Los Gatos Municipal Code Art. III Aerial Spraying

(a) The Town Council hereby finds and determines that the discharge of quantities of chemical pesticides over the Town, a densely populated municipality, may render the air difficult and injurious to breathe, causing physical discomfort, allergic responses, and possible injury to many persons, damage to property, including automobiles, and otherwise producing inconvenience and annoyance to inhabitants of the Town by depriving them of pure, uncontaminated and inoffensive air, and is, therefore, a public nuisance.

(b) Further, the Town Council hereby finds and determines that the protection of the health, safety, and welfare of the inhabitants of the Town necessitates the need to know who will be spraying pesticides and when and where such spraying will occur, in order to prepare the citizenry and the Town's Emergency services, such as physicians, hospitals, Police and Fire.

(Code 1968, §§ 22-5.010, 22-6.010)

For the purposes of this article, the words set out in this section shall have the following meanings:

Aircraft means any airplane, helicopter, flying machine or any other manmade contrivance now known or hereafter invented, used or designed for navigation or flight in the air.

Pesticide means any substance or mixture of substances which is intended to be used for, or is used for, preventing, destroying, repelling, or mitigating any insects, fungi, bacteria, weeds, rodents, or predatory animals, or for defoliating plants, regulating plant growth, or any other form of plant or animal life which may infest or be detrimental to vegetation, humans, or animals.

(Code 1968, § 22-5.020)

Cross reference— Definitions and rules of construction generally, § 1.10.015.

(a) The prohibitions set forth in section 17.30.025 shall not apply to prevent the spraying of pesticides during the following unforeseen and otherwise uncontrollable public emergencies and where adherence to the provisions of this article would make infeasible the quelling of the following public emergencies: (1) fire; (2) flood; (3) earthquake.

(b) Additionally, the prohibitions set forth in section 17.30.025 shall not apply to prevent the spraying of pesticides when any court of competent jurisdiction renders an order or judgment which allows spraying or release upon a showing that there is a public emergency that cannot be satisfactorily abated by other less hazardous alternative means.

(Code 1968, § 22-5.040)

No person shall spray, drop or otherwise release, or cause to be sprayed, dropped, or otherwise released, any pesticide from any aircraft flying within the Town limits, except after complying with the provisions of this article.

(Code 1968, §§ 22-5.030, 22-6.030)

(a) Any person who intends to spray or otherwise release, or intends to cause to be sprayed or otherwise released, any pesticide from any aircraft flying with the Town limits shall file information with the Town Manager on such forms as the Town Manager or Council may prescribe. The information shall include, but not be limited to:

(1) A statement of the purpose for the desired spraying or release;

(2) The date and times of spraying or release;

(3) The areas of the Town to be affected by the spraying or release;

(4) A statement of the anticipated impact of the spraying or release upon humans, animals, vegetation, insects;

(5) The reasons why the spraying or release is preferable to other alternative acts and whether other alternative actions are infeasible;

(6) A statement of how applicant intends to mitigate any adverse impacts of the spraying or release; and

(7) Such other information as may be required.

(b) A hearing before the Town Council shall be scheduled not less than ten (10) days nor more than twenty (20) days after receipt of the application. Notice of the hearing before the Council shall be advertised at least once in a newspaper of general circulation within the Town.

(c) The Council, after hearing, may impose any reasonable requirements related to the protection of the health, safety and welfare of the citizens of the Town upon the proposed spraying. Such conditions may include, but shall not be limited to, a requirement that the applicant publish in a newspaper of general circulation the schedule of proposed sprayings unless the Council finds that such publication is infeasible; and the Council may further allow the applicant to take other means to effectively notify the public of its spraying schedule, e.g., through television, radio, sound trucks, and the like.

(Code 1968, § 22-6.050)

No provision of this article shall be construed as imposing a mandatory duty upon the Town or its officers, agents, or employees under the California Torts Claim Act, Government Code section 810 et seq.

(Code 1968, § 22-6.070)