O1768
CITY CLERK: CED: (PC :AM: \wpdocs\admin\pshsord)
City Council Meeting: 9/13/94 Santa Monica, California
ORDINANCE NUMBER
1768
{City Council Series)
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF
SANTA MONICA ADOPTING THE INITIATIVE MEASURE ON
PARK CLOSURES, SOLICITATION, CAMPING AND PROCEDURES
RELATING TO THE PROVISION OF SE~VICES TO THE HOMELESS
THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA MONICA DOES ORDAIN AS
FOLLOWS:
Purposes.
The City Council enacts this ordinance to
accomplish the following purposes:
1. To provide for a balanced approach to the homeless problem
in Santa Monica, as recommended in the Homeless Task Force Report
entitled A Call To Action, dated December 1991, by combining social
services and housing programs for the homeless with measures
designed to protect the public safety and well-being of all Santa
Monica residents and visitors.
2. To protect public access to Santa Monica's parks and other
public places by establishing reasonable hours for park closure, by
prohibiting camping except in designated areas as determined by the
City Council and by prohibiting abusive solicitation.
3. To provide the Santa Monica Police Department with laws
regulating use of Santa Monica parks, abusive solicitation, and
camping in public places that will better enable the Police
Department to protect the public safety of Santa Monica's residents
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and visitors.
4. To support the Santa Monica Police Department's
enforcement of laws designed to protect the public safety of Santa
Monica's residents and visitors.
5. To establish an annual opportunity for the Santa Monica
Police Department to indicate whether it has adequate resources and
personnel to fully and fairly enforce this Ordinance and other laws
designed to protect the public safety of Santa Monica's residents
and visitors.
6. To ensure effective and efficient delivery of homeless
services by requiring the City Council to adopt and annually review
a coordinated plan for homeless services in order to maximize the
efficiency and cost-effectiveness of these services to a reasonable
number of homeless recipients. The plan shall take into account
the City's limited financial, geographical and social resources,
all other demands on these resources, and services provided in
neighboring communities.
7. To establish a quarterly review of statistics indicating
the disposition of arrests arising from enforcement of this
ordinance.
Findinqs and Declarations. The City Council of the City of
Santa Monica finds and declares:
1. The City of Santa Monica expends substantial amounts of
money annually to provide a broad array of social services to
homeless persons in Santa Monica;
2.
The
City of Santa Monica has made
substantial
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modifications to its Zoning Ordinance since 1990 to encourage the
provision of affordable housing, including homeless shelters and
transitional housing, for homeless persons in Santa Monica;
3. The City of Santa Monica has provided substantial funds to
assist with the development and operation of housing for homeless
persons in Santa Monica;
4. The Santa Monica City Council recently voted to open an
additional homeless shelter at 505 Olympic Boulevard that will
provide temporary lodging facilities for 75 to 100 homeless persons
nightly;
5. The City of Santa Monica has established a program called
"SHWASHLOCK," whereby homeless persons in Santa Monica have access
to lockers, laundry and shower facilities on City-owned property
located at 505 Olympic Boulevard, Santa Monica;
6. The City of Santa Monica has a disproportionately large
population of homeless persons within its boundaries, in comparison
to other cities within the Los Angeles region;
7. In March 1991, the City of Santa Monica convened a
Homeless Task Force consisting of a
leaders to develop a series of
diverse group of community
recommendations addressing
homelessness in Santa Monica;
8. In December 1991, the Homeless Task Force submitted a
written report to the Santa Monica City Council entitled A Call To
Action, which contains a comprehensive set of recommendations for
changes in local policies and practices concerning the homeless,
including recommendations concerning ways to improve public safety;
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9. The City has failed to take appropriate steps to implement
the recommendations of the Homeless Task Force concerning public
safety;
10. The Santa Monica Police Department has been impeded by
City officials in its efforts to fully and fairly enforce the laws
designed to protect public safety in Santa Monica's parks and other
public places;
11. In recent years Santa Monica has experienced a dramatic
increase in "panhandling" or similar solicitation activity in
public places;
12. Such panhandling or similar solicitation activity is
sometimes conducted in an abusive, threatening or intimidating
manner, or in locations which are inappropriate for such activity
because persons solicited in such locations are especially
vulnerable to intimidation;
13. In recent years Santa Monica has experienced a
significant increase in the number of persons living in Santa
Monica public places, including its parks. This significant
increase in people living in Santa Monica's parks and other public
places has contributed to increased criminal activity and a serious
deterioration in the physical condition of the community's parks
and public places;
14. Many residents, especially senior citizens, women and
parents with young children, have stopped using certain parks and
frequenting other public areas ln the City because they feel
unsafe;
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15. It is critically important that the Santa Monica Police
Department have the full support of the City Council, City Manager
and City Attorney, and all others acting under their direction and
control, in enforcing this initiative ordinance and other measures
designed to protect the public safety of Santa Monica residents and
visitors; and
16. It is also vitally important that the Santa Monica Police
Department have sufficient resources and personnel to enforce this
and other measures designed to protect the public safety of Santa
Monica residents and visitors.
NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA MONICA
HEREBY ORDAINS AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 4.08.091 of Chapter 4.08 of the Santa
Monica Municipal Code is hereby amended to read as follows:
4.08.091 Park Closure.
(a) No person shall enter, remain or be present in any of the
following City of Santa Monica parks between the hours of 11 p.m.
and 6 a.m.: (1) Ashland Park; (2) Beach Park #1; (3) Beach Park #4
(Lifeguard Headquarters); (4) Clover Park; (5) Crescent Bay Park;
(6) Douglas Park; (7) Hotchkiss Park; (8) Joslyn Park; (9) Lincoln
Park; (10) Los Amigos Park; (11) Marine Park; (12) Memorial Park;
(13) Ocean View Park; (14) Ozone Park; (15) Pacific Street Park;
(16) Park Drive Park; (17) Schader Park; (18) Stewart Street Park;
(19) Virginia Avenue Park.
(b) No person shall enter, remain or be present in palisades
Park between the hours of 12 midnight and 5 a.m.
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(c) This Section shall not apply to any public sidewalk
immediately adjacent to any public street or highway, or to any
street or highway which traverses any park, including the Santa
Monica Municipal pier access road or walkway and any portion of
California Avenue.
SECTION 2. Section 4.08.092 of Chapter 4.08 of the Santa
Monica Municipal Code is hereby amended to read as follows:
4.08.092 Exceptions.
The prohibitions contained in Section 4.08.091 shall not apply
to:
(a) Law enforcement officers, or other public officials or
individuals acting under the authority of the Santa Monica Police
Department or City Manager, where they have reason to be present in
a particular park for reasons of public safety, emergency, or
official City business.
(b) Persons present in a park in connection with an activity
that is authorized or permitted by the City of Santa Monica.
SECTION 3. Section 4.08.093 of Chapter 4.08 of the Santa
Monica Municipal Code is hereby amended to read as follows:
4.08.093 Penalties.
Any persons violating the provisions of Sections 4.08.091
through 4.08.095 shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and upon
conviction shall be fined in an amount not to exceed Five Hundred
Dollars ($500) or imprisoned for a period not to exceed six months,
or both. In the case of a person who is granted probation for
repeated violation of any offense under Sections 4.08.091 through
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4.08.095, the court may issue, or direct the issuance of, an
injunction or IIstay away II order to abate and prevent the
continuance or recurrence of such violation.
SECTION 4.
Monica Municipal
following:
4.08.095 Prohibition Against CampinG in Public Places.
(a) No person shall camp in a prohibited public place.
(b) For the purpose of this Section:
(1) "Camp" shall mean to erect, maintain or occupy a
Section 4.08.095 of Chapter 4.08 of the Santa
Code is hereby repealed and replaced with the
camp facility for the purpose of living accommodations.
(2) "Camp facility" shall mean one or more of the
following: tents, huts, other temporary physical shelters, cots,
beds, sleeping bags, hammocks, or bedrolls.
(3) "Prohibited public placell shall mean any of the
following: the public parks listed in Section 4.08.091, public
beaches, the Santa Monica Municipal Pier, public streets, public
alleyways, public parking lots, public passageways, public
rights-of-way, publicly-owned landscaped areas or greenbelts,
public educational institutions including properties owned by the
Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District or Santa Monica
College, or other government-owned properties located within the
City of Santa Monica.
(c) The City Council may, by majority vote, establish one or
more specified camping areas. Such camping areas, if any, may be
located in prohibited public places, except that such camping areas
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shall not be located within the public parks listed ln Section
4.08.091.
(d) This Section shall not take effect until March I, 1995.
SECTION 5. Article 4 of the Santa Monica Municipal Code is
hereby amended to add Chapter 4.54 as follows:
CHAPTER 4.54
PROHIBITION AGAINST ABUSIVE SOLICITATION
Sections:
4.54.010
4.54.020
4.54.030
4.54.040
4.54.010
Purpose.
Definitions.
Locations Where Solicitation Is Prohibited.
Penalties.
Purpose.
It is the intent of this Chapter to impose reasonable place
and manner limitations on solicitation, as defined herein, in order
to protect the safety of the general public against abusive
solicitation while respecting the constitutional right of free
speech.
4.54.020 Definitions.
The following words or phrases as used in this Chapter shall
have the following meanings:
(a) "Solicitation" shall mean any request made in person
seeking an immediate donation of money or other item of value. A
person shall not be deemed to be in the act of solicitation when he
or she passively displays a sign or gives any other indication that
he or she is seeking donations without addressing his or her
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solicitation to any specific person, other than in response to an
inquiry by that person.
(b) "Donation" shall mean a gift of money or other item of
value and shall also include the purchase of an item for an amount
far exceeding its value under circumstances where a reasonable
person would understand that the purchase is in substance a gift.
(c) "Abusive Solicitation" shall mean to do one or more of
the following while engaging in solicitation or immediately
thereafter:
(1) Coming closer than three feet to the person
solicited unless and until the person solicited indicates that he
or she wishes to make a donation;
(2) Blocking or impeding the passage of the person
solicited;
(3) Following the person solicited by proceeding behind,
ahead or alongside of him or her after the person solicited
declines to make a donation;
(4) Threatening the person solicited with physical harm
by word or gesture;
(5) Abusing the person solicited with words which are
offensive and inherently likely to provoke an immediate violent
reaction;
(6) Touching the solicited person without the solicited
person's consent; or
(7) Engaging in solicitation activity in any of the
prohibited places specified in Section 4.54.030.
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4.54.030 Locations Where Solicitation Is Prohibited.
Solicitation shall be prohibited when the person solicited is
in any of the following locations:
(a) Bus stops;
(b) Public transportation vehicles or facilities;
(c) A vehicle on public streets or alleyways;
(d) Public parking lots or structures;
(e) Outdoor dining areas of restaurants or other dining
establishments serving food for immediate consumption;
(f) Within 50 feet of an automated teller machine; or
(g) A queue of five or more persons waiting to gain admission
to a place or vehicle, or waiting to purchase an item or admission
ticket.
4.54.040 Penalties.
Any person who engages in abusive solicitation as defined
herein shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, shall
be fined an amount not to exceed Five Hundred Dollars ($500) or be
imprisoned for a period not to exceed six months, or both.
SECTION 6. Chapter 2.69 is hereby added to Article 2 of the
Santa Monica Municipal Code as follows:
CHAPTER 2.69
COORDINATED DELIVERY OF SERVICES TO THE HOMELESS
Sections:
2.69.010
2.69.020
2.69.030
Adoption of Coordinated Plan.
Annual Review.
Public Hearings.
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2.69.010 Adoption of Coordinated Plan.
No later than April 30, 1995, the City Council shall adopt a
plan for the coordination of services provided to the homeless by
the City and by social service organizations receiving City
funding. The primary goal of this plan shall be to maximize the
efficient and cost-effective delivery of services to a reasonable
number of homeless recipients taking into account the City's
limited financial, geographical and social resources, all other
demands on these resources, and services provided in neighboring
communities. The plan shall be designed to:
(a) Effectively assist the homeless in returning to a self-
sufficient status;
(b) Monitor the progress of individual recipients;
(c) Eliminate unnecessary duplication of services;
(d) Emphasize long-term solutions to homelessness by
combining housing, counseling and job training;
(e) Provide non-housing services for approximately the same
number of homeless people as can be temporarily sheltered in the
City;
(f) Prevent an increase and, wherever feasible, reduce,
overall City expenditures relating to homeless serVlces; and
(g) Impose reasonable time limits on the provision of
services to the same individuals.
2.69.020 Annual Review.
At least once during every twelve-month period after adoption
of the coordinated plan required by Section 2.69.010, the City
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Council shall assess the effectiveness of the plan in accomplishing
its primary goal and various objectives, and shall evaluate the
effectiveness, efficiency and cost of services to the homeless
provided by the City and each social service agency receiving City
funding. To aid this annual review, the City Council may
commission an independent audit of City funding provided for
services to the homeless. At the conclusion of the City Council's
annual review, the City Council shall make such changes in the plan
as are appropriate in order to most effectively implement the
plan's primary goal and objectives and shall make related findings.
2.69.030 Public Hearinqs.
In connection with the annual review required by Section
2.69.020, the City Council shall hold one or more public hearings
regarding:
(a) the impact of the City's homeless population on other
residents of the City,
(b) the effectiveness of the delivery of services to the
homeless by the City and various social service agencies,
(c) the cost of those services, and
(d) the changes which should be made in the plan in order to
carry out its primary goal and its objectives as required under
Section 2.69.010.
SECTION 7. The City Council, and those acting under their
direction and control, shall take all steps reasonably necessary to
provide the Santa Monica Police Department with the support,
resources and personnel required to fully and fairly enforce this
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Ordinance and other legal measures designed to protect the public
safety of Santa Monica's residents and visitors, including
California Penal Code Section 647(i) and California Business and
Professions Code Section 22435.2.
SECTION 8. Except as specifically referenced herein, no
provision of this measure shall be amended by the City Council
except upon the affirmative vote of at least three quarters of the
City Council.
SECTION 9. No later than December 31, 1995, and at least once
every three months thereafter, the Santa Monica City Attorney shall
provide the City Council with a written report summarizing the
disposition of all cases initiated as a result of arrests for
violation of this Ordinance, California Penal Code Section 647(i)
and California Business and Professions Code Section 22435.2. The
City Attorney's Office shall work in cooperation with the Santa
Monica Police Department in compiling these statistics. The report
shall include statistics on the number of arrests for violating
this Ordinance, California Penal Code Section 647(i) or California
Business and Professions Code Section 22435.2 which did not result
in the filing of a criminal action against the arrested person.
SECTION 10. No later than July 1, 1996, and no less
frequently than each 12 months thereafter, the City Council shall
hold a public hearing for the purpose of soliciting input from
members of the public concerning the effectiveness of this measure
in achieving its stated purposes. As part of this periodic review,
the City Council shall consider any relevant information offered by
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the Chief of Police concerning whether the Santa Monica Police
Department has sufficient resources and personnel to fully and
fairly enforce this Ordinance and other legal measures designed to
protect the public safety of Santa Monica's residents and visitors.
SECTION 11. If any section, subsection, sentence, clause,
phrase or portion of this Ordinance, or application thereof to any
person or circumstance, is for any reason held to be invalid or
unconstitutional by the decision of any court of competent
jurisdiction, such decision shall not affect the validity of the
remaining portions of this Ordinance which can be given effect
without the invalid provision or application, and to this end the
provisions of this Ordinance are declared to be severable. The
City Council of the City of Santa Monica hereby declares that they
would have adopted this Ordinance and each section, subsection,
sentence, clause, phrase or portion thereof, irrespective of the
fact that anyone or more section, subsection, sentence, clause,
phrase or portion, or the application thereof, may be declared
invalid or unconstitutional. This Ordinance shall be liberally
construed to achieve the purposes of this Ordinance and to preserve
its validity.
SECTION 12. If this Ordinance and any other inconsistent,
alternative, or conflicting ordinance are both passed by majorities
voting thereon at the same time on the same ballot, then the one
with the most votes shall prevail. The one with the lesser votes
shall be deemed to be inconsistent and in conflict with this
Ordinance within the meaning of Section la, Subdivision (b) of
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Article II of the California Constitution.
SECTION 13.
The Mayor shall sign and the City Clerk shall
attest to the passage of this Ordinance.
The City Clerk shall
cause the same to be published once in the official newspaper
within fifteen (l5) days after its adoption. This Ordinance shall
become effective upon adoption.
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
IYl ,f) {
/ I tU~
MARSHA JON MOUTRIE
City Attor'ey
)1ctu~
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Adopted and approved this 13th of September, 1994.
fft /f? ~
Mayor
I hereby certify that the foregoing Ordinance No. 1768 (CCS) was duly adopted at a
meeting of the City Council held on the 13th of September, 1994 by the following vote:
Ayes: Councilmembers:
Genser, Greenberg, Holbrook, Olsen, Rosenstein,
Noes: Councilmembers:
Abdo, Vazquez
Abstain: Councilmembers:
None
Absent: Councilmembers:
None
ATTEST:
~ ~At:-P~~ ~~
City Clerk