Diamond Bar Municipal Code Ch. 8.26 Camping on Public Places and Interfering with Public Access

(a) Purpose and findings. The city council finds that in order to serve the public health, safety and welfare of residents and businesses within the City of Diamond Bar, public streets, public rights-of-way, and city-owned, operated and maintained facilities and property, and other public places, should be readily accessible to residents and the public at large for use and enjoyment consistent with their designated and intended use. The use of these areas for sleeping, camping, storage of personal property, the accumulation of waste, or unauthorized parking interferes with the rights of others to use the areas for their intended purpose. The purpose of this chapter is to maintain public streets, public rights-of-way, city-owned, operated or maintained property and facilities, and other public places in a clean, safe and accessible condition.

(b) Definitions. As used in this chapter, the following terms, words and phrases have the meanings as defined in this section, unless another meaning is clearly apparent from the context:

Camp or camping means use of space on public places for living accommodation purposes such as sleeping activities, or making preparations to sleep (including the laying down of bedding, cots, beds, sleeping bags, mattresses, or couches for the purpose of sleeping), or storing personal belongings, or using any tents, tarps, hammocks, camp stoves, cooking equipment, buckets, dressers, furniture, shelter or other structure or vehicle for sleeping. The above-listed activities constitute camping when it reasonably appears, in light of all the circumstances, that the participants, in conducting these activities, are using the area as a living accommodation regardless of the nature of any other activities in which they may also be engaging.

Camp facilities includes tents, huts, vehicles of any kind including, recreational vehicles, or other temporary physical shelters when used to camp.

Camp paraphernalia includes, but is not limited to, tarps, sleeping bags, hammocks or bedrolls, mattresses, open fires, cooking equipment, heating equipment, appliances and other similar equipment.

City means City of Diamond Bar.

Open space means any public property 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.

Personal property means tangible personal belongings or possessions that is a physical or movable item that is subject to ownership and can be seen, weighed, measured, felt or touched, including but not limited to, clothing, bicycles, wagons, carts, furniture, appliances, camping equipment, gear, and tools.

Public park means any public property, whether developed or undeveloped, held out by the city or used by the public for active or passive park and recreation uses, including adjacent buffer lands and natural areas of any adjacent parking lots and perimeter sidewalks.

Public places means the locations listed in section 8.28.020.

Public property means any publicly owned or maintained property in the city, including, but not limited to, public parks, trails and open space areas, public alleyways, buildings, parking lots, public passageways, public rights-of-way, publicly owned or maintained landscaped areas, greenbelts, sidewalks, streets, flood control facilities, and utility easements.

(Ord. No. 05(2026), § 3, 5-5-26)

(a) Camping on public places. It is unlawful for any person to camp in or upon any public property, including, any street, alleyway, sidewalk, median, parkway, driveway, rights-of-way, public restroom, public bench, bus bench or bus shelter, public park, open space, storm drain, public building or parking lot.

(b) Sleeping in public places. No person may sleep on a public street, alleyway, sidewalk, median, parkway, driveway, rights-of-way, public restroom, public bench, bus bench or bus shelter, or in any pedestrian or vehicular entrance to public or private property abutting a public sidewalk, at any time as a matter of individual and public safety.

(c) Interfering with public access. It is unlawful for any person to camp, sleep, lie, or place personal property where such activity:

(1) Obstructs or impedes passage, as required by the Americans with Disabilities Act; or

(2) Is within 20 feet of an entrance or exit to any building, establishment, retail store, restaurant, service station, office building or other place into which the public is invited; or

(3) Is within 20 feet of an automatic teller machine or any door or entrance that provides access to the automatic teller machine; or

(4) Is within 250 feet of a public or private school or day care center; or

(5) In a manner that unreasonably interferes with the use of the public rights-of-way by motor vehicles, pedestrians or bicycles.

(d) Unattended personal property. No person shall fix in place, store, maintain or leave personal property that is unattended on public property, including any street, alleyway, sidewalk, median, parkway, driveway, rights-of-way, park, open space, bus shelter, storm drain, public building or parking lot.

(Ord. No. 05(2026), § 3, 5-5-26)

(a) The city council may, by resolution, adopt procedures for the removal and recovery of personal property left upon public places where camping is prohibited per section 8.28.020. Such procedures need not conform to those provided for in subsection (b), below.

(b) Absent the city council's adoption of a resolution per subsection (a) above, personal property left upon public places where camping is prohibited for more than 24 hours may be removed by the city and may be recovered by the owner for up to 90 days.

(c) Abandoned personal property.

(1) Any personal property or possessions located on public property that are unattended and whose owner cannot be readily identified are presumed to be abandoned. A reasonable effort shall be made to ascertain whether the unattended personal property or possessions have been abandoned and, if so, to thereafter cause their removal subject to subsections (a) or (b) above.

(2) Unattended personal property or possessions that are unsanitary, soiled, spoiled or verminous may be summarily abated and destroyed at any time without notice.

(Ord. No. 05(2026), § 3, 5-5-26)

The provisions of this chapter shall not apply to the following:

(1) Anyone sleeping or camping in a specified camping area designated by the city. The city council may by resolution establish one or more specified camping areas on public property.

(2) When authorized by the director of emergency services in response to firefighting activities or other public emergencies.

(3) Any event involving camping that is approved or sponsored by the city.

(Ord. No. 05(2026), § 3, 5-5-26)