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ORDINANCE NO. 2009-81
A SECOND AMENDED EMERGENCY ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF TAMPA, FLORIDA;
PROVIDING FOR REVISED EMERGENCY MEASURES IN RESTRICTING WATER USE AND
CURTAILING NONESSENTIAL USES OF WATER; SUPERSEDING AMENDED EMERGENCY
ORDINANCE 2009-57 and 2009-48; PROVIDING FOR ENFORCEMENT AND PENALTIES;
SUSPENDING ANY PROVISIONS OF CITY OF TAMPA CODE INCLUDING SECTION 26-97,
IN CONFLICT WITH THE PROVISIONS HEREIN DURING THE EFFECTIVE PERIOD OF
THIS ORDINANCE; PROVIDING FOR SEVERABILITY; PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE.
WHEREAS, the City of Tampa is responsible for providing water service to
the citizens of Tampa, Florida, portions of the City of Temple Terrace
and portions of unincorporated Hillsborough County; and
WHEREAS, the Southwest Florida Water Management District (hereinafter
referred to as the “District”) has adopted Modified Phase IV Extreme
Water Shortage Restrictions applicable to all water customers of the
members of Tampa Bay Water in Pasco, Pinellas and Hillsborough counties
and the cities of St. Petersburg, New Port Richey and Tampa; and
WHEREAS, the City of Tampa purchases water from Tampa Bay Water to
supplement the City’s supply from its Reservoir; and
WHEREAS, the City of Tampa’s water system has certain requirements in
order to operate at its optimum level of efficiency; and
WHEREAS, the City Council of the City of Tampa discussed at its
regularly scheduled meeting on May 21, 2009 that when the City’s
reservoir reached a level of twenty-one (21) feet at the dam and the
Hillsborough River flows reached at least sixty (60) million gallons per
day (MGD) flow as measured at the Morris Bridge gauge would the City
would consider revising its irrigation restrictions; and
WHEREAS, due to the rainfall received within the Hillsborough River
basin, as of Tuesday, May 26, 2009 the City’s reservoir level at the dam
was at 21.67 feet and the Hillsborough River flow at the Morris Bridge
gauge was approximately 83 MGD, current conditions allow for revision of
the City’s restrictions to conform with the Southwest Florida Water
Management District’s current restrictions in its Modified Phase IV
Emergency Water Shortage Order No. 09-012.
NOW, THEREFORE,
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF TAMPA, FLORIDA:
Section 1. The recital clauses set forth above are hereby adopted and
incorporated
herein by reference.
A. Application. The provisions of this second amended emergency
ordinance shall apply to all customers of the City of Tampa Water
System, within the corporate limits of the City and to its customers
outside the corporate limits of the City, to the extent permitted by
law. All other users of water inside the City are subject to and shall
comply with the applicable water shortage restrictions adopted by the
Southwest Florida Water Management District.
Section 2. Restriction of Water Uses
A. Restriction of water uses.
(a) Irrigation of established landscaping and turf shall be permitted
one day per week as follows:
1. At even-numbered addresses only on Tuesdays;
2. At odd-numbered addresses only on Sundays;
3. At locations with no address, including medians, rights of way and
common areas only on Sundays.
(b) All water use restrictions, not inconsistent with Section 2.A(a)
above as contained within the
Southwest Florida Water Management District’s Water Shortage Orders
Nos. SWF 07-02 as modified; 08-044 as modified and 09-012, as well as
all applicable provisions of Chapter 40D-21 and 22 Florida
Administrative Code in effect pursuant to said orders, are adopted and
incorporated by reference.
(c) Any water use restrictions subsequently adopted and imposed by the
Southwest Florida Water Management District which are more stringent
than those referenced in this section shall supersede such restrictions
in conflict herein and shall automatically become part of this Ordinance
and enforceable by the City.
B. Variances from water use restrictions.
(a) All variances previously issued by the City from the provisions of
its Amended Emergency Ordinance are terminated and rescinded as of June
1, 2009. The variance procedure and other criteria are as follows:
(b) General. Users of the City of Tampa’s water system may request
relief from the Section 2 A.(a) above of this ordinance by filing a
petition for variance with the City. All requests for variances from the
remainder of the restrictions shall be filed with the
Southwest Florida Water Management District in accordance with
applicable District
provisions. The following provisions on variances shall apply to
petitions for variances filed with the City.
(c) Criteria for issuance. No petition for variance shall be granted
unless the petitioner affirmatively demonstrates:
1. The variance is essential to protect public health or safety; and one
or both of numbers 2 or 3 below apply.
2. Compliance with this section will require measures which, because of
their extent or cost impose undue hardship, cannot be accomplished
within the anticipated duration of the shortage or will not ensure
equitable distribution;
3. Alternative restrictions which achieve the same level of demand
reduction as the restrictions from which a variance is sought are
available and are binding and enforceable.
a. These alternative restrictions shall be summarized within a
short-term water reduction plan, prepared by the petitioner, to be
submitted to the Director for consideration.
b. Any user who has submitted a short-term water reduction plan in
compliance with the City's emergency rules and regulations shall, upon
approval, be bound by such plan. Any change to such plan must be
submitted to the City for consideration in accordance with the criteria
herein.
(d) Petitions for variance. The petition shall be filed with the
Director and contain the following:
1. The petitioner's name, address, telephone number and address of
property for which the petition for variance is being sought;
2. The specific section of this Ordinance from which the petitioner is
requesting relief;
3. A detailed statement of the facts which the petitioner believes
demonstrates that the request qualifies for a variance, which may
include reports
by qualified technical experts;
4. A description of the relief desired;
5. The period of time for which the variance is sought, including the
reasons and facts in support thereof;
6. The damage or harm resulting or which may result to petitioner from
compliance with the restrictions or criteria herein;
7. The restrictions which petitioner can meet and the date when
petitioner can comply with such restrictions;
8. A short-term water use reduction plan, describing any and all
alternative reductions implemented in lieu of the restrictions for which
variance is sought, if applicable;
9. The steps the petitioner is taking to meet the code, ordinance,
rules, regulations or specific restrictions from which the variance is
sought and when compliance will be achieved; and
10. Any other information the petitioner believes is material.
C. Southwest Florida Water Management District. Any water use supplied
by the City of Tampa’s water system is subject to the “day of the week”
restrictions as indicated herein in Section 2 and the remaining
restrictions pursuant to the rules, regulations and orders of the
District and shall comply with such requirements and restrictions as
applicable. Such rules, regulations, and orders promulgated from time to
time by the District which are applicable to water uses served by the
City of Tampa are hereby adopted and incorporated by reference and made
a part hereof and shall be subject to the same enforcement and penalty
provisions of this section.
D. Appeals from Decisions on Petitions for Variance. Any person who
wishes to appeal the decision of the Director regarding the decision on
a petition for a variance from the City from the provisions of Section
2A.(a) of this second amended emergency ordinance, shall file a request
to review the Director’s official decision in accordance with Section
1-19 of the City Code.
E. Definitions. Except as defined hereunder, the definitions found in
Florida Administrative Code (FAC), Chapter 40D-21, Water Shortage Plan,
as now or hereafter amended, are hereby adopted and made applicable to
this section:
City means the City of Tampa, Florida.
Director means the Director of the City of Tampa Water Department.
District means the Southwest Florida Water Management District.
Even-numbered address means the house address, box number or rural route
ending in the numbers 0, 2, 4, 6, 8 or the letters A-M, or at locations
with no address at the even-numbered side of the street. Post office box
numbers are not included.
Hand watering means watering plants, turf or crops with one hand held
hose, fitted with a self-canceling or automatic shutoff nozzle, or a
watering can or pail.
Landscaping means ground cover plants, shrubs, trees or other vegetation
excluding turf or lawns.
Lawn or Turf means lawn grasses, including but not limited to, St.
Augustine, Bahia, Bermuda or Zoysia that are mowed.
Low volume irrigation means the use of Hand Watering, Micro-irrigation
or other equipment and devices which apply no more than thirty (30)
gallons per hour per emitter and are 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 designed to allow
that water to be placed with a high degree of efficiency within the root
zone of the plant.
Low volume pressure washing means the use of a device that dispenses
water at a minimum of one thousand p.s.i. (pounds per square inch) at a
maximum of five gallons per minute. Using a hose fitted with an
automatic shutoff nozzle is not considered a low volume pressure washing
method.
Manager means the manager of the water conservation program.
Micro-irrigation means any irrigation device that distributes water near
or within the root zone through low flow rate and emitters. Examples of
such irrigation devices include drip, line source, micro-spray,
micro-sprinkler, bubbler and similar types of systems. The term
specifically includes propagation mist heads, capillary mats and soaker
hoses. The term also includes water use in mist houses and similar
establishments for plant propagation and production, but excludes any
form of turf irrigation other than in a sod production ("turf farming")
setting.
Odd-numbered address means the house address, box number or rural route
ending in the numbers 1, 3, 5, 7, 9 or the letters N-Z, or at locations
with no address at the odd-numbered side of the street. Post office box
numbers are not included.
Person means any individual; religious organization; club; firm;
society; partnership; association; or public profit or non-profit
corporation.
Wasteful and unnecessary use of water shall include but not be limited
to:
(a) allowing water to be dispersed without any practical purpose to the
water user, regardless of the type of water used;
(b) allowing water to be dispersed in a grossly inefficient manner,
regardless of the time of the water use;
(c) allowing water to be dispersed to accomplish a purpose for which
water use is unnecessary or which can be readily accomplished through
alternative methods without water use.
Water means water taken from any groundwater system (wells and springs),
surface water system (lakes, reservoirs or other impoundments), or
public water supply.
Section 3. Enforcement and Penalties.
A. Enforcement of water use restrictions.
(a) Pursuant to Florida Statutes § 166.0415(2), any person who violates
the provisions of this second amended emergency ordinance shall not
receive a warning and shall immediately receive a citation in writing. A
violation of this section is a civil infraction and shall be enforced
under the City of Tampa Supplemental Enforcement Procedures Ordinance
(Chapter 23.5 of this Code). Each and every violation of this section
shall constitute a separate offense.
(b) Mandatory court appearances are required for all third and
subsequent violations of any City of Tampa Emergency Ordinance
restricting water use; except if a user has not violated the provisions
of any effective ordinance restricting water use for three (3)
consecutive years from the date of the previous violation, the next
violation will be considered that user's first offense. The citation
shall clearly inform the user of the mandatory court appearance.
Defendants required to appear in court do not have the option of paying
the penalty instead of appearing in court.
(c) No individual, entity or organization shall require, cause or induce
any
person to violate the water use restrictions herein. Any such action is
a violation of this Ordinance.
(d) Any person who uses a pond or other impoundment for irrigation of
turf or non turf landscaping and does so and augments the pond in any
amount using water from the City of Tampa’s system is in violation of
this Ordinance. Such a violation will be considered to be a violation
equal to that of a third offense requiring a mandatory court appearance
as provided in section 3.A (b) herein.
(e) In addition, the City may enforce this section by any action at law
and in equity, including actions for injunctive relief and, if the City
prevails in any such action, the City shall be entitled to its costs and
reasonable attorneys' fees.
(f) The Director shall have all powers, duties and responsibilities to
administer and enforce all provisions of this section and shall be
deemed to be an officer for the purpose of enforcing the provisions of
this section under authority provided in Chapter 26, Section 5, of this
Code. Any action to be taken by the Director pursuant to the enforcement
of any section herein shall be considered cumulative and in addition to
penalties and to other remedies provided elsewhere by ordinance or law.
(g) Hillsborough County and the City of Temple Terrace shall have
enforcement powers in the City’s service area outside the City’s
corporate limits and within their respective jurisdictions unless and
until these powers are delegated by these governments to the City.
(h) If a violation of this ordinance occurs and the user cannot be
readily identified because the violation was caused by an in-ground
irrigation system or a hose-end sprinkler attached to a hose bib, the
user whose name appears on the utility account shall be considered the
violator of this ordinance as the entity that controls the use of water
resources on that property; or if the in-ground system or the hose-end
sprinkler is part of or attached to a private well system, then the
property owner shall be considered the violator for the same reasons.
Section 4. Water Conservation Fund. To the extent permitted by law, all
funds collected from penalties paid for violations of this section shall
be remitted to the City's Director of Revenue and Finance and deposited
in the Water Department's water conservation fund. All monies in the
water conservation fund shall be used only for water conservation
activities of the Water Department.
Section 5. All ordinances or parts of ordinances of the City of Tampa’s
Code of Ordinances in conflict herewith, including but not limited to
Chapter 13 and, Section 26-97, are hereby suspended during the effective
period of this Second Amended Emergency Ordinance, and shall remain
suspended during the effective period of this ordinance.
Section 6. If any part of this second amended emergency ordinance shall
be declared unconstitutional or invalid in a court of competent
jurisdiction, the remaining provisions shall remain in full force and
effect.
Section 7. This Second Amended Emergency ordinance shall become
effective immediately upon becoming law and shall remain in effect until
such time as the Southwest Florida Water Management District revises,
amends, repeals or revokes it’s Water Shortage Orders identified herein.
At such time that the Southwest Florida Water Management District
revises or amends its Water Shortage Orders, such revisions or
amendments are considered adopted and incorporated by reference to this
Seconded Amended Emergency Ordinance. Such revisions or amendments will
be effective as to the City’s water customers on the same date
identified in the Water Shortage Order containing such revisions or
amendments. If the District repeals, revokes or rescinds its water
shortage orders restricting the water use of the City’s customers, then
this Seconded Amended Ordinance will be considered repealed as of the
date of the District’s Order. The implementation of the restrictions on
Water Uses enumerated herein shall be effective and enforceable on June
1, 2009. PASSED AND ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE
CITY OF TAMPA, FLORIDA, ON MAY 28,2009. |
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