Loading...
O2301City Council Meeting: November 24, 2009 Santa Monica, California ORDINANCE NUMBER z3o1 (CCS) (City Council Series) AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA MONICA AMENDING CHAPTER 7.20 OF THE SANTA MONICA MUNICIPAL CODE, RELATING TO THE WOODLAWN CEMETERY AND MAUSOLEUM WHEREAS, the City of Santa Monica owns and operates the public cemetery known as the Woodlawn Cemetery and Mausoleum of the City of Santa Monica; and WHEREAS, the City wishes to enhance the Cemetery's economic viability and also to protect its quietude and aesthetic values; and WHEREAS, the Municipal Code currently has residency and other restrictions limiting ownership of plots in the Cemetery; and WHEREAS, the Municipal Code currently contains provisions restricting the flexibility of Cemetery management and operations; and WHEREAS, the City desires to eliminate or modify such restrictions in order to enhance Cemetery operations and economic viability; and WHEREAS, the Municipal. Code does not currently provide any authority for the Cemetery Administrator to adopt rules and regulations; and WHEREAS, authorizing the Cemetery Administrator to adopt rules and regulations concerning the management, supervision, and use of the Cemetery is in the best interest of the City and the Cemetery; and 1 WHEREAS, the Municipal Code currently does not authorize the Cemetery Administrator to sell plots, crypts, or niches on a pre-need basis using payment terms; WHEREAS, authorizing the Cemetery Administrator to enter into interment sales orders to sell plots, crypts, or niches using payment terms will enable to the Cemetery to offer more competitive products and services. NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA MONICA DOES HEREBY ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. Chapter 7.20 is hereby amended to read as follows: 7.20.010 Definitions. "Cemetery" is the Woodlawn Cemetery and Mausoleum of the City of Santa Monica. "Cemetery Capital Account" is that account in the Cemetery Fund set apart for the deposit of funds for equipment and construction at the cemetery. "Cemetery Endowment Care" is the cost charged by the Cemetery to pay for Cemetery services, including administrative expenses, the cutting of grass at reasonable intervals, the raking and cleaning of grounds, the pruning of shrubs and. trees, and the general preservation of the plots, grounds, walks, roadways, boundaries, structures, and any other expenses necessary to ensure that the Cemetery shall be perpetually well maintained. "Cemetery Endowment Care Fund" is the sinking fund set apart in the City accounting system for the deposit of all monies received for Cemetery Endowment Care. "Cemetery Fund" is the fund in the City accounting system set apart for the 2 deposit of all monies received from the sales of all items and services, except for the specific items of Cemetery Endowment Care and Mausoleum Endowment Care. "Mausoleum Endowment Care" is the cost charged by the Cemetery to pay for the Cemetery's mausoleum and related services, including administrative expenses, the cleaning and maintenance of the Cemetery's mausoleum, its floors, walls, windows, stained glass windows, and any other expenses necessary to ensure that the Cemetery's mausoleum shall be perpetually well maintained. "Mausoleum Endowment Care Fund" is the sinking fund set apart in the City accounting system for the deposit of all monies received for Mausoleum Endowment Care. 7.20.020 Rules and regulations. The Cemetery Administrator is authorized to adopt rules and regulations concerning management, supervision, and use of the Cemetery and any plot, crypt, or niche therein, provided such rules and regulations are not inconsistent with the provisions of this Chapter. Such rules and regulations shall be promulgated for the purposes of ensuring that the Cemetery is operated and maintained in a manner that promotes the Cemetery's economic viability, its quietude, and its aesthetic qualities and that respects the sensibilities of persons using the Cemetery. 7.20.030 Interment sales orders. The Cemetery Administrator, or his or her designee, is authorized to issue interment sales orders, on a form approved by the City Manager and the City Attorney, 3 for the sale of any plot, crypt, or niche for casketed or cremated human remains, and for any products or services related to such interment, including, but not limited to, the sale of Endowment Care, caskets, vaults, urns, and/or memorial services, in accordance with the Cemetery's fee schedule. 7.20.040 Endowment Care required. (a) Cemetery Endowment Care shall be sold with each plot, and the proceeds of such sale shall be deposited into the Cemetery Endowment Care Fund. (b) Mausoleum Endowment Care shall be sold with each crypt or niche, and the proceeds of such sale shall be deposited into the Mausoleum Endowment Care Fund. 7.20.050 Use of Endowment Care Funds. No part of the principal of the Cemetery Endowment Care Fund or Mausoleum Endowment Care Fund shall be utilized for any purpose other than for making such lawful investments as the City Council may direct. The interest earned by the Cemetery Endowment Care Fund and the Mausoleum Endowment Care Fund may be transferred to the Cemetery Fund for payment of Cemetery expenses. 7.20.060 Price and fee schedule. The price for all plots, crypts, and niches, for all caskets, vaults, and urns, and for all services, shall be established through a fee schedule to be fixed from time to time by resolution of the City Council. 4 7.20.070 Prohibition on resale of plots, crypts and niches. Except as provided herein, no person may resell any plot, crypt, or niche. Upon agreement by the owner(s) of any vacant plot, crypt, or niche, or the legal representative of the owner(s), the Cemetery may repurchase such plot, crypt, or niche for an amount not to exceed the original purchase price, less Endowment Care costs, products purchased and services rendered. 7.20.080 Full payment as condition for interment. Until the Cemetery has received full payment for any plot, crypt, or niche and any associated products or services, no casketed or cremated human remains shall be interred in, and no memorial or other marker may be placed in or upon, such plot, crypt, or niche. 7.20.090 Right to refuse interment. The Cemetery reserves the right to refuse interment of any casketed or cremated human remains for any lawful reason. 7.20.100 Rights reserved. The Cemetery shall have the right, in order to ensure the Cemetery's efficient operation and aesthetic qualities, to take any of the following actions deemed necessary by the Cemetery Administrator: (a) enlarge, reduce, replat or change the boundaries or grading of the 5 Cemetery or any part thereof; (b) improve, remove, modify or change the location of any road, drive or walk in the Cemetery; (c) lay, maintain, operate, or change pipe lines or gutters for sprinkling systems, drainage, lakes, etc.; and (d) use Cemetery property for any lawful purpose. 7.20.110 Rights over plots. Except for any plot upon which a private mausoleum is located, the City reserves to itself, and to the general public, a perpetual right of ingress and egress over each plot in the Cemetery for the purpose of passage to and from any other plot in the Cemetery. 7.20.120 Rubbish. All persons are prohibited from throwing, depositing, or leaving rubbish or trash anywhere within the Cemetery except in the receptacles placed throughout the Cemetery for such purpose. 7.20.130 Firearms prohibited. All persons are prohibited from possessing any loaded or unloaded firearm within the Cemetery, except as authorized by the Cemetery Administrator for a military funeral or on Decoration Day. This prohibition shall not apply to police or other law enforcement officers. 6 7.20.140 Gathering or damaging of plants or animal life. All persons are prohibited from doing any of the following in the Cemetery: (a) picking, taking, or removing any flowers; (b) damaging any trees, shrubs or plants; or (c) feeding or disturbing any birds or other animal life. 7.20.150 Vehicles. All persons are prohibited from driving any vehicle on the Cemetery grounds except on the designated roadways therein, unless authorized in advance by the Cemetery Administrator or his or her designee. 7.20.160 Soliciting. All persons are prohibited from soliciting on the Cemetery grounds. 7.20.170 Trespassing or loitering prohibited. All persons are prohibited from being present at the Cemetery without any lawful purpose related to the Cemetery. 7.20.180 Penalty. Any person violating any provision of this Chapter shall be guilty of an infraction, which shall be punishable by a fine not exceeding two hundred fifty dollars, or a misdemeanor, which shall be punishable by a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars per violation, or by imprisonment in the County Jail for a period not exceeding six 7 months, or by both such fine and imprisonment. 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, is hereby repealed or modified to that extent necessary to effect 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 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 this Ordinance would be subsequently declared invalid or unconstitutional. 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 effective 30 days from its adoption. APPROVED AS TO FORM: ~~~ MAFj HA ES MOU RIE City orn y 8 Approved and adopted this 24th day of November, 2009. f _ ~~~ Pam O'Connor, Mayor Pro Tem State of California ) County of Los Angeles) ss. City of Santa Monica ) I, Maria Stewart, City Clerk of the City of Santa Monica, do hereby certify that the foregoing Ordinance No. 2301 (CCS) had its introduction on November 10th, 2009, and was adopted at the Santa Monica City Council meeting held on November 24th, 2009, by the following vote: Ayes:. Council members: Noes: Council members: Abstain: Council members: Absent: Council members: Bloom, Davis, Holbrook, McKeown Mayor Pro Tem O'Connor None None Shriver Mayor Genser A summary of Ordinance No. 2301 (CCS) was duly published pursuant to California Government Code Section 40806. ATTEST: ^- ~ ~~~ ~~~ Maria Stewart, City Clerk