HomeMy WebLinkAboutOrdinance No. 10-2011 ORDINANCE NO 10-2011
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF CAPE CANAVERAL,
FLORIDA, ADOPTING A NEW CHAPTER 36 OF THE CITY
CODE TO BE ENTITLED "FAIR HOUSING;" PROVIDING
FOR A DECLARATION OF POLICY TO PROHIBIT
DISCRIMINATION IN HOUSING ON THE BASIS OF RACE,
COLOR, ANCESTRY, NATIONAL ORIGIN, RELIGION, SEX,
MARITAL STATUS, FAMILIAL STATUS, HANDICAP OR
AGE; PROVIDING DEFINITIONS; DESIGNATING AS
UNLAWFUL CERTAIN DISCRIMINATORY PRACTICES IN
THE SALE OR RENTAL OF HOUSING, AS WELL AS IN
ADVERTISING IN CONNECTION THEREWITH, IN THE
FINANCING OF HOUSING, AND IN BROKERAGE
SERVICES RELATED TO EXCEPTIONS; PROVIDING FOR
AN ADMINISTRATOR TO BE DESIGNATED BY THE CITY
OF CAPE CANAVERAL AND PRESCRIBING THE
GENERAL POWERS AND DUTIES OF SUCH
ADMINISTRATOR, PRESCRIBING ACTION UPON A
DETERMINATION OF PROBABLE CAUSE, AND
AUTHORIZING THE PROMULGATION OF FORMS AND
REGULATIONS; MAKING PROVISIONS FOR THE FILING
OF COMPLAINTS AND RESPONSES THERETO, AND THE
PROCESSING THEREOF BY THE ADMINISTRATOR;
PROVIDING FOR ADDITIONAL REMEDIES; PROVIDING
FOR PROHIBITING UNTRUTHFUL COMPLAINTS OR
FALSE TESTIMONY; PROVIDING FOR PENALTIES FOR
VIOLATION OF SUCH CODE; PROVIDING FOR THE
REPEAL OF PRIOR INCONSISTENT ORDINANCES AND
RESOLUTIONS; INCORPORATION INTO THE CODE;
SEVERABILITY; AND AN EFFECTIVE DATE.
WHEREAS, the City is granted the authority, under Section 2(b), Article VIII, of the State
Constitution, to exercise any power for municipal purposes, except when expressly prohibited by
law; and
WHEREAS, the City desires to establish a Community Development Block Grant
("CDBG") Program, by which the City may apply for federal grant monies to carry out a wide range
of community development activities directed toward revitalizing neighborhoods, economic
development, and providing improved community facilities and services; and
WHEREAS, the City is required to administer its CDBG Program in a manner to
affirmatively further the policies of the Fair Housing Act, 42 U.S.C. §§ 3601 - 3620; and
City of Cape Canaveral
Ordinance No. 10-2011
Page 1 of 12
WHEREAS, the City desires to adopt these fair housing regulations as part of its City Code
to affirmatively further the policies of the Fair Housing Act; and
WHEREAS, the City Council of the City of Cape Canaveral, Florida, hereby finds this
Ordinance to be in the best interests of the public health, safety, and welfare of the citizens of Cape
Canaveral.
BE IT ORDAINED by the City Council of the City of Cape Canaveral, Brevard
County, Florida, as follows:
Section 1. Recitals. The foregoing recitals are hereby fully incorporated herein by this
reference as legislative findings and the intent and purpose of the City Council of the City of Cape
Canaveral.
Section 2. Adoption of Chapter 36, Fair Housing. The City Council of the City of
Cape Canaveral hereby adopts the following as Chapter 36, Fair Housing, of the Cape Canaveral
Code of Ordinances:
CHAPTER 36. FAIR HOUSING
ARTICLE I. IN GENERAL
Sec. 36 -1. Declaration of policy.
It is the policy of the City of Cape Canaveral in keeping with the laws of the United States
of America and the spirit of the Constitution of the State of Florida, to promote, through fair, orderly
and lawful procedure, the opportunity for each person so desiring to obtain housing of such person's
choice in this jurisdiction without regard to race, color, ancestry, national origin, religion, sex,
marital status, familial status, handicap or age, and, to that end, to prohibit discrimination in housing
by any person.
Sec. 36 - 2. Definitions.
As used in this chapter, the following words shall be defined as follows:
Administrator: The administrator shall be the Cape Canaveral City Manager or his or her
designee.
Age: Unless the context clearly indicates otherwise, the work age as used herein shall refer
exclusively to persons who are 18 years of age or older.
Discriminatory housing practice: An act that is unlawful under section 36 -21, herein.
Family: One or more persons living together as a single housekeeping unit in a dwelling.
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Ordinance No. 10 -2011
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Housing or housing accommodation: Any building, structure, or portion thereof, mobile
home or trailer, or other facility which is occupied as, or designed or intended for occupancy as, a
residence by one or more families, and any vacant land which is offered for sale or lease for the
construction or location thereon of any such building, structure, or portion thereof, mobile home or
trailer or other facility.
Lending institution: Any bank, insurance company, savings and loan association or any other
person or organization regularly engaged in the business of lending money, guaranteeing loans, or
sources of credit information, including, but not limited to credit bureaus.
Owner: Any person, including, but not limited to a lessee, subleasee, assignee, manager, or
agent, and also including the City and its departments or other subunits, having the right of
ownership or possession or the authority to sell or lease any housing accommodation.
Person: One or more individuals, corporations, partnerships, associations, labor
organizations, legal representatives, mortgage companies, joint stock companies, trusts,
unincorporated organizations, or public corporations, including, but not limited to the City or any
department or subunit thereof.
Real estate agent: Any real estate broker, any real estate salesperson, or any other person,
employee, agent, or otherwise, engaged in the management or operation of any real property.
Real estate broker or salesperson: A person, whether licensed or not, who, for or with the
expectation of receiving a consideration, lists, sells, purchases, exchanges, rents, or leases real
property, or who negotiates or attempts to negotiate any of these activities, or who holds himself or
herself out as engaged in these activities, or who negotiates or attempts to negotiate a loan secured
or to be secured by mortgage or other encumbrance upon real property, or who is engaged in the
business of listing real property in a publication; or a person employed by or acting on behalf of any
of these.
Real estate transaction: Includes the sale, purchase, exchange, rental or lease ofreal property,
and any contract pertaining thereto.
Rent: Includes leases, sublease, assignment and/or rental, including any contract to do any
of the foregoing, or otherwise granting for a consideration the right to occupy premises that are not
owned by the occupant.
Respondent: Any person against whom a complaint is filed pursuant to this chapter.
Sale: Includes any contract to sell, exchange, or to convey, transfer or assign legal or
equitable title to, or a beneficial interest in, real property.
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Ordinance No. 10 -2011
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Sec. 36 -3. Administrator authority & responsibilities.
(a) General powers and duties. The administrator shall:
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(1) Receive written complaints as hereinafter provided in section 36 -4, herein
relative to alleged unlawful acts under this chapter when a complainant seeks the
administrator's good offices to conciliate.
(2) Upon receiving written complaint, make such investigations as the
administrator deems appropriate to ascertain facts and issues.
(3) Utilize methods of persuasion, conciliation, and meditation or information
adjustment of grievances.
(4) Establish, administer or review programs at the request of the City Council
and make reports on such programs to the City Council.
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(5) Bring to the attention of the City Council items that may require City Council
notice or action to resolve.
(6) Render to the City Council annual written reports of his or her activities under
the provisions of this chapter along with such comments and recommendations as he
or she may choose to make.
(7) Cooperate with and render technical assistance to federal, state, local and
other public and private agencies, organizations and institutions which are
formulating or carrying on programs to prevent or eliminate the unlawful
discriminatory practices covered by the provisions of this chapter.
(b) Determination of probable cause. If, after fully processing the complaint in the
manner hereafter provided, the administrator determines that there is probable cause to
believe that there has been a violation of the provisions of this chapter, the administrator
shall refer the matter, along with the facts he or she has gathered in the investigations, to the
proper county, state or federal authorities for appropriate legal action.
(c) Promulgation offorms and regulations. The administrator shall promulgate, publish
and distribute the necessary forms, rules and regulations to implement the provisions of this
chapter.
Sec. 36 -4. Complaints.
(a) A person who claims that another person has committed a discriminatory housing
practice against him or her may report that offense to the administrator by filing an informal
complaint within forty -five (45) days after the date of the alleged discriminatory housing
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Ordinance No. 10 -2011
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practice and not later.
(b) The administrator shall treat a complaint referred by the Secretary of Housing and
Urban Development or the Attorney General of the United States under the Fair Housing Act
of 1968, Public Law 90 -284, as an informal complaint filed under subsection (a).
( c) An informal complaint must be in writing, verified or affirmed, on a form to be
supplied by the administrator and shall contain the following:
(1) Identity and address of the respondent.
(2) Date of offense and date of filing the informal complaint.
(3) General statement of facts of the offense including the basis of the
discrimination (race, color, ancestry, national origin, religion, sex, marital status,
familial status, handicap or age).
(4) Name and signature of the complainant.
(d) Each complaint shall be held in confidence by the administrator unless and until the
complainant and the respondent(s) consent in writing that it shall be made public.
(e) Within fifteen (15) days after the filing of the informal complaint, the administrator
shall transmit a copy of the same to each respondent named therein by certified mail, return
receipt requested. Thereupon, the respondent(s) may file a written, verified informal answer
to the informal complaint within twenty (20) days of the date of the receipt of the informal
complaint.
(f) An informal complaint or answer may be amended at any time, and the administrator
shall furnish a copy of each amended informal complaint or answer to the respondent(s)
complaint, respectively, as promptly as practicable.
(g) The administrator shall assist complainants or respondents when necessary in the
preparation and filing of informal complaints or answers or any amendments thereto.
(h) The administrator shall advise complainants of their rights and options provided in
section 760.34, Florida Statutes.
Sec. 36 -5. Processing complaints.
(a) Within thirty (30) days after the filing of an informal complaint, the administrator
shall make such investigation as is deemed appropriate to ascertain facts and issues. If the
administrator shall deem that there are reasonable grounds to believe that a violation has
occurred and can be resolved by conciliation, the administrator shall attempt to conciliate the
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Ordinance No. 10 -2011
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matter by methods of initial conference and persuasion with all interested parties and such
representatives as the parties may choose to assist them. Conciliation conferences shall be
informal and nothing said or done in the course of the informal conference with the
individuals to resolve the dispute may be public or used as evidence in a subsequent
proceeding by either party without the written consent of both the complainant and the
respondent(s). The administrator or employee of the administrator who shall make public any
information in violation of this provision shall be deemed guilty of a violation of a city
ordinance and shall be subject to penalty as set forth in section 36 -9 of this chapter.
(b) If the parties desire to conciliate, the terms of the conciliation shall be reduced to
writing in the form approved by the administrator and must be signed and verified by the
complainant and respondent(s) and approved by the administrator. The conciliation
agreement shall be for conciliation purposes only and shall not constitute an admission by
any party that the law has been violated.
(c) If the administrator deems that there is not probable cause to believe that the alleged
discriminatory housing practice has been committed, the administrator shall take no further
action with respect to the alleged offense.
(d) If the administrator, with respect to any matter involves a contravention of this
chapter by failure to conciliate a complaint after the parties, in good faith, have attempted
such conciliation; or determining that the violation alleged in the complaint cannot be
resolved by conciliation, the administrator shall notify both the complainant and the
respondent(s) within thirty (30) days of the failure or the determination, and then shall
proceed as provided in section 36 -3( c) herein.
Sec. 36 -6. Additional remedies.
The procedure prescribed by this chapter does not constitute an administrative prerequisite
to another action or remedy available under other law. Further, nothing in this chapter shall be
deemed to modify, impair or otherwise affect any right or remedy conferred by the Constitution or
laws of the United States or the State of Florida, and the provisions of this chapter shall be in
addition to those provided by such other laws.
Sec. 36 -7. Education and public information.
The administrator may conduct educational and public informational activities that are
designed to promote the policy of this chapter.
Sec. 36 -8. Untruthful complaints or testimony.
It shall be a violation of this chapter for any person knowingly and willfully to make false
or untrue statements, accusations or allegations in a complaint filed hereunder or to give false
testimony concerning violations of this chapter.
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Ordinance No. 10 -2011
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Sec. 36 -9. Penalty.
This chapter, except for section 36 -8, shall not be covered by the general penalty for violation
of this Code. It is the intention that violations of this chapter shall be resolved by the procedures
provided for within this chapter or by application of the laws and Constitution of the State of Florida
and the United States.
Secs. 36 -10. — 36 -20. Reserved.
ARTICLE II. DISCRIMINATORY PRACTICES
Sec. 36 -21. Unlawful housing practices.
(a) Sale or rental and advertising in connection therewith. Except as provided in section
36 -22 herein, it shall be unlawful and a discriminatory housing practice for an owner, or any
other person engaging in a real estate transaction, or for a real estate broker, as defined in this
chapter, because of race, color, ancestry, national origin, religion, sex, marital status, familial
status, handicap or age:
(1) To refuse to engage in a real estate transaction with a person or to otherwise
make unavailable or deny housing to any person.
(2) To discriminate against a person in the terms, conditions or privileges of a
real estate transaction or in the furnishing of facilities or services in connection
therewith.
(3) To refuse to receive or to fail to transmit a bona fide offer to engage in a real
estate transaction from a person.
(4) To refuse to negotiate for a real estate transaction with a person.
(5) To represent to a person that housing is not available for inspection, sale,
rental or lease when, in fact, it is so available, or to fail to bring a property listing to
such person's attention, or to refuse to permit him or her to inspect the housing.
(6) To steer any person away from or to any housing.
(7) To make, print, publish, circulate, post or mail, or cause to be made, printed,
published or circulated, any notice, statement, advertisement or sign, or to use a form
of application or photograph for a real estate transaction or, except in connection with
a written affirmative action plan, to make a record or oral or written inquiry in
connection with a prospective real estate transaction, which indicates directly or
indirectly an intent to make a limitation, specification, or discrimination with respect
thereto.
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Ordinance No. 10 -2011
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(8) To offer, solicit, accept, use or retain a listing of housing with the
understanding that a person maybe discriminated against in a real estate transaction
or in the furnishing of facilities or services in connection therewith.
(9) To induce or attempt to induce any person to transfer an interest in any
housing by representations regarding the existing or potential proximity of housing
owned, used or occupied by any person protected by the terms of this chapter.
(10) To make any misrepresentations concerning the listing for sale or rental, or
the anticipated listing for sale or rental, or the sale or rental of any housing in any
area in the City of Cape Canaveral for the purpose of inducing or attempting to
induce any such listing or any of the above transactions.
(11) To retaliate or discriminate in any manner against any person because of his
or her opposing a practice declared unlawful by this chapter, or because he or she has
filed a complaint, testified, assisted or participated in any manner in any
investigation, proceeding or conference under this chapter.
(12) To aid, abet, incite, compel or coerce any person to engage in any of the
practices prohibited by the provisions of this chapter, or to obstruct or prevent any
person from complying with the provisions of this chapter, or any conciliation
agreement entered into thereunder.
(13) By canvassing to compel any unlawful practices prohibited by the provisions
of this chapter.
(14) Otherwise to deny to, or withhold, any housing accommodations from a
person.
(15) To promote, induce, influence or attempt to promote, induce or influence by
the use of postal cards, letters, circulars, telephone, visitation or any other means,
directly or indirectly, a property owner, occupant, or tenant to list for sale, sell,
remove from, lease, assign, transfer, or otherwise dispose of any housing by referring
as a part of a process or pattern of indicating neighborhood unrest, community
tension, or fear of racial, color, religious, nationality or ethnic change in any street,
block, neighborhood or any other area, to the race, color, religion, neighbors, tenants
or other prospective buyers of any housing.
(16) To place a sign or display any other devise either purporting to offer for sale,
lease, assignment, transfer or other disposition or tending to lead to the belief that a
bona fide offer is being made to sell, lease, assign, transfer or otherwise dispose of
any housing that is not in fact available or offered for sale, lease, assignment, transfer
or other disposition.
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Ordinance No. 10 -2011
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(b) Financing. It shall be unlawful and a discriminatory housing practice for any lending
institution, to deny a loan or other financial assistance to a person applying therefore for the
purpose of purchasing, constructing, improving, repairing or maintaining housing, or to
discriminate against such person in the fixing of the amount, interest rate, duration, or other
terms or conditions of such loan or other financial assistance, because of the race, color,
ancestry, national origin, religion, sex, marital status, familial status, handicap or age of such
person or of any person associated with such person in connection with such loan or other
assistance, or of the present or prospective owners, lessees, tenants or occupants of the
housing in relation to which such loan or other financial assistance is to be made or given;
provided that nothing contained in this subsection shall impair the scope or effectiveness of
the exceptions contained in section 36 -22 of this chapter.
( c) Brokerage Services. It shall be unlawful and a discriminatory housing practice to
deny any person access to or membership or participation in any multiple listing service, real
estate brokers organization or other service, organization, or facility related to the business
of selling, or renting housing, or to discriminate against such person in the terms or
conditions of such access, membership or participation because of race, color, ancestry,
national origin, religion, sex, marital status, familial status or age.
Sec. 36 - 22. Exemptions and exceptions.
(a) Nothing contained in section 36 -21 herein shall prohibit a religious organization,
association, or society, or any nonprofit charitable or educational institution or organization
operated, supervised or controlled by or in conjunction with a religious organization,
association, or society, from limiting or from advertising the sale, rental or occupancy of
housing which it owns or operates for other than a commercial purpose to persons of the
same religion, or from giving preference to such persons. Nor shall anything in this chapter
prohibit a private club not in fact open to the public, which as an incident to its primary
purpose or purposes, provides lodgings which it owns or operates for other than a
commercial purpose, from limiting the rental or occupancy of such lodgings to its members
or from giving preference to its members.
(b) Nothing in section 36 -21 herein, other than subsection (a)(7) thereof, shall apply to:
(1) Any single- family house sold or rented by an owner: provided, that such
private individual owner does not own more than three such single family houses at
any one time; provided, further, that in the case of the sale of any such single family
house by a private individual owner not residing in such house at the time of such
sale or who was not the most recent resident of such house prior to such sale, the
exemption granted by this subsection shall apply only with respect to one such sale
within any twenty -four month period; provided, further, that it does not own any
interest in, nor is there owned or reserved on such owner's behalf, under any express
or voluntary agreement, title to or any rights to all or a portion of the proceeds from
the sale or rental of, more than three such single - family houses at any one time;
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Ordinance No. 10 -2011
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provided, further, that the owner sells or rents such housing (1) without the use in any
manner of the sales or rental facilities or the sales or rental services of any real estate
broker, agent, or salesperson, or of such facilities or services of any person in the
business of selling or renting housing, or of any employee or agency of any such
broker, agent, salesperson, or person and (2) without the publication, posting, or
mailing, after notice, of any advertisement or written notice in violation of section
36- 21(a)(7) herein, but nothing in this provision shall prohibit the use of attorneys,
} escrow agents, abstracters, title companies, and other such professional assistance as
necessary to perfect or transfer the title; or
(2) Rooms or units in housing containing living quarters occupied or intended to
be occupied by no more than four families living independently of each other, if the
owner actually maintains and occupies one of such living quarters as such owner's
residence, provided that the owner sells or rents such rooms or units (1) without the
use in any manner of the sales or rental services of any real estate broker, agent or
salesperson, or of such facilities or services of any person in the business of selling
or renting housing, or of any employee or agency of any such broker, agent
salesperson, or person and (2) without the publication, posting or mailing, after
notice in violation of subsection (a)(7) of section 36 -21 herein, but nothing in this
provision shall prohibit the use of attorneys, escrow agents, abstracters, title
companies, and other such professional assistance as necessary to perfect or transfer
the title.
( c) For the purpose of this subsection a person shall be deemed to be in the business of
selling or renting housing if:
(1) He or she has, within the preceding twelve months, participated as principal,
other than in the sale of his or her own personal residence, in providing sales or rental
facilities or sales or rental services in three or more transactions involving the sale
or rental of any housing or any interest therein; or
(2) He or she has, within the preceding 12 months, participated as agent, other
than in the sale of his or her own personal residence, in providing sales or rental
facilities or sales or rental services in two or more transactions involving the sale or
rental of any housing or any interest therein; or
(3) He or she is the owner of any housing designed or intended for occupancy by,
or occupied by, five (5) or more families.
(d) Nothing in Section 4 hereof shall be construed to:
(1) Bar any person from restricting sales, rentals, leases or occupancy, or from
giving preference, to persons of a given age for bona fide housing intended solely for
the elderly or bona fide housing intended solely for minors.
City of Cape Canaveral
Ordinance No. 10 -2011
Page 10 of 12
(2) Make it an unlawful act to require that a person have legal capacity to enter
into a contract or lease.
(3) Bar any person from advertising or from refusing to sell or rent any housing
which is planned exclusively for, and occupied exclusively by, individuals of one
sex, to any individual of the opposite sex.
(4) Bar any person from selling, renting or advertising any housing which is
planned exclusively for, and occupied exclusively by, unmarried individuals to
unmarried individuals only.
(5) Bar any person from advertising or from refusing to sell or rent any housing
which is planned exclusively for married couples without children or from
segregating families with children to special units of housing.
(6) Bar any person from refusing a loan or other financial assistance to any
person whose life expectancy, according to generally accepted mortality tables, is less
than the term for which the loan is requested.
Secs. 36 -23. — 36 -30. Reserved.
Section 3. Repeal of Prior Inconsistent Ordinances and Resolutions. All prior
inconsistent ordinances and resolutions adopted by the City Council, or parts of prior ordinances and
resolutions in conflict herewith, are hereby repealed to the extent of the conflict.
Section 4. Incorporation Into Code. This Ordinance shall be incorporated into the
Cape Canaveral City Code and any section or paragraph, number or letter, and any heading may be
changed or modified as necessary to effectuate the foregoing. Grammatical, typographical, and like
errors may be corrected and additions, alterations, and omissions, not affecting the construction or
meaning of this Ordinance and the City Code may be freely made.
Section 5. Severability. If any section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase, word or
provision of this Ordinance is for any reason held invalid or unconstitutional by any court of
competent jurisdiction, whether for substantive, procedural, or any other reason, 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.
Section 6. Effective Date. This Ordinance shall become effective immediately upon
adoption by the City Council of the City of Cape Canaveral, Florida.
[ADOPTION PAGE FOLLOWS]
City of Cape Canaveral
Ordinance No. 10 -2011
Page 11 of 12
ADOPTED by the City Council of the City of Cape Canaveral, Florida, this 18th day of
October, 2011.
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C,G1tv
- `� Rocky Randels, Mayor
ATTEST: A For Against
John Bond Second
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ANG AAPP..> R ,City -Clerk Bob Hoog X
Buzz Petsos g
Rocky Randels X
Betty Walsh Motion
First Reading: September 20, 2011
Legal Ad published: October 6, 2011
Second Reading: October 18, 2011
Approve as to legal form and sufficiency
for the it of Cape Canaveral only by:
ANTHONY A. GARGANESE, City Attorney
City of Cape Canaveral
Ordinance No. 10 -2011
Page 12 of 12