Gilroy Municipal Code Ch. 16 Offenses – Miscellaneous

It shall be unlawful for any person to maintain, conduct or carry on or assist in maintaining, conducting or carrying on any business, yard, establishment or place in such a manner that dust in large and unusual quantities is accumulated or caused, without sprinkling with oil or water such yard, establishment or place or the place or premises where such business is maintained, conducted or carried on with sufficient frequency and to the sufficient extent to lay and settle such dust and prevent the same from spreading or being blown on the premises of other persons.

(Ord. No. 314, § 3)

It shall be unlawful for any person to maintain, conduct or carry on or assist in maintaining, conducting or carrying on any such business, yard, establishment or place in such a manner that gas or fumes, unwholesome and injurious to the health or injurious to the property or offensive to the senses of the inhabitants of the city or any number thereof, are emitted therefrom.

(Ord. No. 314, § 3)

It shall be unlawful for any person to maintain, conduct or carry on or assist in maintaining, conducting or carrying on, in the city, any business, yard, establishment or place in such manner that dense or thick black smoke or cinders or soot are emitted therefrom.

(Ord. No. 314, § 3)

Any violation of the two preceding sections is hereby declared to be a nuisance.

(Ord. No. 314, § 3)

(a) The following regulations shall govern the conduct and operation of all barrooms, saloons and taverns.

(1) The licensee or proprietor of all such establishments shall obtain an annual permit in January of each year in order to operate within the city. The fee for inspection of the premises and issuance of the permit shall be fixed from time to time by council resolution, a copy of which shall be kept on file at the office of the director of public works.

(2) All such establishments shall conform to all building, health and safety, and fire codes before a permit is issued.

(3) No person, or persons, shall be permitted to live in or reside in a tavern, barroom, saloon, tavern or similar premises.

(4) No licensee, proprietor, or operator of a barroom, saloon, or tavern shall permit any disorderly conduct constituting a breach of the peace or which is detrimental to the public welfare.

If a licensee, proprietor, or operator violates any provision of this section, the city administrator may suspend the permit for the establishment until such time as corrections are made. If there are repeated violations, the city administrator may revoke or refuse to renew such permit, with his action subject to review by the city council.

(b) It shall be unlawful for any licensee to operate without a permit.

(Code 1900, § 375; Ord. No. 1005, § 1, 1-7-1974; Ord. No. 77-15, § 13, 4-18-1977; Ord. No. 80-33, § 1, 11-17-1980)

Editor’s note: Ord. No. 941, § 2, adopted Nov. 15, 1971, repealed §§ 16.23—16.25.

For the purposes of this section and section 16.25, “imitation weapon” means a replica of a firearm that is so substantially similar in visual characteristics to an existing firearm as to lead a reasonable person to believe that the replica is a firearm that could be operational.

(Ord. No. 2020-01, § 1, 2-3-2020)

It shall be unlawful for any person to possess or display an imitation weapon on public property, in the public right-of-way, or in an area viewable from public property or the public right-of-way.

(Ord. No. 2020-01, § 1, 2-3-2020)

It shall be unlawful for any person within the city to discharge any gun, air gun, pistol or other firearm or to use any gun, air gun pistol or any other firearm for the purpose of firing off any composition of an explosive nature or which throws or projects bullets or missiles to any distance by air pressure or by springs or other mechanical device, except in a duly licensed shooting gallery. Violation of this section shall be a misdemeanor.

(Code 1900, § 378; Ord. No. 941, § 6, 11-15-1971; Ord. No. 89-7, § 1, 4-3-1989)

It shall be unlawful for any person to use any rubber flipper, sling or slingshot for the purpose of throwing lead or stones or any other hard substance within the city.

(Code 1900, § 395; Ord. No. 89-7, § 1, 4-3-1989)

Except and unless a person applies for and is issued a special events permit by the city, it shall be unlawful for any person to drink or consume any intoxicating liquor, or have in his or her possession or control an open container of an intoxicating liquor, in or on any public street, sidewalk, alley, mall, school grounds or any parking lot open to public use, whether publicly or privately owned.

For the purpose of this section, “intoxicating liquor” includes any alcoholic beverage containing more than one-half of one (0.5) percent of alcohol by volume, and all kinds of spirituous, vinous and malt liquors.

Violation of this section shall be a misdemeanor.

**Cross references—**Intoxicated persons prohibited from participating in bingo, § 5A.13.

(Ord. No. 76-22, § 1, 12-6-1976; Ord. No. 80-29, § 1, 10-27-1980; Ord. No. 80-34, § 1, 12-15-1980; Ord. No. 94-3, § I, 3-21-1994)

It is unlawful for any person willfully and maliciously to sit, lie, kneel, crouch, sleep or otherwise occupy any portion of a street, sidewalk or other public way so as to obstruct or unreasonably interfere with the free movement and passage of pedestrians, motor vehicles or other modes of travel. The provisions of this section shall not apply to persons standing or sitting on the curb portion of any sidewalk or street while attending or viewing any parade permitted under the provisions of this Code; nor shall the provisions of this section apply to persons sitting upon benches or other seating facilities provided for such purposes by municipal authority. Violation of this section shall be a misdemeanor.

(Ord. No. 76-22, § 2, 12-6-1976; Ord. No. 80-29, § 1, 10-27-1980; Ord. No. 94-3, § I, 3-21-1994)

It is unlawful for any person willfully and maliciously to walk, stand, sit or lie upon any monument, vase, fountain, railing, fence, planter, elevated planted area or upon any other public property not designed or customarily used for such purposes. No person shall willfully and maliciously walk, stand, sit or lie upon any public lawn or planted area which is posted with signs to forbid such conduct. Violation of this section shall be a misdemeanor.

(Ord. No. 76-22, § 3, 12-6-1976; Ord. No. 80-29, § 1, 10-27-1980; Ord. No. 94-3, § I, 3-21-1994)

No person shall make any loud, boisterous, irritating, penetrating or unusual noise or own, occupy, operate or keep any business, public meeting or gathering, game, dance, amusement, appliance, contrivance, device, structure, construction, ride, machine, vehicle, implement or instrument or animal or fowl, the use, operation or keeping of which makes a loud, boisterous, irritating, penetrating or unusual noise which disturbs another in any residence, hotel, apartment house, cabin, cottage, court, rooming house or any building or place regularly used for sleeping purposes in the city, between the hours of 10:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. of any day.

This section shall not apply to emergency or public service activities by police, fire, garbage collection, ambulance or similar personnel.

(Ord. No. 76-22, § 4, 12-6-1976; Ord. No. 81-30, § 1, 10-26-1981; Ord. No. 91-3, § 1, 2-4-1991)

Editor’s note: Ord. No. 86-19, § 57, adopted October 6, 1986, repealed § 19.10.0303 in its entirety. Former § 16.33 was concerned with underground storage of flammable liquids and derived from Ord. No. 79-9, § 1, adopted May 7, 1979; and Ord. No. 79-13, § 1, adopted June 4, 1979.

Repealed by Ord. No. 2011-09.

**Cross references—**Police alarm systems, § 3B.1 et seq.

(Ord. No. 79-18, § 1, 7-16-1979)

When a large party or gathering occurs at a premises and a police officer at the scene determines that there is a threat to the public peace, health, safety or general welfare, the person in charge of the premises and the person responsible for the event, or if either of those persons is a minor, then the parents or guardians of that minor, will be held jointly and severally liable for the cost of providing police personnel on special security assignment over and above the services normally provided by the department. The police personnel utilized during a second response after the first warning to control that threat to the public peace, health, safety or general welfare, shall be deemed to be on special security assignment over and above the services normally provided. The costs of such special security assignment may include minor damages to city property and/or injuries to city personnel. A fee charged will not be in excess of five hundred dollars ($500.00) for a single incident. The city reserves its legal options to elect any other legal remedies when said costs or damage exceed five hundred dollars ($500.00).

(Ord. No. 88-2, § 1, 1-4-1988)

No person shall use a leg-hold steel-jawed trap, steep-jawed trap, or steel leg-hold trap, as such are defined in Fish and Game Code section 4004, in the City of Gilroy. Violation of the provisions of this section shall be punishable as provided in section 1.7 of this Code.

(Ord. No. 88-20, § 1, 12-5-1988)

It shall be unlawful for any person on any street or in any public place within the city to urinate or defecate, except at a lavatory facility. Violation of this section shall be a misdemeanor.

(Ord. No. 2001-7, § I, 6-4-2001)

(a) Unless otherwise provided for in a validly issued permit or approval, construction activities shall be limited to the hours of seven (7) a.m. and seven (7) p.m., Monday through Friday and nine (9) a.m. to seven (7) p.m. on Saturday. Construction activities shall not occur on Sundays or city holidays, which include: New Years Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas. “Construction activities” are defined as including but not limited to, excavation, grading, paving, demolitions, construction, alteration or repair of any building, site, street or highway, delivery or removal of construction material to a site, or movement of construction materials on a site.

(b) In the event the chief building official or his or her designee determines that the public health and safety will not be impaired by the construction activities between the hours of seven (7) p.m. and seven (7) a.m., and that loss or inconvenience would result to any party in interest, the chief building official may grant permission for such work to be done between the hours of seven (7) p.m. and seven (7) a.m. upon an application being made at the time the permit for the work is issued or during the progress of the work.

(c) The city council finds that construction activities by the resident of a single residence does not have the same magnitude or frequency of noise impacts as a larger construction project. Therefore, the resident of a single residence may perform construction activities on that home during the hours in this subsection, as well as on Sundays and city holidays from nine (9) a.m. to six (6) p.m., provided that such activities are limited to the improvement or maintenance undertaken by the resident on a personal basis.

(d) No third person, including but not limited to, landowners, construction company owners, contractors, subcontractors, or employers, shall permit or allow any person working on construction activities, which are under their ownership, control or direction to violate this provision. The provisions prescribed herein may be enforced by the chief building official or his or her designee or the police department. Violation of this section shall be a misdemeanor and each day such violation is committed or permitted to continue constitutes a separate offense and shall be punishable as such.

(Ord. No. 2004-15, § I, 9-7-2004)