Salinas Municipal Code Art. XIV Prohibition Against Camping

Footnotes:

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Editor's note— Ord. No. 2599(NCS), § 1, adopted Oct. 10, 2017, amended Art. XIV, §§ 16-140.010—16-140.090, in effect repealing and reenacting said article as set out herein. Former Art. XIV pertained to "Prohibition Against Camping, Loitering and Public Urination and Defecation" and derived from Ord. No. 2578(NCS), § 2, adopted Sept. 21, 2016.

The public areas within the city, including streets, sidewalks, parks, public building and public land, should be readily accessible and available to residents and the public at large for use in a clean, safe, and healthy manner. The use of these areas by campers interferes with the ability of residents and the public at large to use the areas in the clean, healthy, and safe manner for the uses intended. Such camping and the attendant negative effects can constitute a public health and safety hazard, which adversely impacts other members of the public and neighborhoods, as well as industrial, agricultural, and commercial areas. Nonetheless, sleeping and resting are universal and unavoidable consequences of being human. For individuals with no access to private spaces, sleeping and resting can only be done in public. A purpose of this article is to strike a balance between the need of residents and the public at large to clean, reasonable, safe access to public spaces and the needs of individuals without access to private spaces to sleep and rest. It is necessary to maintain public and private lands, streets, sidewalks, alleys, ways, creeks, waterways, parks, playgrounds, recreation areas, plazas, open spaces, lots, parcels and other public and private areas within the city, in a clean, sanitary and accessible condition. It is necessary to protect the health, safety and welfare of the community. It is necessary for all humans to sleep and rest, and for those individuals without access to private spaces, to do so in public spaces. Nothing in this article is intended to interfere with otherwise lawful and ordinary uses of public or private property.

(Ord. No. 2599(NCS), § 2, 10-10-2017; Ord. No. 2694 (NCS), § 1, 2-24-2026)

For the purposes of this article, the following terms shall have the following definitions:

(a) "Camp" means to place, pitch or occupy camp facilities; to live temporarily in a camp facility or outdoors; to use camp paraphernalia.

(b) "Camp facilities" include, but are not limited to, tents, sleeping bags, blankets, huts, yurts, vehicles, vehicle camping outfits, temporary shelters, or other materials (whether hand-built or otherwise) for the purpose of sleeping, lying, or sheltering one or more persons .

(c) "Camp paraphernalia" includes, but is not limited to, bedrolls, air mattresses, tarpaulins, cots, beds, sleeping bags, hammocks and similar equipment.

(d) "City facilities" are city hall, public libraries, the public service yard, police stations, public safety facilities, fire stations, airports, sports complexes, recreation center, the armory building, permit center, pump station, golf course, stormwater facility, sewage treatment plant, and parking garages owned or operated by the city of Salinas.

(e) "Community development director" is the community development director or designee.

(f) "Critical Infrastructure" means real property or a facility, whether privately or publicly owned, as approved by resolution of the City Council, that the City Manager designates as being so vital and integral to the operation or functioning of the city that its damage, incapacity, disruption, or destruction would have a debilitating impact on the public health, safety, or welfare. Critical infrastructure may include, but is not limited to, government buildings, such as fire stations, police stations, libraries; structures such as antennas, bridges, roads, sidewalks, train tracks, drainage systems, surface channels, outfalls, or stormwater facilities; or systems, such as computer networks, public utilities, electrical wires, natural gas pipes, telecommunications facilities, or water sources.

(g) "Education facilities" are public or private schools, libraries, sports complexes, and recreation centers at which children regularly gather.

(h) "Establish" means to set up or move equipment, supplies or materials on to public or private property to camp or operate camp facilities.

(i) "Maintain" means to keep or permit equipment, supplies or materials to remain on public or private property in order to camp or operate camp facilities.

(j) "Operate" means to participate or assist in establishing or maintaining a camp or camp facility.

(k) "Private property" means all private property including, but not limited to, streets, sidewalk, alleys, and improved or unimproved land.

(l) "Public property" means any real or personal property owned or controlled by the city and includes, but is not limited to, any publicly-owned park, building, street, sidewalk, way, path, alley, park, parking lot or other public property owned or controlled by the city and located within the city of Salinas. Public property includes City facilities as defined in this section.

(m) "Stormwater facility" means any constructed component of a stormwater system, whether public or private, designed or constructed to perform a particular function or multiple functions. Stormwater facilities include, but are not limited to, pipes, swales, ditches, culverts, street gutters, detention basins, constructed wetlands, infiltration devices, catch basins, oil/water separators, and sediment basins.

(n) "Street" means streets, avenues, highways, lanes, alleys, ways, crossings or intersections, co-routes and culs-de-sac.

(Ord. No. 2599(NCS), § 2, 10-10-2017; Ord. No. 2694 (NCS), § 1, 2-24-2026)

Except as may otherwise be specifically permitted in the Salinas Municipal Code, it is unlawful and a public nuisance for any person to camp, establish, maintain, operate or occupy camping facilities, or use camp paraphernalia:

(a) On any public property;

(b) On any critical infrastructure; within twenty-five feet of critical infrastructure; within twenty-five feet of a vehicular or pedestrian entrance or exit of critical infrastructure; on those portions of a right-of-way that are required by state, local, or federal law to be free of obstruction to first responders, including but not limited to members of law-enforcement, fire-prevention, or emergency medical services agencies; or within a wildfire risk area (as defined in California Code of Regulations, title 24, part 9, section 202).

(c) Any private property, improved or unimproved.

(d) The prohibition set forth in this section does not apply to:

(1) Overnight camping on private residential property, by no more than six people, with the consent of the property owner or a person in lawful possession of the property, provided the property owner or a person in lawful possession provides onsite access to flush toilets and onsite refuse disposal, and the camping does not pose a threat to the public's health, safety, welfare, or otherwise create a public or private nuisance;

(2) Mobile home parks and special occupancy parks;

(3) Camping on public or private property pursuant to a permit issued under Salinas Municipal Code Section 16-140.040; and

(4) Day use for lawful activities on public property where authorized.

(e) Within two hundred feet of any posted notice to vacate or to remove personal property posted pursuant to Salinas Municipal Code Section 16-130.040 or other official signage designating a location for enforcement action or otherwise prohibiting sleeping, sitting, lying, camping, or placing personal property in that location.

A violation of this section is a misdemeanor. In addition to the remedies set forth in Penal Code section 370, the city may institute civil actions to abate a public nuisance pursuant to Section 1-8.1.

(Ord. No. 2599(NCS), § 2, 10-10-2017; Ord. No. 2694 (NCS), § 1, 2-24-2026)

The city manager may promulgate regulations to establish a program pursuant to which a permit may be issued to establish, maintain and operate a camp or a camp facility in connection with a special overnight event. A special overnight event is intended to include, but is not limited to, programs operated by departments of the city, events organized by nonprofit or community-based organizations, organized youth or school events, and sporting events. The regulations shall be published on the city's website. Regulations promulgated by the city manager shall have the same force and effect of law and become effective upon date of publication.

Any person who establishes, maintains or operates a camp or camp facility without a permit may be subject to a misdemeanor. Such activity constitutes a public nuisance. In addition to the remedies set forth in Penal Code section 370, the city may institute civil actions to abate a public nuisance pursuant to Salinas Municipal Code Section 1-8.1.

(Ord. No. 2599(NCS), § 2, 10-10-2017; Ord. No. 2694 (NCS), § 1, 2-24-2026)

It is unlawful for any person to establish, maintain, conduct or carry on any camp or camp facility unless there shall be at all times posted in a conspicuous place upon the area or tract of land upon which the camp or camp facility is located a permit obtained from the city in accordance with the provisions of Section 16-140.040 of this chapter.

A violation of this section is a misdemeanor. In addition to the remedies set forth in Penal Code section 370, the city may institute civil actions to abate a public nuisance pursuant to Section 1-8.1.

(Ord. No. 2599(NCS), § 2, 10-10-2017; Ord. No. 2694 (NCS), § 1, 2-24-2026)

No person, after having been notified by a police officer or other city employee or official that he or she is in violation of the prohibition in this section shall:

(a) Walk, stand, sit, or lie upon any monument, vase, decorative fountain, drinking fountain, bike rack, trash receptacle, median, fire hydrant, street-tree planter, berm, utility cabinet, railing, fence, planter, stairwell, parking lot, or parking structure;

(b) Walk, stand, sit, or lie upon any public lawn or planted area that is posted with signs that forbid such conduct;

A violation of this section is a misdemeanor.

(Ord. No. 2599(NCS), § 2, 10-10-2017; Ord. No. 2694 (NCS), § 1, 2-24-2026)

The city council finds and determines that encampments located on private property have at least the same health, safety, and welfare concerns as encampments on public property and find the same to constitute a nuisance. The city manager is authorized to promulgate all regulations necessary to provide for city clean-up and removal of encampments located on private property and for the recovery of all costs and expenses associated therewith. The regulations shall be published on the city's website. Regulations promulgated by the city manager shall have the same force and effect of law and become effective upon date of publication.

(Ord. No. 2599(NCS), § 2, 10-10-2017; Ord. No. 2694 (NCS), § 1, 2-24-2026)

It is necessary to periodically close public property for cleaning and removal of accumulated garbage, refuse, hypodermic needles, and debris. The city council shall approve, by resolution, a form and procedure the promulgation of public notice for the closing of public property for such cleanings. On no one day shall the city close for cleaning more than one fourth of the sidewalks in the city for cleaning.

(Ord. No. 2599(NCS), § 2, 10-10-2017; Ord. No. 2694 (NCS), § 1, 2-24-2026)