Fresno County Municipal Code Ch. 13.24 Grounds and Buildings

A. For public convenience, necessity and safety, the following conduct is prohibited on county-owned or county-maintained grounds or buildings:

1. Deposit, place, throw or in any manner dispose of any rubbish, trash, garbage, can, bottle, glass or paper or any decaying or putrid matter of any kind whatsoever except in containers provided for such purpose;

2. Possess any firearm or discharge such firearm within, into or across such county ground or building area provided that this provision shall not apply to any peace officer, sitting members of the board of supervisors and their assistants with a concealed carry weapon license, and employees explicitly authorized by the agricultural commissioner to carry firearms in performance of their official duties;

3. Engage in gambling in any form, except that those persons granted an exclusive concession for the operation of a food service facility on county property pursuant to a contract between the county and the state department of rehabilitation under its business enterprise program for the blind, may sell California lottery tickets during normal business hours at the food service facility if authorized to do so by the state of California;

4. Damage or cause to be damaged any of the vegetation, trees, shrubs, flowers, buildings or other property except as is required in the maintenance of the building or ground;

5. Throw or place any newspaper, bottle or other refuse matter of any kind whatsoever or any other article or thing upon the county grounds or any of the fountains therein;

6. Write, print, cut, carve, or otherwise mark in or upon any building or buildings or any seats or benches or any other property whatsoever belonging to the county;

7. Place or throw or deposit anything or any article in any lavatory or toilet within the county grounds or of the buildings thereof or any other such property belonging to the county or to use any such lavatory or toilet for any other purpose than the purpose for which the sam is maintained;

8. Go upon any lawn or grass or within any building or portion thereof where prohibited by the administrative officer and that prohibition is indicated by proper and legible signs;

9. Open, expose, obstruct or interfere with any water pipe, sprinkler, hydrant, stopcock, basin or other construction on the grounds;

10. Obstruct, prevent, impede or interfere with others' pedestrian ingress and egress to any building or structure, or vehicular ingress and egress to any parking lot;

11. Obstruct, prevent, impede or interfere with the passage of others upon paved, concrete or asphalt walkways;

12. Affix or post any notices, documents, papers or advertising device of any kind to any tree, shrub, light standard, railing, bench, monument, statuary or building. The prohibitions of this paragraph shall not apply to matters placed on bulletin boards which may be supplied for this purpose. The prohibitions of this paragraph shall not apply to notices, documents or papers handed from person to person, and shall not apply to hand-held signs;

13. To cause any mobile container, including, but not limited to, wagons, baskets, shopping carts or other similar devices (collectively, "mobile container"), to be present on said grounds, for more than four hours in a calendar day, or to abandon or leave unattended on said grounds, continuously for two hours, any mobile container.

B. For public convenience, necessity and safety, the following conduct is prohibited on county-owned or -maintained grounds or buildings except where expressly permitted by the administrative officer or by the board of supervisors:

1. Possess intoxicating beverages of any kind;

2. Permit any dog, cat, fowl or other domestic animal under his control to enter or go at large on any county grounds or building areas. This provision shall not apply to mounted patrols, or to assistance dogs or service animals as defined by and required by state or federal law;

3. Solicit, sell or peddle any tangible or intangible items of any kind.

C. The conditions and regulations authorized by subsection A of this section are not intended to and shall not regulate the content of speech or expressive activity. However, this subsection shall not be construed to condone or invite any form of speech unprotected by free speech rights.

D. Upon determining and establishing such conditions and regulations or changes therein, the administrative officer shall cause copies thereof to be printed and one copy filed and retained in the county administrative office, one copy in the office of the clerk of the board of supervisors, and one copy in the office of the director of public works and planning (hereafter, "director").

E. The administrative officer shall cause appropriate notices or signs to be erected or placed upon the premises where expressly required herein setting forth such conditions and regulations. When copies of such conditions and regulations have been so filed, and when such notices or signs have been erected or placed as expressly required herein, it shall be unlawful for any person to conduct himself in a manner contrary to the provisions of such conditions or regulations as aforesaid.

(Ord. No. 20-022, § 1, 11-3-2020; Ord. No. 13-022, § 1, 10-22-2013; Ord. No. 12-001, § 1, 1-24-2012; Ord. 0-85-017, § 1; prior code, § 210)

A. Each person who violates any of the following provisions of chapter 13.24 of this title is guilty of a misdemeanor, but may be charged and prosecuted as an infraction in the discretion of the prosecuting agency: 13.24.010.A.2; 13.24.010.A.10; 13.24.010.A.11; and 13.24.010.A.13. Such violations are subject to the penalties prescribed in section 1.12.010 or section 1.12.020 of chapter 1.12 of title 1 of this Code as applicable.

B. Each person who violates any of the following provisions of chapter 13.24 of this title is guilty of an infraction and subject to the penalties prescribed in section 1.12.020 of chapter 1.12 of title 1 of this Code: 13.24.010.A.1; 13.24.010.A.3; 13.24.010.A.4; 13.24.010.A.5; 13.24.010.A.6; 13.24.010.A.7; 13.24.010.A.8; 13.24.010.A.9; 13.24.010.A.12; 13.24.010.B.1; 13.24.010.B.2; and 13.24.010.B.3.

(Ord. No. 14-002, § 1, 1-28-2014)

Persons may apply to the director, or to the director's designee, for a permit to use those portions of county-owned grounds or buildings which are available for public meetings under the provisions of this code, the County Administrative Code, or other local rules and regulations. Whenever a public use permit is required to engage in the proposed activity, the following procedure shall be followed:

A. Except in the case of "spontaneous use", as defined in section 13.24.040.A., the applicant shall submit the application for public use permit to the director or the director's designee, at least three business days prior to commencement of the proposed use. The application shall include information as to the proposed activity, the sponsoring person or organization, contact information for the sponsoring person or organization (including any telephone number, e-mail address and street address), the number of persons expected to attend, the proposed park area to be used, the proposed date and time of the event, the duration in time, and the proposed alternate parks and dates, if any.

B. The director shall act upon the permit application specified in subsection A within one business day after the filing of such application.

C. The director shall deny a public use permit if any of the following conditions exist:

1. As disclosed on the face of the permit application or by the statements of the applicant(s), or inferences a reasonable person would draw from such application or such statements, the proposed public use will necessarily result in a violation of any of the conduct regulations established in this chapter, any state, federal or local law, and if the site of the proposed use is Courthouse Park, any of the "acts unlawful" specified in section 13.20.060; or,

2. The site of the proposed public use is inadequate in size and shape or is without the sanitary, parking, or other necessary facilities to accommodate such use; or,

3. The proposed public use will have an unreasonable adverse impact on abutting property or the surrounding neighborhood; or,

4. The proposed public use will necessarily result in a violation of County Ordinance Code Section 3.08.110 prohibiting certain types of political activities on county premises relating to elections.

D. The director may deny a public use permit if the application does not contain the information specified in subsection A.

E. The director shall not deny a public use permit if both of the following are true:

1. The application contains the information specified in subsection A.

2. None of the conditions set forth in subsection C exist.

F. In determining whether to issue a public use permit, the director shall not consider any of the following:

1. The content of any speech or the message to be conveyed.

2. The identity or associational relationships of the applicant(s).

3. Any assumptions or predictions concerning the amount of hostility which may be aroused by any speech or message to be conveyed, or by the identity or associational relationships of the applicant(s).

(Ord. No. 12-001, § 1, 1-24-2012; Ord. 0-83-006, § 3)

An applicant may appeal the decision of the director on any permit provided for in this chapter to the administrative officer. The applicant must provide written notice of such appeal within one business day of notification of the director's decision. The applicant's notice of appeal may be provided in any reasonable form, including by handwritten document or by e-mail, and shall be addressed to all of the following: the administrative officer, the director and deputy director, and to any designee who acted upon the application. The administrative officer or his or her designee shall hold a hearing within one business day of the filing of such appeal, at which time the applicant may present any evidence relevant to the application. The administrative officer shall within one business day of such hearing issue his or her decision either affirming the denial of the application, or requiring the director to issue a permit. The decision of the administrative officer shall be in writing, shall specify the grounds therefor, and shall be final. As with the director's action on the application, the administrative officer's decision on the appeal shall be based on the principles articulated in subsections C, D, E and F of section 13.24.020.

(Ord. No. 12-001, § 1, 1-24-2012)

A. For purposes of this section, "spontaneous use" means use of county grounds by more than one hundred participants, and involving free speech rights, and which are occasioned by news or affairs coming into public knowledge within six business days of the date of the proposed use of county grounds.

B. Spontaneous use of county grounds shall not initially require a public use permit. However, for spontaneous use of county grounds, spontaneous users shall comply with the conduct regulations established in this chapter, with all state, federal and local laws. For spontaneous use of Courthouse Park, spontaneous users shall comply with all of the foregoing and, additionally, shall refrain from engaging in any of the "acts unlawful" specified in section 13.20.060.

C. The right to spontaneous use without a permit shall not continue in perpetuity. The right to spontaneous use is subject to the following rules:

1. If the spontaneous use of county grounds lasts until 12:00 p.m. (mid-day) of the day following the date on which the spontaneous use commenced, then on or before that time, the spontaneous users shall apply for a public use permit in accordance with section 13.24.020 of this Code. The spontaneous users shall be required to identify person(s) or organization(s) to serve as applicant(s). If the spontaneous use continues past 12:00 p.m. of the day following the date on which the spontaneous use commenced, and no permit application is submitted by such time, then the spontaneous use shall constitute an unlawful assembly.

2. The rules and processes set forth in section 13.24.020 shall apply to the spontaneous users' application. In the application, the applicant(s) shall specify a date and time for commencement of a permitted "public meeting" which is between three and four days after the date and time the application is submitted.

3. Subject to the spontaneous users' compliance with the conduct regulations established in this chapter, with state, federal and local laws and, if the site of spontaneous use is Courthouse Park, subject to the spontaneous users' compliance with the "acts unlawful" provisions specified in section 13.20.060, the spontaneous users' rights to use county grounds shall continue until such date and time as the director may deny the application, or, if the director accepts the application, until the date and time specified in the permit. If the director denies the application, then the rules of appeal set forth in section 13.24.030 shall apply.

(Ord. No. 12-001, § 1, 1-24-2012)

A. For the purpose of this section, "County Facilities" refers to any county-owned or county-leased office space, yard, landmarks, or parks.

B. Only the flags of the United States of America and the State of California shall be permitted to be flown on the official flagpoles of County Facilities.

(Ord. No. 23-006, § 1, 6-6-2023)