HomeMy WebLinkAbout6781 ORDINANCE NO. 6781
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF
AUBURN, WASHINGTON, RELATING TO CAMPING AND
OCCUPYING PUBLIC PROPERTY, AND AMENDING
CHAPTERS 2.22.210, 2.22.220, 9.50.020, 9.78.010,
12.32.020, 13.12.020, AND 13.48.170 AND ADDING A NEW
SECTION TO CHAPTER 9.50 OF THE AUBURN CITY
CODE
WHEREAS, Article XI, Section 11 of the Washington Constitution and RCW
35A.11.020 authorize the City of Auburn to regulate public property, including City parks,
rights of way, and public utility property; and
WHEREAS, camping on public property is a public health, safety, and risk concern
due to interference with other intended uses, such as daily government operations, public
events, recreational activities, utility service, and pedestrian, bicycle, and vehicular traffic;
and
WHEREAS, camping without adequate sanitation services, such as sewer, water,
and garbage removal presents a public health hazard due to the increased risk of disease
and virus transmission; and
WHEREAS, various public properties are developed for particular uses and should
be available to the public for the property's intended purpose, including City operations,
recreational use, transportation, utility service, public service events, environmental
protection, and other public services; and
WHEREAS, the City of Auburn has contracted to provide shelter beds, and
partners with social service providers to ensure that shelter and health services are
available in Auburn for those experiencing homelessness; and
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September 9, 2020
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WHEREAS, the use of dedicated shelters by those experiencing homelessness
facilitate these individuals receiving comprehensive services that may assist these
individuals obtain long-term stability; and
WHEREAS, City Council recognizes that within any law there are different
methods and philosophies in which it can be implemented and therefore finds that it is
important to provide clarity around the legislative intent of this ordinance; and
WHEREAS, the City Council is committed to a service first philosophy that ensures
members of our homeless community are treated with dignity and respect, and that city
staff implement administrative practices where housing, mental health, drug addiction,
employment, and other types of services are offered prior to punitive enforcement action;
and
WHEREAS, City Council seeks to ensure that the offering of services is not viewed
as a simple administrative checkbox that allows for an expedited method of implementing
the fines and penalties that are established in these amendments; and
WHEREAS, fines and penalties are to be imposed as a last resort and only in those
instances where a member of our community refuses to comply and refuses to accept
free shelter and/or free transportation to a free shelter; and
WHEREAS, City Council incorporates fines and penalties only because any law
that is adopted must include provisions for those rare instances where compliance is
unachievable in other ways; and
WHEREAS, the Ninth Circuit Federal Court of Appeals held, in Martin v. City of
Boise, that the United States Constitution prohibits imposition of criminal penalties for
sitting, sleeping, or lying outside on public property if the offenders cannot obtain shelter
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September 9, 2020
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elsewhere, although the court recognized that prohibitions against sitting, lying, or
sleeping outside at particular times or in particular locations may be permissible since
other public space would still be available.
NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF AUBURN,
WASHINGTON, DO ORDAIN as follows:
Section 1. Amendment to City Code. Section 2.22.210 of Chapter 2.22, Park
Code, of the Auburn City Code is amended to read as follows:
2.22.210 Overnight-use, Tents and shelters
Nothing in this section shall be construed to authorize overnight camping, which
is prohibited in parks pursuant to ACC 9.50.030It is unlawful to camp or set tents
eILethec--shelters overnight in any park, unles . -: . - . • - =" -- = .
Violation of this section constitutes Class 1 civil infraction pursuant to Chapter
7.80 RCW. (Ord. 6747 § 1 (Exh. A), 2019; Ord. 6465 § 1, 2013.)
Section 2. Amendment to City Code. Section 2.22.220 of Chapter 2.22, Park
Code, of the Auburn City Code is amended to read as follows:
2.22.220 Opening and closing hours.
A. Unless otherwise posted, parks shall open one-half hour before
sunrise and close one-half hour after sunset. Any person entering or remaining in
a park when it is closed is subject to arrest and prosecution for criminal trespass
a class 1 civil infraction pursuant to Chapter 7.80 RCW. No person shall enter
or remain in a park when it is closed.
B. The director may extend open hours for sanctioned events, but only that
portion of a park being used for the event will be open beyond normal hours;
other areas of such a park shall remain closed.
C. This section shall not apply to:
1. Police officers or park employees while on-duty.
2. Sidewalks that are within the right-of-way of a public street, when the street is
not within the boundaries of a park. (Ord. 6747 § 1 (Exh. A), 2019; Ord. 6465 § 1,
2013.)
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September 9, 2020
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Section 3. Amendment to City Code. Section 9.50.20 of Chapter 9.50,
Loitering, is amended to read as follows:
9.50.020 Order to disperse.
A. Unless the activity is permitted by the city pursuant to city code, lit is unlawful
for any person to - - - - -• - • - - -
1. Obstruct any public street, public highway, public sidewalk or any other public
place or building by hindering or impeding or tending to hinder or impede the free
and uninterrupted passage of vehicles, traffic or pedestrians;
2. Be on def--upon any public street, public highway, public sidewalk or
any other public place - - -• - - - - - - •••e -• • - - - - - •- • -
- - - -
•-• -•• _ -- _ . . • - - e 'e and intentionally obstruct the use of
property or access to any lawfully conducted business during the normal
operating hours of that business. . ,• - -- •- - - -- - - • - - - - -
ingress, egress and regress, therein, thereon and thereto.
B. When any person violates causes-o+- _•• ••• - - - •- -? •=. .=-
enumerated-in-subsection A of this section, a police officer or any law
enforcement officer mayshall order that person to stop the violating activity
_. . _ _ -_•• •• _ . -• -_ •_ _ •- and to move on or disperse. Any person
who fails or refuses to obey such orders is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable
by a maximum of 90 days in jail and/or a $1,000 fine.
(Ord. 5682 § 1, 2002.)
Section 4. New Section to City Code. A new section, 9.50.030 "Camping," is
added to Chapter 9.50 to read as follows:
NEW SECTION. 9.50.030 Camping
A. Camping Prohibited. It is unlawful for any person to camp, occupy camp
facilities or use camp paraphernalia on city property, except as set forth in
subsection C below:
B. Storage of Camping Items Prohibited. It is unlawful for any person to store
camp facilities and camp paraphernalia on city property, except as otherwise
provided by ordinance.
C. Exceptions The prohibitions contained in subsection A shall not apply if:
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1) the violation constitutes a trespass on park property under ACC 2.22.220; or.
2). the person is experiencing homelessness and there is no available overnight
shelter for persons experiencing homelessness on the date that the prohibited
activity occurs; or.
3). the person is camping or using camp paraphernalia or camp facilities at a
Game Farm Park Campground site after paying the required fees; or
4) the person is camping or using camp paraphernalia or camp facilities as
permitted under this subsection:
a. The director of the Parks, Arts, and Recreation department may permit
persons to camp, occupy camp facilities, use camp paraphernalia, or store
personal property in parks property as defined in 2.22 and as listed in the Park
Inventory portion of the Parks, Recreation & Open Space Plan, within the city's
Comprehensive Plan.
b. The director of the Parks, Arts, and Recreation Department may approve a
permit for camping on city park property if the director finds, based upon a permit
application and information otherwise obtained, that:
(1) Adequate sanitary facilities are provided and accessible at or near the camp
site.
(2) Adequate trash receptacles and trash collection will be provided;
(3) The camping activity will not unreasonably disturb or interfere with the peace,
comfort and repose of private property owners;
(4) The camping activity is not reasonably likely to cause injury to persons or
property, to provoke disorderly conduct or to create a disturbance; and
(5) The camping is in the public interest.
c. The Director of the Parks, Arts, and Recreation Department is authorized to
promulgate rules and regulations regarding the implementation and enforcement
of this chapter.
d. Seven days is the maximum period of time a permit may authorize camping on
city property.
e Any person denied a permit may appeal the denial to the Hearing Examiner in
the manner described in Chapter 2.46 and ACC 15.07.130 with the Director of
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September 9, 2020
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the Parks, Arts, and Recreation Department serving the role of the building or fire
official in that code.
D. Definitions. For this section, the following definitionsshall apply:
1. "Available overnight shelter" means
a. a public or private shelter located within the City of Auburn that offers
overnight shelter to persons experiencing homelessness and confirms to a City
employee that is has an available overnight space at no cost for that person; or
b. If no shelter described in subsection (a) has available space, a shelter located
within King or Pierce County that offers overnight shelter to persons experiencing
homelessness and confirms to a City employee that is has with an available
overnight space at no cost for that person and such shelter is also accessible by
public transportation at no cost or by vehicle for hire at no cost to the individual or
family experiencing homelessness.
2. An overnight shelter is unavailable if:
a. an individual or family cannot use available space because of restrictions on a
person's sex, familial or marital status, religious beliefs, disability, or length-of-
stay;-
b. a City employee, an individual or family attempts to secure a space at the
shelter for the day and is denied due to lack of available space; or,
c. an individual's past or present voluntary actions such as intoxication, drug
use, or unruly behavior prevent the use of an otherwise available shelter
space.
2. "City property" means all improved and unimproved real property owned or
leased by the City of Auburn, and all City of Auburn easements, including but not
limited to all portions of city parks, as defined in Chapter 2.22, city buildings,
rights of way, city parking lots, city airport property, wetlands, and city utility
facilities.
3. "Camp" or "camping" means to pitch, create, use, or occupy camp facilities for
the purposes of habitation, living accommodation, or dwelling, as evidenced by
the storage of personal belongings in 'camp facilities" or the use of"camp
paraphernalia."
4. "Camp facilities" include, but are not limited to, tents, tarps configured for
shelter, huts, and temporary shelters. "Camp facilities" does not include shelters
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September 9, 2020
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when used temporarily in a park for recreation or play, consistent with Chapter
2.22, during hours when the park is open to the public.
5. "Camp paraphernalia" includes, but is not limited to, tarpaulins, cots, beds,
sleeping bags, blankets, mattresses, hammocks, or non-city-designated cooking
facilities and similar equipment.
6. "Store" means to put aside or accumulate for use when needed, to put for
safekeeping, to place or leave in a location.
E. Penalty. When enforced, violation of this subsection is a class 1 civil
infraction pursuant to Chapter 7.80 RCW.
Section 5. Amendment to City Code. Section 9.78.010 of Chapter 9.78, Public
Disturbance, of the Auburn City Code is amended to read as follows:
9.78.010 Disorderly conduct.
A. A person is guilty of disorderly conduct if they:
1. Fights or encourages others to fight in any public place within the city;
2. Intentionally create the risk of an assault by wWillfully annoyings, molests,
botherings, insultings, or offerings an affront to another person-and-thereby
• - - _ _ _ -_ - •- .sk of assault;
3. Willfully breaks, impairs, injures or defaces any building, fence, awning,
window, sign, signboard, tree, shrub, or other thing of value being the property of
another;
4. Intentionally obstructs vehicular or pedestrian travel or traffic without lawful
authority;
5. Removes, interferes with, carryies away or destroys the property of another,
or tears down, destroys or mutilates any notice or handbill lawfully posted in the
city;
6. Intentionally disrupts any lawful assembly or meeting of persons without lawful
authority;
7. Looks into the windows of the residence of another without a lawful right to do
so;
8. Urinates or defecates in any place open to the public view, other than in a
restroom or toilet facility; or
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September 9, 2020
Page 7 of 11 Rev.2019
9. Intentionally engage:: in conduct that tends to, or is reasonably likely to,
disturb the peace, promote disorder or endanger the safety of others.
B. Disorderly conduct is a misdemeanor punishable by a maximum penalty of 90
days in jail and/or a $1,000 fine. (Ord. 6503 § 1, 2014; Ord. 5682 § 1, 2002.)
Section 6. Amendment to City Code. Section 12.32.020 of Chapter 12.32,
Sidewalk Obstructions, of the Auburn City Code is amended to read as follows:
12.32.020 Unlawful sidewalk obstructions.Rr-ehibitions.
It is unlawful for any person, firm or corporation, or for any agent,
representative, servant or employee thereof, to deposit, place, erect or maintain,
or cause to be deposited, placed, erected or maintained, upon any sidewalk
located in any public street, alley or place of the city, or upon any portion of such
sidewalk, any bench, chair, rack, stand, structure, sign, merchandise or other
object, except as approved by the city engineer, or to place, erect or maintain, or
cause to be placed, erected or maintained, over such sidewalk, or over any
portion of such sidewalk, any structure, sign or other object at such height or in
such manner as to prevent or interfere with the free and unobstructed use of all
of such sidewalk by pedestrians. Violation of this section is a civil infraction.
subject to a maximum penalty of $250. (Ord. 6532 § 16, 2014; 1957 code §
8.18.020.)
Section 7. Amendment to City Code. Section 13.12.020 of Chapter 13.12,
Protection of Water Supply, of the Auburn City Code is amended to read as follows:
13.12.020 Water division facilities —Damaging or Ttrespassing on-or
interfering with prohibited.
A No person may damage, tamper with, or disturb any municipal water system
or water facility including, but not limited to:
1. intake structures, gatehouses, well buildings, treatment facilities, water storage
tanks, underground vaults, pump stations, or watershed properties;;
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September 9, 2020
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2. any fences, gates or locks enclosing -such facilities or systems, and
3. any land or premises containing such facilities or system, whether enclosed or
not.
Violation of this subsection (A) is a misdemeanor punishable by a maximum
penalty of 90 days in jail and/or a $1,000 fine.
B. No person may trespass or be upon the public lands and premises that
contain water facilities or municipal water systems. Violation of this subsection
(B) is an infraction subject to a maximum penalty of $250. (Ord. 5851 § 1, 2004;
1957 code § 10.12.020.)
Section 8. Amendment to City Code. Section 13.48.170 of Title 13.48, Storm
Drainage Utility, of the Auburn City Code is amended to read as follows:
13.48.170 Trespassing on public storm drainage facility prohibited.
Unless authorized by the City, fit is unlawful for any person to trespass or
to be upon the public lands or and-premises where- •- - - - - -:,
upon which any public storm drainage facility is situated,
bathe city. Any person who enters or remains upon any such land or premises in
violation of
(1) any posted no trespassing siqnage at the location; or
(2) any orders to vacate the land or premises given by a police officer, city
official, or city employee shall be guilty of an infraction subject to a maximum
penalty of $250.
(Ord. 5853 § 1, 2004; Ord. 5212 § 1 (Exh. J), 1999; Ord. 4492 § 4, 1991.)
Section 9. Amendment to City Code. Section 13.20.100 of Chapter 13.20,
Sewer, of the Auburn City Code is amended to read as follows:
13.20.100 Trespassing on and dOisturbing public sewer and streets
A No unauthorized person shall uncover, make any connection with or
opening into, use, alter or disturb any public sewer. No unauthorized person shall
open, alter or disturb the streets or alleys or other public ways or easements of the
city for the purposes of making connection with the public sewer system or
repairing and maintaining a side sewer located within the public right-of-way or
easement.
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September 9, 2020
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B. No person may damage, tamper with, or disturb any public sewer system
or sewer facility, including, but not limited to:
1. wastewater pipes, manholes, pump stations and their appurtenant
facilities, cleanouts, sewer meters, and pumps,
2. any fences, gates or locks enclosing such facilities or systems, and
3. any land or premises containing such facilities or system, whether
enclosed or not.
Violation of this subsection (B) is a misdemeanor punishable by a maximum
penalty of 90 days in jail and/or a $1,000 fine.
C. Unless authorized by the City, no person may trespass or be upon
public lands and premises that contain sewer facilities. Any person who enters
or remains upon any such public land or premises in violation of
(1) any posted no trespassing signage at the location; or
(2) any orders to vacate the land or premises given by a police officer, city
official, or city employee shall be guilty of an infraction subject to a maximum
penalty of$250. (Ord. 5852 § 1, 2004; Ord. 5381 § 1, 2000; Ord. 5212 § 1 (Exh.
I), 1999; Ord. 4241 § 2, 1987.)
Section 10. Restriction on Burdening Shelters or Encampments Hosted by
Religious Organizations. This ordinance is intended to be interpreted consistent with
RCW 35A.21.360 and shall be enforced according to the provisions of that state statute.
Section 11. Implementation. The Mayor is authorized to implement those
administrative procedures necessary to carry out the directives of this legislation.
Section 12. Severability. The provisions of this ordinance are declared to be
separate and severable. The invalidity of any clause, sentence, paragraph, subdivision,
section, or portion of this ordinance, or the invalidity of the application of it to any person
or circumstance, will not affect the validity of the remainder of this ordinance, or the validity
of its application to other persons or circumstances.
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September 9, 2020
Page 10 of 11 Rev 2019
Section 13. Effective date. This Ordinance will take effect and be in force five
days from and after its passage, approval, and publication as provided by law.
INTRODUCED: SEP 0 8 2020
PASSED: SEP 0 8 2020
APPROVED: SEP 0 8 202U
ANC CKUS, MAYOR
ATTEST: APPROVED AS TO FORM:
UMILL—
Shawn Campbell, MMC, City Clerk Kendra Comeau, City Attorney
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September 9, 2020
Page 11 of 11 Rev.2019