TO: LINDA REICH, CITY MANAGER
FROM: WARREN MORELION, AICP, DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT SERVICES
SUBJECT
title
Introduction of Ordinance No. 2024-009 Amending Chapter 8.80 of the Chino Municipal Code to Address Changes in Law.
end
RECOMMENDATION
recommendation
Approve the introduction of Ordinance No. 2024-009 on first reading that will amend Chapter 8.80 (Health and Safety) of the City of Chino Municipal Code (CMC) to address changes in law brought about by the United States Supreme Court’s ruling in City of Grants Pass, Oregon v. Johnson, et al., to be read by number and title only, and waive further reading of the Ordinance.
body
FISCAL IMPACT
There is no fiscal impact. The cost to enforce the amended codes and provide staff training has been included in the annual Police Department budget for Fiscal Year 2024-2025.
CITY OF CHINO MISSION / VISION / VALUES / STRATEGIC ISSUES
The recommendation detailed above furthers the City’s values and strategic issues that serve as key pillars on which identified priorities, goals, and action plans are built, by fostering:
• Positive City Image
• Responsible Long-Range Planning
• Public Service Excellence through Internal and External Partnerships
|
Revenue: |
Expenditure: |
|
Transfer In: |
Transfer Out: |
BACKGROUND
The City of Chino 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.
The current version of CMC Chapter 8.80 (Health and Safety) was amended to conform to a now-overruled court ruling in Martin v. City of Boise (9th Cir. 2018) 902 F.3d 1031 (“Martin”). Martin and later cases expanding on it barred enforcement of the CMC’s provisions prohibiting public camping, overnight camping in vehicles, and public storage of personal property where individuals lacked available alternative shelter.
On June 28, 2024, the Supreme Court of the United States issued its ruling in City of Grants Pass, Oregon v. Johnson, et al. (2024) 144 S. Ct. 2202 (“Grants Pass”), which overruled Martin and the other rulings premised on the case. The City is now authorized to amend CMC Chapter 8.80 to conform to new law regarding sleeping, camping, and storing personal property in public parks and other public areas, as set forth in Grants Pass. Specifically, due to the change in the law, the City may amend the CMC to allow enforcement without available shelter, although the City is free to continue offering available shelter and a variety of other services it currently offers to homeless campers, which it can continue notwithstanding changes via this Ordinance.
The current version of Chapter 8.80 of the CMC, in line with the former law in Boise, restricts the City’s ability to maintain parks and other public areas within the City in a clean, sanitary, and accessible condition and to adequately protect the health, safety, and welfare of the public because it prevents the City from enforcing these provisions of the CMC unless the City first confirms a “practically available” shelter is available for homeless campers, following a list of factors that, in effect, significantly limited the types of shelter that could be determined to be “practically available.” This, in turn, further limited the City’s ability to enforce the CMC.
ISSUES/ANALYSIS
The following is a summary of proposed amendments to Chapter 8.80 (Health and Safety) of the CMC:
1) Amend Section 8.80.010 (Purpose) to conform this section to comply with Grants Pass and remove references to the now-overruled Boise case law.
2) Amend Section 8.80.130 (Enforcement) to remove language from this section that references the now-overruled Martin ruling will conform the CMC to the new Grants Pass ruling by removing the requirement on the City to determine if “practically available” alternative shelter is available prior to enforcement. Nonetheless, this change will not affect the City’s ability to continue offering available resources to homeless campers on public property in the City, such as shelter space, and a variety of other resources traditionally available to such campers. However, with this amendment, the City would have the ability restored, as in the years prior to Martin, to enforce the CMC without first confirming alternative shelter exists. These conditions were added as a result and requirement of Martin, which is no longer the law.
Attachment - Ordinance 2024-009