2022-05 Code Amendment - Year-Round Irrigation Conservation MeasuresORDINANCE NO. 2022-05
AN ORDINANCE OF THE VILLAGE COUNCIL OF THE VILLAGE OF
NORTH PALM BEACH, FLORIDA, AMENDING CHAPTER 19, "OFFENSES
AND MISCELLANEOUS REGULATIONS," OF THE VILLAGE CODE OF
ORDINANCES BY REPEALING ARTICLE IX; "WATER SHORTAGE
EMERGENCIES," AND ADOPTING A NEW ARTICLE IX, "YEAR-ROUND
IRRIGATION CONSERVATION MEASURES;" PROVIDING FOR A
PURPOSE AND FOR APPLICABILITY; PROVIDING FOR DEFINITIONS;
PROVIDING FOR CONSERVATION REGULATIONS; PROVIDING FOR
VIOLATIONS AND ENFORCEMENT; PROVIDING FOR VARIANCES;
PROVIDING. FOR CODIFICATION; PROVIDING FOR SEVERABILITY;
AND PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE.
WHEREAS, Chapter 40E-24, Florida Administrative Code, specifies certain mandatory year-
round landscape irrigation conservation measures within the boundaries of the South Florida Water
Management District ("SFWMD"); and
WHEREAS, the Village is located within the boundaries of the SFWMD, and Section 40E-24.011,
Florida Administrative Code, encourages local governments to implement these conservation
measures through the adoption of ordinances incorporating the applicable restrictions, as well as
provisions for enforcement and variances; and
WHEREAS, the Village Council wishes to formally adopt the conservation measures applicable
within Palm Beach County and incorporate such regulations into the Village Code of Ordinances; and
WHEREAS, the Village Council determines that the adoption of this Ordinance is in the best
interests of the residents of the Village of North Palm beach.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE VILLAGE COUNCIL OF THE VILLAGE
OF NORTH PALM BEACH as follows:
Section 1. The foregoing recitals are ratified as true and correct and incorporated herein.
Section 2. The Village Council hereby amends Chapter 19, "Offenses and Miscellaneous
Provisions," of the Village Code of Ordinances by repealing Article IX, "Water Shortage
Emergencies," and adopting a new Article IX, "Mandatory Year -Round Landscape Irrigation
Measures," to read as follows (additional language is underlined):
ARTICLE IX. MANDATORY YEAR-ROUND LANDSCAPE IRRIGATION
CONSERVATION MEASURES.
Sec. 19-200. Purpose and applicability.
Lq� The purpose of this article is to implement procedures to protect
water resources of the Village and to promote water conservation throughthe
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adoption of the South Florida Water Management District's mandatory year-round
landscape irrigation conservation measures.
The provisions of this article apply to all users within the Village,
unless otherwise indicated in this article, and all water sources, except that the use
of reclaimed water or saltwater, which may or may not be supplemented from
another source, is allowed at any time. This article shall not apply to the irrigation
of athletic play areas as defined herein or to irrigation at agricultural or nursery
operations.
Sec. 19-201. Definitions.
When used in this article, the following terms shall have the meanings
ascribed to them in this section except where the context clearly indicates a different
meaning:
Address means the house number (a numeric or alphanumeric designation)
that, together with the street name, describes the physical location of a specific
property. If a lot number in a mobile home park or similar community is used by
the U.S. Postal Service to determine a delivery location, the lot number shall be the
property's address. If a lot number in a mobile home park or similar residential
community is not used by the U.S. Postal Service (e.g., the park manager sorts
incoming mail delivered to the community's address), then the community's main
address shall be the property's address.
Athletic play area means all golf course fairways, tees, roughs, greens, and
other athletic play surfaces, including football, baseball, soccer, polo, tennis, and
lawn bowling fields.
District means the South Florida Water Management District, a government
entity created pursuant to Chapter 373, Florida Statutes.
Even -numbered address means an address ending in the numbers 0, 2, 4, 6,
8 or rights-of-way or other locations with no address.
Landscaping means shrubbery, trees, lawns, sod,rg ass, ground covers,
plants, vines, ornamental gardens, and such other flora, not intended for resale,
which are situated in such diverse locations as residential landscapes, recreation
areas, cemeteries, public, commercial, and industrial establishments, public
medians, and rights-of-way, excluding athletic play areas as defined above.
Landscape irrigation means the outside watering of shrubbery, trees, lawns,
sod, grass, _ ground covers, plants, vines, ornamental gardens, and such other flora,
not intended for resale, which are planted and are situated in such diverse locations
as residential landscapes, recreation areas, cemeteries, public, commercial, and
i
industrial establishments, public medians, and rights-of-way, excluding athletic
play areas as defined above.
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Low volume hand watering means the watering of landscape by one person,
with one hose fitted with a self -canceling or automatic shutoff nozzle.
Low volume irrigation means the use of equipment and devices specifically
designed to allow the volume of water delivered to be limited to a level consistent
with the water requirement of the plant being irrigated and to allow that water to be
placed with a high degree of efficiency in the root zone of the plant. The term also
includes water used in mist houses and similar establishments for plant propagation.
Micro -irrigation means the annlication of small auantities of water on or
below the soil surface as drops or tiny streams of spray through emitter or
applicators placed along a water delivery line. Micro -irrigation includes a number
of methods or concerts such as bubbler, drip, trickle, mist or micros -Dray, and
subsurface irrigation. _
New landscaping means any landscaping which has been planted and in the
ground for ninety (90) days or less.
Odd -numbered address means an address ending in the numbers 1, 3, 5, 7,
Reclaimed water means wastewater that has received at least secondary
treatment and basic disinfection and is reused after flowing1 out of a wastewater
treatment facility as defined by Rule 62-40.210, Florida Administrative Code, as
may be amended from time to time.
User means any person, individual, firm, association, organization,
partnership, business trust, corporation, company, agent, employee or other legal
entity whether natural or artificial, the United States of America, and the State and
all political subdivisions, regions, districts, municipalities, and public agencies
thereof, which directly or indirectly takes water from the water resource, including
uses from private or public utilitv systems, uses under water use permits or uses
from individual wells or pumps.
Wasteful and unnecessary means allowing water to be dispersed without
any_practical purpose to the water use or in violation of this article including, by
way of example, excessive landscape irrigation; leaving an unattended hose on a
driveway with water flowing; allowing landscape irrigation water to unnecessarily
fall onto pavement, sidewalks and other impervious surfaces; allowing water flow
through a broken or malfunctioning water delivery or landscape irrigation system
tem
or irrigating outside of permissible days and times.
Sec. 19-202. Conservation regulations.
D Wasteful and unnecessary uses. All wasteful and unnecessary water
use is prohibited.
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Hours for landscape irrigation. Landscape irrigation shall be
prohibited between the hours of 10:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m., except as otherwise
provided in this article.
Oct New landscaping,
On the day the new landscaping is installed, the new landscaping
may be irrigated once without regard to the normally allowable
watering_days and times. Irrigation of the soil immediately prior to
the installation of the new landscaping is also allowable without
regard to the normal allowable watering days and times.
The ninety (90) dqyperiod begins the day the new landscaping is
installed.
Irrigation of new landscaping which has been in place for thirty (30I
days or less may be accomplished on Monday, Tuesday,
Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday.
Irrigation of new landscaping which has been in place for thirty-one
(31) to ninety (90) days may be accomplished on Monday,
Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday.
Irrigation of the new landscaping is limited to areas containing the
new landscaping only. An entire zone of an irrigation system shall
only be utilized for landscape irrigation under this paragraph if the
zone in question is for an area that contains at least fifty percent
(50%) new landscaping. If a zone contains less than fifty percent
(50%) new landscaping, or if the new landscaping is in an area that
will not typically be irrigated by an irrigation system, only the
individual new plantings are eligible for additional irrigation under
this paragraph. Targeted watering_ may be accomplished by low
volume hand watering, or an,, appropriate method which isolates
and waters only the new landscaping_
Landscape irri at�ionsystems..
Landscape irrigation systems may be operated during restricted days
and/or times for cleaning, maintenance, and repair purposes with an
attendant on site in the area beingtested.
sted.
Landscape irrigationystems may routinely be operated for such
purposes no more than once per week, and the run time for any one
test should not exceed ten (10)minutes per zone.
Any user who purchases and installs an automatic landscape
irrigation system shall properly install, maintain, and operate
technology that inhibits or interrupts operation of the system during
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periods of sufficient moisture in accordance with Section 373.62,
Florida Statutes, as may be amended from time to time.
Ce Low-volume irrigation, micro -irrigation, and low-volume hand
watering methods. Any plant material may be watered using low volume irrigation,
micro -irrigation, low-volume hand watering methods, and rain barrels, cisterns, or
other similar rain -harvesting devices without regard to the watering days or times
allowed in this section.
ff Permissible day for landscape irrigation.
Even -numbered addresses or users that irrigate both even -numbered
and odd -numbered addresses within the same zones may perform
landscape irrigation on Tuesday, Thursday and Sunda
Odd -numbered addresses may perform landscape irrigation on
Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
, D No irrigation may be performed on Fridays.
fo Water shortages. In the event the District imposes restrictions on
landscape irrigation which are more restrictive than those set forth in this article,
such as a declaration of water shortage or water shortage emergency, the more
restrictive regulations shall apply for the applicable duration of the more restrictive
regulations.
Sec. 19-203. Violations and enforcement.
O Non-compliance with any provision of this article shall constitute a
violation of the Village Code of Ordinances and each day the violation exists shall
constitute a separate and distinct violation.
Any violations of this article may be enforced pursuant to the
Village Code of Ordinances, through the code enforcement process set forth in
Chapter 2, Article VI of the Village Code of Ordinances, or through any other
manner authorized bow.
Sec. 19-204. Variances.
Lq� A user may request a variance from the specific days for landscape
irrigation identified in this article by identifviniz and demonstratinsa with
particularity that compliance with the scheduled days for landscape irrigation will
result in a substantial hardship on the user requesting the variance. A variance shall
operate prospectively and shall not stay or abate the enforcement of the provisions
of this article and shall not affect any prior or pending code enforcement action
against the user requesting the variance.
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The variance request shall be considered by the Village Manager or
his/her designee, and the decision of the Village Manager shall be provided to the
user in writing. The Village Manager's decision mgy be appealed to the Village
Council through the filing of a written request with the Village Clerk within thirty
(30) days of the Village Manager's written determination. The decision of the
Village Council shall be final.
Le) If a variance is granted, the user shall post a notice at each parcel to
which the variance pertains in a format prescribed by the Village.
(4) The Village recognizes and adopts all irrigation variances or waivers
issued by the District.
Section 3. The provisions of this Ordinance shall become and be made a part of the Code of
the Village of North Palm beach, Florida.
Section 4. If any section, paragraph, sentence, clause, phrase, or word of this Ordinance is for
any reason held by a court of competent jurisdiction to be unconstitutional, inoperative or void,
such holding shall not affect the remainder of the Ordinance.
Section 5. All ordinances or parts of ordinances and resolutions or parts of resolutions of the
Village of North Palm Beach, Florida, which are in conflict with this Ordinance, are hereby
repealed to the extent of such conflict.
Section 6. This Ordinance shall be effective ninety (90) days from the date of adoption.
PLACED ON FIRST READING THIS 24TH DAY OF MARCH, 2022.
PLACED ON SECOND, FINAL READING AND PASSED THIS 14TH DAY OF APRIL, 2022.
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ATTEST:
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VILLAGE CLERK
APPROVED AS TO FORM AND
LEGAL SUFFICIENCY:
VILLAGE ATTORNEY
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