City Council Agenda Report
TO: Mayor Clauzel and Members of the City Council
FROM: Fernando Ulloa, Interim City Manager
BY: Nubia Goldstein, City Attorney
MEETING DATE: December 3, 2024
ITEM NO: 8.3
SUBJECT: Approve First Reading and Introduction of Ordinance No. 880, Reading by Title Only, Waiving Further Reading, an Ordinance of the City Council of the City of Patterson, Adding Chapter 9.54, Protection of Critical Infrastructure, To Title 9, Public Peace, Morals and Welfare, of the Patterson Municipal Code.
RECOMMENDATION
Motion to Approve First Reading and Introduction of Ordinance No. 880, Reading by Title Only, Waiving Further Reading, an Ordinance of the City Council of the City of Patterson, Adding Chapter 9.54, Protection of Critical Infrastructure, To Title 9, Public Peace, Morals and Welfare, of the Patterson Municipal Code.
BACKGROUND
In recent years, there has been an increase of unpermitted camping activity within City limits.
These types of encampments attract illegal dumping, rodents, fire hazards, and contamination of the surrounding areas, which pose an immediate threat to the health, safety, and welfare of the public, including encampment occupants. Encampments around critical infrastructure pose a threat to City law enforcement, fire prevention, transportation, and utility services due to the risk of fire, contamination, blocked access or other causes that damage critical infrastructure. To protect public health, safety and welfare, the City must manage encampments and prevent camping, the use of camping paraphernalia, and storage of personal property near critical infrastructure.
ANALYSIS
The Ordinance will address the threat to public health, safety and welfare posed by encampments near critical infrastructure. The Ordinance will declare it a public nuisance for any person to camp, occupy camp facilities, use camp paraphernalia, or store personal property within twentyfive (25) feet of critical infrastructure, within twenty-five (25) feet of a vehicular or pedestrian entrance or exit of critical infrastructure, in portions of right-of-way that are required by law to be free of obstructions to first responders, and in areas designated as fire severity zones. The Ordinance does not apply to camping on private property if authorized by the private property’s owner and otherwise permitted by the Patterson Municipal Code. Violations of the Ordinance will be subject to abatement after forty-eight (48) hours’ written notice. If conditions and violations are so severe that immediate action is required to prevent serious threat of harm, the City can pursue summary abatement without prior notice. Further, violations of the Ordinance will be subject to criminal, civil, and administrative penalties, in addition to any other legally available remedies.
When the City abates encampments by collecting personal property of the encampment’s occupants, the United States Constitution’s Due Process Clause requires that the City take reasonable steps to give notice to the property owner. The Ordinance complies with the United States Constitution’s Due Process Clause by providing encampment occupants forty-eight (48) hours’ written notice prior to abatement.
Previously, ordinances that prohibited camping in public places were unenforceable against homeless individuals under the Martin v. City of Boise (“Martin”) decision when there was no practical alternative shelter available. Ordinances prohibiting camping in public places at particular times or in particular locations, however, were still enforceable. Therefore, even under Martin, the Ordinance was likely to survive any legal challenge since the Ordinance only prohibits camping in specified locations. Further, the United States Supreme Court recently overturned Martin in Grants Pass v. Johnson (“Grants Pass”) further reducing the likelihood of any legal challenges to ordinances such as the proposed Ordinance that is limited to specific locations within the City.
In Grants Pass, the ordinance at issue prohibited camping on public property with initial violations triggering a fine, multiple violations subjecting an individual to an exclusion order, and violations of an exclusion order constituting criminal trespass resulting in imprisonment. In overruling Martin, the Supreme Court determined that enforcement of the ordinance in Grants Pass did not violate the Eighth Amendment’s protections from cruel and unusual punishment.
The Ordinance here makes it a misdemeanor to violate the Ordinance’s prohibitions against camping, the use of camping paraphernalia, and storage of personal property near critical infrastructure. Violations are subject to escalating fines, imprisonment of not more than six months, or both. In light of Grants Pass, the Ordinance’s penalties are likely to withstand any Eighth Amendment legal challenges.
FISCAL IMPACT
The City will bear the cost of enforcing the Ordinance. The Ordinance authorizes the City to recover the cost of abatement. Practically, however, the recovery of abatement cost can be difficult.
OPTIONS
1. Motion to waive first reading, read by title only, and introduce the proposed Ordinance No. 880;
2. The City Council may continue introduction of the proposed Ordinance No. 880 to a later City Council meeting, with direction to staff to provide changes; or
3. Reject the proposed Ordinance No. 880.