La Mirada Municipal Code Ch. 9.106 Camping and Storage of Personal Property

Public areas within the city should be accessible and available to residents and the public at large for their intended uses. The unauthorized use of public areas for camping and the storage of personal property interferes with the rights of other members of the public to use public areas for their intended purposes and can create a public health or safety hazard that adversely affects residential and commercial areas. The purpose of this chapter is to maintain public areas in clean, sanitary and accessible condition to prevent the misappropriation of public areas for personal use, and to promote the public health and safety by ensuring that public areas remain readily accessible for their intended uses. (Ord. 741, § 1 (part), 2025; Ord. 501 § 1 (part), 1996).

Unless the particular provisions or the context otherwise requires, the definitions contained in this section shall govern the construction, meaning and application of words and phrases used in this chapter.

“Camp” or “tent camp” or “camping” means to pitch a tent, use, or occupy camp materials or a camp for the purpose of occupancy, habitation, or sheltering for survival, and in such a way as will facilitate sleeping or storage of personal belongings, carrying on cooking activities, taking measures to keep protected from the elements including heat and cold, or any of these activities in combination with one another or in combination with either sleeping or making preparations to sleep. A “camp” or “campsite” is a location where people camp or are camping. Camp, tent camp, or camping does not include vehicles, automobiles or recreational vehicles used for shelter and/or sleeping on public property, which is regulated in Section 10.16.065.

“Camp materials” may include, but are not limited to, tents, chairs, tarps or tarpaulins, cots, beds, sleeping bags, flameless stoves, blankets, sleeping or bedding materials, food or food storage items, and/or similar items that are or appear to be used as living and/or sleeping accommodations, or to assist with living and/or sleeping activities.

“Essential city-owned or operated public utilities” means all city owned or controlled property, whether in fee title, or as holder of an easement or lease, on which the city operates public utilities or other essential services, including, but not limited to La Mirada City Hall, La Mirada Civic Center, La Mirada Community Sheriff’s Station, La Mirada Resource Center, La Mirada Activity Center, La Mirada Community Gymnasium, La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts, the La Mirada Public Works facility and the La Mirada Transit facility.

“Personal property” means tangible personal belongings or possessions, which shall include any movable or tangible thing that is subject to ownership; property that can be seen, weighed, measured, felt, or touched, including, but not limited to, furniture, appliances, camp materials, as defined in this section, money, books, and shopping carts or carts or laundry carts as defined in Business and Professions Code Section 22435.

“Public park” means all park land, open spaces, dedicated parks, planted parkways, triangles and traffic circles maintained by the city, except the parkway strips between curb and sidewalk along the streets and highways of the city, or as otherwise defined in this code.

“Public property” means a city-owned or controlled place, including, but not limited to any public street, alley, public right-of-way, public parking lot, public park, public parkway, public sidewalk, public recreational area, public recreational facility, open space, essential city-owned or operated public utilities, and any and all other publicly-owned or controlled property in the city.

“Public rights-of-way” means all city-owned or controlled rights-of-way or any other publicly owned or controlled right- of-way, whether held in fee title or as holder of an easement for right-of-way or public access purposes. Public rights-of- way include, but are not limited to, any public road, street, sidewalk, or private street or other property that is subject to a public access easement dedicated or granted to the city for vehicular, pedestrian, utilities or other means, and any planter strip or landscaped area located adjacent to or contained within streets that is part of the public right-of- way.

(Ord. 741, § 1 (part), 2025; Ord. 501 § 1 (part), 1996).

(a) It is unlawful for any person to camp between the hours of one-half (½) hour after sunset of one day and six (6:00) a.m. of the next day in or on any public property without the prior, written consent of the City Manager or designee.

(b) In addition to the prohibition on camping on public property in subsection (a), camping is not allowed at any time in any of the following places:

(1) Any area where camping is otherwise prohibited by law or this code.

(2) Property of any essential city-owned or - operated public utilities.

(3) Any place where camping, a camp, or camp materials create a physical impediment to emergency or non- emergency ingress, egress, or access to property, whether private or public, or on public sidewalks or other public rights-of-way, including, but not limited to, driveways providing access to vehicles, and entrances or exits from buildings and/or other real property.

(4) Any vehicle lane, bicycle lane, or roundabout within any public right-of-way.

(5) On any street or public right-of-way the city has closed to camping due to construction, heavy vehicle use, or other use of the roadway that is incompatible with camping in the right-of-way. The city is not required by this section to close a street to vehicle traffic or close a street to camping.

(c) Camping, when and where allowed, is subject to all of the following:

(1) Individuals, camp materials, camps or personal property may not obstruct sidewalk accessibility or passage, clear vision, fire hydrants, city or other public utility infrastructure, or otherwise interfere with the use of the right-of-way for vehicular, pedestrian, bicycle, or other passage.

(2) Individuals may not accumulate, discard, or leave behind garbage, debris, unsanitary or hazardous materials, or other items of no apparent utility in the public rights-of-way, on city property, or any adjacent public or private property.

(3) Open flames, recreational fires, burning of garbage, bonfires, or other fires, combustible fuel-based flames, or heating deemed unsafe by the city or the county sheriff are prohibited. Flameless cooking stoves and other flameless devices for keeping warm are permitted.

(4) Dumping of gray water (i.e., wastewater from baths, sinks, and the like) or black water (i.e., sewage) into any facilities or places not intended for gray water or black water disposal is prohibited. This includes, but is not limited to, city streets, public rights-of-way, public waterways and storm drains, which are not intended for disposal of gray water or black water.

(5) Unauthorized connections or taps to electrical or other utilities, or violations of building, fire or other relevant codes or standards, are prohibited.

(6) Items used for camping must be readily portable, such as tents. Individuals may not build or erect structures that are not readily portable, such as structures constructed out of plywood, wood materials, pallets, or other similar materials.

(7) Digging, excavation, terracing of soil, alteration of ground, water or infrastructure, or damage to vegetation or trees is prohibited.

(Ord. 741, § 1 (part), 2025)

It is unlawful for any person to camp between the hours of one-half (½) hour after sunset of one day and six (6:00) a.m. of the next day, whether inside or outside of a vehicle, in or on any private property, including, but not limited to vacant lots, parking areas, and residential and commercial properties, unless the person camping in or on such private property:

(a) Is the owner thereof, or the lessee of such property or the houseguest of such owner or lessee, or possesses written permission of the owner of such property, his or her agent or the person in lawful possession of such property; and

(b) The person(s) camping have access to sanitary facilities approved by the city or health officer of the county, including, but not limited to toilet, hand washing and trash disposal facilities at all times people are authorized to be present for camping.

(Ord. 741, § 1 (part), 2025)

It is unlawful and a public nuisance for any person to store personal property on any public property, except as otherwise approved in writing by the City Manager.

(a) Personal property shall be deemed to be stored if it has not been removed from the property within 24 hours of service of written notice provided pursuant to subsection (c) of this section.

(b) All personal property stored in violation of this section may be impounded by the city pursuant to this section.

(c) Before impoundment of any personal property, the enforcement officer shall notify the owner of the personal property in writing, if their identity is reasonably ascertainable; or, if the identity of the owner is not reasonably ascertainable, cause a written notice to be posted in a prominent place at or near where the personal property is located, advising that the city will impound the personal property if not removed within 24 hours. Such notice shall include the following information:

(1) The date the notice was posted;

(2) The date the removal is scheduled to begin if personal property is not voluntarily removed;

(3) The time period during which removal will occur, which cannot exceed four hours;

(4) Where personal property will be stored if removed by the city;

(5) How personal property may be claimed by its owner;

(6) The date on which stored items will be disposed of; and

(7) Contact information for an outreach provider that can provide services and shelter alternatives.

Notwithstanding the foregoing, personal property shall be deemed stored and may be immediately impounded if the city has erected signs in the public area where the personal property is located conspicuously stating that any personal property stored in that area is subject to immediate impoundment and a phone number for further information.

(d) Following removal of personal property, the city shall post a notice for a minimum of ten days at or as near as possible to the location where the personal property was collected, and on the city’s website. This notice shall include the following information:

(1) The date the personal property was removed;

(2) Where the personal property is being stored;

(3) How personal property may be claimed by its owner, including the phone number and hours of a person claiming ownership;

(4) The date on which stored items will be disposed of; and

(5) Contact information for an outreach provider that can provide services and shelter alternatives.

(e) Personal property removed by the city pursuant to this section will be stored by the city for a minimum of 90 days, or the duration required or permitted by law at the time of removal.

(f) The city shall maintain an inventory reasonably identifying personal property removed pursuant to this section, where the personal property was approximately located prior to removal, and the identity of the owner, if known.

(g) The city shall release personal property to the owner identified in the inventory or, if identity of the owner is not known, to a person who claims ownership of the property and can describe the property with particularity. The city shall not require presentation of any identification to retrieve property.

(h) The city may dispose of any personal property that remain unclaimed after 90 days, or such duration as required or permitted by law.

(i) Nothing in this section shall prevent, restrict, or otherwise limit the city’s right to immediately remove, without prior notice: (1) evidence of a crime or contraband from public property; (2) personal property located on public property that poses an immediate threat to the health or safety of the public; (3) items that are perishable, that have no apparent use, are not identifiable as belonging to an individual, or that are in an unsanitary condition due to saturation or contamination from bodily fluids, whether human or animal, or other contamination; and (4) any personal property otherwise authorized by law to be removed without prior notice. For all evidence, property, and items removed pursuant to this subsection, except “(3) items,” a post- removal notice shall be provided as set forth in subsection (d) of this section.

(j) Weapons, drug paraphernalia, or other contraband and items that appear to be either stolen or evidence of a crime, shall be given to law enforcement officials.

(Ord. 741, § 1 (part), 2025)

(a) The City Manager, or their designee, is specifically authorized to modify or suspend enforcement of any section or element of this chapter in the event of a declared emergency, pursuant to administrative rules or policies, weather conditions (including, but not limited to, extreme heat or cold), or for any other reason within the City Manager’s authority, regardless of whether an emergency has been declared.

(b) The City Manager, or their designee, may adopt administrative rules or policies governing or guiding enforcement of this chapter, including, but not limited to ensuring consistent and appropriate enforcement for various circumstances.

(Ord. 741, § 1 (part), 2025)

(a) Any violation of this chapter may be prosecuted as a misdemeanor pursuant to Chapter 1.08 of this code. At the city’s discretion, it may issue administrative citations as permitted by Chapter 1.08 of this code.

(b) In addition to all other remedies, an individual may be issued a written exclusion order by an enforcement officer temporarily prohibiting said individual from a public park or essential city-owned or operated public utility on which violations described in this section occurred, for a period of 30 days, if within a one-year period, the individual:

(1) Is issued two or more citations concerning the same public park or essential city-owned or operated public utility for violating this chapter; or

(2) Is issued one or more citations for violating any state law(s) while in or upon the same public park or essential city-owned or operated public utility.

The foregoing exclusion order shall only apply to the particular public park or essential city-owned or operated public utility in which the offending conduct occurred.

(c) An individual issued a written exclusion order may file a written objection to the order with the City Manager within two business days of its issuance. If a written objection is filed, the matter shall be placed on the City Council’s agenda not earlier than two days after receiving the objection. The exclusion order shall be stayed during the pendency of the appeal. The objection may be heard by the City Council at a regular or special meeting. At the hearing, city staff shall provide the City Council with information regarding the basis for the exclusion order, and the individual shall be allowed to present relevant evidence. City Council may affirm the order upon finding that the criteria in subsection (c) of this section have been met by a preponderance of the evidence. The decision of the City Council is final. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the City Council may appoint a hearings officer as its designee for the purpose of conducting appeals of exclusion orders. In such case, the decision of the hearings officer shall be final.

(d) The remedies or penalties provided by this chapter are cumulative to each other and to the remedies or penalties available under all other laws of this state.

(Ord. 741, § 1 (part), 2025)