(A) It is the intent of this chapter to protect and preserve the good order, health, safety, welfare and morals of the citizens of the town by prohibiting a person from intentionally or recklessly appearing or being nude, or causing another person to appear or be nude, in a public place and in other places which may reasonably be expected to be observed by the public within the town in other places than those establishments defined in § 131.03.
(B) It is the further intention of this chapter to accomplish the intents and purposes expressed in the following recitals:
(1) Local governments may prohibit the exposure of certain body parts, see Geaneas v. Willets, 911 F. 2d 579 (11th Cir. 1990), certiorari denied, 499 U.S. 955, 111 S. Ct. 1431, 113 L. Ed. 2d 484 (1991) and see Barnes v. Glen Theater, 501 U.S. 560 (1991);
(2) Efforts by the state and federal governments to apply state criminal statutes have been rejected by the courts because, under certain of Florida’s criminal laws, nudity alone cannot be prosecuted without proof of lewd and lascivious conduct;
(3) Local governments for other counties have successfully passed and defended regulations relating to public nudity;
(4) The citizens of the town wish to regulate nudity and sexual conduct, and the citizens of the town believe that nudity and sexual conduct begets undesirable behavior, and that adverse secondary effects such as, but not limited to, prostitution, attempted rape, rape and assault may occur and have the potential for occurring where nude and sexual conduct is permitted;
(5) The citizens of the town wish to protect against similar conditions to the end that they not occur in the town;
(6) The citizens of the town desire to prohibit the public display of nudity and sexual behavior or the simulation thereof;
(7) The citizens of the town believe that there are increasing incidents of nudity in public places and in other places readily visible to the public;
(8) The citizens of Palm Shores believe that persons who choose to appear nude in public places are engaging in conduct which often serves to impose their nudity on others who did not seek it out, who are not able to reasonably avoid observing it, and who may be offended or distressed thereby;
(9) Appearing nude in public places was a criminal offense at common law and was considered an act malum en se (a wrong in itself) and appearing nude in a public place which is not a public place provided or set apart for nudity has been considered improper; see Moffett v. State, 340 So. 2d 1155, 1156 n.3 (Fla. 1977);
(10) The citizens of the town desire to protect and preserve the wholesome character of the town as a family oriented community with a high quality of life offered for families, tourists and businesses;
(11) The citizens of the town believe that appearing nude in public places is still contrary to the general societal disapproval that the people of the town have of persons appearing nude among strangers in public places;
(12) The citizens of the town believe that the appearance of persons in the nude in public places generally increases adverse secondary effects such as, but not limited to, incidents of prostitution, unhealthy environment for minors, other citizens and tourists, sexual assaults and batteries, attracts other criminal activity to the community and encourages degradation of women and other activities which break down societal and family structures;
(13) The citizens of the town believe that without regulation public nudity constitutes harmful conduct and occurs in a manner which is incompatible with the normal primary activity of a particular place at a particular time;
(14) The citizens of the town sole intent in enacting this chapter is to prohibit the conduct of being nude in public places and to suppress the adverse secondary effects nudity generates;
(15) It is the intent of the citizens of the town to protect and preserve the good order, public health, safety, welfare and morals of the town by restricting, to the fullest extent allowed by the United States Constitution and State Constitution, the act of being nude to places which are readily visible to the public;
(16) The Town Council’s sole intent in enacting this chapter is to prohibit the conduct of being nude in public places and to suppress the adverse secondary effects nudity generates, the Town Council nevertheless recognizes that there may be instances wherein appearing nude in a public place may be expressive conduct incidental to and a necessary part of the freedom of expression that is protected by United States or state constitutional provisions;
(17) The citizens of the town believe that Palm Shores is a town that is, and desires very much to continue to be, a community that contains and is known for traditional and wholesome public recreational activities, natural features and resources and historic facilities;
(18) The citizens of the town believe that the average person applying contemporary community standards would find that the public nudity prohibited by this chapter, if allowed, when taken as a whole:
(a) Appeals to the prurient interests; and
(b) Lacks serious literary, artistic, political and scientific value.
(19) The citizens of the town believe that the absence of regulation of persons appearing nude in public places within the town encourages persons and entities to advertise outside of the town and the state by billboard, radio, print and other media the availability of nudity in public places within the town and thus encourages the influx into the town of persons seeking:
(a) To observe and/or participate in nudity; and
(b) To participate in the disorderly, unhealthy, harmful and illegal conduct that is associated therewith, thereby increasing injuries and damages to the citizens of the town who will be victims of an increased disorderly, harmful and unlawful conduct and thereby working directly against the town’s economic development and tourism development activities;
(20) The citizens of the town believe that commercial advertising and/or exploitation of nudity encourages escalation of nude and lewd conduct within the competing commercial establishments exploiting the conduct and thereby increases the adverse effects upon public order and the public health;
(21) The citizens of the town believe that the prohibitions contained herein are the most reasonable and minimal restrictions required so as to regulate conduct which is adverse to public order, health, safety, morality and decency within the town when the conduct takes place at locations where the public is present or is likely to be present, or where the conduct would be readily visible to the public;
(22) The citizens of the town believe that the passage of this chapter is necessary to preserve the basic character of Palm Shores;
(23) States may regulate the conduct of appearing nude in public places, see Barnes v. Glen Theater, Inc., 501 U.S. 560, 111 S. Ct. 2456 115 L. Ed. 2d 504 (1991) and Café 207, Inc. vs. St. Johns City, 856 F. supp. 641 (M.D. Fla. 1994), aff’d, 989 F. 2d 1136 (11th Cir. 1995);
(24) The citizens of the town are not hereby prohibiting nudity in private places or prohibiting nudity which is protected by the United States Constitution or State Constitution;
(25) The citizens of the town believe that the express exemptions contained in this chapter provide adequate protection to persons who, without express exemptions, might otherwise be prevented or discouraged by this chapter from exercising constitutionally protected rights; and
(26) This chapter is intended to regulate conduct, not speech; and not an ordinance that affects the use of land as contemplated by F.S. § 125.66.
(Ord. 2007-10, passed 6-26-2007)