Sleepy

The City of Margate wants to prevent people from sleeping in their automobiles.

MARGATE – The city is planning a wake-up call for the homeless, banning people from sleeping in their cars when they have nowhere else to go.

Margate would be joining cities such as North Lauderdale, Lighthouse Point and Pompano Beach that have similar measures.

Officials say the proposal, which will be considered at today's commission meeting, is needed to prevent people from sleeping in parking lots. It doesn't pertain to children napping in the backseat or tired drivers who pull off to the side of the road for a catnap, officials say.

Margate City Attorney Gene Steinfeld said zoning regulations forbid people from sleeping in their cars in areas that are not zoned residential, such as the parking lot of a business or a park. He said the city wants to make the law broader. City rules already ban people from living in tents, unless they're camping, or on boats.

Steinfeld said he decided to amend the city's existing ordinance after a code enforcement officer told him a man was sleeping in his car outside Prince of Peace Lutheran Church, just off State Road 7. This proposed ordinance would have prevented him from sleeping in his car there, even though he had the church's permission.

We all know how well the Broward police are at differentiating between the homeless and people taking a catnap. We have to make church parking lots safe from such scoundrels!

Life and politics in Florida. No wonder we have to be a masochist to live here.

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