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Anaheim, CA 92805
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CITY COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT
City of Anaheim
ANAHEIM POLICE DEPARTMENT AND OFFICES OF
THE CITY MANAGER AND CITY ATTORNEY
DATE: OCTOBER 29, 2024
FROM: ANAHEIM POLICE DEPARTMENT AND OFFICES OF THE
CITY MANAGER AND CITY ATTORNEY
SUBJECT: ORDINANCES ADDING PROHIBITIONS AGAINST
OBSTRUCTION OF PUBLIC RIGHTS-OF-WAY AND
FACILITIES, SMOKING IN PUBLIC PARKS AND NEAR
SCHOOLS AND DAY CARE FACILITIES, AND SELLING AND
REPAIRING BIKES AND BIKE PARTS ON PUBLIC PROPERTY
ATTACHMENT (Y/N): YES ITEM # 23
GOVERNMENT CODE §84308 APPLIES: NO
ACTION:
That the City Council, take the following actions:
1. By Ordinance, add Chapter 11.11 to the Anaheim Municipal Code prohibiting the obstruction of public rights-of-way and facilities;
2. By Ordinance, add Chapter 11.13 to the Anaheim Municipal Code prohibiting the sale, assembling and disassembling of bikes and bike parts on public property; and
3. By Ordinance, amend Chapter 6.30 of the Anaheim Municipal Code to expand the City’s existing smoking ban to include parks, bus benches, schools, and day care centers facilities.
DISCUSSION:
On October 8, 2024, the City Council unanimously introduced the three ordinances adding prohibitions against obstruction of public rights-of-way and facilities, smoking in public parks and near schools and day care facilities, and selling and repairing bikes and bike parts on public property. If adopted, the ordinances will become effective in 30 days.
As background, on September 10, 2024, Councilmember Meeks, working with Councilmember Rubalcava, asked to agendize the strengthening and enhancement of the City’s anti-camping and similar ordinances to ensure that Anaheim parks and rights-of- way are kept safe and open for their intended use. The Councilmembers worked with staff and the Anaheim Police Department to review what other cities have enacted or are considering after City of Grants Pass v. Johnson, with the intent of bringing back ordinance changes tailored to address Anaheim’s needs.
Right-of-Way Obstruction, Smoking and Bike Sales Ordinances October 29, 2024
The City has been a local leader in developing innovative ways to offer assistance and services to its homeless population, including by dedicating a team of mental health and law enforcement personnel to provide resources to such individuals, and funding shelters which make hundreds of beds available to individuals without housing. In addition, the City Attorney’s Office has pioneered ACCESS (Anaheim Collaborative Court – Evaluating Strategies and Solutions) offering mental health, substance abuse and other services to unhoused individuals who find themselves in the criminal justice system. The City also recognizes that residing on public property without adequate shelter, facilities or resources creates health and safety risks to both unhoused individuals and the public at large, and can facilitate criminal activity.
The City’s existing Municipal Code prohibits camping on public property, as well as the storage of personal property in public areas. It also has detailed procedures for the impoundment and return of any property unlawfully stored in public areas. It does not however specifically address individuals who are not camping, but are nonetheless blocking or impeding access to public rights-of-way and facilities, preventing their intended use by the public. Nor does it prohibit or deal with the health hazard created by individuals smoking in or near areas frequented by children, such as parks, schools and day care facilities, or the increase in criminal activity caused by the theft and resale of bikes and bike parts. Three new ordinances are being proposed to tackle these issues.
1. The Addition of Chapter 11.11 (Obstruction of Public Rights-of-Way and Facilities).
This new Chapter is being proposed to prohibit activity that is impeding access to public rights-of-way and facilities. If adopted by the Council, it will prohibit:
a. Leaving personal property unattended in or on a public right-of- way (ROW);
b. Sitting on chairs or similar items, or sleeping or lying down on a public ROW;
c. Sleeping, sitting or lying down, or storing personal property, in a median, parkway or improved landscaped area;
d. Obstructing a ROW if doing so violates the ADA, is within close proximity to items like driveways, ramps, fire hydrants, ATMs, buildings, intersections, schools or day care facilities, or unreasonably interferes with the use of a ROW by pedestrians, bikes or vehicles; and
e. Sleeping or lying down on bus benches or park tables, benches or equipment
2. The Addition of Chapter 11.13 (Prohibition on Bike Repairs and Sales on Public Property)
This new Chapter is being proposed to curtail criminal activity related to the trade in stolen bikes and bike parts. The Anaheim Police Department frequently encounters bicycle chop shops in and around City parks and public spaces, where bicycles and parts are traded for illegal drugs and other items, contributing to the attraction of additional criminal activities in these areas. For the past five years, over 250 bikes have been reported stolen annually, and these bikes are often disassembled for resale of their Right-of-Way Obstruction, Smoking and Bike Sales Ordinances October 29, 2024
constituent parts. If adopted by the Council, this ordinance will prohibit assembling, disassembling, selling or distributing i) three or more bikes, ii) a bike frame without gear cables, iii) two bikes with missing parts, or iv) five or more bike parts, on City property.
3. The Amendment of Anaheim Municipal Code (AMC) Chapter 6.30 (Smoking Prohibited)
This ordinance amending the City’s existing smoking ban (AMC Chapter 6.30) would expand the AMC to prohibit smoking in public parks, as well as within twenty-five feet of bus benches and two hundred feet of schools and day care centers. The dangers of secondhand smoke are well-documented, and broadening the City’s existing smoking ban to protect children, members of the public, and the areas they frequent is necessary to promote public health and safety. This ordinance also highlights that smoking cannabis, weed and plant products in public areas is prohibited by the AMC (and state law), and notes the increase in such activity since the legalization of recreational cannabis in 2016.
IMPACT ON BUDGET:
The ordinances themselves will have no budgetary impact. Costs associated with increased personnel needed to enact the ordinances will be absorbed in the impacted departments’ budgets.
Respectfully submitted, Respectfully submitted,
Rick P. Armendariz Robert Fabela
Chief of Police City Attorney
Respectfully submitted,
Jim Vanderpool
City Manager
Attachments:
1. Ordinance adding Chapter 11.11 to the Anaheim Municipal Code
2. Ordinance adding Chapter 11.13 to the Anaheim Municipal Code
3. Ordinance amending Anaheim Municipal Code Chapter 6.30
4. Redline of Anaheim Municipal Code Chapter 6.30