ORDINANCE NO. 2024-009
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF CHINO, COUNTY
OF SAN BERNARDINO, CALIFORNIA, AMENDING CHINO MUNICIPAL CODE CHAPTER 8.80 REGULATING PUBLIC CAMPING AND PUBLIC STORAGE
OF PERSONAL PROPERTY TO ADDRESS CHANGES IN LAW BROUGHT
ABOUT BY CITY OF GRANTS PASS, OREGON V. JOHNSON, ET AL.
WHEREAS, the City of Chino (“City”) is authorized by California Constitution, Article XI, Section 7, to make and enforce within its limits all local, police, sanitary, and other ordinances and regulations not in conflict with general laws and that serve and protect the health, safety, and welfare of the public; and,
WHEREAS, the Chino Municipal Code (“CMC”) currently regulates camping on public and private property; and,
WHEREAS, on September 4, 2018, the United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit, issued a decision in Martin v. City of Boise (9th Cir. 2018) 902 F.3d 1031 (“Martin”), which restricted the enforceability of anti-camping ordinances under certain circumstances; and, WHEREAS, in light of the Martin decision, the City thereafter adopted an ordinance adding Section 8.80.130(E) to the CMC providing that “Except as provided in section 8.80.130(F), no citation for a violation of section 8.80.030 or section 8.80.110, whether criminal or administrative, shall be issued to any person unless, at the time in question, the enforcement officer, in his or her reasonable discretion, is able to make an affirmative determination that there is a sleeping space practically available to such person in a shelter, based on the information known to the enforcement officer at the time” and providing limitations, as required by then-law, on the type of qualifying shelter; and,
WHEREAS, in line with Martin, the CMC currently bars enforcement, except in limited circumstances, of the City’s prohibitions on public camping and public storage of personal property; and,
WHEREAS, the City wishes to amend Title 8 of the CMC to conform to new law regarding sleeping and camping in public places and regarding public storage of personal property as put forth by the Supreme Court of the United States in City of Grants Pass, Oregon v. Johnson, et al. (2024) 144 S.Ct. 2202 in order to enhance compliance with the CMC, and better protect the health, safety and welfare of the community, its residents, businesses and visitors; and, WHEREAS, this Ordinance’s amendments to Title 8 benefit the public health and safety of the City’s residents as well as public safety personnel, and conform Title 8 to Grants Pass; and, WHEREAS, for the reasons enumerated above, the adoption of this ordinance is necessary for the preservation of public peace, health and safety and the preservation of greater health, welfare, and safety risks to people in Chino experiencing homelessness, the general public, and public safety personnel.
NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF CHINO DOES ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS:
ORDINANCE NO. 2024-009
SECTION 1. The above recitals are true and correct and are each incorporated herein and adopted as findings of the City Council.
SECTION 2. Chino Municipal Code, subsection 8.80.010 is hereby amended to read in its entirety as follows:
8.80.010 – Purpose.
The purpose of this Chapter is to maintain streets, parks, and other public and private areas within the City in a clean, sanitary, and accessible condition and to adequately protect the health, safety, and welfare of the public. Nothing in this Chapter is intended to interfere with otherwise lawful and ordinary uses of public or private property, or to criminalize or regulate homelessness or criminalize any unavoidable consequencesthe status of being homeless.
SECTION 3. Chino Municipal Code, subsection 8.80.130 is hereby amended to read in its entirety as follows:
8.80.130 – Enforcement.
A. Each person shall be deemed guilty of a separate offense for each and every day, or portion thereof, during which any violation of or failure to comply with any of the provisions of this Chapter is committed, maintained, continued, or permitted by such person, and each instance shall be deemed punishable.
B. The provisions of this Chapter shall not be construed as permitting conduct not proscribed herein and shall not affect the enforceability of any other applicable provisions of law.
C. The City may enforce any violation of this Chapter by any and all means available by law, including, but not limited to, a restraining order, preliminary or permanent injunction, criminal or administrative enforcement.
D. These remedies are intended to be cumulative and may be used in conjunction with or in lieu of each other remedy.
E. Except as provided in section 8.80.130(F), no citation for a violation of section 8.80.030 or section 8.80.110, whether criminal or administrative, shall be issued to any person unless, at the time in question, the enforcement officer, in his or her reasonable discretion, is able to make an affirmative determination that there is a sleeping space practically available to such person in a shelter, based on the information known to the enforcement officer at the time.
In determining whether a sleeping space in a shelter is practically available to a person, the enforcement officer shall consider the specific circumstances of the person and the specific policies and requirements of the shelter, including the following:
1. The means of transportation available to such person;
2. The distance between the homeless shelter and the location of the person;
3. The opening, closing, and check-in times of the homeless shelter;
4. Limitations on the amount of consecutive nights a person can stay at the shelter, or other similar requirements; and
ORDINANCE NO. 2024-009
5. Any other circumstance of the person, or any policy or requirement of the homeless shelter, known by the enforcement officer, that would make the shelter practically unavailable to the person, even if the shelter would be practically available to someone else.
A shelter shall not be considered to be practically available under this subsection if it requires a person to participate in religious activities as a condition of receiving a sleeping space.
F. Notwithstanding section 8.80.130(E), E. No person may obstruct any public or private right-of-way either with their person, or with their personal property, in a way that creates a risk to the health and safety of passersby, or significantly impedes pedestrian traffic, or interferesotherwise interfere with the use and enjoyment of public parks or, facilities., public rights of way or other public property. Upon notice by anany enforcement officer of the City, any such person shall immediately remove the obstruction. Failure to remove the obstruction shall be unlawful and shall constitute a public nuisance. Any personal property that is creating an obstruction as described in this subsection and is not removed following notice may be impounded as provided in this Chapter.
SECTION 4. Severability. If any section or provision of this Ordinance is for any reason held to be invalid, unconstitutional, illegal, or unenforceable by any court of competent jurisdiction, or contravened by reason of any preemptive legislation, then such section or provision shall be severed and shall be inoperative, and the remainder of this Ordinance shall remain in full force and effect.
SECTION 5. CEQA. The City Council finds that this Ordinance is not subject to the California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”) because the Ordinance does not qualify as a “project” under CEQA and because the Ordinance will not result in a direct or reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment. (State CEQA Guidelines, section 15060, subd. (c)(2), (3).) Section 15378 of the State CEQA Guidelines defines a project as the whole of an action, which could potentially result in either a direct physical change, or reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change, in the environment. Here, the Ordinance will not result in any construction or development, and it will not have any effect that would physically change the environment. The Ordinance therefore does not qualify as a project subject to CEQA.
SECTION 6. Effective Date. This Ordinance shall become effective thirty (30) days following its adoption.
APPROVED AND ADOPTED THIS 15TH DAY OF OCTOBER 2024.
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EUNICE ULLOA, MAYOR
ATTEST:
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NATALIE GONZAGA, CITY CLERK
ORDINANCE NO. 2024-009
State of California )
County of San Bernardino )
City of Chino )
I, Natalie Gonzaga, City Clerk of the City of Chino, do hereby certify that the forgoing Ordinance was duly adopted by the City Council at a meeting held on the 15th day of October 2024, by the following votes:
AYES: COUNCILMEMBERS:
NOES: COUNCILMEMBERS:
ABSTAIN: COUNCILMEMBERS:
ABSENT: COUNCILMEMBERS:
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NATALIE GONZAGA, CITY CLERK