URGENCY ORDINANCE NO. 1938
AN URGENCY ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FONTANA, CALIFORNIA IN ACCORDANCE WITH GOVERNMENT CODE SECTIONS 36934 AND 36937(B) ENACTING A PROHIBITION ON TARGETED RESIDENTIAL PICKETING WHEREAS, the City of Fontana, California (“City”) is a municipal corporation, duly organized under the constitution and laws of the State of California; and WHEREAS, Government Code sections 36934 and 36937(b) allows for the legislative body of a city to pass an urgency ordinance immediately upon introduction when the ordinance is for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health or safety; and WHEREAS, the City acknowledges that the act of picketing at, near, on or about a particular residence whose occupants do not welcome such activity is an invasion of residential privacy for its occupants; and WHEREAS, the City acknowledges that if picketers are positioned at, near, on or about a targeted residence, it becomes impossible for the occupants to access or leave their homes without having to confront picketers; and WHEREAS, the City acknowledges that act of picketing at, near, on or about a particular residence whose occupants do not welcome such activity instills feelings of captivity, fear and intimidation in the target occupants; and WHEREAS, the City desires to establish a clear and precise buffer zone between picketers and a targeted residence so as to preserve Fontana residents’ right to privacy and prevent siege upon target residents while providing a space for picketing.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the City Council of the City of Fontana, California, as follows:
Section 1. Recitals. The recitals above are true, correct and each incorporated herein by reference and adopted as findings by the Fontana City Council (“City Council”).
Section 2. California Environmental Quality Act. The City finds that this Ordinance is not subject to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to Sections 15060(c)(2) (the activity will not result in a direct or reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment) and 15060(c)(3) (the activity is not a project as defined in Section 15378) of the CEQA Guidelines, California Code of Regulations, Title 14, Chapter 3, because it has no potential for resulting in physical change to the environment, directly or indirectly; it prevents changes in the environment pending the completion of zoning code revisions and related impact studies.
Section 3. Residential Picketing. Chapter 16 of the Fontana Municipal Code shall be amended to include Article VI, section 16-149, and shall prescribe the following:
Article VI. Residential Picketing.
16-149. For the purposes of this section, the following meanings shall apply:
The term “residential dwelling” means any permanent building being used by one or more occupants solely for non-transient residential uses.
The term “targeted” means picketing activity that is targeted at a particular residential dwelling and proceeds in front of or on a definite course or route around that particular residential dwelling. 16-150. Prohibition on targeted residential picketing.
No person shall engage in picketing activity that is targeted at and is within 300 feet of the property line of a residential dwelling.
This section shall not be interpreted to preclude picketing or general marching in or through a residential area that is not targeted at a particular residential dwelling. 16-151. Penalty.
Any person violating the provisions of this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, punishable by a fine not to exceed $1,000 and/or shall be sentenced to imprisonment in the county jail for a period not to exceed six months.
The remedies provided by this section are in addition to any other legal or equitable remedies any person may have and are not intended to be exclusive.
Section 4. Urgency Clause. The City Council finds and declares that this Ordinance is required for the immediate protection of the public peace, health and safety of the residents of the City of Fontana. More recently, demonstrators have picketed the homes of residents, and in some instances, threatened intimidation. More recently, the threat of intimidation and violence directed at resident occupants has become more concrete and imminent. For this reason, this Ordinance shall become effective upon publication.
Section 5. Custodian of Records. The Custodian of Records for this Ordinance is the City Clerk and the records compromising the administrative record for this Ordinance are located at 8353 Sierra Avenue, Fontana, California 92335.
Section 6. Severability. Should any provision of this Ordinance, or its application to any person or circumstance, be determined by a court of competent jurisdiction to be unlawful, unenforceable or otherwise void, that determination shall have no effect on any other provision of this Ordinance or the application of this Ordinance to any other person or circumstance and, to that end, the provisions hereof are severable.
Section 7. Effective Date. This Ordinance, passed by at least a four-fifths vote of the City Council, is declared to be an urgency Ordinance for preserving the public health, safety and welfare, and shall take effect and be enforced immediately upon adoption.
APPROVED AND ADOPTED this 12th day of December, 2023.
READ AND APPROVED AS TO LEGAL FORM:
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City Attorney
I, Germaine Key, City Clerk of the City of Fontana, and Ex-Officio Clerk of the City Council, do hereby certify that the foregoing Ordinance is the actual Ordinance adopted by the City Council and was introduced at a regular meeting on the 12th day of December, 2023, by the following vote to wit:
AYES:
NOES:
ABSENT:
ABSTAIN:
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City Clerk of the City of Fontana
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Mayor of the City of Fontana
ATTEST:
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City Clerk