Burbank Municipal Code Art. 2 Crimes Against Public Health and Safety

No person shall negligently, wilfully or maliciously discharge, throw or deposit petroleum, or any products or residue thereof, or any grease, acid, coal tar, oil tar, or aniline upon any street, nor permit any such substance to pass upon any street, nor place any such substance in any place where it subsequently passes upon any street. [Formerly numbered Section 20-20; renumbered by Ord. No. 3058, eff. 2/21/87.]

No person shall conduct, carry on, participate in any endurance or marathon contest not covered by Act 1638, Deering’s General Laws of California, which shall require or permit the contestant, performer, spectator or participant therein to engage or participate in such contest for more than eight (8) hours during any twenty four (24) hour period, either continuously or intermittently; provided, however, that this section shall not be deemed to apply to endurance or marathon contests, exhibitions or races of aircraft where two (2) or more persons are employed or engaged in the operation of such aircraft at all times. [Formerly numbered Section 20-21; renumbered by Ord. No. 3058, eff. 2/21/87.]

No person shall sell, offer, display for sale, or install any electrical appliance, material or equipment, of whatsoever kind or nature, made for or intended to be used in or as part of, or connected to, the electrical circuit of any house, building, or other structure, unless such appliance, material, equipment, or other thing has been approved, listed and labeled as conforming with the standards fixed by the Underwriter’s Laboratories, Inc., of the National Board of Fire Underwriters. [Formerly numbered Section 20-22; renumbered by Ord. No. 3058, eff. 2/21/87.]

No person shall sell, furnish or dispense any aerosol container of paint or other liquid substance capable of defacing property to a minor under the age of eighteen (18) years. A violation of this section shall constitute an infraction. [Added by Ord. No. 2786; formerly numbered Section 20-22.1; renumbered by Ord. No. 3058, eff. 2/21/87.]

No person, other than a peace officer or animal control officer acting in the course and scope of their duties as such shall shoot or discharge any bow and arrow or similar device within the geographical limits of the City of Burbank, except when shooting at targets on an established public or private target range. For purposes of this section, such prohibition shall not apply to motion or still photography productions operating under a valid city issued permit. Such prohibition shall not apply to any person who uses, shoots or discharges an arrow from a bow when necessary to destroy, kill, distract, scare or immobilize any predatory or dangerous animal which poses an immediate threat of great bodily injury or death to any person or persons, including the shooter. [Added by Ord. No. 2847; formerly numbered Section 22.2; renumbered by Ord. No. 3058, eff. 2/21/87; Amended by Ord. No. 3616, eff. 2/26/03, suspended by Reso. No. 26,441, enforced by Reso. No. 26,488.]

A. Prohibition of Sale: No person shall display, market for sale, or sell any replica or facsimile of a firearm in the City. The provisions of this subsection shall not apply to any replica or facsimile firearm which, because of its distinct color, exaggerated size, or other design feature, cannot reasonably be perceived to be a real firearm.

B. Brandishing: Except in self-defense, no person shall draw, exhibit, or brandish a replica or facsimile of a firearm or simulate a firearm in a rude, angry, or threatening manner, with the intent to frighten, vex, harass, or annoy any other person.

C. Brandishing a Replica Firearm in Presence of a Public Safety Officer: No person shall draw, exhibit, or brandish a replica or facsimile of a firearm or simulate a firearm in the presence of a peace officer, firefighter, emergency medical technician, or paramedic engaged in the performance of their duties, and the person committing such brandishing knows or has reason to know that such police officer, firefighter, emergency medical technician, or paramedic is engaged in the performance of their duties.

D. Definitions:

FIREARM: Shall have the same meaning as the term “firearm” under the Dangerous Weapons Control Law of the State of California.

REPLICA OR FACSIMILE OF A FIREARM: Any device or object made of plastic, wood, metal, or any other material which is a replica, facsimile, or toy version of, or is otherwise recognizable as, a pistol, revolver, shotgun, sawed off shotgun, rifle, machine gun, rocket launcher, or any other firearm. As used in this section, “replica or facsimile of a firearm” shall include, but is not limited to, toy guns, movie props, hobby models (either in kit form or fully assembled), starter pistols, air guns, inoperative firearms, or any other device which might reasonably be perceived to be a real firearm.

E. Effective Date: The provisions of subsection A of this section shall not become effective or enforceable until January 1, 1988. [Added by Ord. No. 3085; formerly numbered Section 20-23; renumbered by Ord. No. 3058, eff. 2/21/87.]

No person shall place or deposit upon any public sidewalk or parkway, any movable or immovable object of any character whatsoever.

A. Exceptions:

1. Boxes, barrels and other receptacles containing merchandise may be unloaded upon any public sidewalk or parkway in front of the place of business to which they are being delivered; provided such place of business has no entrance from the rear which can be practically used for such purposes, and further provided that such boxes, barrels or other receptacles are without delay removed from the sidewalk or parkway.

2. This section shall not apply to receptacles containing trees, shrubs or plants placed upon sidewalks or parkways in compliance with a permit issued by the Parks and Recreation Department or to garbage or waste matter receptacles placed upon sidewalks or parkways in accordance with Section 4-2-108 of this code.

3. The Public Works Director upon written application therefor may grant a permit revocable by them at any time for the installation and maintenance of directional signs as approved by them in parkways in the public interest; provided such signs are not for the benefit of any individual or commercial or industrial enterprise, and the written consent of the owner of record of the property upon which the sign is to be placed is filed with said application, and not more than three (3) such signs shall be permitted any person, and such signs shall not exceed ten (10) square feet of surface area and be within two thousand feet (2,000') of the building to which directed as measured along the streets, and provided further, no such permit shall be issued unless the applicant shall file a surety bond or policy of insurance which meets the requirements of Title 3, Chapter 6, Article 3 of this code, conditioned that the permittee will indemnify and save harmless the City, its officers and employees from any and all loss, costs, damages, expenses or liability which may result from or arise out of the granting of the permit, or the installation or maintenance of the sign for which the permit is issued, and that the permittee will pay any and all loss or damage that may be sustained by any person as a result of, or which may be caused by or arise out of, such installation or maintenance. The said bond or policy of insurance shall be in the sum of not less than fifty thousand dollars ($50,000.00) or injury to, including the death of one person, and for not less than one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000.00) for any one accident, and property damage in the sum of five thousand dollars ($5,000.00). Such bond or insurance shall be maintained in its original amount by the permittee at their expense at all times during the period for which the permit is in effect and shall provide that the insurance carried by the City shall only be considered as excess insurance above the amounts of the said bond or insurance policy, which shall for all purposes be deemed primary insurance, and no recourse shall be had to the insurance carried by the City until after the limit of the bond or insurance required hereby is exceeded.

4. This section shall not apply to news racks installed, used and maintained in accordance with the provisions of Article 10 of this chapter.

5. Exhibits, displays, merchandise, stands, equipment, etc., placed on public sidewalks and parkways within the area known as The Golden Mall, as such area is described and delineated in Section 1 of Ordinance No. 2051, passed and adopted on April 4, 1967, pursuant to permit issued by the Parks and Recreation Director.

6. Benches installed and maintained under permits issued by the Public Works Director.

B. Removal: Any object installed, placed or deposited in violation of this section, except signs, the removal of which shall be governed by Section 5-3-207.5 of this article and news racks, shall be summarily removed by City personnel and turned over to the Public Works Director for storage. The owner, if readily ascertainable, shall be promptly notified. Upon failure of the owner to claim such object and pay the expenses of removal and storage within thirty (30) days after removal, the object shall be deemed to be unclaimed property and shall be turned over to the Police Department for disposition in accordance with the provisions of Title 2, Chapter 2, Article 4 of this code. [Formerly numbered Section 20-24; amended by Ord. No. 25-4,028, eff. 7/25/25; 3260; 3058, 2559, 2553, 2495, 2409, 2407, 2330, 2213.] [Former BMC 20-24(a), California Newspaper Publishers Association v. City of Burbank (1975) 51 Cal.App.3d 50, 52, 123 Cal.Rptr.880]

5-3-207.5: REMOVAL OF SIGNS:

Any sign installed, placed or deposited in violation of Section 5-3-207 of this article, or Section 5-3-402 or 5-3-402.2 of this chapter may be summarily removed by the City and placed in storage; provided, however, that any sign determined to have a replacement value of less than fifty dollars ($50.00) may be immediately disposed of by City personnel. Upon removal, the owner, if ascertainable, of any sign determined to have a replacement value of fifty dollars ($50.00) or more, shall be promptly notified verbally or in writing. Upon failure of the owner to claim such sign and pay the expenses of removal and storage within thirty (30) days after removal, the sign may be disposed of without any further notice to such owner. [Added by Ord. No. 3260. Amended by Ord. No. 3672, eff. 7/16/05; 3641.]

a. Water and Electrical Power. It shall be unlawful for any person, corporation, or other entity (hereafter “Person”) other than the City to convey water by means of conduit or pipe into the City from outside the City for use, distribution or sale within the City. It shall be unlawful for any Person, other than the City, or an electric joint powers authority (whose primary purpose is to finance the acquisition of generation and transmission resources for its members and where the City is a member and operating agent), to conduct, transmit, generate or produce any electrical energy or power, in or outside the City for use, distribution or sale within the City. However, the City Manager may in the public interest permit any building or structure adjacent to the City’s boundaries to be served with water or electrical energy or power from a source located outside the City provided such permission is given in writing and is subject to revocation upon reasonable notice, and provided further that the water or electrical energy or power enters the City’s boundaries at a point approximately adjacent to the building or structure to be served. This section shall not prohibit a City electrical customer from using electric energy or power it generates on-site, such as solar.

b. Electric vehicle charging services. A Person may own, control, operate or manage a facility that only supplies electricity to the public for use to charge plug-in hybrid electric and battery electric vehicles (the “EV charging services”) without being characterized as a private sale or resale of electricity, but only if the price charged to the end user/customer does not exceed an amount equal to the equivalent cost that the City utility would have charged had it provided the same electric vehicle charging services to that end user/customer. Electric vehicle charging services authorized under this subsection, may utilize locally generated renewable solar energy to augment City supplied power. [Formerly numbered Section 20-25. Amended by Ord. No. 15-3,864, eff. 6/5/15; 14-3,851; 3058.]

Any self-service gasoline station that requires payment prior to the sale of gasoline shall furnish a receipt to all customers upon such payment. [Added by Ord. No. 2789. Amended by Ord. No. 3058, eff. 2/21/87.]

A. Definitions. The words and phrases used in this Section 5-3-210 shall have the same meanings as set forth in Section 10-1-512.

B. Commercial cannabis activities of all types are prohibited in the City. No person shall establish, operate, conduct or allow a commercial cannabis activity anywhere within the City, except where the City is preempted by Federal or State law from enacting a prohibition on any such activity.

C. To the extent not already covered by subsection B above, all deliveries of cannabis are expressly prohibited within the City. No person or entity shall conduct any deliveries of cannabis that either originate or terminate within the City. Notwithstanding any other provision of this Code, primary caregivers, who are exempt from the licensing requirements of the Control, Regulate and Tax Adult Use of Marijuana Act and the Medicinal and Adult-Use Cannabis Regulation and Safety Act pursuant to California Business & Professions Code section 26033(b), may deliver medical cannabis to their qualified patients within the City, which number may not exceed five qualified patients.

D. To the extent not already covered by subsection B above, all cannabis retailers are expressly prohibited within the City. No person or entity shall establish or operate any cannabis retailer operation within the City.

E. Notwithstanding any other provision of this Code, cannabis cultivation for personal use is permitted in compliance with the following requirements:

1. A qualified patient or primary caregiver, who is exempt from specified licensing requirements under California Business and Professions Code section 26033, may cultivate cannabis for the personal use of qualified patients, so long as the total number of cultivated plants does not exceed six living plants.

2. Any individual who is 21 years of age or older may cultivate cannabis for personal use in compliance with California Health and Safety Code sections 11362.1 and 11362.2, so long as the total number of cultivated plants does not exceed six living plants.

3. All personal cannabis cultivation as permitted under this section shall be conducted outside or inside a private residence, or inside an accessory structure to a private residence located upon the grounds of a private residence, so long as the cultivation area is in a locked space. Cannabis plants that are cultivated pursuant to this section shall not be visible from a public place. No more than the maximum amounts of cannabis plants permitted under subsections E.1. and E.2., respectively, shall be cultivated upon the grounds of a single private residence at one time.

F. Any activity conducted, or permitted to be conducted, in violation of any provision of this Section 5-3-210 or any other provision of this Code shall be, and hereby is declared to be, a public nuisance and may be summarily abated by the City pursuant to California Code of Civil Procedure section 731 or any other remedy available to the City. [Added by Ord. No. 16-3,872, eff. 2/26/16; Amended by Ord. No. 17- 3,898, eff. 12/15/17.]

A. Purpose. Property owned by the City such as public parks, open spaces, parking lots, streets, alleys, public right of ways and other public areas (collectively Public Property) should be readily accessible and available to residents and the public at large. The use of these areas for unintended purposes or storage of personal property interferes with the rights of others to use the areas for which they were intended. The purpose of this Section is to maintain such Public Property in a clean, safe, and accessible condition.

B. General Nuisance. Anything which is injurious to health, or is indecent, or offensive to the senses, or any obstruction to the free use of Public Property so as to interfere with the comfortable enjoyment of life or property, or unlawfully obstructs the free passage or use in the customary manner of any Public Property is a nuisance.

C. Definitions.

City Manager means City Manager of the City of Burbank or designee.

Camp paraphernalia includes, but is not limited to, tarpaulins, cots, beds, sleeping bags, hammocks or non-city designated cooking facilities and similar equipment.

Personal effects means personal property such as:

• Medication, eye glasses, or other medical devices;

• Sleeping bag or bed roll which is sanitary and non-verminous;

• Tents in usable condition;

• Clothes stored in a manner protecting them from the elements, which are not unsanitary, soiled, or verminous;

• Personal papers, photographs.

Store means to put aside or accumulate for use when needed, to put for safekeeping, to place or leave in a location.

D. Specific Prohibitions. Any of the following are a public nuisance.

1. Public urination and defecation in public. It shall be unlawful for any person to urinate or defecate in any public place except when using a urinal, toilet or commode located in a bathroom, restroom or other operating facility in a structure enclosed from public view.

2. Encroachment. No person shall encroach, as defined in BMC §7-3-701, on, in, over or under any real property, including easements and right-of-way, owned by the City, with any structure or object of any kind or character, temporary or permanent in nature, and whether such encroachment is real, personal or mixed property.

3. No person shall encroach on, or store personal property, within a 25 foot radius of designated critical utility infrastructure or other critical infrastructure as designated by the General Manager of Burbank Water and Power or the Public Works Director. This prohibition applies to designated critical infrastructure, marked accordingly, by signs stating the prohibition and such critical infrastructure shall include, but not be limited to, utility vaults, cabinets and boxes, manholes, reservoir vents or access points, pad mounted equipment, accessible paths and City facility entry points such as gates, driveways and access paths.

4. Storage of Personal Property. No person shall store unattended personal property, including camp paraphernalia, on any Public Property.

5. Illegal Activities. No person shall use illegal drugs or participate in other criminal activities on Public Property.

E. Section not exclusive definition or remedy. This Section is not the exclusive definition or designation of what constitutes a nuisance within the City. It shall supplement and be in addition to other regulatory codes, statutes, and ordinances heretofore and hereafter enacted by the city, state, or any other legal entity or agency having jurisdiction. Nothing in this Section will be deemed to prevent the City from commencing a civil action to abate a public nuisance as an alternative to or in conjunction with a proceeding pursuant to this Section or filing a criminal action to enforce this chapter.

F. Nuisance a misdemeanor. Every person who maintains or commits a nuisance, or who willfully omits to perform any legal duty relating to the removal of a nuisance, is guilty of a misdemeanor.

G. Enforcement. The City Manager is authorized to abate public nuisances on Public Property summarily or otherwise in the manner provided by this Section. Whenever the City Manager reasonably believes a public nuisance exists, the City Manager may commence abatement proceedings under this Section.

H. Removal of Encroachment on Public Property. The City Manager may remove personal property unlawfully stored or encroaching on a Public Property as follows:

1. The location of any personal property, including camp paraphernalia, will be tagged and dated with a notice including the following:

“It is illegal to store personal property in public places. If this personal property is not removed by (specify date at least seventy-two (72) hours from posting), this personal property will be deemed intentionally abandoned, and subject to removal and possible destruction.”

2. The City Manager may remove any personal property still unlawfully stored or remaining on the Public Property after the posting period has expired.

3. At the time of removal of any unlawfully stored or encroaching personal effects, the City Manager must conspicuously post and date a notice either at the exact location from which the personal effects were removed or at another nearby location, giving the following information:

a. Personal effects have been removed;

b. A telephone number for information on retrieving personal effects;

c. The hours of operation where personal effects may be collected; and

d. The personal effects may be claimed for a period of 90 days from removal – notice will specify the 90th day.

4. Following removal of unlawfully stored or remaining personal effects, the City Manager must:

a. Maintain an inventory identifying the personal effects, and the location from which the personal effects were removed;

b. Place the removed personal effects in containers or bags labeled in a manner facilitating identification by the City Manager and the owner, and which reasonably protects such property from damage or theft; and

c. Store the removed personal effects in a location designated by the City for a period of ninety (90) days.

5. If personal effects are claimed within ninety (90) days from removal, unless the property is connected to a crime or is illegal to possess, the City will release the stored property to the owner upon the following:

a. The person claiming ownership clearly identifies and describes the property and the approximate location where the property was left by the owner.

b. The person claiming ownership completes and signs a release of property form.

I. Distribution of Removed Property.

1. Unlawfully stored or encroaching personal effects removed from Public Property and remaining unclaimed at the end of ninety (90) days from removal may be disposed of by the City.

2. All other unlawfully stored or encroaching personal property removed from a Public Property, pursuant to this chapter, is deemed intentionally abandoned and may be summarily abated and destroyed by the City.

3. All hazardous material unlawfully stored or encroaching on Public Property may be immediately removed or disposed of by the City without prior notice.

J. Personal Property Obstructing City Operations. At any time in which City operations are obstructed by personal property in a public area, the City Manager may take the following actions:

1. If the owner of the property is present, shall direct the individual(s) to move the property from the area. Individuals will be given up to 15 minutes to vacate the area. A refusal to move personal property, as directed, shall constitute an encroachment on public property prohibited by Section D, above.

2. If the owner of the property is not present, to eliminate the obstruction temporarily move the personal property to either:

a. An area contiguous to the original location, and the personal property may be left at the new location.

b. A non-contiguous site, but in the same vicinity. Once work is completed, a notice stating where the property was moved to should be left at the original site explaining it was interfering with City operations.

3. In situations where the property is unattended and there is no feasible place to temporarily place obstructing property and the operations of the City are of a routine nature, the procedure for the removal of personal property in Section H, above, shall be followed.

4. If an emergency exists and it is necessary to access City property to assist in remedying the emergency, and the procedures in 1 through 3 of this subsection are not feasible, then personal property may be removed to City’s off-site storage location without prior notice. Post removal procedures in Section H, subsections 3 through 5, must be followed to give notice of off-site removal and storage. [Added by Ord. No. 19-3,924, eff. 12/20/19; Ord. No. 19-3,925, eff. 11/19/19.]