Ordinance 2000-061BOi ORDINANCE NO. 2000- 6 ]_
LLIER COUNTY WATER IRRIGATION ORDINANCE, TO
T MOST WATER IRRIGATION EACH DAY BETWEEN THE
N~.,_..~,aI~t~'RS OF 9:00 A.M. AND 5:00 P.M. WITHIN THE BOUNDARIES OF
-~"~.~.....~-~'HE COLLIER COUNTY WATER/SEWER DISTRICT AND WITHIN
THE BOUNDARIES OF THE GOODLAND WATER DISTRICT; ALSO
WITHIN OTHER GEOGRAPHIC AREAS OF UNINCORPORATED
COLLIER COUNTY IF, WHEN, AND TO THE EXTENT THAT THE
RESPECTIVE AREA IS DESIGNATED AS AN IRRIGATION
RESTRICTED AREA BY RESOLUTION OF THE BOARD; PROVIDING
PURPOSE, DEFINITIONS, WATER IRRIGATION HOURS AND
OPERATIONAL PROHIBITIONS; PROVIDING EXEMPTIONS,
VARIANCE PROCEDURES AND PENALTIES; PROVIDING FOR
CONFLICT AND SEVERABILITY; PROVIDING FOR INCLUSION INTO
THE COUNTY'S CODE OF LAWS AND ORDINANCES; PROVIDING
AN EFFECTIVE DATE.
WHEREAS, Chapter 125, Florida Statutes, authorizes Boards of County Commissioners
to enact regulations deemed by the respective Board to be necessary for the health, safety and
welfare of the residents, citizens or visitors of the respective County; and
WHEREAS, the South Florida Water Management District, by its permits conditions,
has required each county and municipal government to adopt a local ordinance to regulate day-
time water irrigation, and
WHEREAS, the rapid growth of Collier County has placed, and continues to place,
increasing demands on water resources in Collier County; and
WHEREAS, the Board of County Commissioners of Collier County intend to try to
ensure continued health, safety, welfare, and quality of life for the existing and future citizens,
residents and visitors to Collier County by conserving water resources; and
WHEREAS, this Ordinance applies only in unincorporated Collier County
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE BOARD OF ~OUN~Y
COMMISSIONERS OF COLLIER COUNTY FLORIDA, that:
SECTION ONE: TITLE AND APPLICABILITY.
1.1 This Ordinance is entitled "The Collier County Water Irrigation Ordinance." This
Ordinance shall apply only within unincorporated Collier County.
SECTION TWO: FINDINGS.
The Board of County Commissioners hereby makes the following findings:
2.1 That irrigation by water during the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. increases
water loss to evaporation and reduces the beneficial use of water resources;
2.2 That adopting an Ordinance to limit irrigation between 5:00 p.m. and 9:00 a.m.
will raise public awareness and promote conservation; and
2.3 That restricting irrigation during the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. will not
create a hardship on residents of Collier County.
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SECTION THREE: PURPOSE.
3.1 The primary purpose of this Ordinance is to provide a regulatory framework to
assist in conservation of water resources through consistent and uniform use for landscape
irrigation in specified geographic areas.
SECTION FOUR: DEFINITIONS.
The following definitions shall apply throughout this Ordinance:
4.1 Agriculture means the growing of farm products including, but not limited to,
sugar cane, vegetables, citrus and other fruits, pasture lands, sod or nursery stock, including, but
not limited to, ornamental foliage and greenhouse plants.
4.2 County means Collier County, a political subdivision of the State of Florida, by
and through its Board of County Commissioners and as Ex-Officio the Governing Board of the
Collier County Water-Sewer District and Goodland Water District.
4.3 Code Enforcement Officer means any authorized agent or employee of the
County whose duty it is to enforce most of the County's codes.
4.4 County Water/Sewer District means the service boundaries as established in
Collier County Water-Sewer District, Special Act Chapter 88-499, Laws of Florida, as now or
hereafter amended.
4.5 Goodland Water District means the service boundaries as established in
Goodland Water District, Ordinance No. 80-43, or its successor ordinance.
4.6 Impervious means land surfaces that do not allow penetration of water, including
paved roads, paved sidewalks, paved driveways, paved parking lots, or highly compacted areas,
including with shell or with clay.
4.7 Irrigation means the application of water from surface water or ground water
sources or aquifers.
4.8 Irrigation Systems means equipment and/or devices which deliver water to
landscaping being irrigated including, but not limited to, pipelines, control structures, pipes,
ditches, pumping stations, emitters, valves and fittings, but excluding the transfer of water
through water management systems from one location to another.
4.9 Person means natural person, public or private corporation, firm, association,
joint venture, pannership, municipality, government or governmental agency, political
subdivision, and any other entity whatsoever, or any combination of same, jointly or severally.
4.10 Water Resources means surface and groundwater sources and aquifers.
4.11 Water Utility Service means water service provided by a public or private utility.
SECTION FIVE: IRRIGATION HOURS; OPERATIONAL PROHIBITIONS.
5.1 All water irrigation activities within those areas and boundaries as designated in
Section Six, and which are not exempted by Section Seven, shall be restricted to the hours
between 5:00 p.m. and 9:00 a.m., seven days each week. Subject to the exceptions specified in
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this Ordinance, irrigation by water in those areas is prohibited between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and
5:00 p.m., seven days each week.
5.2 All water irrigation activities within those areas and boundaries as designated in
Section Six, and which are not exempted by Section Seven, shall be operated in an efficient
manner so as to not allow water to be applied continuously or primarily to any impervious
surface.
SECTION SIX: IRRIGATION RESTRICTION AFFECTED AREAS.
6.1 The provisions of this Ordinance shall apply immediately on its effective date to
landscape irrigation within the boundaries of the Collier County Water/Sewer District and within
the boundaries of the Goodland Water District.
6.2 This Ordinance shall hereafter be applicable to other geographic areas of
unincorporated Collier County if and when the respective geographic area is classified, by
Resolution(s) adopted by the Board of County Commissioners after public hearing, as a water
irrigation restricted area, which may include areas served by private utility water service.
SECTION SEVEN: EXEMPTIONS; VARIANCES.
7.1 The following activities are exempt from all provisions of this Ordinance:
7.1.lLandscape irrigation by hand watering using only a self-canceling nozzle.
7.1.2Landscape irrigation from which the water source is only treated
wastewater effluent.
7.1.3The short-term operation of irrigation systems only for system repair and
maintenance, which shall be limited to a maximum of 10 minutes per zone
per week and there must be a person present and working on the system
during each such operation.
7.1.4Landscape irrigation for purposes of watering in fungicities, insecticides
and herbicides as required by the manufacturer of the product, or by
federal or Florida law. This exemption, however, applies only to then
licensed pest control operators and is limited to the amounts of "watering
in" water specified by the manufacturer's recommendations.
7.1.5 For the first ninety (90) days after initial installation, landscape irrigation
for the purpose of "watering in" newly planted grass and foliage that
constitutes a major portion of the landscaping,
7.1.6. Agricultural irrigation to the extent permitted by a consumptive or water
use permit issued by the South Florida Water Management District.
7.2 Any person whose irrigation is affected by this Ordinance may make application
to the County Water Director for a variance if strict compliance with this Ordinance will impose
a unique, unnecessary and inequitable hardship on such service. Relief may be granted only
upon submitted proof that such hardship is peculiar to that person or that affected property, the
problem is not self-imposed, and that the granting of the variance would be consistent with the
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general intent and purpose of this Ordinance and the variance is the minimum variance necessary
to eliminate the hardship.
7.2.1 The County Water Director is the only person authorized to grant or deny
variances for irrigation activities that utilize water provided by the County
Water/Sewer District or the Goodland Water District. The Water Director
should render a decision on the variance request within ten (10) working
days after actual receipt of a complete application. Denial of a variance
request may be appealed to the Public Works Administrator within ten
(10) days of actual receipt by the applicant of the Water Director's
decision on the initial request.
7.2.2 An application for variance, and/or the granting of a variance, shall operate
prospectively and shall not affect any then pending enforcement action
against the property owner pursuant to the provisions of this Ordinance or
otherwise.
7.3 Should the Board of County Commissioners extend the provisions of this
Ordinance to any other areas (only Jn unincorporated Collier County), the County Manager shall
designate a County employee who will be responsible to act on behalf of the County to approve,
in whole or in part, or to disapprove, variance requests within any such designated area(s). This
person may also be the County's Water Director.
SECTION EIGHT: PENALTIES.
8.1 Violators of this Ordinance shall be issued a $25.00 citation pursuant to the
County's Citation Ordinance. Persons who commit repeat violations may also be punished
pursuant to {}162.21, Florida Statutes, as a civil infraction with a maximum civil penalty not to
exceed five hundred dollars ($500.00). Any person who violates any provision of this
Ordinance shall also be subject to the County's remedies as authorized in {}125.69, Florida
Statutes, and/or Section 1-6 of the County's Code of Ordinances.
8.1.1 Each day (or part thereof) that them is a violation of this Ordinance by the
same person or entity shall constitute a separate offense.
8.1.2 All monies collected pursuant to this Ordinance shall be used by the Code
Enfomement Department to fund continued and enhanced enforcement of
this Ordinance and/or other County Ordinances under its jurisdiction.
SECTION NINE: CONFLICT AND SEVERABILITY.
The provisions of this Ordinance shall be liberally construed to effectively carry out its
purposes in the interest of public health and to protect the water msoumes of Collier County. If
any section, phrase, sentence or portion of this Ordinance is, for any reason, held invalid or
unconstitutional by any court of competent jurisdiction, such portion shall be deemed a separate,
distinct, and independent provision, and such holding shall not affect the validity of the
remaining portions of this Ordinance.
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SECTION TEN: INCLUSION !N TF/C CODE OF LAWS AND ORDINANCES.
The provisions of this Ordinance sha}; become a~td be made a part of the Code of Laws
and Ordinances of Collier County, t:1orida.
SECTION ELEVEN: EFFECTIVE DATE.
This Ordinance shall become effective upon fili,ag with the Florida Department of State.
PASSED AND DULY ADOPTED by the Board of County Commissioners of Collier
County, Florida, this ~ day of ~J3ff~.~, 2000.
A, T~EST: ,,
DWIGHT El 'BROCK, CLERK
By: : :
Attar as to ChlJrl '$
Approved as to fo~
and legal sufficiency:
Thomas C. Palmer
Assistant County Attorney
BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
OF COLLIER COUNTY, FLORIDA
~M T~L. C~)I~]~ANTI~, CHA/RMAN
This ordinance f~,~ ~ //~
Secretary of S~ate'z Off~c ~ ~t~/~
~'doy of ~_ _~r--~_~_, ~._
and acknowledgement of that
filin,~%received this ~/O-,',',',',',',','~ day
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STATE OF FLORIDA)
COUNTY OF COLLIER)
I, DWIGHT E. BROCK, Clerk of Courts in and for the
Twentieth Judicial Circuit, Collier County, Florida, do hereby
certify that the foregoing is a true copy of:
ORDINANCE NO. 2000-61
Which was adopted by the Board of County Commissioners on
the 26th day of September, 2000, during Regular Session.
WITNESS my hand and the official seal of the Board~
County Commissioners of
of September, 2000.
Collier County, Florida, this 27~h da~ ~ ~
DWIGHT E. BROCK
Clerk of Courts
Ex-officio to Board of
County Commissioners
By: Karen Schoch,
Deputy Clerk
and Clerk