WHEREAS, it is hereby found and determined that false alarms constitute a public nuisance and that the response of the sheriff's office results in costs and expenses to the sheriff.

WHEREAS, since 1980 the Sheriff of Palm Beach County has indicated that by negligence, improper use, malfunction or poor design, the use of burglar alarms in the unincorporated areas of Palm Beach County has resulted in a tremendous number of "false alarms" being signaled everyday to which the Sheriff’s Office must respond in force; and

WHEREAS, the Sheriff’s Office has indicated that virtually all alarms so activated are caused by defects in the alarms themselves or in their installation, maintenance, or use, rather than by burglaries; and

WHEREAS, the Sheriff’s Office, and the Criminal Justice Commission have identified changes that would improve the effectiveness of enforcement and the efficiency of administration of the existing burglar alarm ordinance; and

WHEREAS, the changes serve a valid public purposes, furthering the interests of the public’s health, safety, and general welfare.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF PALM BEACH COUNTY, FLORIDA, that:

This article may be cited as "The Burglar Alarm Ordinance."

In concert with the sheriff’s office commitment to problem solving policing, the purpose of this ordinance is to prevent false alarm activations that require the sheriff’s office to respond. Deputies responding to false alarms are more wisely utilized preventing crime and solving neighborhood crime problems.

Unless it is clear from the context that another meaning is intended, the following words when used in this Ordinance shall have the meanings attributed to them by this section:

Alarm Administrator means the person designated by the Sheriff to administer, control and review alarm applications, permits and alarm dispatch requests.

Alarm company means the business of any individual, partnership, corporation or other entity engaged in selling, leasing, maintaining, servicing, repairing, altering, replacing, moving, installing or monitoring any alarm system or in causing any alarm system to be sold, leased, maintained, serviced, repaired, altered, replaced, moved or installed in or on any building, structure or facility. An alarm company and/or alarm monitoring company shall be properly licensed in accordance with Chapter 489, Florida Statutes. An alarm company shall have an appropriate occupational license pursuant to state statute, Chapter 489, Part II.

Alarm permit means a permit issued by the sheriff allowing the operation of an alarm system within the unincorporated areas of the county. Alarm permits are not transferable.

Alarm re-training means personal individual training of the alarm user in the proper use of the alarm system. The re-training shall include; activation, deactivation, panic/hold up alarms, procedure to cancel false alarm dispatches, basic alarm maintenance, false alarm avoidance, key holder responsibilities and responsibilities of the alarm user under this Ordinance. The retraining shall be in accordance with an approved training outline offered by the sheriff’s office.

Alarm site shall mean any building, structure, facility or premises, or portion thereof, wherein an alarm system is maintained.

Alarm system means any assembly of equipment, mechanical or electrical, arranged to signal the occurrence of an illegal entry or other activity requiring urgent attention and to which the sheriff's office is expected to respond, but does not include alarms installed in conveyances or fire alarms. Publicly owned properties will be required to obtain an alarm permit from the sheriff’s office and will be subject to all regulations and requirements of this Ordinance. Publicly owned properties however, are exempt from paying fees or fines under this Ordinance.

Alarm user means the person, firm, partnership, association, corporation, company or organization of any kind in control of any building, structure, facility or premises, or portion thereof, wherein an alarm system is maintained.

False alarm means an alarm dispatch request where the responding deputy finds no evidence of a criminal offense or attempted criminal offense after completing an investigation of the alarm site. False alarms include alarms caused by user error , weather or power outages less than two hours, and/or technical or mechanical failure. Excluded are alarms caused by tornado, hurricane, fire, and telephone line trouble outside the alarm premises.

Nuisance Alarm means an unwanted alarm system activation in which a sensor responds to a stimulus, but the stimulus is not a burglary or an attempted crime in which the property owner elects not to prosecute.

Special Master means that person appointed by the sheriff to act as an impartial arbitrator at hearings related to the enforcement of this Ordinance.

Transfer means every mode, direct or indirect, absolute or conditional, voluntary or involuntary, of disposing of or parting with an asset or an interest in an asset, and includes payment of money, release, lease, and creation of a lien or other encumbrance.

(a) It shall be a violation of this Ordinance to operate an alarm system without a valid alarm permit as defined in Section 3 above.

(b) Within thirty (30) days of the effective date of this Ordinance, alarm permits shall be acquired from the sheriff’s office by the alarm or monitoring company upon submission of a permit application and permit fee of twenty four dollars ($24.00) per customer of the alarm or monitoring company. If the alarm user does not utilize an alarm or monitoring company, then the alarm user shall be required to submit the permit application and the twenty four dollar ($24.00) permit fee. An alarm or monitoring company or nonmonitored alarm user that has paid the twenty five ($25.00) permit fee prior to enactment of this Ordinance shall not be required to pay this permit fee until the expiration of the current permit. Thereafter, however, the permit fee for all non-monitored alarm users and alarm companies, including those serviced by private security firms, shall be determined as specified in Section 5(b) of this Ordinance. All non-monitored alarm users and alarm monitoring companies are required to register with the sheriff’s office each year. If the alarm is not audible and cannot be heard outside the property and the Sheriff’s Office is not expected to respond, it shall be exempt from this Ordinance. The application and registration will be provided free of charge. Failure or refusal to register shall result in a fine of $500.00 per non-monitored alarm user or alarm monitoring company and discontinued sheriff’s response to accounts registered with the company. After the thirty-day enactment period of this Ordinance, applications and permit fees must be made to the sheriff’s office which will issue permits to alarm companies and non-monitored alarm users.

(c) All alarm permits will expire one year from the date of issuance. Permits will be issued after completion of an application form and the payment of a renewal fee as stated in section (b).

(d) If a business has one (1) or more alarm systems protecting two (2) or more separate structures having different addresses, a separate permit will be required for each structure. Violation of this section shall result in a civil penalty of $250.00 per incident.

(e) If the owner or property manager of an apartment complex provides alarm systems in each residential unit as an amenity, then the owner or property manager of the apartment complex shall obtain an alarm permit for each apartment. All units, whether occupied or not, shall be required to have an alarm permit. Each apartment shall be considered as a separate alarm user.

(f) The owner or property manager of an apartment complex shall obtain a separate alarm permit for any alarm system operating in a non-residential area of the apartment complex including, but not limited to, common tenant areas, office, storage and equipment areas. An annual fee for such a permit shall be the same as the fee for a residential alarm site.

(g) All person(s), firms, organizations and alarm companies, that install, monitor, repair, or activate an alarm system in the unincorporated area of Palm Beach County must be licensed according to state and local requirements. These person(s), firms, alarm companies, and organizations, when performing installation, repair, monitoring or activation of an alarm system, must inform the alarm system owner or person requesting such work of the existence of this Ordinance, and any amendments thereto, and provide the owner or person with information and literature concerning same. Literature will be provided free of cost by the Palm Beach County sheriff's office. The person(s), firms, alarm companies, and organizations providing this service as described above must also physically instruct the user of the alarm system in its use and function at the time of installation, repair or activation. Violation of this section shall result in a civil penalty of $125.00 per incident to the alarm company.

(h) Subsections (b) through (f) of this section shall not apply in those situations where alarm user permits have been revoked under section 9 hereof.

(a) Applications. Any non-monitored alarm user, or any alarm company who installs, monitors and/or activates an alarm system, shall be required to obtain an alarm permit. Applications for alarm permits shall be made on forms provided by the sheriff's office. Each application shall be accompanied by an alarm user fee of twenty four dollars ($24.00). This fee is to be remitted by the alarm company or non-monitored alarm user to the Sheriff’s office for the first year after the effective date of this Ordinance. After the effective date of this Ordinance, any new non-monitored user and any new alarm company, shall obtain a permit and pay a fee in the amount of twenty four dollars ($24.00) per customer of the alarm company and twenty four dollars ($24.00) per non-monitored alarm user for their first year of operation in order to establish a false alarm rate.

(b) Thereafter, this fee shall be that alarm company’s or non-monitored alarm user’s false alarm rate for the previous registration year. The false alarm rate is based upon the number of false alarms divided by the number of alarm accounts monitored by the sheriff’s office on behalf of the alarm companies or non-monitored alarm users. Alarm companies or non-monitored alarm users, registered directly with the sheriff’s office, that did not operate during the previous year and have no false alarm rate, shall pay a fee of twenty four dollars ($24.00) per customer of the alarm company and twenty four dollars ($24.00) per non-monitored alarm user. The renewal fee shall be based upon the following schedule:

(d) Alarm companies are hereby required to inform its customers in writing of its false alarm rate as well as the amount required to be paid to the Sheriff’s office. Failure to do so shall result in a civil penalty of $250.00 per incident to the alarm company.

(e) A transfer of an alarm company to a successor company shall be deemed a fraudulent transfer if said transfer is made by the alarm company for the purpose of evading permit fees or civil penalties issued pursuant to this Ordinance. In determining intent to defraud, consideration may be given, among other factors, to whether: (1) the transfer was to an insider; (2) the alarm company retained possession or control of the property transferred after the transfer; (3) the transfer was disclosed or concealed; (4) before the transfer was made or obligation was incurred, the alarm company had been sued or threatened with suit; (5) the transfer was of substantially all the alarm company’s assets; (6) the value of the consideration received by the alarm company was reasonably equivalent to the value of the asset transferred or the amount of the obligation incurred; (7) the alarm company was insolvent or became insolvent shortly after the transfer was made or the obligation was incurred; (8) the transfer occurred shortly before or shortly after substantial permit fees or civil penalties were incurred; and (9) the alarm company transferred the essential assets of the business to a lienor who transferred the assets to an insider of the alarm company.

(f) The application submitted by an alarm company or non-monitored alarm user to the sheriff’s office shall state the name, address and telephone number of the property to be serviced by the alarm, and the name, address and telephone number of the alarm user’s residence, if different. If the alarm user’s alarm is serviced by an alarm company, then the alarm user shall also include the name, address, telephone number and state license number of that company. An application and fee submitted by an alarm company or non-monitored alarm user must be received by the sheriff's office within three (3) business days notifying the sheriff's office of the date of installation and/or activation. No alarm user shall operate, or cause to be operated, an alarm system without a valid permit issued by the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office. Violation of this section shall result in a civil penalty to the non-monitored alarm user or alarm company of $250.00 per incident and cancellation of any further police response.

(g) Emergency notification. Each application shall list an emergency telephone number of the user or his representative to permit prompt notification of alarm calls and facilities assisting the sheriff's office in the inspection of the property. All users of an alarm system must have two representatives available to respond to an alarm activation to open the premises or deactivate the system. The representatives must respond within thirty (30) minutes of the request by the sheriff's office or alarm company to deactivate the system. Failure to do so shall result in a civil penalty of $125.00 per incident to the alarm permit holder. Changes in emergency telephone numbers shall be kept current and failure to provide updated information to the sheriff's office may result in a fee of forty dollars ($40.00) and may constitute grounds for revocation of the permit. All persons, firms, alarm companies, non-monitored alarm users, and/or organizations who are responsible for notifying the sheriff's office of an alarm activation must have the alarm permit number of said location available (if one has been issued) for the sheriff's office when notifying the sheriff's office of an alarm activation. All person(s), firms, non-monitored alarm users, and alarm companies must notify the sheriff's office of cancellation of monitoring service or change of information concerning the alarm users. Alarm companies will not be held responsible for violation of this section if they have not been notified of said cancellation and/or information change by the alarm user.

(h) Reporting service information. Each alarm company or non-monitored alarm user shall immediately notify the sheriff's office in writing of any and all changes in the information on file with the sheriff regarding each alarm user. Failure to do so shall constitute grounds for revocation of the permit.

(a) All alarm systems shall have a sufficient backup power supply that will become effective in the event of power failure or outage in the source of electricity from the utility company. Said power supply shall last a minimum of three (3) hours. Violation of this section shall result in a civil penalty of $125.00 per incident to the alarm permit holder.

(b) All alarm systems will have an automatic reset which silences the annunciator within fifteen (15) minutes after activation and which will not sound again as a result of the same event that resulted in the original activation. Violation of this section shall result in a civil penalty of $125.00 per incident to the alarm permit holder.

(c) Proper permitting and approvals from the appropriate building department must be secured.

(a) Whenever an alarm is activated in the county and the sheriff's office responds, a deputy sheriff on the scene of the activated alarm system shall inspect the area protected by the system and shall determine whether the activated alarm was an emergency as indicated by the alarm system or whether the activated alarm was a false alarm.

(c) An alarm monitoring company performing monitoring services and non-monitored alarm users shall provide the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office with the valid alarm permit number of the activation. The sheriff’s office will not dispatch a response to a call from an alarm monitoring company without a permit number. Additional information required for a sheriff’s office response must include the name and address of the alarm activation, and the zone(s). If capable, the alarm company shall report the specific location, i.e.: front door, west window, etc. to the sheriff’s office. The alarm monitoring company will attempt to verify every alarm signal before requesting a sheriff response in compliance with Chapter 489, Florida Statute.

(d) The alarm monitoring companies and non-monitored alarm users shall verify cancellations of alarm dispatch requests to the sheriff’s office in a manner and form determined by the Alarm Administrator. The procedure shall include alarm monitoring companies and non-monitored alarm users telephoning the sheriff’s office via a non-emergency telephone line indicating the alarm was false and to cancel all police response.

(f) The sheriff or his designee shall have the right to inspect any alarm system on the premises to which a response has been made and he may cause an inspection of such system to be made at any reasonable time thereafter to determine whether it is being used in conformity with the terms of this Ordinance.

(a) A special master(s) shall be appointed by the sheriff to hear appeals from alarm users on the issue of whether the alarm system in question activated a false alarm, as determined by the deputy sheriff at the scene of such activated alarm.

(b) Special Master(s) Creation and appointment. Hearings held pursuant to this Ordinance shall be conducted by designated Special Masters. Applications for Special Master positions shall be directed to the Alarm Administrator pursuant to a notice published in a newspaper of general circulation. The Sheriff shall select a pool of candidates from the applications filed with the Alarm Administrator on the basis of experience and qualifications. The Alarm Administrator shall appoint Special Masters to conduct hearings from the pool of candidates selected by the Sheriff as necessary.

In the event the Alarm Administrator does not receive a sufficient number of applications from qualified members of the Florida Bar, the Sheriff may select attorneys who are not members of the Florida Bar as candidates for Special Master. Among those attorneys who are not members of the Florida Bar, the Sheriff and Alarm Administrator shall give preference to those attorneys who have prior experience in a judiciary capacity, or as a hearing officer, mediator or special master. No attorney, who has been disciplined by the Florida Bar Association or a bar association of any other jurisdiction, shall be appointed as a Special Master.

(d) Rules of Procedure. The Sheriff shall have the authority to prescribe rules of procedure for the conduct of hearings before the Special Masters.

(e) Term. Special Masters shall serve a term of one (1) year from the date of appointment by the Alarm Administrator. Special Masters may be reappointed at the discretion of the Alarm Administrator. There shall be no limit on the number of terms a person may serve as a Special Master.

(f) Removal. At any time during the appointment, the Alarm Administrator shall have the authority to remove a Special Master with or without cause upon ten (10) days written notice.

(g) Vacancy. If any Special Master resigns or is removed prior to expiration of his or her term or the Alarm Administrator determines that the Special Master should not be reappointed, the Alarm Administrator shall appoint a Special Master from the pool of candidates previously selected by the Sheriff to fill the vacancy within thirty (30) days.

(h) Conflicts of Interest. Special Masters shall not be considered outside or special counsel.

(j) Compensation. Special Masters shall serve without compensation for their services and shall not be considered County or Sheriff employees. Travel reimbursement is limited to expenses incurred only for travel outside Palm Beach County necessary to fulfill the responsibilities as a Special Master. Travel reimbursement shall be made only when sufficient funds have been budgeted and are available. No other expenses shall be reimbursable except documented long distance telephone calls to Sheriff staff to fulfill the responsibilities as a Special Master.

(l) Upon receipt of any false alarm report from the sheriff, commencing with the first alarm, the alarm user shall have ten (10) days to request in writing a hearing before said special master(s) setting forth the reasons for the appeal. The special master shall conduct a formal hearing and consider the evidence from the alarm company or alarm user. The special master shall make a decision based upon a preponderance of evidence presented at the hearing. The special master will not hear cases concerning faulty or malfunctioning equipment, false alarms caused by electrical surges, or alarms caused by the fault of another person during non-criminal incidents. Excluded are special circumstances which are beyond the control of the alarm user or the alarm company and shall be heard by the special master. The special master must render a decision within 10 days after the appeal hearing. Said written request must be received at 3228 Gun Club Road, West Palm Beach, Florida, 33406.

(m) At the hearing, which must be scheduled and concluded within fifteen (15) days from the date the request for same is received, the alarm user shall have the right to present evidence and testimony. The alarm user shall have the burden of proof by a preponderance of the evidence.

(n) The special master shall make written findings available to the alarm user and the sheriff within ten (10) days from the date the hearing is concluded.

(o) A decision by the sheriff or his designee to uphold or to cancel the false alarm report which is the subject of this section must be made within ten (10) days from the receipt of the above findings by the special master.

(p) Until such time as all of the steps set forth in this section have been completed, the false alarm in question will be considered to have been genuine.

(q) Should the administrative process set forth hereinabove be exhausted and compliance has not been obtained, the Code Enforcement Citation process may be initiated pursuant to Ordinance No. 90-45, as amended.

(a) The activation of false alarms from an alarm site within a 12 month period will be handled according to the following schedule:

(1) The first false alarm will not be assessed a fine. A second false alarm will be billed a fifty ($50.00) dollar service charge. A third false alarm shall be billed a two hundred fifty ($250.00) service charge, or may be waived upon receipt of a letter from an alarm company, appropriately licensed, signed and notarized, by the qualifier as defined in Chapter 489, Florida Statutes to the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office stating that the alarm system is operating properly and that the alarm user has been trained in a sheriff’s office approved training program on the proper use of the alarm system and on the current County Ordinance. Failure to make payment within thirty (30) days from date of receipt shall result in a discontinuance of sheriff’s office response to alarms that may occur at the premises described in the alarm user’s permit, and the alarm permit will be revoked until payment is received.

(b) The fourth false alarm shall result in suspension of sheriff’s office response to the alarm site for one year in the manner described in paragraph (a) of Section 8 herein, except that the fee for reinstatement shall be two hundred fifty dollars ($250.00).

(c) For the purposes of this section, a year will extend from the first day of the original month of application to the last day of the same month the following calendar year. False alarms occurring during each year shall be handled in the same manner as set forth in subsections (a) and (b) of this section.

(d) Any person operating a non-permitted alarm system (revoked, suspended, or never permitted) will be subject to a $250.00 citation for each false alarm dispatch.

(e) All alarm dispatch requests caused by an actual criminal offense or with evidence of an attempted criminal offense, shall not be counted as a false alarm. The criminal offense must be reported within five business days of the activation and must be accompanied by a police report.

(f) The Alarm Administrator or any law enforcement supervisor may cancel, without notice, any alarm dispatch caused by power or weather related causes or other emergencies based upon priority, or alarms considered to be a nuisance.

(g) A second request to respond to the same premises within a 24 hour period will require the response of a key holder. It is the duty of the alarm monitoring company to contact the key holder before this second dispatch request is made. If a key holder cannot be contacted, the sheriff’s office will not be requested to respond. Alarm monitoring companies shall be assessed a $50.00 fine for making requests for a sheriff response without notifying a key holder in advance.

(a) All alarm companies providing monitoring services, when notified of an activation of any burglar alarm system in the unincorporated area of Palm Beach County, or in any area within Palm Beach County where the Palm Beach County sheriff’s office is expected to respond to burglar, robbery, and panic alarm activations as the primary law enforcement agency must call the premises from which the alarm activation originated, and attempt to ascertain if said alarm is a valid alarm activation in accordance with Chapter 489, Florida Statutes. This information must be relayed to the communications division of the sheriff's office at the time the sheriff's office is notified of the activation. This section does not apply to robbery and/or panic alarm activations.

(b) All alarm monitoring companies who monitor burglar alarm systems in the unincorporated area of Palm Beach County must maintain for a period of one year, all monitoring, service, and installation records. This information must be provided to the sheriff’s office within the following time frame: records up to 180 days old must be provided within 5 calendar days and records over 180 days old must be provided within 10 calendar days. Additionally, current information must be maintained regarding the premises monitored and the representative(s) who can respond to an alarm activation when requested to do so by the alarm monitoring company or the sheriff's office. Violation of this section shall result in a civil penalty of $125.00 per incident to the alarm company.

(a) It shall be a violation of this Ordinance for any person, natural or corporate, to sell, offer for sale, install, maintain, lease, operate or assist in the operation of an automatic telephone dialing alarm system over any telephone lines exclusively used by the public to directly request emergency service from the sheriff’s office. Violation of this section shall result in a civil penalty of $125.00 per incident to the alarm user.

(b) The sheriff or his designee, when he has knowledge of the maintenance of an automatic telephone dialing alarm system, installed or operated in violation of subsection (a) of this section, shall issue a written notice to the owner, operator or lessee to disconnect and cease operation of the system within seventy-two (72) hours from receipt of the notice.

(c) Any automatic telephone dialing system installed in violation of this Ordinance as set forth in subsection (a) hereof prior to the effective date of this Ordinance, shall be removed within thirty (30) days of the date of the notice as contained in subsection (b) hereof.

SECTION 12. Effective area.

This Ordinance shall apply in any area within Palm Beach County where the Palm Beach County sheriff’s office is expected to respond to burglar, robbery, and panic alarm activations as the primary law enforcement agency.

Neither the sheriff's office nor the county shall be under any obligation or duty to an alarm user or to any other person hereunder by reason of this Ordinance. The sheriff specifically disclaims liability for any damages which may be caused by failure to respond to an alarm.

In addition to the penalties referenced throughout this Ordinance, the following shall apply:

(a) Any false statement made by an alarm company, monitoring company, or any individual representing the alarm permit, shall result in a civil penalty of $500.00 to the maker of the false statement and revocation of the alarm response service agreement.

Information contained in permit applications is exempt from public disclosure according to Florida Statute, 281.

(b) No alarm user shall operate, or cause to be operated, an alarm system without a valid permit issued by the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office. Violation of this section shall result in a civil penalty to the non-monitored alarm user or alarm company of $250.00 per incident and cancellation of any further police response.

(c) No person shall manually operate an alarm system for any reason other than an occurrence of an event that the alarm system was intended for. Violation of this section shall result in a civil penalty to the alarm user of $125.00 per incident.

(d) Alarm monitoring companies shall provide the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s communications department with the alarm permit number of the activation. Failure to comply shall result in a civil penalty to the alarm monitoring company of $50.00 per incident.

(e) Alarm monitoring companies shall provide the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office communications department with all alarm activation data. This data shall include the zone (s) of violation and other available data if the alarm system is designed to report in that format. Failure to provide all available data shall result in a civil penalty to the alarm monitoring company of $125.00 per incident.

(f) Alarm monitoring companies shall attempt to verify every alarm signal, except a duress or hold up alarm activation before requesting the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office to respond. Violation of this section shall result in a civil penalty to the alarm monitoring company of $125.00 per incident. After December 31, 1999, alarm companies shall not program alarm systems with One Plus Duress capabilities. Alarm companies may continue to report One Plus Duress alarms received from alarm systems programmed with this feature prior to 2000. Violation of this section shall result in a civil penalty to the alarm company of $125.00 per incident.

(g) After December 31, 1999, when performing a takeover or conversion, an alarm company must remove the One Plus Duress capability from the alarm system. Violation of this section shall result in a civil penalty to the alarm company of $125.00 per incident.

(h) After 1999, alarm companies shall not install a device for activating a hold-up alarm which is a single action, non-recessed, button. Violation of this section shall result in a civil penalty to the alarm company of $125.00.

(i) It is the responsibility of the alarm company and technician to prevent false alarms during installation, system repairs, or system service. Proper notification must be made to the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office that the system is in a test mode. Violation of this section shall result in a civil penalty to the alarm company of $125.00 per incident to the company.

All local laws and ordinances in conflict with any provisions of this Ordinance are hereby repealed to the extent of such conflict.

If any section, paragraph, sentence, clause, phrase, or word of this Ordinance is for any reason held by the Court to be unconstitutional, inoperative, or void, such holding shall not affect the remainder of this Ordinance.

The provisions of this Ordinance shall become and be made a part of the Code of Laws and Ordinances of Palm Beach County, Florida. The sections of this Ordinance may be renumbered or relettered to accomplish such, and the word "ordinance" may be changed to "section", "article", or other appropriate word.

SECTION 18. Effective date: The provisions of this Ordinance shall become effective March 1, 2000.

APPROVED and ADOPTED by the Board of County Commissioners of Palm Beach County, Florida, on this the ______________ day of _______________________, 2000.

PALM BEACH COUNTY, FLORIDA, BY ITS

BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS

By:_________________________________

Chair

APPROVED AS TO FORM AND

LEGAL SUFFICIENCY

By:__________________________

Filing: Filed with the Department of State on the day of ,2000.