San Bernardino County Municipal Code Ch. 30 Commercial Activity at the Hall of Records Campus Prohibited

(a) The Board of Supervisors finds that the efficient, unimpeded administration of the functions of the Auditor-Controller/Treasurer-Tax Collector and the Assessor-Recorder-County Clerk is essential to the provision of the County’s document recording, marriage licensing, assessment services, payment services, and other vital County services.

(b) The Board of Supervisors finds that the Hall of Records Campus (as defined herein) is unique among County facilities in that the pathways which are part of the Hall of Records Campus are not thoroughfares and instead merely connect the parking lot and the Hall of Records building. These pathways are the sole means by which patrons utilizing the parking lot may access the Hall of Records building. These pathways were constructed solely to provide for the passage of individuals engaged in County Hall of Records business and not as a public passageway or as an area dedicated to expressive activity. The Board of Supervisors takes note that the Hall of Records Campus is not directly accessible via public sidewalks and roadways nor has it been otherwise dedicated to First Amendment activities and is thus not a public forum.

(c) The Board of Supervisors finds that the nature of the governmental operations provided at the Hall of Records Campus is such that commercial solicitors and vendors may intimidate, impede, or mislead individuals who have come to access County government services and information at the Hall of Records Campus. The purpose of the Hall of Records Campus is to provide patrons with vital County services including assistance in filing business licenses, marriage licensing, assessment services, and payment services. Commercial activity on the Hall of Records Campus is an intrusion upon, and creates significant interference with, the ability of individuals to access the County’s services and information. Patrons are confronted by in-person solicitors and vendors peddling third party products and/or services just at the moment they are seeking to access free government information and/or services. This interferes with the function of the Hall of Records Campus.

(d) The Board of Supervisors finds that direct in-person soliciting and vending of commercial products and services at the Hall of Records Campus leads to congestion, intimidation of patrons and County employees, as well as the distribution of misleading information. Specifically the Board of Supervisors finds that the County has received from patrons of County services at and within the Hall of Records Campus, numerous written complaints, including complaints of being accosted by aggressive solicitors, of being misinformed by third party commercial solicitors that certain of the County Clerk’s functions have been relocated to the premises of a private business, and of third party commercial solicitors wearing lanyards with identification badges similar in appearance to those worn by County employees resulting in County patrons misidentifying such commercial solicitors as County employees.

(e) The Board of Supervisors finds that County employees have reported incidents involving third party commercial solicitors that were intimidating and confrontational and that gave rise to employees’ concerns for their personal safety.

(f) The Board of Supervisors finds that the complaints and incidents described above have necessitated the installation of additional security surveillance equipment, the posting of advisory signage, and the deployment of additional security personnel at the Hall of Records Campus. Such preventative measures have not been sufficient to deter interference by commercial solicitors with County services and functions. Nor have state general laws and criminal statutes (disturbing the peace, trespass, fraud, etc.) been sufficient to effectively protect the public and County employees from misinformation, intimidation, or confrontation, due in part to the lack of law enforcement resources available to respond to lower priority offenses and the delay in response time to such lower priority offenses. Furthermore, the physical characteristics of the Hall of Records Campus do not accommodate placement of advisory signage in locations that would provide County patrons with notice of such misleading or intimidating activities prior to, or contemporaneously with, the patrons’ point of contact with such misleading or intimidating activities. This chapter includes regulations addressing these issues and enables the County to enforce such regulations with its own Code Enforcement Officers and other authorized personnel.

(g) The Board of Supervisors finds that in addition to the above-discussed activity for which it has received complaints from patrons and employees alike, any in-person commercial solicitation and vending by third parties at the Hall of Records Campus has the potential to create congestion, and interfere with and distract from the County’s ability to provide its essential services to patrons. Thus, the Board of Supervisors finds that commercial solicitation and vending at, on, or about the premises of the Auditor-Controller/Treasurer-Tax Collector and the Assessor-Recorder-County Clerk at the Hall of Records Campus obstructs, interferes, and conflicts with the proper conduct of essential governmental functions and may create a health and/or safety hazard within, about, or upon such premises.

(Ord. 4308, passed - -2016)

The Board of Supervisors acknowledges the primacy of protecting the people’s right of free speech under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution and the right of free speech under the California Constitution. The Board of Supervisors further acknowledges and takes legislative notice of the holdings of the courts interpreting the permissible limits that may be imposed by government on expressive vending, solicitation, and commercial speech, as set forth in, but not limited to, the following California Supreme Court opinions and federal court opinions: International Society for Krishna Consciousness, Inc. v. Lee (1992) 505 U.S. 672; United States v. Kokinda (1990) 497 U.S. 720; Los Angeles Alliance for Survival v. City of Los Angeles (2000) 22 Cal.4th 352; International Society for Krishna Consciousness of California, Inc. v. City of Los Angeles (2010) 48 Cal.4th 446; Children of the Rosary v. City of Phoenix (9th Cir. 1998) 154 F.3d 972; Central Hudson Gas & Electric Corp v. Public Service Commission of New York (1980) 447 U.S. 557; Retail Digital Network, LLC v. Appelsmith (9th Cir. 2016) 810 F.3d 638; One World One Family Now v. City and County of Honolulu (9th Cir. 1996) 76 F.3d 1009; and Friends of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial v. Kennedy (D.C. Cir. 1997) 116 F.3d 495, 497. These opinions, in summary, establish that:

(a) The government may regulate both commercial speech and noncommercial speech;

(b) Expressive vending and solicitation may be regulated by the government;

(c) Government ownership of property does not open that property to the public for First Amendment purposes; and

(d) Regulations impacting expressive activity at government property that is not a traditional public forum and has not been dedicated to First Amendment activities, will survive judicial scrutiny if they are reasonable and viewpoint neutral, which means the regulations are not arbitrary, capricious, or invidious, and are not merely an effort to suppress expression.

(Ord. 4308, passed - -2016)

The purpose of this Chapter is to protect the right of members of the public to freely and without undue interference access those governmental offices and functions at the Hall of Records Campus, thereby preserving the proper operation of government, by prohibiting third party commercial activity, as defined herein, at, on, or about the Hall of Records Campus, as defined herein. This Chapter is not intended in any manner to prohibit or restrict noncommercial speech.

(Ord. 4308, passed - -2016)

This Chapter is adopted pursuant to Article XI, Section 7 of the California Constitution, which authorizes counties to make and enforce within their limits all local, police, sanitary, and other ordinances and regulations not in conflict with general laws that serve to protect the health, safety and welfare of its residents, and § 23004 of the Government Code, which authorizes counties to manage county property.

(Ord. 4308, passed - -2016)

As used in this Chapter, the following terms shall have the following meanings:

“BOARD OF SUPERVISORS” means the Board of Supervisors of the County of San Bernardino.

“COMMERCIAL ACTIVITY” means any third party in-person activity where the primary purpose is to initiate a commercial transaction. COMMERCIAL ACTIVITY does not include: the donation of funds made to 501(c)(3) non-profit organizations; or the marketing, advertising, or sale of employee benefits to, or for the primary benefit of, County employees.

“COUNTY” means the County of San Bernardino, any of its agencies, departments, and subdivisions, any associated districts, any entity for which the Board of Supervisors serves as the legislative body, and any officer or employee thereof.

“HALL OF RECORDS CAMPUS” means all that real property owned by the County located in the City of San Bernardino, County of San Bernardino, California, commonly known as 222 West Hospitality Lane, San Bernardino, California, and 268 West Hospitality Lane, San Bernardino, California, including the buildings, landscaped areas, walkways, and parking lots, located upon and consisting of Assessor Parcel Nos. 0141-363-15, 0141-363-16, and 0141-372-40, as depicted in the maps attached to Ord. 4308 as Exhibit A and made a part hereof by this reference. The HALL OF RECORDS CAMPUS does not include the public sidewalks located immediately adjacent to Hospitality Lane and Sunwest Court.

“PERSON” means any individual, partnership, corporation, joint venture, firm, company, association, group, body politic, or other entity, and any officer, employee, agent, volunteer, trustee, assignee, contractor, or other representative thereof.

(Ord. 4308, passed - -2016)

It shall be unlawful for any person to engage in commercial activity at or on the Hall of Records Campus.

(Ord. 4308, passed - -2016)

It shall be unlawful for any person to violate any provision of this Chapter. Enforcement, violations, remedies, and penalties shall be governed by Chapter 2 of Division 1 of Title 1 (commencing with § 11.0201) of the County Code, and other applicable law.

(Ord. 4308, passed - -2016)

If any portion, provision, clause, sentence or paragraph of this Chapter or the application thereof to any person or circumstances shall be held by a court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, such decision shall not affect the validity of the other provisions of this Chapter which can be given effect without the invalid provision or application, and to this end, the provisions of this Chapter are hereby declared to be severable. The Board hereby declares that it would have passed this Chapter and each portion, provision, clause, sentence and phrase herein, irrespective of the fact that any one or more portions, provisions, clauses, sentences or phrases be declared invalid.

(Ord. 4308, passed - -2016)