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O2563City Council Meeting: November 28, 2017 Santa Monica, California ORDINANCE NUMBER 4 0 (CCS) (City Council Series) AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA MONICA AMENDING SECTION 6.49.070 OF THE SANTA MONICA MUNICIPAL CODE UPDATING THE EXPIRATION DATE OF TAXICAB DRIVER PERMITS 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 premier location and vigorous local economy continues to attract large number of tourists from throughout the world; and WHEREAS, the City's bustling streets are heavily utilized by various vehicle for hire operations seeking to service the City's large number of residents, workers, and visitors; and WHEREAS, new modes of vehicle for hire transportation that have been introduced into the Santa Monica market impact traffic circulation, particularly in the heavily congested areas of the downtown; and WHEREAS, unregulated vehicle for hire operations could create safety hazards and cause unnecessary consumer confusion regarding fares; and WHEREAS, California Vehicle Code Section 21100(b) authorizes local agencies to license and regulate the operation of vehicles for hire and drivers of passenger vehicles for hire; and it WHEREAS, the City has the authority to regulate in -city vehicles for hire pursuant to its constitutionally granted Charter City police powers; and WHEREAS, the State of California recently adopted Assembly Bill 1069, which created significant changes to taxi cab regulations throughout the State. The bulk of Assembly Bill 1069's requirements will become effective on January 1, 2019; and WHEREAS, all existing City Taxi Cab Driver Permits are set to expire at the end of 2017; and WHEREAS, providing a one year extension of such Driver Permits, until the end of 2018, allows the City to study and reasonably implement Assembly Bill 1069 before January 1, 2019. NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA MONICA DOES ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. Section 6.49.070 of the Santa Monica Municipal Code is hereby amended to read as follows: 6.49.070 Taxicab driver's permits. (a) Application. In order to obtain a taxicab driver's permit, each person shall file with the City, upon forms supplied by the City, a completed verified application including the following information and documentation: (1) Name, address, and age of applicant; (2) Convictions, if any, in any court of law; E (3) Name, address, and certification of the taxicab franchisee by whom the applicant is to be employed as a taxicab driver in the City; (4) Proof of a valid California driver's license; (5) A signed agreement to submit to a background investigation and fingerprinting via live -scan capture by the Police Department; (6) Original test results from a certified laboratory or testing agency, submitted simultaneously with the applicant's verified application, proving that the applicant has tested negative for drugs and alcohol as provided by Section 53075.5(b)(3) of the California Government Code; and (7) Such further information as the City may require, as established by the rules and regulations. (b) Taxicab Driver's Permit Applicant Investigation. The Police Department shall investigate each applicant for a taxicab driver's permit and shall approve the application or state its reason for disapproval. The City may disapprove any applicant who has a record of criminal conduct or other behavior involving any of the following: (1) Moral turpitude; (2) Violence toward persons or property; (3) Physical or mental disease which could make the applicant a danger to the safety of others; (4) Illegal sexual conduct involving another nonconsenting person; 3 (5) Negligent or reckless driving; (6) Operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol or drugs; (7) Three or more moving violations under the California Vehicle Code within the twelve-month period preceding the date of the application; (8) Existing suspension or revocation of a taxicab driver's permit in any other jurisdiction as of the date of the application; (9) Conviction of operating a taxicab without a valid taxicab driver's permit or taxicab vehicle license within the three-year period preceding the date of the application; or (10) Acts showing the applicant to be otherwise incompetent or not fit to drive a taxicab. (c) Examination. Every applicant for a taxicab driver's permit shall take an examination, prepared and administered by the City, which tests the applicant's qualifications to operate a taxicab. The examination shall test the applicant's: ability to communicate in English; knowledge of and ability to locate, with the aid of a street atlas or GPS device, street addresses and intersections in Santa Monica and surrounding cities in the County of Los Angeles; and knowledge of the laws of the road. Failure to obtain a passing score on the examination shall be cause for disapproval of an application. (d) Taxicab Driver's Permit Issuance. Based on the application, investigation and examination, the City shall approve or deny the taxicab driver's permit. No permit shall be issued if the applicant is under the age of eighteen years, if any false statement appears M in the application, or if the application is otherwise incomplete. Upon approval of an application and receipt by the City of the taxicab driver's permit fee, the City shall issue a taxicab driver's permit to the applicant. The taxicab driver's permit fee shall be established by resolution of the City Council. The permit shall bear the name and photograph of the applicant, date of expiration of the permit, and name of the taxicab franchisee for which the driver is authorized to drive a taxicab. (e) Taxicab Driver's Permit Expiration and Renewal. All City issued Taxicab driver's permits shall expire on December 31, 2018, unless revoked, suspended or terminated prior to that date. A taxicab driver's permit which has not been revoked, suspended, or terminated may be renewed annually by paying the annual taxicab driver's permit fee and by filing with the City a verification that the driver is in compliance with the provisions of this Section and test results from a certified laboratory or testing agency proving that the driver has tested negative for drugs and alcohol as provided by Section 53075.5(b)(3) of the California Government Code and U.S. Department of Transportation program guidelines Part 49 CFR 40, 653 and 654, and any other applicable regulations. (f) Effect of Termination of Employment. The taxicab driver's permit shall become void upon termination of employment, at which time the taxicab franchisee -employer shall immediately give the City written notice of the termination and the terminated driver shall immediately return his or her taxicab driver's permit to the franchisee, who in turn shall immediately return the permit to the City. (g) Prohibition on Transfers. Taxicab driver's permits are personal in nature and shall not be transferred to another person. Any purported transfer shall be null and void. E (h) Grounds for Suspension and Revocation. Any taxicab driver's permit and any taxicab vehicle permit may be suspended or revoked, after due notice and an opportunity to be heard, for any of the following reasons: (1) Arrest or citation for the commission of any crime while driving a taxicab or any crime involving moral turpitude; (2) Violation of any applicable rule or regulation, or Federal, State or local law relating to the operation of taxicabs by a driver, or by an employer in the case of a taxicab vehicle permit; (3) Use of the taxicab driver's permit for a purpose different from that for which it was issued; (4) Suspension or revocation of the driver or franchisee's taxicab driver's permit or taxicab vehicle permit in another jurisdiction; and (5) The existence of any facts, including conviction of a crime that is substantially related to the qualifications, functions or duties of a taxicab driver, which would have been good cause to deny such taxicab driver's permit application, regardless of when such facts arose. 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. 0 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 the 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: LANE DILG City Attorney 7 Approved and adopted this 28th day of November, 2017. r- lzev� ed Winterer, Mayor State of California ) County of Los Angeles ) ss. City of Santa Monica ) I, Mary Dacanay, Acting Senior Administrative Analyst of the City of Santa Monica, do hereby certify that the foregoing Ordinance No. 2563 (CCS) had its introduction on November 14, 2017, and was adopted at the Santa Monica City Council meeting held on November 28, 2017, by the following vote: AYES: Councilmembers Himmelrich, McKeown, O'Connor, O'Day, Vazquez Mayor Pro Tem Davis, Mayor Winterer NOES: None ABSENT: None ATTEST: Mara Dacanay, Acting Senyl Administrative Analyst Dat A summary of Ordinance No. 2563 (CCS) was duly published pursuant to California Government Code Section 40806.