Park, Boyd Park, and at the Falkirk Cultural Center, camping would be prohibited in a majority of City Parks. Given this, the lack of evidence of any individual camping in a City park, and the City Council's direction to staff to return to the City Council in Spring 2025 with an evaluation, the City Manager is prohibiting camping in all City Parks to preserve the current condition and to ensure the entire community, including individuals experiencing homelessness, still have the ability to utilize public parks during regular hours of operation which are sunrise to sunset, until this issue can be reviewed and considered by the City Council on April 7, 2025. The agenda packet for the City Council's April 7, 2025, meeting will be available by end of day on April 2, 2025, at the City's website: City Council Meetings - San Rafael
This Administrative Order adopts a temporary prohibition on camping in or on the camping in or on City parks as defined by San Rafael Municipal Code Section
19.20.020(1), in the City of San Rafael, from March 26, 2025 through May 22, 2025. The term of this Administrative Order coincides with the timeframe for an ordinance amending Chapter 19.50 of the San Rafael Municipal Code, which regulates camping on public properties, to become effective if the City Council decides to adopt an ordinance.
Similarly, the City Manager may extend or revoke this Administrative Order, via a subsequent Administrative Order, as may be required to be consistent with the direction provided by the City Council at its meeting on April 7, 2025. This Order is necessary to mitigate a substantial risk or risks to the public health, safety and welfare of the City's residents, businesses, visitors and/or property, and such prohibition is permissible under applicable law.
II. RECITALS
WHEREAS, the City of San Rafael has implemented a Sanctioned Camping Area as part of its comprehensive approach to address homelessness within the City; and WHEREAS, the Sanctioned Camping Area is located on City public property, is regulated in manner to mitigate public health and safety risks, and receives support services from the City, such as water and sanitation service; and WHEREAS, on February 24, 2025, Cal Fire released its updated Fire Hazard Severity Zones map, which designated the majority of City Park properties within Fire Hazard Severity Zones, and includes, but is not limited to Gerstle, Sun Valley, Peacock Gap, Victor Jones, Santa Margarita, Jerry Russom Memorial, and Terra Linda parks; and WHEREAS, camping in parks creates heightened fire risks due to the use of open flames for cooking and warmth, and the potential for improperly discarded smoking materials, particularly in areas with dry vegetation or brush that could easily ignite and lead to wildfires threatening both unhoused individuals and the surrounding community; and
WHEREAS, unregulated encampments typically lack the resources and facilities to safely manage fires, further increasing the associated risks; and
WHEREAS, recent fire incidents elsewhere in the state, such as the January 2025 fires in Southern California, with the Palisades Fire burning 23,707 acres and the Eaton Fire burning 14,021 acres, have heightened public awareness and sensitivity to these risks, and this prohibition is in alignment with the City's wildfire prevention efforts.; and WHEREAS, upon evaluating potential amendments to Chapter 19.50 to prohibit camping within Fire Hazard Severity Zones, staff determined that, when combined with existing camping prohibitions at Albert Park, Boyd Park, and the Falkirk Cultural Center/Menzies Lot, such amendments would effectively prohibit camping in a majority of City parks; and
WHEREAS, the City regularly patrols its parks and based on those patrols, finds that as of the date of this Administrative Order, there are no individuals camping in its parks, and thus no individuals would be displaced by this order; and WHEREAS, this Administrative Order adopts a temporary prohibition on camping in or on city parks as defined by San Rafael Municipal Code Section 19.20.020(1), in the City of San Rafael, from March 26, 2025 through May 22, 2025; and WHEREAS, this order preserves the current condition at City parks and ensures the entire community, including individuals experiencing homelessness, still have the ability to utilize public parks during regular hours of operation which are sunrise to sunset, WHEREAS, this Order is necessary to mitigate a substantial risk or risks to the public health, safety and welfare of the City's residents, businesses, visitors and/or property, and such prohibition is permissible under applicable law.
Ill. ORDER
NOW, THEREFORE, pursuant to authority vested under Section 19.50.030(8) of the San Rafael Municipal Code, the City Manager of the City of San Rafael hereby orders as follows:
1. No person shall camp, including in a tent, on the ground, or in a motor home or other vehicle, or use or store camp facilities or camp paraphernalia, as defined in the San Rafael Municipal Code, in or on city parks as defined by San Rafael Municipal Code Section 19.20.020(1)
2. The forgoing prohibition shall be effective immediately, from March 26, 2025 through May 22, 2025, unless extended by City Council action or the City Manager by subsequent administrative order.
3. This Order shall have no effect on the absolute prohibition of camping in or on Open Space under Section 19.10.060(4) and Section 19.50.030(A)(1) of the San Rafael Municipal Code.
4. City staff, including the San Rafael Police Department and Department of Public Works, shall have the authority to take all actions necessary to implement this order consistent with San Rafael Municipal Code Section 19.50.50.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the City Manager of the City of San Rafael has executed this Order as of the day, month and year below written.
CITY OF SAN RAFAEL: DATE:
I l
ATTEST:
City Clerk
LINDSAY LARA, City Clerk