Article 6-15

MISCELLANEOUS OFFENSES

Sections:

(a) No persons shall gather, collect, assemble or congregate within one thousand feet of the scene of any fire, accident, explosion, flood, riot, earthquake or any emergency when any authorized emergency response personnel are actively engaged thereat.

(b) Any violation of this Section shall constitute a misdemeanor.

(Ord. 71-172, adopted February 4, 1997.)

(a) No person shall loiter, stand or sit in or upon any walkway, mall, parkway, plaza, parking lot, or

other property, whether in public ownership or in private ownership but open to the use of the general public, which property is designed to be used by members of the public for pedestrian or vehicular passage, so as to in any manner hinder or obstruct the free passage therein or thereon of persons or vehicles passing along the same, or so as to in any manner annoy or molest persons passing along the same. This Section is intended to be in addition to the prohibitions of Sections 6-15.040 and 10-05.020 of this Code.

(b) Any violation of this Section shall constitute an infraction.

(a) No person shall loiter or stand or sit in or at the entrance of any hall, theater, church, public building or other place of public assemblage so as to in any manner obstruct such entrance.

(b) Any violation of this Section shall constitute an infraction.

(a) No person shall be drunk or intoxicated in any public place, or on any street, alley or highway.

(b) Any violation of this Section shall constitute a misdemeanor.

(a) It shall be unlawful for any person to enter, be, or remain on the posted premises of, including the posted parking lot immediately adjacent to, any retail package off-sale alcoholic beverage licensee licensed pursuant to Division 9 (commencing with Section 23000) of the State Business and Professions Code, or on any public sidewalk immediately adjacent to the licensed and posted premises, while such person has in his possession any bottle, can or other receptacle containing any alcoholic beverage which has been opened, or a seal broken, or the contents of which have been partially removed.

(b) As used in this Section, "posted premises" means those premises which are subject to licensure under any retail package off-sale alcoholic beverage license, the parking lot immediately adjacent to the licensed premises, and any public sidewalk immediately adjacent to the licensed premises on which clearly visible notices indicate to the patrons of the licensee and

(Saratoga Supp. No. 56, 7-25)

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the parking lot and to persons on the public sidewalk, that the provisions of this Section are applicable. Said notices shall be of a minimum size of twelve inches by eighteen inches and shall state, in letters of a minimum of one inch in height placed on a contrasting background, "Possession of opened alcoholic beverage containers prohibited - Saratoga City Code Section 6-15.060." The licensee shall, at his own expense, prepare and post copies of said notice so as to be visible: (1) on the licensed premises, (2) from the parking lot immediately adjacent to the licensed premises, and (3) from any public sidewalk immediately adjacent to the licensed premises, or any applicable combination of the aforementioned locations.

(c) The provisions of this Section shall not apply to a private residential parking lot which is immediately adjacent to the posted premises.

(d) The City Council may, by resolution, establish specific exceptions of limited duration to the requirements of this Section.

(e) Any violation of this Section shall constitute an infraction.

6-15.070—16-15.085 Reserved.

Editor’s note— Ord. No. 407, § 1(Att. 1, § 3), adopted March 19, 2025, repealed §§ 6-15.070, 6-15.080, 6-15.085, which pertained to discharge of pollutants into storm drains and watercourses, obstruction of watercourses, enforcement of 6-15.070 and 6-15.080 and derived from Ord. 71-143 § 1, 1994. The user's attention is directed to Article 7-12 for similar provisions.

(a) No person shall sell or give to any minor in the City who is at least sixteen years of age but not over the age of eighteen years, without the written consent of the parent or legal guardian of such minor, or to any minor under the age of sixteen years, any rifle, gun, pistol, revolver, air rifle, BB or pellet gun, crossbow, slingshot, or other instrument of any kind from which or by means of which any bullet or other missile of any kind may be projected capable of causing bodily harm.

(b) Any violation of this Section shall constitute a misdemeanor.

(a) No person shall fire or discharge, or cause to be fired or discharged in the City, nor shall a parent, guardian or person having the custody or control of a minor permit such minor to fire or discharge or cause

to be fired or discharged in the City, any rifle, gun, pistol, revolver, air rifle, BB or pellet gun, crossbow, slingshot, or other instrument of any kind from which or by means of which any bullet or other missile of any kind may be projected capable of causing bodily harm.

(b) Subsection (a) of this Section shall not apply to any of the following:

(1) A law enforcement officer in the discharge of his duties.

(2) The firing or discharge of a weapon in self defense to the extent permitted by law.

(3) The firing or discharge of a weapon as expressly authorized by a permit or license duly issued by the County Sheriff.

(c) Any violation of this Section shall constitute a misdemeanor. In addition, upon arrest of any person for violation of this Section, the arresting department is authorized to confiscate and impound any such weapons in the possession of the person arrested and hold the same as evidence. Such weapon shall be returned to the arrested person upon any dismissal of all charges against him or upon a final judicial determination that such person was not guilty. If such person is convicted of violating this Section, the impounded weapon on which the conviction is based shall be forfeited to the City. (Ord. 71-164 § 1, 1996)

(a) It is hereby found and declared to be a public nuisance for any place of business to which the public is invited, to exhibit, display or offer for sale any device, contrivance, instrument or paraphernalia designed, modified or altered for the purposes of smoking, ingesting or consuming marijuana, hashish, PCP, or any controlled substance as defined in the State Health and Safety Code, Divisions 10-10-9, as amended, other than prescription drugs and devices to ingest or inject prescription drugs, unless so exhibited within a separate room or roomlike enclosure from which minors are excluded. Said room shall be designed so that its contents are not visible to persons outside it, and shall have posted at every entrance thereto a sign stating in reasonably visible and legible words that minors shall not be admitted. For purposes of enforcement of the foregoing provisions, all advertisements, statements, contextual arrangements of merchandise and other factors manifested to the public shall be considered relevant to a determination of the character and intended use of

(Saratoga Supp. No. 56, 7-25)

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the paraphernalia described in this Section. It is found and declared to be an act in furtherance of the above described public nuisance for any owner, manager, proprietor or other person in charge of any place of business above described, to invite, allow or permit any person under the age of eighteen years, to enter, visit or remain in such a separate room as described above, or in any other place where the above described paraphernalia are exhibited.

(b) Any violation of this Section shall constitute a misdemeanor.

(a) No person under the age of twenty-one years shall possess or consume any alcoholic beverage at any place not open to the public, unless that person is being supervised by the person's parent or legal guardian.

(b) No person shall suffer, permit, allow, or host a social gathering at the person's place of residence where one or more persons under the age of twenty-one are present and alcoholic beverages are in the possession of, or being consumed by, any person under the age of twenty-one and there is no supervision by the parent or legal guardian of each of the participants under the age of twenty-one.

(c) Any person violating this Section is guilty of a misdemeanor. (Ord. 71.75 (part), 1990; Ord. 258 § 1 (part), 2008)

(a) When a disturbance occurs at a premises and a police officer at the scene determines that there is a threat to the public peace, health, safety or general welfare, the person in charge of the premises and the person responsible for the event or, if either of those persons is a minor, then the parents or guardians of that minor, will be held jointly and severally liable for the cost of providing police personnel on special security assignment over and above the services normally provided by the police. The police personnel utilized during a second response after the first warning to control the threat to the public peace, health, safety or general welfare shall be deemed to be on special security assignment over and above the services normally

provided. The costs of such special security assignment shall include the costs of police response, damage to City property and injuries to City personnel.

(b) This Section shall not impose a requirement of a second response by police to a disturbance where a determination is made that termination of the disturbance is necessary on the first response to keep the peace and ensure the health, safety and general welfare of the public. The fees imposed for a second response to such a disturbance will be established by the City Council by resolution.

(c) References to "police" in this Code refer to all deputies of the County Sheriff and other law enforcement officials performing police services in the City. (Ord. 71.75 (part), 1990; Ord. 258 § 1 (part), 2008)

(a) As used in this Section, the term "public place" means any road, sidewalk, building, park, school, or other space or area in which the City or other public agency holds an ownership or leasehold interest, or is otherwise under public control or maintained at public expense.

(b) It shall be unlawful for any person to urinate or defecate in, upon, or about any public place within the City, or to urinate or defecate at any place in public view, except restroom facilities installed for the purpose of receiving urine or feces.

(c) Any violation of this Section shall constitute an infraction.

For purposes of Section 6-15.160, the following terms shall have the following meanings:

(a) Spray paint containers means any container, regardless of the material from which it is made, that is made for or adapted to the purpose of spraying paint or any other solution capable of defacing property which cannot be removed with water after it dries.

(b) Marker pen means any indelible marker or similar implement with a writing tip exceeding four millimeters in width that contains a solution which cannot be removed with water after it dries. (Ord. 71-133 § 1 (part), 1994)

(a) It shall be unlawful for any person who owns, conducts, operates or manages a commercial, retail or

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(Saratoga Supp. No. 56, 7-25)

6-15.170

wholesale establishment where spray paint containers or marker pens are sold to store or display, or cause to be stored or displayed, such spray paint containers and marker pens in an area that is accessible to the public without employee assistance in the regular course of business pending legal sale or other disposition.

(b) Nothing herein shall preclude the storage or display of spray paint containers and marker pens in an area viewable by the public so long as such items are not accessible to the public without employee assistance.

(c) Any violation of this Section shall constitute an infraction. (Ord. 71-133 § 1, 1994)

(a) No person shall engage in picketing activity that is targeted at, and is within three hundred feet of, a residential dwelling. A "residential dwelling" is a permanent building being used by its occupants solely for nontransient residential uses. "Targeted" picketing is picketing activity that is directed at a particular residential dwelling and proceeds on a definite course or route in front of or around that residential dwelling.

(b) A person who is aggrieved by acts prohibited by this Section may bring an action in a court of competent jurisdiction for injunctive or declaratory relief and/or damages. The damages may include costs, attorneys' fees and such other relief as allowed by the court, including, but not limited to, a civil penalty in the amount of up to one thousand dollars. These remedies are in addition to any other equitable or legal remedies available to the aggrieved person, and are in addition to remedies that may be available in the criminal process. (Ord. 71-125, 1993)

110.1

(Saratoga Supp. No. 56, 7-25)

6-20.010