Man wearing mask

Spring Hill's mask ordinance, which currently makes it unlawful for residents to wear masks in public save for a few exceptions, may soon change as city leaders are set to discuss either modifying or eliminating the ordinance all together during its non-voting meeting later tonight on Tuesday, July 6.

Ordinance 11-804

The current ordinance regarding masks make is unlawful for any resident to appear in public while covering a portion of their face using a mask, device or hood.

Exceptions to the ordinance include children under the age of 12, workers for whom it has been deemed necessary by their employers for safety reasons, those waring gas masks in "civil defense drills, exercises or emergencies," and those who have received a special permit from the city recorder to wear a traditional holiday costume.

Last summer in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, City Attorney Patrick Carter identified what he considered to be some potential First Amendment issues related to the ordinance. A vote was taken in September of 2020 to expand the exemptions of the ordinance, but failed by a vote of 4-4.

Still unresolved, city leaders have once again drafted a new amendment to the ordinance, this time with two options; either city leaders will vote to expand the exceptions to the ordinance, or strike the ordinance in its entirety.

July 6, 2020 non-voting meeting

Set to commence at 6 p.m. at City Hall, tonight's non-voting meeting will see city leaders discuss the two aforementioned options.

Were city leaders to side with expanding the exemptions to the ordinance, additional exemptions would include the following:

Workers could wear masks at work not only if their employers deem them necessary, but if they themselves deem them necessary. Additional exemptions include those who have been diagnosed with an autoimmune disease or other medical condition in which wearing a mask is deemed necessary either by the patient or their physician.

Those wearing a facial covering for religion and/or cultural purposes would also be exempt from the ordinance.