SR 11-15-2022 10A
City Council
Report
City Council Meeting: November 15, 2022
Agenda Item: 10.A
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To: Mayor and City Council
From: Douglas Sloan, City Attorney, City Attorney's Office, Administration
Subject: Introduction and Adoption of an Emergency Ordinance Amending Santa
Monica Municipal Code Section 4.08.095, Prohibition Against Camping in
Public Spaces, to Clarify: (1) the Applicability of the Section’s Prohibitions;
and (2) the Definition of “Camp Facility”
Recommended Action
Staff recommends that the City Council:
1. Adopt a finding of Exemption pursuant to 15061(b)(3) (Common Sense
Exemption) of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines.
2. Introduce for adoption an Emergency Ordinance amending Santa Monica
Municipal Code Section 4.08.095, Prohibition against camping in public spaces
(“Section 4.08.095”), to clarify: (1) the applicability of the section’s prohibitions in
line with recent case law; and (2) the definition of “Camp Facility.”
Summary
Johnson v. City of Grants Pass (“Grants Pass”), a recent decision from the United
States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, has held that a city cannot prohibit
homeless individuals from sleeping or using blankets, pillows, sleeping bags, cardboard
boxes, and other rudimentary protections against the weather on public property, unless
shelter space is available for their use. The proposed amendment seeks to clarify
Section 4.08.095 in response to the Grants Pass decision. The ordinance also clarifies
Section 4.08.095’s definition of “camp facility” for ease of enforcement.
Discussion
Section 4.08.095 was enacted on September 13, 1994 to prohibit maintaining camp
facilities for the purposes of living accommodation in the City’s public places. The
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purpose of this Section was to address public health and safety concerns and to
prevent the potential deterioration in the physical condition of the community’s parks
and public places. At the time of enactment, case law with respect to such provisions
was not yet settled. Since then, case law has evolved and clarified which provisions a
public entity can enforce.
Specifically, Martin v. Boise (“Martin”) and, now, Grants Pass, have provided additional
clarification with respect to prohibitions against camping in public, such as Section
4.08.095. Pursuant to Martin, cities cannot criminalize sleeping in public unless a
shelter bed is available. Many cities, in response, approved ordinances that did not
prohibit sleeping, but prohibited using “camping items,” such as blankets and sleeping
bags in public.
To remain compliant with new case law, the proposed amendments are as follows:
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” means to erect, maintain, store, or occupy a camp facility for the
purpose of living accommodations.
(2) “Camp facility” may means the use of, settling, fixing in place, setting up,
storing, locating, or leaving behind in a prohibited public place contain any or a
combination of the following: tents, huts, other temporary physical shelters, cots,
beds, sleeping bags, or hammocks, or bedrolls.
(3) “Prohibited public place” means any of the following: the public parks listed
in Section 4.08.091 4.55.020, 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
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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 shall not be located within public parks.
(d) This ordinance does not prohibit those who are homeless from using
sleeping bags, blankets, pillows, and/or bedrolls while sleeping. This Section
shall not take effect until March 1, 1995.
It is important to emphasize that this decision, and the proposed amendments, will not
require the City to allow encampments, temporary structures, or inoperable vehicles to
be used for habitation in the City. Thus, case law allows the City to continue to provide
for public safety and access to our public locations while also allowing individuals who
are unhoused to have rudimentary protections against the elements while they sleep.
The proposed amendments seek to balance these two objections.
In accordance with Santa Monica Charter Sections 615 and 619, this proposed
amendment is being introduced as an emergency ordinance as it is necessary for
ensuring compliance with recent case law, safeguarding the rights of homeless
individuals as determined by the courts, and by otherwise preserving the public peace,
health, and safety, with the result that this ordinance shall be introduced and adopted at
the same meeting and shall become effective immediately upon its adoption.
Environmental Review
Staff has performed a preliminary environmental assessment of this project and,
pursuant to CEQA Guidelines, section 15061(b)(3), has determined with certainty that
there is no possibility that this project may have a significant effect on the environment.
Therefore, this project is not subject to CEQA.
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Financial Impacts and Budget Actions
There is no immediate financial impact or budget action necessary as a result of the
proposed action.
Prepared By: Michelle Hugard, Deputy City Attorney
Approved
Forwarded to Council
Attachments:
A. CC-Ord-Camping Proposed Amendment to SMMC 4.08.095
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City Council Meeting: November 15, 2022 Santa Monica, California
ORDINANCE NUMBER_________(CCS)
(City Council Series)
AN EMERGENCY ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF
SANTA MONICA AMENDING SANTA MONICA MUNICIPAL CODE SECTION
4.08.095, PROHIBITION AGAINST CAMPING IN PUBLIC PLACES, TO CLARIFY:
(1) THE APPLICABILITY OF THE SECTION’S PROHIBITIONS, AND (2) THE
DEFINITION OF “CAMP FACILITY.”
WHEREAS, for many years, the City of Santa Monica has experienced numerous
individuals maintaining camp facilities for the purposes of living accommodations in public
places, including City parks; and
WHEREAS, an increase in individuals maintaining camp facilities for the purposes
of living accommodations in the City’s parks and public places can lead to serious health,
safety, and accessibility concerns and an overall deterioration in the physical condition of
the community’s parks and public places; and
WHEREAS, Santa Monica Municipal Code Section 4.08.095, Prohibition against
camping in public places, was initially enacted to address these concerns; and
WHEREAS, the City Council wishes to continue protecting public safety in, and
access, to Santa Monica’s parks and other public places by prohibiting camping and
camping facilities except in designated areas as determined by the City Council; and
WHEREAS, recent case law, however, has made clear that cities cannot prohibit,
by criminal penalty or administrative citation that may lead to criminal penalty, a homeless
individual from sleeping or merely using blankets, pillows, sleeping bags, or other
10.A.a
Packet Pg. 435 Attachment: CC-Ord-Camping Proposed Amendment to SMMC 4.08.095 (5461 : Camping - Emergency Ord)
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rudimentary protections against the weather on public property, unless there is shelter
space available for that individual to use; and
WHEREAS, the City wishes to clarify Section 4.08.095 in compliance with recent
case law by not enforcing its camping prohibitions against homeless individuals who are
merely sleeping with the use of blankets, pillows, sleeping bags, and other rudimentary
protections against the weather on public property; and
WHEREAS, the City Council also wishes to clarify the definition of “camping
facility” for ease of enforcement; and
WHEREAS, to ensure compliance with applicable case law and to protect the
due process rights of homeless individuals, the City Council finds and declares that
a current and immediate threat to the public health, safety, and general welfare
exists such that this amendment qualifies for an emergency ordinance.
NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA MONICA
DOES HEREBY ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Santa Monica Municipal Code 4.08.095 is hereby adopted to read
as follows:
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” means to erect, maintain, store, or occupy a camp facility for
the purpose of living accommodations.
(2) “Camp facility” may means the use of, settling, fixing in place, setting
up, storing, locating, or leaving behind in a prohibited public place contain any or
10.A.a
Packet Pg. 436 Attachment: CC-Ord-Camping Proposed Amendment to SMMC 4.08.095 (5461 : Camping - Emergency Ord)
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a combination of the following: tents, huts, other temporary physical shelters, cots,
beds, sleeping bags, or hammocks, or bedrolls.
(3) “Prohibited public place” means any of the following: the public parks
listed in Section 4.08.091 4.55.020, 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 shall not be located within public parks.
(d) This ordinance does not prohibit those who are homeless from using sleeping
bags, blankets, pillows, and/or bedrolls while sleeping. This Section shall not take
effect until March 1, 1995.
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
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Packet Pg. 437 Attachment: CC-Ord-Camping Proposed Amendment to SMMC 4.08.095 (5461 : Camping - Emergency Ord)
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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. Pursuant to Sections 615 and 619 of the
City Charter, for the reasons stated in the recitals above, the staff report accompanying
this ordinance, oral and written testimony received by the City Council, and City Council
discussion, the City Council declares this ordinance to be necessary as an emergency
measure for preserving the public peace, health, and safety, with the result that this
ordinance shall be introduced and adopted at the same meeting and shall become
effective immediately upon its adoption.
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
_______________________
DOUGLAS SLOAN
City Attorney
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Packet Pg. 438 Attachment: CC-Ord-Camping Proposed Amendment to SMMC 4.08.095 (5461 : Camping - Emergency Ord)