DAWN A. MCINTOSH
City Attorney
OFFICE OF THE CITY ATTORNEY
411 W. Ocean Boulevard, 9th Floor
Long Beach, CA 90802
Writer's Direct Dial: (562) 570-2200
Facsimile: (562) 436-1579
E-Mail: @longbeach.gov
March 21, 2023
HONORABLE MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL
City of Long Beach
California
RECOMMENDATION:
ORD-35
GARY J. ANDERSON
Assistant City Attorney
Declare an Ordinance of the City Council of the City of Long Beach amending the Long Beach Municipal Code by adding Chapter 9.28 relating to targeted residential picketing; read the first time and laid over to the next regular meeting of the City Council for final reading. (Citywide)
DISCUSSION
Pursuant to City Council's request, we have prepared the attached Ordinance adding Chapter 9.28 to the Long Beach Municipal Code.
SUGGESTED ACTION:
Approve recommendation.
AL:kd
ATTACHMENT: CITY COUNCIL ORDINANCE
Respectfully submitted,
DAWN MCINTOSH, City Attorney
~
By: Anita Lakhani
Deputy City Attorney
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ORDINANCE NO.
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE
CITY OF LONG BEACH AMENDING THE LONG BEACH
MUNICIPAL CODE BY ADDING CHAPTER 9.28 RELATING
TO TARGETED RESIDENTIAL PICKETING
WHEREAS, Section VII of Article XI of the California Constitution provides that a city may make and enforce within its limits all local, police, sanitary, and other ordinances and regulations not in conflict with general laws; and WHEREAS, demonstrators and protestors have a right, protected by the First Amendment of the United States Constitution, to express their views and to convey their message to both a general audience and a particularly targeted audience; and WHEREAS, demonstrations and protests that are targeted at a particular residence or household whose occupants do not welcome such activity may harass and intimidate such occupants; and
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19 WHEREAS, this particular form of expression inherently and offensively intrudes on residential privacy, disturbs the tranquility of the community members living in the targeted residence, threatens their privacy, and can cause them to suffer significant 20 distress in their own homes; and
21 WHEREAS, the City must balance the rights of residents and demonstrators 22 to ensure that both groups' rights are respected and fulfilled; and 23 WHEREAS, in Carey v. Brown (1980) 447 US 455, the United States 24 Supreme Court confirmed that the government's protection of the "well-being, tranqu'ility, 25 and privacy of the home is certainly of the highest order in a free and civilized society" and 26 that preserving "the sanctity of the home, the one retreat to which men and women can 27 repair to escape from the tribulations of their daily pursuits, is surely an important value"; 28 and
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WHEREAS, in Frisby v. Schultz (1988) 487 US 474, the United States Supreme Court concluded that "[t]here simply is no right to force speech into the home of an unwilling listener" and that the "devastating effect of targeted picketing on the quiet enjoyment of the home is beyond doubt"; and
WHEREAS, in order to safeguard both groups' rights, the City must ensure that targeted picketing may occur within the community but that such picketing does not force residents to become captive audiences to unwanted speech within their own homes; and
WHEREAS, establishing a distance which must be maintained between residential dwellings and demonstrators targeting those dwellings will serve both those ends; and
WHEREAS, in City of San Jose v. Superior Court of Santa Clara County (1995) 35 Cal.App.4th 330, the Court of Appeal for the 6th District, upheld an ordinance of the City of San Jose prohibiting targeted residential picketing within three hundred feet (300') of the targeted residential dwelling; and
WHEREAS, this ordinance is not intended to be applied, construed, or given effect in a manner that precludes or restricts the expression of views in a residential neighborhood through picketing or demonstrations which do not target particular residential residences or occupants therein; and
WHEREAS, the distance restriction for targeted picketing proposed within this ordinance preserves ample alternative channels of communication for protesters and demonstrators to disseminate their message(s) and/or idea(s); and WHEREAS, this ordinance is a necessary time, place, and manner restriction, intended to reconcile and protect the needs and rights of protesters to peacefully and effectively communicate their views, and residents to enjoy privacy and respite in their homes;
27 NOW, THEREFORE, the City Council of the City of Long Beach ordains as 28 follows:
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1 Section 1. Chapter 9.28 is hereby added to the Long Beach Municipal 2 Code to read as follows:
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27 28 Ill
9.28.010
CHAPTER 9.28
TARGETED RESIDENTIAL PICKETING
Definitions.
For purposes of this Chapte·r, the following definitions shall apply:
A. "Residential dwelling" shall mean any permanent building situated in the City of Long Beach that is used by one or more occupants primarily for non-transient residential purposes.
B. "Targeted picketing" shall mean marching and/or picketing activity that is directed at a particular residential dwelling and occurs in front of the residential dwelling and/or which proceeds on a definite course or route in front of or around that particular dwelling.
9.28.020
A.
Prohibition on targeted residential picketing.
No person shall engage in targeted picketing that is within three hundred feet (300') of a residential dwelling.
For purposes of this Section, the distance shall be measured from the outer walls of the residential structure. An attached garage shall be considered part of the residential structure.
B. This Chapter does not and shall not be interpreted to preclude picketing in a residential area that is not targeted at a particular residential dwelling or dwellings.
C. Enforcement of this Section shall be limited to those situations where the picketing is targeted at the residential dwelling. 3 Alkd A21-04568 (3.7.23)
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9.28.030
A.
Penalty.
Any person violating any of the provisions of this Chapter shall be guilty of a misdemeanor or infraction, as set forth in Long Beach Municipal Code Section 1.32.010.
9.28.040
A.
Private right of action.
Any person who is aggrieved by an act prohibited by this Chapter may bring an action for damages and/or declaratory relief, as appropriate, in a court of a competent jurisdiction against any person who violates this Chapter.
B. Any aggrieved person who prevails in such action shall be entitled to recover from the violator those damages, costs, attorneys' fees and such other relief as determined by the Court. In addition to all other damages or relief, the Court may award to the aggrieved person a civil penalty of up to one thousand dollars for each violation of this Chapter.
C. The remedies provided by this Chapter are in addition to any other legal or equitable remedies the aggrieved person may have and are not intended to be exclusive.
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28 Section 2. The City Clerk shall certify to the passage of this ordinance by the City Council and cause it to be posted in three (3) conspicuous places in the City of Long Beach, and it shall take effect on the thirty-first (31st) day after it is approved by the Mayor.
I hereby certify that the foregoing ordinance was adopted by the City Council of the City of Long Beach at its meeting of __________ , 2023, by the following vote:
Ayes: Council members:
Noes: Councilmembers:
Absent: Councilmembers:
Recusal(s): Councilmembers:
City Clerk
Approved:
(Date) Mayor
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