Lake Wales (Current through Ordinance 2023-17, Adopted 7-05-2023)
 Code of Ordinances
 Chapter 2. Administration   
 Article VI. Cemetery Administration
 Division 5. Rules Of Conduct
  

  Division 5. Rules Of Conduct

§ 2-651. Visiting hours.
Latest version.

The cemeteries shall be open for visitation purposes from sunrise to 9:00 p.m. daily. Persons visiting between sunset and 9:00 p.m. shall do so at their own risk. Any person entering the cemeteries after 9:00 p.m. and before sunrise without the prior approval of the city shall be deemed to be trespassing and subject to the penalty provided in section 1-15 of the city Code.

(Ord. No. 2009-32, § 1, 12-15-09)
§ 2-652. Use of roadways and entrances.
Latest version.

(a) No person shall use the roadways of the cemeteries as public thoroughfares for passage through the cemetery or for any other purpose, other than for attendance at funerals, memorial occasions, visits to graves or cemetery lots, or other similar uses and purposes, including official business.

(b) No person shall climb over, go through or go over any wall, fence or hedge in the cemetery, trespass in any manner upon cemetery property, or enter or leave the cemetery at any place other than at regularly established gateways or entrances and at such times as are established by the city for visitation.

(Ord. No. 2009-32, § 1, 12-15-09)
§ 2-653. Pedestrians.
Latest version.

(a) Persons walking within a cemetery shall use only the avenues, roads, walks and alleys and no one shall be permitted to walk upon or across lots or lawns unless it is necessary to do so to gain access to one's own lot. The city shall not be liable for any injury sustained by anyone violating this rule.

(b) Persons visiting a cemetery or attending a funeral are strictly prohibited from writing upon, defacing or injuring any memorial, fence or other structure within the cemetery.

(c) Persons visiting a cemetery or attending a funeral are strictly prohibited from gathering flowers, either wild or cultivated, breaking or injuring any tree, shrub or plant, or feeding or disturbing the birds, fish or other animal life within the cemetery.

(Ord. No. 2009-32, § 1, 12-15-09)
§ 2-654. Vehicles.
Latest version.

(a) Admission. Admission of vehicles upon cemetery roads shall be permitted as a privilege and not as a right inherent to the ownership of interment rights in a burial space. Admission of vehicles is restricted to persons who observe the traffic rules of the city.

(b) Entrance. No vehicle shall enter a cemetery except through a regular entrance maintained for such purpose.

(c) Driving on lots and lawns. No person shall drive a vehicle over cemetery lots or upon cemetery lawns under any circumstances whatsoever.

(d) Parking. No person shall park any vehicle so as to obstruct any cemetery driveway, and no person shall drive or park any vehicle on any burial space. Parked vehicles must not be left with the engine running, and the emergency brake must be set when the driver is not in the vehicle.

(e) Speed. No person shall drive a vehicle at a speed in excess of ten (10) miles per hour.

(f) U-turns. No person shall make a U-turn on any road or driveway within the cemetery.

(g) Horns, sirens or other similar noise emitting instrumentalities. The sounding of horns, sirens or similar signals within the cemeteries is prohibited.

(h) Funeral processions. Drivers of vehicles in a funeral procession shall obey all traffic rules. When a vehicle meets a funeral procession, the driver must stop until the procession passes. A driver must not pass a funeral procession going in the same direction.

(i) Pedestrian safety. Visitors upon foot have the primary right to use of the road, and all drivers of vehicles are required to observe pedestrian rights by careful driving and strict adherence to the rules.

(Ord. No. 2009-32, § 1, 12-15-09)
§ 2-655. Miscellaneous rules of conduct.
Latest version.

(a) Alcoholic beverages. No person shall consume any alcoholic beverage, including beer and wine, within the boundaries of the cemeteries.

(b) Children. Children under fifteen (15) years of age shall not be permitted within a cemetery or its buildings unless accompanied by an adult who will be responsible for their conduct. Children, when accompanied by an adult, shall not play upon cemetery lots or lawns.

(c) Dogs and other animals. Dogs and other domestic animals or non-domestic animals are prohibited on cemetery grounds or in cemetery buildings, except that this prohibition shall not apply to service animals accompanied by their owner.

(d) Disrespecting grave sites. No person shall disrepect or desecrate grave sites by lying, sitting, or standing on top of markers, monuments or any other memorial structures.

(e) Disturbing funerals. No loud talking shall be permitted within hearing distance of funeral services.

(f) Peddling or soliciting. Peddling of flowers or plants or soliciting the sale of any commodity is prohibited within the boundaries of the cemeteries.

(g) Littering. The throwing of trash or litter on the drives, paths, lawns, lots or any other part of the cemetery grounds is prohibited.

(h) Food and beverages. No food or beverages shall be permitted in the cemeteries.

(i) Signs and advertisements. No signs, notices or advertisements of any kind shall be allowed in a cemetery unless placed by the city.

(j) Reserved.

(k) Other inappropriate activities. No person shall disturb the peace or disrupt the proper order of any cemetery by yelling, fighting, running, engaging in games or sports activities, engaging in horseplay, playing loud music, or using offensive words or insults. No person shall loiter or wander aimlessly about on cemetery grounds.

(Ord. No. 2009-32, § 1, 12-15-09; Ord. No. 2011-20, § 7, 9-20-11)
§ 2-656. Vandalism or injury to cemeteries.
Latest version.

(a) In accordance with F.S. § 872.02, any person who willfully and knowingly destroys, mutilates, defaces, injures or removes any tomb, monument, marker, gravestone or other item intended for the protection, identification or ornamentation of any tomb, monument or gravestone or willfully destroys, mutilates, removes, cuts, breaks or injures any tree, shrub, or plant placed or being within the boundaries of the cemeteries is guilty of a misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable as provided in F.S. § 775.082 or F.S. § 775.083. However, if the damage to such property is greater than one hundred dollars ($100.00) or if any property removed is greater in value than one hundred dollars ($100.00), then he is guilty of a felony of the third degree, punishable as provided in F.S. § 775.082, F.S. § 775.083, or F.S. § 775.084.

(b) Any person who willfully and knowingly disturbs the contents of a tomb or grave is guilty of a felony of the third degree, punishable as provided in F.S. § 775.082, F.S. § 775.083, or F.S. § 775.084.

(c) This section shall not apply to any person authorized by law to remove or disturb a tomb, monument or gravestone or the contents of a tomb or grave.

(Ord. No. 2009-32, § 1, 12-15-09)
§§ 2-657-2-699. Reserved.