TO: Honorable Mayor & Members of the North Port Commission
FROM: A. Jerome Fletcher II, ICMA-CM, MPA, City Manager
TITLE: An Ordinance of the City of North Port, Florida, Amending the Code of the City of North Port, Florida, Section 22-55 and 22-65 Relating to Extending the Time Period When Use of Fertilizer is Restricted and Eliminating the Vehicle Decal Requirement; Providing for Findings; Providing for Conflicts; Providing for Severability; Providing for Codification; and Providing an Effective Date.
Recommended Action
Continue Ordinance No. 2023-14 to second reading.
Recommended Action for Second Reading
Adopt Ordinance No. 2023-14 as presented.
Background Information
The current North Port City Code Chapter 22 Article II Fertilizer and Landscape Management, referred to as the Fertilizer Ordinance, was adopted in 2007 and restricted fertilizer use on turf from June 1 through September 30 each year. An extensive green algal bloom occurred in the Cosmic Waterway in May 2022. Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) analyzed a water sample taken on May 24, 2022, in the Cosmic Waterway near Oklahoma Street. It confirmed the presence of mixed algae, high levels of chlorophyll-a, and high levels of nitrogen, which may be indicative of fertilizer contribution.
In recent years, rain events are starting as early as April, and many residents are fertilizing in the months prior to the restricted season, which begins on June 1. The earlier rains in April and May can entrain fertilizer in the runoff, which may cause algae blooms in the City's waterways.
On July 26, 2022, the City Commission approved a motion to amend the Fertilizer Ordinance to extend the fertilizer restriction period to April 1 through September 30, if scientific data supports this restriction period.
Florida Statutes Section 403.9337, authorizes local governments to adopt additional or more stringent
standards than those contained in the State's Model Ordinance if both the f...
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