§ 9.10. Ordinances in general.

(a)

Form. Every proposed ordinance shall be introduced in writing and in the form required for final adoption. No ordinance shall contain more than one subject which shall be clearly expressed in its title. The enacting clause shall be, "The City of Port St. Lucie hereby ordains . . ." Any ordinance which repeals or amends an existing ordinance or part of the city code shall set out in full the ordinance, sections or subsections to be repealed or amended, and shall indicate matter to be omitted by enclosing in brackets or by strikeout type and shall indicate new matter by underscoring or by italics; provided however, that when substantial additions or deletions are made to the language of a given ordinance or code section, it shall be necessary only to provide that such ordinance or code section is amended to read as follows....

(b)

Procedure. An ordinance may be introduced by any member at any regular or special meeting of the council. Upon introduction of any ordinance, the city clerk shall distribute a copy to each council member and to the manager, shall file a reasonable number of copies in the office of the city clerk and such other public places as the council may designate, and shall publish the ordinance together with a notice setting out the time and place for a public hearing thereon and for its consideration by the council. The public hearing shall follow the publication by at least seven (7) days, may be held separately or in connection with a regular or special council meeting and may be adjourned from time to time; all persons interested shall have an opportunity to be heard. After the hearing, the council may adopt the ordinance with or without amendment or reject it but, if it is amended as to any matter of substance, the council may not adopt it until the ordinance or its amended sections have been subjected to all the procedures hereinbefore required in the case of a newly introduced ordinance.

(c)

Effective date. Except as otherwise provided in this Charter, every adopted ordinance shall become effective at the expiration of ten (10) days after adoption or at any other date specified therein.

(d)

Publish defined. As used in this section, the term "publish" means to print in one or more newspapers of general circulation in the city, (1) the ordinance by title, and (2) the places where copies of it have been filed and the time when they are available for public inspection.

(Adopted by electorate, 11-2-76; Am. Ord. 84-1, passed 3-20-84; Amendment adopted by electorate, 11-2-04)