Blythe Municipal Code Ch. 12.32 Camping and Storage of Personal Property on Public Property Prohibited

The public parks, public streets and alleys, public parking lots, public rights-of-way, parkways, public sidewalks, and other publicly owned or controlled property within the city should be readily accessible and available to residents, businesses, and the public at large for their intended purposes. The use of these public areas for camping purposes and/or for the storage of personal property interferes with the rights of others to use and enjoy these public areas as they are intended. Such activity can constitute a public health and safety hazard which adversely impacts neighborhoods and commercial areas. The purpose of this chapter is to maintain these public areas within the city in a clean, sanitary, safe and accessible condition, to adequately protect the health, safety, environment and general welfare of the community, and to ensure that these public areas are used for their intended purposes and remain accessible to all citizens, businesses and visitors in the city. Nothing in this chapter is intended to interfere with otherwise lawful and ordinary uses of public property.

(Ord. No. 936, § 2, 3-11-25)

The following words, terms and phrases when used in this chapter shall have the meanings ascribed to them in this section, except where the context clearly indicates a different meaning:

A. "Abandoned personal property" means personal property that by its condition of damage, deterioration, disrepair, non-use, obsolescence or location causes any reasonable person to conclude that the owner has permanently relinquished all right, title, claim and possession thereto.

B. "Attended" means a person is present with the personal property and the person claims ownership over the personal property.

C. "Camp" or "camping" means to pitch, erect or occupy camp facilities and/or to use camp paraphernalia for the purpose of, or in a way that facilitates outdoor sheltering for, living accommodation purposes, as evidenced by: (a) remaining for prolonged or repetitious periods of time, not associated with ordinary recreational use of the public property, with one's personal property; and (b) engaging in one or more of the following activities: sleeping, storing personal property, making a fire outside of a designated fire pit, or cooking meals. The combined activities of (a) and (b) herein constitute camping when it reasonably appears in light of all of the circumstances that a person is using the public property as a living accommodation.

D. "Camp facility" or "camp facilities" means any, or any combination of, the following: tent, hut, or other temporary structure or shelter, cot, bed, or hammock.

E. "Camp paraphernalia" means items that facilitate living outside including items that are used for: sleeping, such as sleeping bags, sleeping pads, blankets, pillows, bedrolls, or other similar bedding; cooking, such as camp stoves, pots, pans, or other cooking equipment; storage, such as backpacks, luggage, or coolers; sitting, such as movable chairs; and lighting, such as headlamps, flashlights, or lanterns.

F. "City" means the City of Blythe.

G. "Encampment" means one or more temporary, makeshift, or hand-built structures not intended for long-term continuous occupancy, including tents, that are used to shelter one or more persons or their belongings and that are not authorized by the property owner. Encampment includes any camp paraphernalia and personal property associated with or located in or around the structures or tents.

H. "Open space" means any undeveloped public property either primarily in its natural state, including canyons, bluffs, and unimproved waterways, or that is held out by the city or used by the public for passive recreational purposes, conservation, habitat preservation, or that maintains or enhances the conservation of natural or scenic resources.

I. "Parkway" means the area of the street between the back of the curb and the sidewalk that typically is planted and landscaped.

J. "Personal property" means any and all tangible property, and includes, but is not limited to, goods, materials, merchandise, tents, tarpaulins, bedding, sleeping bags, hammocks, and personal items such as luggage, backpacks, clothing, and household items.

K. "Public property" means and includes the public right-of-way, and any property that is owned, controlled, managed, or maintained by the city or by any other government agency or district or by a public or private utility. Public property includes, but is not limited to, any street, alley, sidewalk, right-of-way, parkway, park, building, grounds, lot, parcel, plaza, parking lot, open space, waterway, and bank of a waterway.

L. "Sidewalk" means that portion of the public right-of-way provided for the primary use of pedestrians along or adjacent to a street.

M. "Store or "storing" means to put aside or accumulate for use when needed, to put for safekeeping, and/or to place or leave in a location; which does not include any personal property that clearly has been abandoned or discarded and which clearly has no value.

N. "Tent" means any tarp, hut, cover, enclosure, structure or shelter, made of any material that is not open on all sides and which hinders an unobstructed view behind or into the area surrounded by the tarp, hut, cover, enclosure, structure or shelter.

O. "Unattended" means no person is present with the personal property who asserts or claims ownership over the personal property.

P. "Waterway" means any river, riverbed, arroyo, creek, canal, or channel in the city, including, but not limited to, the Colorado River.

(Ord. No. 936, § 2, 3-11-25)

A. It is unlawful for any person to camp, maintain and/or occupy camp facilities, and/or use camp paraphernalia in or upon any public property, except on any public property designated by the city for such purposes. The city council may, by resolution or ordinance, designate one or more specified areas of public property for such purposes.

B. No person may sleep on any public sidewalk, street, alleyway, median, parkway or right-of-way, or in any pedestrian or vehicular entrance to public or private property abutting a public sidewalk, at any time.

(Ord. No. 936, § 2, 3-11-25)

A. It is unlawful for any person to do any of the following:

1. build or erect a structure of any type along the banks of any waterway, or drive a nail or other object into any tree or other natural area vegetation for the purpose of building an encampment or any other structure, or to affix an object to any tree or other natural vegetation;

2. move boulders or large rocks, destroy vegetation, paved roads or paths created by the city, or otherwise reconfigure the natural landscape in the waters of or along the banks of a waterway;

3. discharge or store waste, including garbage, refuse, or human or animal waste, along the banks or into the waters of a waterway.

B. Nothing in this section is intended to prohibit the activities of an owner of private property or other lawful user of private property that are normally associated with and incidental to the lawful and authorized use of private property; and nothing is intended to prohibit the activities of a lawful user if such activities are expressly authorized by the city manager or by any law, regulation, permit, order or other directive from a regulatory authority.

(Ord. No. 936, § 2, 3-11-25)

A. It is unlawful for any person to store personal property, including camp facilities and camp paraphernalia, on any public property, except as approved in writing by the city manager or the public works director. Personal property stored on public property in violation of this section may be impounded pursuant to the provisions of this chapter.

B. Any personal property left in any city park at the time the park is closed to the public, whether or not the personal property is unattended, shall be immediately impounded in accordance with the provisions of this chapter.

(Ord. No. 936, § 2, 3-11-25)

The city manager, police chief, or their designees may remove personal property, camping paraphernalia, camping facilities, and all other property, contraband, litter, and waste found at an encampment, at a location where a person is engaged in unlawful camping, or at a location where personal property is stored on public property in violation of this chapter in accordance with the procedures set forth below.

A. Pre-removal notice. Prior to removing the property, written notice that the property is subject to removal shall be provided to the person who is storing or claiming ownership of the personal property or shall be posted conspicuously on or near the personal property. The written notice shall be provided at least seventy-two hours prior to removal of the personal property.

B. Post-removal notice. If the personal property is not removed within seventy-two hours following the written notice, the city manager, police chief, or their designees may remove the personal property on the date specified in the written notice or any date thereafter. Upon removal of stored personal property, written notice of the removal shall be posted in the area from which the personal property was removed.

C. Exceptions. Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions, the city may remove and immediately impound personal property, attended or unattended, without pre-removal notice, in the following circumstances:

1. If personal property is stored on public property in such a manner that it does not allow for passage as required by the Americans with Disabilities Act.

2. If personal property is stored on public property within ten feet of any operational and usable entrance, exit, driveway, or loading dock.

3. If personal property is stored on or within ten feet of public property that has a clearly posted closure time after the posted closure time.

4. If the personal property is obstructing city operations.

5. If the personal property poses an immediate threat to the health or safety of the public.

If the city removes personal property pursuant to this subsection, the city shall provide post-removal notice in accordance with subsection B of this section.

(Ord. No. 936, § 2, 3-11-25)

A. Except as otherwise specified in this chapter, the city shall move impounded personal property to a safe place of storage.

B. The city shall deposit found money with the finance director for a period of ninety days, unless sooner claimed by the true owner.

C. Except as otherwise specified in this chapter, the city shall store impounded personal property for ninety days, after which time, if not claimed, it may be disposed of in accordance with this chapter.

D. Notwithstanding any provisions of this chapter to the contrary, the city may immediately dispose of the following categories of personal property, without notice:

1. Hazardous items, including items contaminated with human waste or bodily fluid, soiled items likely to expose others to disease, animal waste, or bugs, explosives, weapons, liquids, drug paraphernalia, or mold.

2. Items likely to become hazardous in storage, including perishables, wet materials that might become moldy, and items covered in mud.

3. Perishable items.

4. Contraband or stolen items.

5. Items that constitute an immediate threat to the public health or safety.

E. The city shall maintain a record of the date any impounded personal property was disposed of and the manner of disposal.

(Ord. No. 936, § 2, 3-11-25)

Enforcement personnel may remove and immediately dispose of any abandoned personal property located on public property without complying with requirements of this chapter relating to pre-removal notice, post-removal notice, storage, and disposition of personal property.

(Ord. No. 936, § 2, 3-11-25)

During the time that any impounded personal property is held by the city, it may be delivered or paid to the true owner as follows:

A. The owner of impounded property may claim the personal property prior to its disposal upon submitting satisfactory proof of ownership to the chief of police. A person may establish satisfactory proof of ownership by, among other methods, describing the location from and date when the personal property was impounded from public property and providing a reasonably specific and detailed description of the personal property.

B. If the personal property consists of money, the finance director shall pay the money to the true owner upon written notice from the chief of police. The chief of police shall provide such notice upon receipt of satisfactory proof of ownership as detailed in subsection A of this section.

C. If ownership cannot be determined to the satisfaction of the chief of police, or if multiple individuals have asserted a claim of ownership to the personal property, the chief of police may refuse to deliver the personal property or provide written notice to the finance director regarding payment of money to anyone until ordered to do so by a court of competent jurisdiction.

D. The city may charge the true owner a fee as established by resolution of the city council to defray the costs of storage and care of the personal property prior to returning the personal property to the owner.

(Ord. No. 936, § 2, 3-11-25)

A. In accordance with California Civil Code Section 2080.3, if the reported value of the personal property is two hundred fifty dollars or more, and the owner does not appear and prove his or her ownership of the personal property within ninety days, the chief of police shall cause notice of the personal property to be published once in a newspaper of general circulation. If, after seven days following the publication of the notice, no owner appears and proves his or her ownership of the personal property and the person who found or saved the personal property pays the cost of publication, title to the personal property shall vest in the person who found or saved the personal property, unless the personal property was found in the course of employment by an employee of the city, in which case the personal property shall be sold at auction as provided in Section 12.32.120. Title to the property shall not vest in the person who found or saved the property or in the successful bidder at the public auction unless the cost of publication is first paid to the city.

B. In accordance with California Civil Code Section 2080.3, if the reported value of the personal property is less than two hundred fifty dollars and no owner appears to prove his or her ownership of the personal property within ninety days, the title of the personal property shall vest in the person who found or saved the personal property, unless the personal property was found in the course of employment by an employee of the city, in which case the personal property shall be sold at auction as provided in Section 12.32.120. Notwithstanding the foregoing, if the city manager determines that the personal property has no commercial value, the city manager may authorize the disposal of such personal property in such a manner as the city manager deems appropriate.

C. The finder of the personal property shall have seven days following notice from the city that title to the personal property has vested in him or her to claim the personal property, after which it may be appropriated to city use, sold at public auction, or deposited in the general fund as provided herein.

D. This section is intended to comply with the requirements of California Civil Code Section 2080.3. In the event of any inconsistency between the requirements of California Civil Code Section 2080.3 and this section, the requirements of California Civil Code Section 2080.3 shall control.

(Ord. No. 936, § 2, 3-11-25)

A. If personal property is not claimed by the true owner within ninety days, and not claimed by the finder within seven days following notice from the city regarding title vesting in the finder, the city may appropriate the personal property to the use of the city upon a written finding from the city manager that the personal property is needed for a public use, or the city may sell the personal property at a public auction to the highest bidder.

B. All money not delivered to the true owner or finder during the time periods set forth in this chapter shall be deposited into the general fund.

(Ord. No. 936, § 2, 3-11-25)

A. Notice of sale at auction of unclaimed personal property shall be given by the city clerk at the request of the chief of police at least five days before the time fixed therefor by publication at least once in a newspaper of general circulation.

B. An auction for the sale of unclaimed personal property shall be conducted in accordance with California Civil Code Sections 2080.3 and 2080.4 and city policy.

C. The proceeds from any auction for unclaimed personal property shall be delivered to the finance director for deposit in the general fund.

(Ord. No. 936, § 2, 3-11-25)

Any unclaimed personal property advertised and offered for sale at auction but not sold and not suitable for appropriation to the use of the city shall be deemed of no value and may be disposed of in such a manner as the city manager deems appropriate.

(Ord. No. 936, § 2, 3-11-25)

A. Sections 12.32.030, 12.32.040 and 12.32.050 are the mandatory requirements of this chapter and a violation thereof is a misdemeanor which is enforceable pursuant to Chapter 1-24 of this code.

B. The remedies provided for the enforcement of this chapter are in addition to and do not supersede or limit any and all other remedies provided by law. The remedies provided herein are cumulative and not exclusive.

(Ord. No. 936, § 2, 3-11-25)