcement Manager 199

2 TOWN OF PALM BEACH Information for Town Council Meeting on: January 14, 2014 To: Via: Mayor and Town Council Peter B. Elwell, Town Manager From: Thomas G. Bradford, Deputy Town Manager Re: Ordinance Making it Unlawful to Allow Vegetation or any Other Item, Substance or Thing to Obstruct Street Signs, Regulatory Signage, Street Lighting or Traffic Signals. Ordinance No Date: January 2, 2014 STAFF RECOMMENDATION Staff recommends Town Council adopt Ordinance No GENERAL INFORMATION At their meeting on December 3, 2013, the Ordinances, Rules and Standards Committee received and approved a recommendation that originated in the Code Enforcement Division of the Police Department and was developed in conjunction with staff from Code Enforcement, Public Works, Risk Management and the Town Manager s Office to address a short coming in the Code of Ordinances relative to enforcement capabilities of the Town whenever an obstruction emanating from private property effects a street sign, regulatory sign, street lighting or traffic signals. Most such problems are handled with a telephone call asking the private property owner to correct a problem. However, if there is no cooperation Code Enforcement learned there is no ordinance granting them the authority to take corrective action. The aforementioned staff members met to devise a process whereby Public Works will confirm alleged obstructions to Code Enforcement who will then make contact with property owners involved. The ordinance before you for consideration simply makes it unlawful to allow vegetation or any other item, substance or thing to obstruct street signs, regulatory signage, street lighting or traffic signals. Per the Town Council s request the Police Department has prepared the attached memorandum indicating approximately 12 examples of recent situations where the proposed ordinance would have been useful in the elimination of obstructions to street signs, regulatory signs, street lighting or traffic signals had a property owner not been willing to trim vegetation. SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS If the Town Council prefers, we can address unresolved obstructions by having them cut back by a Town contractor and billing the property owner for the cost (instead of referring the property 200

3 owner to the Code Enforcement Board). However, even to implement that alternative, we need Ordinance No to be adopted to make the Town s enforcement authority clear in this matter. FUNDING/FISCAL IMPACT This proposal is not intended to generate revenue. Any revenue that may result is de minimis. TOWN ATTORNEY REVIEW Ordinance No has been approved for legal form and sufficiency by Town Attorney John Randolph. cc: Kirk Blouin, Director of Public Safety H. Paul Brazil, Director of Public Works Dan Szarszewski, Deputy Chief of Police Ann-Marie Taylor, Lieutenant, Police Department Raychel Houston, Parking/Code Enforcement Manager Rob Walton, Chief Code Compliance Officer Karen Temme, Risk Manager N: TGB\Agenda Items\2014\ Ordinance Making Unlawful Obstructions to Signs Etc. Backup Memo TCM 201

4 ORDINANCE NO AN ORDINANCE OF THE TOWN COUNCIL OF THE TOWN OF PALM BEACH, PALM BEACH COUNTY, FLORIDA, AMENDING CHAPTER 106, STREETS, SIDEWALKS AND OTHER PUBLIC PLACES, ARTICLE I, IN GENERAL, AT SECTION 106-1, MAKING IT UNLAWFUL TO ALLOW VEGETATION OR ANY OTHER ITEM, SUBSTANCE, MATERIAL OR THING TO OBSTRUCT STREET SIGNS, REGULATORY SIGNAGE, STREET LIGHTING OR TRAFFIC SIGNALS; PROVIDING FOR SEVERABILITY; PROVIDING FOR REPEAL OF ORDINANCES IN CONFLICT; PROVIDING FOR CODIFICATION; PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE. BE IT ORDAINED BY THE TOWN COUNCIL OF THE TOWN OF PALM BEACH, PALM BEACH COUNTY, FLORIDA, AS FOLLOWS: Section 1. The Code of Ordinances of the Town of Palm Beach is hereby amended at Chapter 106, Streets, Sidewalks and other public places; Article I, In General, Section 106-1, to read as follows: Sec Obstructions generally. Except as otherwise permitted by this Code: (1) It shall be unlawful to obstruct or cause to be obstructed any sidewalk or crossing in any way. (2) It shall be unlawful to erect, build, construct, deposit or place upon or in any street, or any place where the public has a right of passage, any structure or obstruction of any kind; or for the owner or occupant of any lot or part thereof abutting on a street of this town to permit any obstruction to remain upon the sidewalk in front of such lot or part thereof or for the owner or occupant of such lot or part thereof to permit any sidewalk in front of such lot or part thereof to remain in such condition as to prevent convenient and safe use thereof by the public. Ord Page 1 of 3 202

5 (3) It shall be unlawful to allow vegetation or any other item, substance, material or thing to obstruct street signs, regulatory signage, street lighting or traffic signals. The town s public works department shall confirm in writing to the designated town code enforcement official all alleged obstructions of street signs, regulatory signage, street lighting and traffic signals. Section 2. Severability. If any provision of this Ordinance or the application thereof is held invalid, such invalidity shall not affect the other provisions or applications of this Ordinance which can be given effect without the invalid provisions or applications, and to this end the provisions of this Ordinance are hereby declared severable. Section 3. Repeal of Ordinances in Conflict. All other ordinances of the Town of Palm Beach, Florida, or parts thereof which conflict with this or any part of this Ordinance are hereby repealed. Section 4. Codification. This Ordinance shall be codified and made a part of the official Code of Ordinances of the Town of Palm Beach. Section 5. Effective Date. This Ordinance shall take effect immediately upon its passage and approval, as provided by law. Ord Page 2 of 3 203

6 PASSED AND ADOPTED in a regular, adjourned session of the Town Council of the Town of Palm Beach on first reading this 14 th day of January 2014, and for second and final reading on this day of, Gail L. Coniglio, Mayor David A. Rosow, Town Council President Robert N. Wildrick, Council President Pro Tem William J. Diamond, Town Council Member ATTEST: Richard M. Kleid, Town Council Member Susan A. Owens, MMC, Town Clerk Michael J. Pucillo, Town Council Member n:\tgb\misc\2013\ors\obstructions of Regualtory Signs Etc. Ord Page 3 of 3 204

7 TOWN OF PALM BEACH POLICE DEPARTMENT DEDICATED TO EXCELLENCE To: From: Re: Tom Bradford, Deputy Town Manager Raychel Houston, Parking/Code Enforcement Manager Vegetation Obscuring Regulatory/Traffic/Parking Signs Date: January 3, 2014 Pursuant to a request from a Town Council member to explain the need for an ordinance to compel property owners to trim vegetation that is obscuring regulatory/traffic/parking signs, I reviewed the number of requests we have received this past year. The complaints reference vegetation obscuring stop signs or street signs comes to Code Enforcement from residents as well as Public Works employees. Public Works also receives complaints from residents that they forward to Code Enforcement. Because these situations are not violations of a Town ordinance at this time, we do not enter them in our database system to follow up on, so therefore I cannot give you an exact number of situations we have encountered this year. Based on a review of the s we have received from Public Works, we have addressed approximately 12 complaints since July, Most of these involved hedges that were obscuring stop signs at intersections. The code enforcement officers contact the homeowner either in person or by phone and explain the issue and request they trim the vegetation. Although some homeowners are reluctant to cut the hedges back, we have been able to obtain compliance. At the present time, vegetation overgrowing the sidewalk or the roadway is a violation we address on a regular basis and we would like the ability to compel homeowners to trim vegetation that is creating a public safety hazard. 205