Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutOrdinance 668 CHAPTER 15. - CAMPING AND STORAGE OF PERSONAL PROPERTY 5-15.101. - PURPOSE. This Chapter is intended to protect the public health, welfare, and safety by reserving open spaces and facilities within the City limits for their intended purposes. Public property within the City should be readily accessible and available to residents and the general public at large. Unregulated use of public property for camping or storage of personal property interferes with the rights of others to make use of such shared public spaces for their intended purposes and frequently contributes to blight or pollution, and causes damage to public property. This Chapter is intended to avoid unsafe and potentially disorderly conditions, unsanitary and unhealthful conditions, and the degradation or destruction of open spaces and facilities within the City, and preserve such open spaces and natural resources. 5-15.102. - DEFINITIONS. The following words and phrases, when used in this Chapter, shall have the below meanings unless it is readily apparent from the context that another meaning is intended. (a) "Camp" or "Camping" means the conduct of more than one of the following activities on public property, when it reasonably appears, in light of all circumstances, that a person is using such public or private property for living accommodation purposes: i. sleeping or preparing to sleep (including the laying down of bedding for the purpose of sleeping), including undertaking such activities in a vehicle (including any motorhome, camp trailer, camper, coach, fifth wheel travel trailer, house car, recreational vehicle, mobile home), or obscuring some or all of the vehicle’s windows; ii. erecting or using any tent, camp facilities, or building any other form of shelter; iii. unattended storage of personal belongings (including but not limited to clothing, sleeping bags, bedrolls, blankets, sheets, luggage, backpacks, kitchen utensils, cookware) or camp paraphernalia; iv. possessing inside or on a vehicle items that are not associated with ordinary vehicle use, such as a sleeping bag, bedroll, blanket, sheet, pillow, kitchen utensils, cookware, or cooking equipment; v. making or using any fire, for purpose of heating or cooking, or using any flame, grill, portable stove, or similar flame producing device for cooking of meals on public property, except for in City parks with designated barbeque and cooking areas while using City-provided cooking facilities designed for such purposes; or vi. doing any digging or earth breaking activities for purpose of creating or improving a shelter. Camping shall be deemed to occur regardless of whether a full night is actually spend occupying any specific location on public property. (b) "Camp facilities" include, but are not limited to, tents, huts, or similar temporary shelters consisting of any material with a top or roof or any other upper covering or that is otherwise enclosed by sides that is of sufficient size for a person to fit underneath or inside while sitting or lying down and includes the use of a tarp or other material tied or affixed to a structure or bush to create an enclosed area. (c) "Camp paraphernalia" includes, but is not limited to, tarpaulins, cots, beds, sleeping bags, hammocks, or non-City designated cooking or heating equipment. (d) “Public property" means any publicly owned property in the City, whether improved or unimproved, including, but not limited to, any of the following: public alleyways; public parking lots; public passageways; public streets; public rights-of-way; park playgrounds; freeway on-ramps and off-ramps; publicly owned, maintained, or operated parks; publicly owned, maintained, or operated landscaped areas or greenbelts; publicly owned fences, trees, light poles, or equipment boxes; publicly owned, maintained, or operated open spaces including, but not limited to, public facilities or buildings of any kind; public sidewalks, curbs, and gutters; public educational institutions; or other government owned, maintained, or operated properties located within the City. (e) "Public utilities" means any outdoor water, sewer, or electrical outlets or fixtures on government owned, maintained, or operated properties located within the City. (f) “Vehicle” means a vehicle as defined in California Vehicle Code section 670. (g) "Very High Fire Severity Zones" means such areas as are designated by the City pursuant to Government Code Section 51179. 5-15.103. UNLAWFUL CAMPING. It shall be unlawful for any person to camp on any public property within the City, except as otherwise provided herein. 5-15.104. STORAGE OF PERSONAL PROPERTY ON PUBLIC PROPERTY. It shall be unlawful for any person to store any personal property, including camp facilities and camp paraphernalia, on any public property within the City, except as otherwise provided in this chapter. Prior to removing any personal property, any enforcing employee shall attempt to provide any apparent owners with notice of intent to remove the personal property at least 24 hours in advance of any action to remove any personal property. Notice shall be in writing and shall be served personally on the owners of such property if readily apparent, or otherwise shall be left on or with the property. In addition, the enforcing employee shall post the notice on or near the personal property so as to reasonably communicate the notice to persons living at the camp facility but not present during the attempt to serve notice. The notice shall contain the following information: A. The location of the personal property; B. The date and time notice was served or posted; C. A statement that the storage of personal property violates this Chapter; D. An advisement that the City will remove the personal property 24 hours after the date and time of the notice; E. Information about any housing or shelter and homeless services available for the owners of the personal property, the phone number and address to contact in order to obtain the housing or shelter or other health and human services; F. An advisement that any personal property remaining at the site when the enforcing employee returns to remove the personal property and it will be impounded for no fewer than 90 days and will be discarded thereafter if not claimed; and G. The address, phone number, and operating hours of the location where the personal property will be stored and may be retrieved, and that the City will charge no fee for storage or retrieval. A person occupying a camp facility who is present at the time the enforcing employee is removing the personal property can retain his or her personal property except items that constitute an immediate threat to the health or safety of the public or items that constitute evidence of a crime or contraband that may be seized, as permitted by law. 5-15.105. OFFER OF HOUSING, SHELTER AND SERVICES. Prior to directing a person to remove camp facilities or prior to removing the camp facilities, the enforcing employee shall offer information to the occupant(s) regarding any available housing or shelter and other health and human services that said employee reasonably believes are relevant to the occupant(s) and their individual circumstances. 5-15.106. EXEMPTION FOR NECESSITY – TIME, PLACE, AND MANNER REGULATIONS. The provisions of this Chapter shall not apply, except as stated below, to any individual camping by necessity, including, for example, those instances in which every shelter in the local area is at capacity. The City Manager may establish local guidelines to determine whether an individual is camping by necessity. If an individual is camping by necessity, the following time, manner and place requirements shall apply and strict compliance with them shall be required in order to avoid the prohibitions otherwise specified in this Chapter, and the imposition of penalties as otherwise specified in this code: A. Time. No person shall erect, configure, or construct any camp facilities from 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. (except during stormy weather). A person must take down, fold, and completely remove or put away any camp facilities erected, configured, or constructed on any public property between the hours of 7:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. (except during stormy weather). B. Manner. At no time shall any person obstruct access to a street, sidewalk, park playground, public utility, public property, or other public right-of-way open for pedestrian travel or governmental use: 1. By sitting, lying or sleeping, or by storing, using, maintaining or placing personal property in a manner that does not allow for passage as required by the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, as amended from time to time; or 2. By sitting, lying or sleeping, or by storing, using, maintaining or placing personal property within ten feet or any operational or utilizable entrance, exit, driveway, or loading dock; or 3. By creating any barrier with string, wire, rope, or chain, or other attachments or appurtenances upon City owned trees, light poles, fences, equipment, or other public facilities. 4. A camp or camping, including outside stored personal property, must be limited to a spatial footprint of no more than ten 100 square feet, or ten- foot by ten-foot area. The intent of this provision is to allow a person to sleep protected from the elements and maintain the essentials for living, while still allowing others to use public spaces as designed and intended. 5. Individuals may not: a. Accumulate, discard, or leave behind garbage, debris, unsanitary or hazardous materials, or other items of no apparent utility in a public right-of-way, on city property, or on any adjacent public or private property. b. Start or maintain any fire for the purposes of burning any combustible material or use a gas heater in or around a campsite. c. Erect, install, place, leave, or set up any type of permanent or temporary fixture or structure of any material(s) in or upon public property or a public right-or-way. Items such as tents and similar items used for shelter that are readily portable are not structures for purposes of this section. d. Dig, excavate, terrace soil, alter the ground or infrastructure, cause environmental damage, or damage vegetation or trees in and around a campsite. e. Accumulate, discard, or leave behind garbage, debris, unsanitary or hazardous materials, sewage, drug paraphernalia, improperly disposed of syringes, other evidence of conspicuous drug use in the public right-of-way, on city property, or any adjacent public or private property. C. Place. Camping is prohibited on the following public property, which shall be deemed to include the entire parcel, unless signage is posted designating permissible camping locations on the parcel as part of an overnight sleeping program established by the City: 1. Atascadero City Hall 2. Centennial Plaza 3. Atascadero Public Library 4. Atascadero Transit Center 5. Colony Park Community Center 6. Atascadero Lake Park Pavilion 7. Atascadero Zoo 8. Faces of Freedom Veterans Memorial 9. The Plaza on El Camino 10. Within 500 feet of any school 11. Within 500 feet of the banks of the Salinas River, Atascadero Creek, or Graves Creek 12. On the entirety of the Juan Bautista de Anza trail and Historic Trail corridor 13. Areas of City parks: athletic fields and sports courts, irrigated or landscaped areas, park playgrounds, synthetic turf areas, and park picnic areas including tables, bleachers, benches, and pavilions 14. Within 500 feet of any bridge, highway underpasses or highway overpasses, or any freeway onramps and off-ramps 15. In all Very High Fire Severity Zones 16. Within 500 feet of all Atascadero government buildings D. Camping shall be prohibited within 100 feet of any public property where signs are posted stating that camping is prohibited at that location. The City Manager or their designee is authorized under this subsection to post signage on public property prohibiting camping for periods of 30 days upon determining that camping or storage of personal property at such location has created nuisance conditions that affects the health and safety of the public or occupants. 5-15.107. OVERNIGHT CAMPING ON PRIVATE PROPERTY Notwithstanding any other provision of this code, a total of three vehicles per parcel, may be used by people who lack access to permanent or safe shelter and who cannot obtain other housing for overnight camping in a parking lot or paved or gravel surface of a parcel of any size owned or leased by a faith based institution, non-profit, or a business, with permission of the property owner and lessee, and only after the owner is issued a City permit by the Community Development Department. A. A property owner or lessee who allows overnight camping on a property, pursuant to this section shall: a. Provide persons camping overnight with access to sanitary facilities, including, but not limited toilet, hand washing and trash disposal facilities at all times when people are authorized to be present for overnight camping. b. Not require payment of any fee, rent or other monetary charge for overnight camping authorized by this section. c. Restrict the use of the owner’s or lessee’s property for no longer that than 72 hours for each vehicle. d. Not allow the dumping of wastewater or trash on the property unless sufficient city approved receptacles are available. e. Not allow for the storage of personal property outside of or adjacent to the vehicle. f. Not allow on-site storage or personal property when the personal property owner or lessee is no longer staying on the property being used for camping. B. A property owner or lessee who permits overnight camping pursuant to this section may revoke that permission at any time and for any reason. Any person who has permission to sleep on that property as provided in this section shall leave the property immediately after permission has been revoked. C. The provisions of this section are not intended to limit or otherwise change any permitted land use on a property. D. This section shall not apply when the camping by tent or other removable structure is by minor children, under the direct care and supervision of a parent or guardian who is related to or visiting the owner of such property, or the lessee of such property, or the person in lawful possession of the property. This exception is only intended to cover short term and temporary camping in no event longer than three days. 5-15.108. OTHER EXEMPTIONS. The provisions of this Chapter shall not apply in the event of a declared state of emergency, nor to any persons participating in organized and supervised recreational activities in parks within the City, if approved by the City's Recreation Supervisor or City Manager, nor to camping in public accommodations that are properly zoned, legally established and designated for camping purposes.