Ordinance 73-05?HI C:A fflTOt.
'fALt.~HA~; S r [ .11104
April 9, 1973
Mr. Ben D. Driver
Fiscal Officer, Collier County
Board of County Commissioners
Naples, Florida 33940
Dear Mr. Driver:
Pursuant to the prOvisions of seCtion 125.66, Florida
Statutes, this will acknowledge your letter of April 6 and two
certified copies of Collier County Ordinance No. 73-5, which
was filed in this office on April 9, 1973.
The extra copy showing the filing date is being returned
for your records.
Kindest regards.
Cordially,
RICHARD (DICK) STONE
Secretary of State
Chief, Bureau of Laws ........
NK/eh
Enclosure
BOOK 1 PAGE 190-A
AN ORDINANCE OF THE COUNTY OF COLLIER, FLORIDA
ESTABLISHING A BUILDING SET-BACK LINE FROM THE
GULF OF MEXICO, MAKING CERTAIN FINDINGS OF FACT,
PROVIDING CERTAIN EXCEPTIONS, PENALTY, SEVERABILITY,
PROVIDING ~IE RIGHT OF APPEAL, AND PROVIDING AN
EFFECTIVE DATE,
SECTION ONE:
WHEREAS, Florida law grants to counties general regulatory
authority over building and zoning and specifically grants
authority to adopt building regulations and to regulate and
redistrict size, location and use of buildings, structures
and fixtures. In addition, purposes of said law is;
(1) To secure safety from hazards, panic and other
dangers;
(2) To promote health and general welfare;
(3) To provide adequate light and air;
(4) To protect the natural environment of. Collier
County, and the health, welfare, safety and quality
of life; and
WHEREAS,
(1) The maintenance of fair and equitable property
values is important to the economic welfare of the
county,
(2) Beach-front property bordering the Gulf of Mexico
is a major natural resource and of particular importance~
in the maintenance of property and human values through-
out the county,
(3) A proper relationsDip of construction setback lines
from the mean high-water line and vegetation line of the
Gulf of Mexico is of importance to the value of existing
and proposed new construction and prevention of beach
erosion,
(4) The mean high water-line and vegetation line of beach-
front properties bordering the Gulf of Mexico is ~nown to
continually change through erosion and accretion,
(5) Man-made structures and fixtures exposed to uprushing
waters causes or results%in increased~erosion of the forward
shore, and
~6) Th~ restriction, regulation and prohibition
of construction upon accreted lands, and lands subject
to erosion is in the best interest of the present and
future property owners, and the public; protects indi-
vidual investments, is in the best interest of the
County, to promote the general public health, safety
and welfare, protects economic values, eliminates, or
reduces, to all parties concerned the potential cost
in installation of erosion control devices, programs,
and structures, and reduces or eliminates the necessity
of beach restoration programs with the accompanying
public and private expense and resulting ecological damage;
NOW, THEREFORE BE IT ORDAINED BY THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
OF COLLIER COUNTY, FLORIDA:
SECTION TWO: Unlawful.
1. It shall be unlawful, except as provided hereinbelow
to cause any excavation, remove any beach or other material or
otherwise alter existing ground elevations; or to cause.to be
built, permit, allow or suffer the erection, or construction of,
and no building permit shall be issued for any fixture, building
or other construction of any kind or type within one hundred (100)
feet landward of the vegetation line of the Gulf of Mexico, and
one hundred fifty (150) feet landward of the mean high-water
line whichever is greater.
The term "vegetation line" for the purposes of this Ordinance
shall be defined as the natural line landward of which natural and
indigenous vegetation, not australian pines, is growing or would
normally grow in the absence of artificial disturbances by causes
such as beach buggies, bulldozers or other efforts of man. In
those instances where the vegetation line does not appear normal,
the vegetation line will be established consistent with contiguous,
adjacent or nearby undisturbed properties by considering the relative
ground elevations and horizontal distances from mean high-water
line. Aerial photographs displaying areas prior to artificial .
modification of the vegetation line shall constitute prima facie
evidence"of they, natural vegetation line.
2. Right of Appeal.and Variance. In any case where the
applicant desires to appeal an administrative determination
or obtain a variance as to the construction setback line
made under the provisions of this Ordinance, such appeal or
variance application shall be filed with the Board of Zoning
Appeals and processed in accordance with Chapter 28 and the
terms of Section 28-14 of the Code of Collier County, Florida.
Each exception, or variance, is subject to affirmative
evidence provided by the applicant, at an advertised public
hearing, that any construction line established hereunder;
is a minimum (a) of fifty (50) feet landward of any vegetation
line that has existed on the applicant's property within the
past twenty (20) years; and that considering ground elevations
in relation to historical storm tides and predicted maximum
wave uprush, that the general public health and welfare are
preserved, upland properties protected and beach and sand
dune erosion controlled, or (b) as applied to applicant's
property creates an unnecessary hardship in accordance with
the provisions of ~28-14 of the Collier County Code. Upon such
a finding, the Board may grant a variance in the construction
line for said property to a point no greater than 100 feet
from the mean high-water line or 50 feet from the vegetation
line, whichever is greater. The Board shall consider in deter-
mining the extent of the variance to be granted the adverse
effect, if any, on the general public health and welfare, upland
properties, sa~d dunes, natural vegetation and natural beach
to be created by the proposed structure or structures considering
ground elevations in relation to historical storm tides and pre-
dicted maximum wave uprush.
3. Prohibition. Any building, construction, structure
or fixture erected, built or constructed in violation of this
Ordinance is hereby declared to be a public nuisance and shall
be removed, the area restored to its previous condition, and
the cost shall become a lien upon the upland property as taxes.
Any person guilty of violating any provision of this
Ordinance shall be subject to a maximum penalty of a $500.00
fine or sixty (60) days in Jail. Each week an offense continues
shall be deemed a separate and distinct offense for the purposes
of this penalty.
SECTION ~[REE:
1. This Ordinance shall become ineffective, void and of
no effect upon the establishment of a Coastal Setback based
upon recommendations by the Department of Coastal and Oceanographic
Engineering of the University of Florida under the auspices of
the Dep~rtment of Natural Resources, Bureau of Beaches and Shores.
2. Should this Ordinance conflict with any other law or
Ordinance of Collier County, any municipality therein, or any
of the laws of the State of Florida, ~he more restrictive
shall apply.
3. In order to carry out the legislative intent of pro-
tecting the public health, safety, weltzre, well-being and pre-
serving present and future public and private interests, this
Ordinance shall be liberally censtrued. If any portion, word,
or phrase of this Ordinance, or its application to any natural,
or artificial per'on, or circumstance is held invalid, the
remaining portions, and their application to other persons and
circumstances shall not be affected.
4. This Ordinance shall become effective upon becoming
law.
PASSED AND DULY ADOPTED by the Board of County Commissioners
of Collier County, Florida, this~/C~day of April, 1973.
BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
OF COLLIER COUNTY, FLORIDA
~ott
Cler~of Circuit Court :
Approved as to form and legality:
- David Emerson Btu'her
County Attorney
BOOK