O2327Council Meeting: 10-26-2010
Santa Monica, California
ORDINANCE NUMBER 2327 (CCS)
(City Council Series)
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA MONICA
AMENDING CHAPTER 3.12 THE SANTA MONICA MUNICIPAL CODE RELATED TO
SIDEWALK AND DRIVEWAY OBSTRUCTIONS
WHEREAS, the City consists of just eight square miles of coastal land which is
home to 90,000 residents, the job site of 300,000 workers, and a destination for as
many as 500,000 visitors on weekends and holidays; and
WHEREAS, the City's unusual density. necessitates special efforts to preserve
the free and safe flow of pedestrian, bicycle, and vehicular traffic; and
WHEREAS, public sidewalks are created and maintained for the primary purpose
of enabling pedestrians to safely and efficiently move about from place to place; and
WHEREAS, ensuring the unobstructed flow of pedestrian traffic on sidewalks
promotes public safety by minimizing the risk that pedestrians will jostle one another,
collide, trip, or fall, and ensuring that persons may move safely away from dangerous
situations which may occur on or near public streets and sidewalks; and
WHEREAS, ensuring the free flow of pedestrian traffic is particularly important to
the safety of the elderly, the very young, the disabled, vision-impaired persons, and
others who are less able to navigate through crowds and around obstacles or hazards
and who are particularly jeopardized by having to navigate off and onto curbs when
sidewalks are blocked; and
WHEREAS, hindrances to the free flow of pedestrian traffic on sidewalks may
interfere with the work of public safety personnel seeking immediate access to
emergency situations and with other work vital to the public health and safety such as
cleaning and maintenance; and
WHEREAS, blockage of public sidewalks poses serious safety hazards because
pedestrians who cannot pass freely along the sidewalk frequently step into the street
where they may be struck by vehicles or cause collisions between vehicles; and
WHEREAS, public sidewalks are not safe places to sit or lie down or perform
stationary exercises because physical injury may occur from trampling or collisions; and
WHEREAS, disease may be transmitted to persons sitting, lying or exercising on
sidewalks because people or animals expectorate, urinate or defecate on sidewalks;
and
WHEREAS, in recent years, persons have begun conducting commercial and
other obstructive activities on public sidewalks, including exercise groups, physical
therapy sessions, and weight training; and
WHEREAS, these persons often engage in group stationary exercise activities,
such as stretching, weight lifting, push-ups or sit-ups, on the public sidewalk; and
WHEREAS; these persons, engaged in stationary exercising on the public
sidewalk, often sit or lie on the public sidewalk to rest between exercising sets.
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WHEREAS, sitting or lying or other stationary exercise activities on the public
sidewalks interferes with the primary purposes of the public sidewalks, threatens public
safety, and damages the public welfare; and
WHEREAS, also, significant numbers of homeless persons have resided within
the City and such persons sometimes block the public sidewalk to sleep or rest; and
WHEREAS, the sidewalks are not intended, designed or maintained for these
uses; and
WHEREAS, persons sitting, lying or exercising on sidewalks near driveways add
additional safety concerns, as drivers of vehicles traveling in reverse through driveways
and crossing the adjacent sidewalk, often have difficulty seeing persons sitting, lying or
exercising in a lowered position on the public sidewalk; and
WHEREAS, there are numerous other places within the City where sitting or lying
or stationary exercising can be accommodated during daytime and evening hours
without unduly interfering with the flow of pedestrian or vehicular traffic, threatening
public safety or harming the public welfare; and
WHEREAS, these other places in the City include City parks, beaches, common
areas open to the public, and on private property with the permission of the property
owner.
NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA MONICA
DOES HEREBY ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. Section 3.12.372 of the Santa Monica Municipal Code is hereby
amended to read as follows:
3.12.372 Sidewalk obstruction
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(a) No person. shall block or obstruct any public sidewalk so that less than a
four-foot contiguous sidewalk width is kept clear for pedestrian passage at all times.
Conduct prohibited by this section includes, but is not limited to, blocking or obstructions
caused by:
(1) placing any property, material, or other item upon any public sidewalk;
or
(2) sitting or lying down upon any public sidewalk; or
(3) sitting or lying down upon a blanket, chair, stool, bench or any other
portable object placed on a public sidewalk; or
(4) performing sit-ups, push-ups, weight training or similar stationary
exercise activity upon any public sidewalk.
(b) The prohibitions contained in this Section shall not apply to any person:
(1) sitting or lying on a public sidewalk due to a medical emergency or
as permitted by federal, state or local law; or
(2) sitting or lying on a public sidewalk while participating in or
attending a parade, festival, rally, demonstration, meeting or activity
lawfully conducted pursuant to aCity-issued permit or license on the
public sidewalk; or
(3) sitting on a public sidewalk within a bus stop zone while waiting for
public or private transportation.
(c) Any person violating this Section 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, or by
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imprisonment in the County Jail for a period not exceeding six months or by both such
fine and imprisonment.
Section 2. Section 3.12.373 of the Santa Monica Municipal Code. is hereby
added to read as follows:
3.12.373 Driveway obstruction
(a) No person shall block or obstruct vehicular access to or from any
driveway. Conduct prohibited by this section includes, but is riot limited to, blocking or
obstructions caused by:
(1) placing any property, material, or other item upon any. public
sidewalk; or
(2) sitting or lying down upon any public sidewalk; or
(3) sitting or lying down upon a blanket, chair, stool, bench or any other
object placed on a public sidewalk; or
(4) performing sit-ups, push-ups, weight training or similar stationary
exercise activity upon any public sidewalk.
(b) The prohibitions contained in this Section shall not apply to any person
sitting or lying on a public sidewalk due to a medical emergency.
(c) Any person violating this Section 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, or by
imprisonment in the County Jail for a period not exceeding six months or by both such
fine and imprisonment.
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(d) This section neither applies to any vehicle that blocks or obstructs any
driveway, nor prohibits enforcement of any other applicable law, including Vehicle Code
section 22651.
Section 3. 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 4. 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 the ordinance would be subsequently declared invalid or unconstitutional.
Section 5. 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:
MARSHA JON S IOUTRI ~2
City Attorney
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Approved and adopted this 26th day
2010.
Mayor
State of California )
County of Los Angeles } ss.
City of Santa Monica )
f, Maria M. Stewart, City Clerk of the City of Santa Monica, do hereby certify that
the foregoing Ordinance No. 2327 (CCS) had its introduction on October 12th,
2010, and was adopted at the Santa Monica City Council meeting held on
October 26th, 2010, by the following vote:
Ayes: Council members: Bloom, Davis, Holbrook, McKeown, O'Day
Mayor Shriver
Noes: Council members: None
Abstain: Council members: None
Absent: Council members: Mayor Pro Tem O'Connor
A summary of Ordinance No. 2326 (CCS) was duly published pursuant to
California Government Code Section 40806.
ATTEST:
_____,
Maria M. Stewart, ity Clerk