Ordinance 11-1966 ORDINANCE NO. 44 -4966
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF LONGWOOD, FLORIDA,
REESTABLISHING AND EXTENDING A TEMPORARY
MORATORIUM ADOPTED BY ORDINANCE 10 -1954 ON THE REVIEW
AND ISSUANCE OF PERMITS FOR PAIN CLINICS, PAIN
MANAGEMENT CLINICS, URGENT CARE CLINICS AND /OR
CASH ONLY PHARMACIES PENDING A CONTINUATION OF THE
INVESTIGATION OF THE PERMITTING CRITERIIA FOR SUCH
ACTIVITIES AND STATE (LEGISLATION REGARDING SAME;
PROVIDING FOR THE CONTINUED NON- ACCEPTANCE OF THE
OCCUPATIONAL LICENSE TAX RELATING TO SUCH ACTIVITIES;
PROVIDING FOR THE ADOPTION OF LEGISLATIVE FINDINGS;
PROVIDING FOR THE GEOGRAPHIC AREA COVERED;
PROVIDING FOR THE DURATION OF MORATORIUM;
PROVIDING FOR PENALTIES; SEVERABILITY,
C O N F L I C T S, N O N- CODIFICATION AND AN EFFECTIVE DATE.
WHEREAS, as provided in section 2(b), Article V111 of the Constitution of the State of
Florida, and Chapter 166, Florida Statutes, the City of Longwood (the "City "), enjoys all
governmental, corporate, and proprietary powers necessary to conduct municipal government,
perform municipal functions, and render municipal services, and may exercise any power for
municipal purposes, except as expressly prohibited by law; and
WHEREAS, the City provides municipal services to its citizens, including regulation
and licensing of businesses and uses;
WHEREAS, the appropriate regulation, licensing and permitting of businesses and uses
are vital to the public's health, safety, morals and welfare as deficient or inadequate regulations
can lead to public harm; and
WHEREAS, the City Commission adopted Ordinance 10- 1951 on December 6, 2010,
providing for an initial six (6) month moratorium on the permitting and establishment of pain
clinics, pain management clinics, urgent care clinics, and/or cash only pharmacies, dur.nlg which
time, City Staff was to investigate and develop a legislative plan to address the problems created
by the widely reported availability of controlled substances through pain clinics and other similar
businesses and uses; and
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WHEREAS, the City has been considering certain activities related to "Pain Clinics ",
"Pain Management Clinics ", "Urgent Care Clinics" and /or "Cash Only Pharmacies" within the
City of Longwood behlg proposed or considered which activities would harm the City's economic
and redevelopment activities and otherwise significantly and adversely affect the public health,
safety, morals and welfare; and
W1E EREAS, the proliferation of pain clinics continues to be linked to an increase in the
number of deaths related to the abuse of prescription drugs; and
WHEREAS, several counties and municipalities in Florida have established moratoria
on new pain management clinics to help curb the immediate and unchecked deleterious
consequences of these clinics, such consequences including illegal drug trafficking, the illegal
purchase and sale of prescription pain medication, loitering and other criminal behavior in and
around such clinics, the diversion of prescription drugs for unlawful and dangerous uses, and an
alarming increase in deaths related to and caused by prescription drug abuse; and
WHEREAS, the City has learned of comprehensive pending legislation introduced by
the Florida legislature designed to address the myriad problems associated with the proliferation
of pain clinics, pain management clinics, urgent care clinics and /or cash only pharmacies
throughout the state of Florida; and
WHEREAS, the Florida Legislature is in the process of enacting and implementing
significant changes to state law (e.g. SB 818/BB 7095) concerning the regulation of pain clinics,
pain management clinics, urgent care clinics and /or cash only pharmacies, and the City is in the
process of designing reasonable regulations to compliment such state laws and regulations and
best serve the interests of the City and
WHEREAS, the problems giving rise to the need for the temporary moratorium
established by Ordinance 1.0 -1951 continue to exist and reasonable progress is being made in
carrying out a specific and prompt plan of corrective legislative action; however, additional time
is reasonably needed to adequately address the issues facing the City; and
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WHEREAS, the City Commission of the City of Longwood, Florida, deems it necessary
to the public's health, safety, morals and welfare to continue its study of criteria for issuance of
permits for pain clinics, pail management clinics, urgent care clinics and /or cash only pharmacies
and to continue its temporary moratorium on the issuance of development orders, permits and
the receipt of the local business tax receipts (also known as occupational licenses) for such
activities for an additional period of one hundred eighty (1 &0) days in accordance with Section
5 of Ordinance 10 -1951 and to allow the City to continue its research into whether such
facilities should be locally regulated, and, if so, what types of local regulations should be
implemented, if any.
BE IT SO ORDAINED BY THE CITY COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF
LONGWOOD, FLORIDA, AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The above recitals are hereby adopted as the legislative purpose of this
Ordinance and as the City Commission's legislative findings.
SECTION 2. All activities .relating to the acceptance, review and action upon permit
applications for pain clinics, pain management clinics, urgent care clinics and/or cash only
pharmacies shall continue to be temporarily suspended so that the City of Longwood, through
its officials and staff, may have additional time and opportunity to continue its study and
comprehensively analyze the adequacy of application criteria, standards and other approval
processes and procedures related to the issuance of said permits within the City of Longwood.
For the purposes of this Ordinance, "Pain management clinic, pain clinic and urgent
care clinic" is defined as a privately owned paiii- management clinic, facility, or office, which
advertises in any medium for any type of pain- management services or employs a physician
who is primarily engaged in the treatment of pain by prescribing or dispensing controlled
substance medications. A physician is primarily engaged in the treatment of pain by
prescribing or dispensing controlled substance medications when the majority of the patients
seen are prescribed or dispensed controlled substance medications for the treatment of chronic
nonmalignant pain. Chronic nonmalignant pain is pain unrelated to cancer which persists
beyond the usual course of the disease or injury that is the cause of the pain or more than 90
days after surgery. A "Cash only pharmacy" shall mean a pharmacy that primarily dispenses
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medication in Schedule II, III, and IV in Sections 893.03, 893.035 and 893.0355, Florida
Statutes, including but not limited to opiates, opioids, including fentanyl, hydrocodone,
morphine and oxycodone to individuals for cash only and /or is not generally open and
accessible to the general public. Regardless of the foregoing, the following types of facilities
have been determined to pose little or no risk of exploitation or abuse and shall be exempt from
the effect of this moratorium:
(a) Clinics licensed as a facility pursuant to Chapter 395, Florida Statutes;
(b) Clinics where the majority of the physicians or osteopathic physicians who provide
services primarily provide surgical services;
(c) Clinics owned by a public held corporation whose shares are traded on a national
exchange or on the over- the - counter market and whose total assets at the end of the
corporation's most recent fiscal quarter exceeded $50 million;
(d) Clinics affiliated with an accredited medical school at which training is provided for
medical students, residents, or fellows; and
(e) Clinics that do not prescribe or dispense controlled substances for the treatment of
pain.
Accordingly, based upon the foregoing there is hereby continued the temporary
moratorium on the receipt and /or acting upon applications for development orders, permits,
and local business tax receipts (a /k/a occupational licenses) relating to pain clinics, pain
management clinics, urgent care clinics and cash only pharmacies, or any combination thereof.
During the time the temporary moratorium is continued, the City will continue to neither
accept any applications nor act on any pending applications for development orders, permits
and local business tax receipts (a /k/a occupational licenses) for such activities, and no such
new activities shall be permitted within the City. It is unlawful for any person or entity to
engage in the activities that are subjects of this Ordinance without first obtaining a permit and
local business tax receipt (a/k/a occupational licenses) for such activities. During the period of
time that the temporary moratorium continues to be effective, the City shall not accept
payments of the local business tax (a/k/a occupational license tax) for such activities and shall
return any funds accepted for pending applications.
SECTION 3. The temporary moratorium continued in this Ordinance shall be
effective in the corporate and municipal boundaries of the City of Longwood.
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SECTION 4. Said temporary moratorium shall not affect or modify any business
currently operating within the City of Longwood pursuant to a validly- issued Business Tax
Receipt /Occupational License Tax prior to the effective date of this Ordinance, as long as
the business and the property are in compliance with all applicable local, state.and federal
laws and the business does not expand or relocate.
SECTION 5. This Ordinance shall take effect immediately= upon adoption. The
temporary moratorium set forth in this Ordinance shall commence immediately upon_ the
expiration of the initial one - hundred eighty (180) day moratorium imposed under Ordinance
10 -1951 and terminate one hundred eighty (180) days thereafter. 'The City will accept no
applications or act on any pending applications subject to this continued moratorium or the
moratorium imposed by Ordinance 10 -1951 until the moratoria have expired.
SECTION 6. Any person, firm, corporation, entity or agent who violates any
provision of this Ordinance or who fails to comply therewith, or with any of the
requirements thereof, shall be fined in an amount not exceeding five hundred dollars
($500.00) or be imprisoned for a period not exceeding sixty (60) days. Either or both
penalties may be imposed. Each day during which any violation occurs constitutes a separate
offense. Nothing herein contained shall prevent the City from taking such other lawful action
including, but not limited to, resort to equitable legal action, as it deems necessary to prevent or
remedy any violation of this Ordinance.
SECTION 7. If any section or portion of a section of this Ordinance proves to be
invalid, unlawful or unconstitutional, it shall not be held to invalidate or impair the validity, force
or effect of any other section or part of this Ordinance.
SECTION 8. If any section or parts of this Ordinance are in conflict herewith, this
ordinance shall control to the extent such conflict exists.
SEC'T'ION 9. Given the temporary nature and effect of this Ordinance, it is the intent of
the City Commission that this Ordinance not be codified.
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FIRST READING this 16 "' day of May, A.D. 2011.
SECOND READING AND ADOPTION this ' day of , A.D. 2011.
s , ayor
ATT]E
. �llao
( "'Sarah M. irus, l C, l�A, City Clerk
Approved as to form and legality for the use and reliance of the City of Longwood, Florida only.
e Langley, ttorne
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