SR-702-005
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MAY 24 1988
Monica, California
CA:RMM:jld117/hpc
City council Meeting 5-24-88
Santa
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STAFF REPORT
TO:
Mayor and City Council
FROM:
City Attorney
Ordinance Adding section 7810 to the
Santa Monica Municipal Code to Prohibit
the Placement of Commercial Material on
Unattended Motor Vehicles
SUBJECT:
At its meeting on October 13, 1987, the City Council
directed the City Attorney to prepare an ordinance prohibiting
the placement of commercial material on motor vehicles. In
response to this direction, the accompanying ordinance has been
prepared and is presented to the City Council for its
consideration.
The accompanying ordinance prohibits any person from
distributing, throwing, placing or attaching any commercial
material in, to, or upon any motor vehicle in the City.
commercial
material
is
defined
as
including
handbills,
advertising circulars,
folders,
booklets,
letters,
cards,
pamphlets, sheets, posters, stickers, banners, and notices. A
violation of this Ordinance is an infraction punishable by a fine
not to exceed $100.00. This penalty is in addition to any other
remedy authorized by law.
Any aggrieved party, including the
City Attorney, may also enforce the provisions of this Ordinance
by means of a civil action.
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B-8
MAY 2 it 1988
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The city has authority under its police power to regulate
this activity in an attempt to reduce litter upon city streets.
While a complete ban an distributing all types of leaflets
(commercial, religious, political, etc.) would pose First
Amendment problems, see e.g., Schneider v. state, 308 U.S. 147
(1939), courts have recognized the ability of government to
regulate commercial speech to some degree.
For instance, in city council v. Taxpayers for Vincent, 466
U.S. 789 (1984), the supreme Court upheld a city of Los Angeles
ban on the placement of signs or leaflets on city utility and
light poles. In so ruling, the Court stated that lithe problem
addressed by this ordinance - the visual assault on the citizens
of Los Angeles presented by an accumulation of signs posted on
public property constitutes a significant evil within the
city's power to prohibit." rd. at 807. Significantly, the Court
distinguished a complete ban on leafletting, which would be
unconstitutional, from a partial one, stating that while someone
has a right to hand material to a passerby, there is no
corresponding right to leave material "unattended until removed."
Id. at 809-10.
The proposed ordinance is in harmony with this and other
cases. While someone could not place commercial leaflets on
parked cars, such leaflets would not be banned altogether.
Someone would still be free to hand the leaflet to passersby on
the street. In this fashion, the ordinance is narrowly focused
to alleviate the problem of leaflets being left on cars and
causing litter on the streets or otherwise adding to visual
clutter.
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RECOMMENDATION
It is respectfully recommended that the accompanying
ordinance be introduced for first reading.
PREPARED BY: Robert M. Myers, City Attorney
Joseph Lawrence, Assistant city Attorney
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CA:RMM:jldl15jhpc
city Council Meeting 5-24-88
santa Monica, California
ORDINANCE NUMBER
(City Council Series)
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY
OF SANTA MONICA ADDING SECTION 7810 TO
THE SANTA MONICA MUNICIPAL CODE PROHIBITING
THE PLACEMENT OF COMMERCIAL MATERIAL ON
UNATTENDED MOTOR VEHICLES
THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA MONICA DOES HEREBY
ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1 .
Section 7810 is added to the Santa Monica
Municipal Code to read as follows:
SECTION
7810.
Prohibition
on
Placinq Commercial Haterial on Unattended
Hotor Vehicles.
(a) No person shall distribute,
throw, place, or attach commercial
material of any kind whatsoever including,
but
not
limited
to,
any handbill,
advertising circular, folder, booklet,
letter, card, pamphlet, sheet, poster,
sticker, banner, or notice, in, to, or
upon any unattended motor vehicle wi thin
the city of Santa Monica.
(b) A violation of this Section
shall be an infraction punishable by a
fine not to exceed One Hundred Dollars
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($100.00) . The penalty provided for in
this section is in addition to any other
remedy authorized by law.
(c) Any aggrieved person, including
the City Attorney, may enforce the
provisions of this Chapter by means of a
civil action and may seek equi table
relief, including, but not limited to,
costs of any clean up, from the offending
party.
SECTION 2. Any provision of the Santa Monica Municipal
Code or appendices thereto inconsistent with the provisions of
this Ordinance, to the extent of such inconsistencies and no
further, are hereby repealed or modified to that extent necessary
to affect the provisions of this Ordinance.
SECTION 3. If any section, subsection, sentence, clause,
or phrase of this Ordinance is for any reason held to be invalid
or unconstitutional by a decision of any court of any competent
jurisdiction, such decision shall not affect the validity of the
remaining portions of this Ordinance. The city Council hereby
declares that it would have passed this ordinance, and each and
every section, subsection, sentence, clause, or phrase not
declared invalid or unconstitutional without regard to whether
any portion of the Ordinance would be subsequently declared
invalid or unconstitutional.
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SECTION 4. 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 15 days after its adoption. This Ordinance shall become
thirty days from the date of its adoption.
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
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ROBERT M. MYERS
city Attorney
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