Because our neighborhood includes Flagler College, many of Flagler's students who live off campus rent in the neighborhood. There were complaints noted at the first meeting that some of the students had noisy parties late into the night. There are already procedures for dealing with this; calling the police, calling the landlord, or confronting the noisy party people but another approach is to restrict the number of unrelated people who can live in a rental unit.
The City OrdinanceORDINANCE NO. 2003-23
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF ST. AUGUSTINE, FLORIDA, AMENDING SECTION
28-2 AND ESTABLISHING SECTION 28-123 OF THE CODE OF THE CITY OF ST.
AUGUSTINE TO MODIFY THE DEFINITIONS OF FAMILY AND ROOMINGHOUSE AND
ESTABLISH A SYSTEM FOR TRACKING AND AMORTIZING NONCONFORMING
ROOMINGHOUSES; PROVIDING FOR SEVERABILITY; PROVIDING FOR INCLUSION IN
THE CODE OF THE CITY OF ST. AUGUSTINE; AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE
WHEREAS, s. 163.3202(2), Florida Statutes, requires that local land
development regulations shall contain specific and detailed provisions
necessary or desirable to implement the adopted comprehensive plan; and
WHEREAS, s. 166.041, Florida Statutes, sets forth the minimum notice
procedure which constitutes a uniform method for the adoption and
enactment of municipal ordinances, and which shall be taken as
cumulative to other methods now provided by law for adoption and
enactment of municipal ordinances; and
WHEREAS, the City of St. Augustine contains established residential
neighborhoods that are not conducive to having six (6) unrelated persons
living within a dwelling; and
WHEREAS, the City Commission hereby determines the proposed amendment to
be in the best interest of, and necessary for the protection of the
public health, safety, and general welfare of the residents of this
city;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COMMISSION FOR THE CITY OF
ST. AUGUSTINE, FLORIDA, AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. Amendment to Section 28-2. Section 28-2 of the Code of the
City of St. Augustine, Florida, is hereby amended as follows:
"Sec. 28-2. Definitions.
.
Exterior storage means outdoor storage of fuel, raw materials, products
and equipment. In the case of lumberyards, exterior storage includes
all impervious materials stored outdoors. In the case of truck
terminals, exterior storage includes all trucks, truck beds and truck
trailers stored outdoors. In the case of boatyards or marinas, exterior
storage includes all boats, machinery, equipment and materials stored
outdoors or not in a completely enclosed building or structure.
Family means one (1) or more persons related by blood, marriage,
adoption, guardianship or similar relationship, or a group not to exceed
six (6) four (4) unrelated persons living together as a single
housekeeping unit.
Fence means an artificially constructed barrier of any material or
combination of materials erected to enclose or screen areas of land.
.
Rezoning, small scale means a change to the zoning map designation of a
parcel or parcels of land involving less than ten (10) contiguous acres.
Roominghouse means a dwelling used for the business of furnishing
accommodations to more than six (6) persons or lodgers than allowed
under the definition of family.
St. Augustine architecture means a distinctive architectural style
influenced by the traditions of the Spanish, English, Minorcan and early
American inhabitants as adapted to utilize available materials and meet
local conditions of climate. This style is simple, functional and
unpretentious. The style is described and documented in the book 'The
Houses of St. Augustine' by Albert Manucy, published by the St.
Augustine Historical Society in 1962.
..."
Section 2. Establishment of Section 28-123. Section 28-123 of the Code
of the City of St. Augustine, Florida, is hereby established to read as
follows:
"Sec. 28-123. Nonconforming roominghouses.
A roominghouse shall be considered nonconforming if it is located in a
zoning district that does not provide for a roominghouse in the list of
permitted uses or the list of permitted uses by exception. Legally
existing, nonconforming roominghouses in existence on the effective date
of this ordinance shall only continue to be considered legally existing
if registered with the City of St. Augustine, Department of Planning and
Building within ninety (90) days from the effective date of this
ordinance. Nonconforming roominghouses not registered with the Planning
and Building Department within ninety (90) days shall not be considered
as legally existing roominghouses, and shall be considered a code
violation. Once registered with the Planning and Building Department, a
legally existing nonconforming roominghouse can continue to operate as a
legally existing, nonconforming use for a period of three (3) years from
the effective date of this ordinance. After three (3) years from the
effective date of this ordinance, no nonconforming roominghouses shall
be considered to be legally existing and shall be considered a code
violation."
Section 3. Severability. If any section, subsection, sentence, clause,
phrase, word or provision of this ordinance is held to be invalid or
unconstitutional by a court of competent jurisdiction, then said holding
shall not be so construed as to render invalid or unconstitutional the
remaining provisions of this ordinance.
Section 4. Inclusion in Code. It is the intention of the City
Commission that the provisions of this ordinance shall become and be
made part of the Code of the City of St. Augustine, and that the
sections of this ordinance may be renumbered or relettered and the word
ordinance may be changed to section, article or other such appropriate
word or phrase in order to accomplish such intentions.
Section 5. Effective Date. This ordinance shall become effective ten
(10) days after passage, pursuant to s. 166.041(4), Florida Statutes.
PASSED by the City Commission of the City of St. Augustine, Florida,
this _____ day of ___________________, 2003.
I spoke to the city clerk, who said that the ordinance to reduce the number of unrelated people in a single family residence will go through the first of two reading on Sept 8. This first reading allows for no public comment. The second reading will be one month from today on Sept 22.
Proposed Ordinance 2003-23
Current city code allows for residential tenants or renters to occupy a property designated as a single family residence. Residential tenants or renters may also occupy a rooming house. Rooming houses are allowed in areas zoned RG-1,2,O. Current codes prohibit rooming houses in residential areas zoned RS-1,2.
This ordinance would amend Chapter 28, Zoning, of Saint Augustine's municipal code. The exact wording of the proposed ordinance is on our web site.
A member of the Planning and Zoning Board (PZB) initiated a proposed ordinance to change the definition of a "family" as it applies to non owner-occupied single family properties. The current definition of a "family" allows up to 6 unrelated persons to live in a single family property as a housekeeping unit. The proposed ordinance changed the definition to 4 unrelated persons. The PZB modified it to 3 unrelated persons. This proposed ordinance was approved unanimously by the PZB and sent to the City Commission for consideration.
This new ordinance would redefine, as a rooming house, any current single family residence that is being rented to more than 3 unrelated persons. The current owner/landlord would have 90 days to register the property with the city. Then the owner would have 3 years in which to reduce the number of renters to 3 or less or make the property conform to the rules that apply to rooming houses. However, if the property is in an RS zoned area, then the rooming house is not an option.
This new ordinance is numbered 2003-23. Any new ordinance follows a set procedure before being voted on. First the ordinance simply goes through a public reading. No comment from the public is allowed. That occurred several weeks ago. Then the ordinance goes through a second reading, where public comment is invited. Finally, the city commission votes on the ordinance. It will become law or it will fail.
This Monday, September 22, the City Commission will hear the second reading of this ordinance and invite the public to comment. Since there are many properties in our neighborhood that may be affected by this ordinance, the board of directors of Flagler's Model Land Neighborhood Association urge you to attend the commission meeting next Monday - beginning at 5pm - to voice your concern(s) or your support for this measure.