San Rafael Municipal Code Art. III Powers of The City

Without denial or disparagement of other powers held under the Constitution and laws of the State, the City of San Rafael shall have the right and power:

To provide a corporate seal, with appropriate device, to be affixed to all instruments or writings needing authentication.

To sue and defend in all courts and places and in all matters and proceedings.

To purchase, receive, have, take, hold, lease, use and enjoy property of every kind and description, both within and without the limits of said city, and to control and dispose of the same for the public benefit.

To receive bequests, gifts and donations of all kinds of property, in fee simple or in trust for charitable or for other purposes, and do all acts necessary to carry out the purposes of such bequests, gifts and donations, with power to manage, sell, lease or otherwise dispose of the same, in accordance with the terms of the bequest, gift, or trust, or absolutely in case of such bequests, gift or trust be unconditional.

To establish, maintain and equip libraries, reading rooms, parks, playgrounds, markets, and all other public buildings, places, works and institutions, and to carry on and conduct any and all kinds of business and to subsidize the same.

To acquire by purchase, condemnation or otherwise and to establish, maintain, equip, own and operate telephone and telegraph systems, cable and electric or other railways and transportation service of any and every kind.

To acquire by purchase, condemnation or otherwise, and to establish, maintain, equip, own and operate water works, gas works, electric light, heat and power works within and without the city, and to supply the city and its inhabitants, and also persons, firms or corporations or cities or towns outside the city with water, gas, heat and electricity.

To sell gas, water, electric current, and all products of any public utility operated by the city.

To acquire by purchase, condemnation, suit or otherwise within and without the city, such lands or other property as may be necessary for the establishment, maintenance and operation of any public utility, or to provide for and effectuate any other public purpose, and to sell, convey and dispose of the same for the public benefit.

To lease, by ordinance, all city-owned property excepting therefrom leases of five (5) years or less and/or leases where the total rent is Six Thousand ($6,000.00) Dollars or less. (City Council Resolution No. 5589, adopted December 21, 1978, as ratified by the voters on March 6, 1979. State Charter Statutes Appendix, Chapter 11, 1979.)

To exercise the right of eminent domain, for the purpose of acquiring real and personal property of every kind for any public use.

To borrow money for any of the purposes for which the city is authorized to provide, and for carrying out any of the powers which the city is authorized to enjoy the exercise, and to issue bonds therefor; provided, that in the procedure for the creation and issuance of such bonded indebtedness the general laws of the State of California in force at the time such proceedings are taken shall be observed and followed.

To raise money by special tax in addition to the annual tax levy provided in Article XII of this charter. To authorize such special tax the council shall submit to the electors of the city the question whether such tax shall be raised, by advertising a notice of such election in a newspaper published in said city once a week for three successive weeks, specifying the time and place of holding the election, the amount of money proposed to be raised, and the purpose for which it is intended to be used. Such election shall take place within twenty-five days after the first publication of said notice, and the levy of such tax must be approved by at least two-thirds of the qualified electors who vote at said election. At such election the council may be authorized, in cases where public necessity requires the expenditure of any sum so voted before the next succeeding tax levy, to issue warrants therefor, and provide in the next succeeding tax levy for their payment, with interest not exceeding five per cent per annum. Or the council may be authorized by such election to levy a special tax each year for a period of years, not exceeding three years in all, for any permanent municipal improvement, and the money so raised may be expended each year after the same is collected and available.

To exercise police powers and make all necessary police and sanitary regulations, and to adopt ordinances and prescribe penalties for the violation thereof.

To improve the inlets, waterways and channels flowing through the city or adjoining the same; to widen, straighten and deepen the channels thereof, and to remove obstructions therefrom; to control and improve the water front of the city; and to acquire, own, construct, maintain and operate on any lands bordering on said waterways, inlets and channels, within the limits of said city or contiguous thereto, wharves, chutes, piers or bath houses.

To build and repair bridges; to establish, lay out, alter, open, keep open, close, improve and repair streets, sidewalks, alleys, squares and other public highways and places within the city; to drain, sprinkle, oil and light the same; to remove all obstructions therefrom; to establish or change the grades thereon; to grade, pave, macadamize, gravel and curb the same, in whole or in part, and to construct gutters, culverts, sidewalks and cross-walks thereon or on any part thereof; to cause to be planted, set out and cultivated shade trees thereon; and generally to manage and control such highways and places.

To equip and maintain a fire department, and to make all necessary regulations for the prevention of fires.

To provide for the abatement of any nuisance at the expense of the persons creating, causing, committing or maintaining such nuisances.

To offer rewards, not exceeding two hundred and fifty dollars in any one instance, for the apprehension and conviction of any person who may have committed a felony in the city, and to authorize the payment thereof.

To prescribe fire limits and determine the character and height of buildings that may be erected therein, and the nature of the materials to be used in the construction, alteration or repair of such buildings, or in the repair or alteration of existing buildings within such fire limits.

To regulate the construction and location of, and the materials used in, all buildings, chimneys, stacks, and other structures; to prevent the erection and maintenance of insecure or unsafe buildings, walls, chimneys, stacks or other structures, and to provide for their summary abatement or destruction; to regulate the materials used in, and the method of construction of, foundations and foundation walls, the materials, manner of construction and location of drains and sewers, the materials used in wiring buildings or other structures for the use of electricity for lighting, power, heat or other purposes, and materials used for piping buildings or other structures for the purpose of supplying the same with water or gas, and the manner of so doing; to prohibit the construction of buildings and structures which do not conform to such regulations.

To require the owners and leasees of buildings or other structures to place upon them or in them fire escapes and appliances for protection against fire and for the extinguishment of fires.

To prevent the construction and to cause the removal of dangerous chimneys, fire-places, hearths, stoves, stove pipes, ovens, boilers, apparatus and machinery used in any building in the city; to prevent the depositing of ashes, the accumulation of shavings, rubbish or any combustible material in unsafe places, and to make provisions to guard against fires.

To regulate the size and construction of the entrances to and exits from all theatres, lecture rooms, halls, schools, churches and other places for public gathering of every kind, and to prevent the placing of seats, chairs, benches or other obstructions in the hallways, aisles or open places therein.

To regulate the speed of railroad trains, engines and cars passing through the city, and the speed of cars of street or interurban railway companies using the public streets of the city; to require railroad companies to station flagmen, place gates or signals at all such street crossings as the council may deem proper; to require street cars and local trains to be public; to prohibit the making up of railroad trains on any of the street crossings or street intersections of the city; to regulate the speed with which persons may ride or drive or propel bicycles, motor cycles, automobiles or other vehicles along or upon any of the streets or highways of the city; to prohibit the blocking or obstructing by railroad trains of any of the street crossings or street intersections of the city.

To regulate or prohibit the exhibition or carrying of banners, placards, or advertisements, and the distribution of handbills in the streets, public grounds or upon the sidewalks; to regulate and prevent the flying of banners, flags or signs across the streets or from houses; to regulate or prohibit traffic and sales in the streets and public places; to prevent encroachments upon or obstructions to the streets, and to require their removal.

To compel the owner or occupant of buildings or grounds to remove dirt, rubbish, and weeds therefrom and from the alley and sidewalk thereof, and on default to authorize the removal or destruction thereof by some officer or employee of the city, at the expense of such owner or occupant.

To regulate, license or prohibit the construction and use of billboards and signs.

To prevent or regulate the running at large of any fowls or animals, and to establish and maintain a pound, and authorize the destruction or other disposition of any fowls or animals running at large.

To regulate and prevent the running at large of dogs; to provide for the destruction of vicious dogs, and to require the payment of license fees by the owners or persons having possession of dogs, and to impose penalties upon such persons for refusing to pay such license fees.

To make all regulations which may be necessary and expedient for the preservation of health and the suppression of disease; to make regulations to prevent the introduction of contagious, malignant, infectious or other diseases into the city; to make quarantine laws and regulations; to regulate, control and prevent the entry into the city of persons, baggage, merchandise or other property infected with contagious disease.

To regulate or prohibit the operation of all manufactories, occupations and trades which may be of such a nature as to effect the public health or good order of the city or disturb the public peace, or which may be offensive or dangerous to the inhabitants residing in the vicinity, and to provide for the punishment of all persons who may permit the same to be maintained in any building or upon any premises owned or controlled by them; to make regulations for the suppression of disagreeable, offensive or injurious noises.

To provide for and regulate the inspection by the health officer of meats, poultry, fish, game, bread, butter, cheese, lard, eggs, vegetables, breadstuffs, milk and other food products offered for sale in the city, and to provide for the taking and summarily destroying of any such products as are unsound, spoiled, adulterated or unwholesome, and to regulate and prevent the bringing into the city or having or keeping within the city, any such unsound, spoiled, adulterated or unwholesome products.

To provide for the regulation and inspection of all dairies, slaughter houses and creameries that offer for sale any of their products in the city.

To regulate lodging, tenement and apartment houses and to prevent the overcrowding of the same, and to require that they be put and kept in proper sanitary condition.

To regulate the construction, repair and use of sewers, sinks, gutters, wells, cesspools and vaults, and to compel the connecting, cleaning or emptying of the same, and to designate the time and manner in which the work shall be done.

To provide for the treatment of and collection and disposal of garbage, ashes, animal and vegetable refuse, dead animals, offal and waste matter.

To license, for the purpose of regulation and revenue, all and every kind of business not prohibited by law, and all shows, exhibitions and lawful games carried on in the city; to fix the rate of licenses upon the same, and to provide for the collection thereof by suit or otherwise.

To provide for the inspection and sealing of all weights and measures used in the city, and to enforce the keeping and use by dealers of proper weights and measures duly tested and sealed.

To levy and collect taxes upon all the real and personal property within the city, subject to the limitations elsewhere in this charter provided.

To order the repaying to the persons entitled thereto by the treasurer of any taxes, percentages or costs erroneously or illegally collected.

To fix the fees and charges for all official services not otherwise provided for in this charter.

EXECUTION. To provide for the purchase of property levied upon or under execution in favor of the city, but the amount bid on such purchase shall not exceed the amount of judgment and costs.

To fix and determine, by ordinance, in the month of February of each year, and to take effect on the first day of July thereafter, the rates or compensation to be collected by any person, firm or corporation in the city for the use of water, heat, light, power or telephonic service supplied to the city or its inhabitants, and to prescribe the quality of the service.

To require every railroad company to keep the streets in repair between the tracks, and along and within the distance of two feet upon each side of the track occupied by the company, and to sprinkle the same.

To permit the laying down of spur or side tracks and running of cars thereon, for the purpose of connecting warehouses, manufactories or other business industries and enterprises with any line of railroads which do now or may hereafter enter the city, subject to such regulations and conditions as may be prescribed from time to time by the council; such tracks not to be used as a main line or a part thereof; and also for the purpose of excavating and filling in a street or a portion of a street or the adjoining land, and for such limited time as may be necessary for such purpose and no longer. Such tracks must be laid level with the street, and must be operated under such restrictions as not to interfere with the use of the street by the public. All permits granted under the provisions hereof shall be revocable at the pleasure of the council.

To cause the removal and placing under ground of all telephone, telegraph, electric light or other wires within the city or within any designated portion thereof, and to regulate or prohibit the placing of poles and suspending of wires along or across any of the streets, highways and public places in the city.

To regulate the size and location of all water pipes, gas pipes, and all other pipes and conduits laid or constructed in the streets and public places, and to require the filing of charts and maps of such pipes and conduits.

To make all rules and regulations governing elections not inconsistent with this charter.

To establish a park commission and to appoint commissioners thereon, to serve without compensation, with such powers and duties as may be fixed by the council.

To acquire by purchase or otherwise and own, operate and control all machinery and all appliances necessary for the improvement of waterways.

To prescribe fines, forfeitures and penalties for the violation of any provision of this charter, or of any ordinance; but no penalty shall exceed a fine of five hundred dollars or six months imprisonment, or both.

To exercise such other powers as are now or may be hereafter granted by the legislature to the municipalities within the state, unless the exercise of such powers is contrary to the provisions of this charter; to exercise all other needful powers for the efficient administration of the municipal government, the welfare of the city or its inhabitants, whether such powers are herein expressly enumerated or not; and to enact appropriate legislation, and do or perform any and all other acts and things which may be necessary and proper to carry out the general powers of the city or of any of the provisions of this charter.

In the absence of any procedure for carrying out or effectuating any granted or implied power or authority, the general laws of this state, where applicable and where not inconsistent with any express provision of this charter shall prevail and shall be followed.

The qualified voters of the city shall have the power, through the initiative and otherwise, as provided in this charter and the general laws of the state, to enact appropriate legislation to carry out and enforce any of the general or implied powers of the city.

Lastly, this grant of power is to be liberally construed for the purpose of securing the well being of the municipality and its inhabitants.

The city shall have the power to make and enforce all laws and regulations in respect to municipal affairs, subject only to such restrictions and limitations as may be provided in this charter and in the Constitution of the State of California. It shall also have the power to exercise any and all rights, powers and privileges heretofore or hereafter established, granted or prescribed by any law of the State, by this charter, or by other lawful authority, or which a municipal corporation might or could exercise under the Constitution of the State of California. The enumeration in this charter of any particular power shall not be held to be exclusive of, or any limitation upon, this general grant of power.

(Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 71, May 15, 1953) CA No. 9.