Simi Valley Municipal Code Ch. 44 Conduct on Public Property

(a) Public streets, sidewalks, walkways, parking lots, plazas and other public areas are created and maintained for the primary purposes of enabling pedestrians and vehicles to safely and efficiently move about from place to place, facilitating deliveries of goods and services, and providing all potential customers and visitors with convenient access to goods and services, as well as a place to recreate and engage in free public speech in shared civic space.

(b) Pedestrians, particularly the elderly, disabled, and vision-impaired, are put at increased risk when they must see and navigate around hazards, hindrances or obstructions on public streets, alleys, sidewalk, crosswalks or other public areas.

(c) The purpose of this chapter is to maintain public streets, sidewalks and other developed and undeveloped areas within the city in a clean, safe and accessible condition for residents and the public at large; and to discourage or prevent crime, visual blight, poor sanitation and disease.

(§ 6, Ord. No. 1283, eff. February 8, 2018)

(a) Except as otherwise permitted by this Code or specifically allowed through a valid City contract, no person shall place on any public street, right-of-way, alley, sidewalk, parking lot, crosswalk, parkway, plaza, public building, public facility, public place or other public area ("public area") of the City any property, structure, article, substance, object or other item ("personal property") unattended for a period of longer than ten (10) minutes, or which potentially may present a hazard, hindrance, obstruction or blight to any person or vehicle traversing or passing by any portion of said public area. This section shall not apply to: Property or items that can promptly and safely be transported or removed all at once within three (3) minutes, provided a person with ownership or possession of such property is immediately adjacent to such property; property left on public sidewalks or streets for refuse or recycling collection by City-authorized third parties with which the person leaving such property has an existing fee service arrangement; property temporarily placed on the sidewalk or street during the active process of loading or unloading for some other lawful purpose, but only during the minimum reasonable amount of time for the active loading and unloading to occur; property left temporarily on the sidewalk during activities otherwise permitted on the sidewalk as a matter of law, provided a person with ownership or possession of such property is immediately adjacent to such property; or property for which there is reasonable evidence or indicia that the person to whom the property belongs is without a fixed place of address, homeless or otherwise has not secured permanent housing ("specific personal property").

In the case of specific personal property which would otherwise be in violation of this section, before specific personal property is removed, a written notice ("notice") shall be securely attached to the specific personal property or otherwise placed in close proximity to the specific personal property which notice shall: (i) state that the specific personal property will be collected and stored pursuant to law unless it is removed by the time of expiration of the notice period; (ii) identify the City contact by address and telephone number where the specific personal property may be retrieved; (iii) state that no identification is required to retrieve the specific personal property, except for prescription medications, which require valid identification; and (iv) state that the specific personal property may be picked up free of charge and without a ticket, fine or citation solely due to the abandonment or placement in the public area of the specific personal property. Only one notice need be placed per collection of specific personal property that is contained within a twenty (20) foot radius. After the notice has been attached or placed pursuant to this section for at least forty-eight (48) hours, the property may be removed pursuant to subsection (b), below. The post-removal notice for specific personal property, in addition to the requirements set forth in subsection (b), should include the requirements for Notice set forth in (ii)—(iv) of this subsection (a). Notwithstanding the foregoing, any specific personal property which is obstructing the right-of-way in a public area may be moved up to twenty (20) feet by the City to remove the obstruction; if a movement of up to twenty (20) feet cannot reasonably clear the obstruction, the City may immediately collect the property according to subsection (b) and provide the post-removal notice as set forth in this paragraph. Further, any specific personal property that is liquid or solid waste, or otherwise presents an imminent threat to the public health or safety, may be immediately removed by City.

(b) Such personal property described in subsection (a) may be removed from the public area by the City or its contractors if the owner of such personal property is not present or, if present, is otherwise unable to remove the personal property within three (3) minutes. At the time of removal of said personal property, a notice of such removal shall be given to the owner and/or placed at the location from where such personal property was removed. Such personal property shall be processed by the City pursuant to Title 2, Chapter 13 of this Code (Section 2-13.01 et seq.).

(§ 6, Ord. No. 1283, eff. February 8, 2018)

No person may intentionally leave any package, box or container within a public area of a public building or within twenty (20) feet of the exterior any public building, and thereafter depart and not remain within immediate reach of such item, unless that person is a member of a recognized or established delivery, postal or courier service or otherwise acting on behalf of or at the behest of the City or other governmental agency. In the case of specific personal property as defined in Section 5-44.02(a), the items may be immediately removed and the procedures set forth in Section 5-44.02(a) shall be followed, including a post-removal notice. Removal of such property by the City may take place pursuant to the method described in Section 5-44.02(b).

(§ 6, Ord. No. 1283, eff. February 8, 2018)

No person shall urinate or defecate in or upon any public street, sidewalk, parking lot, alley, right-of-way, crosswalk, parkway, plaza, park, public building or other publicly maintained facility, public place or other public area or in any place open to the public or exposed to public view, except when using a urinal, toilet or commode located in a restroom, or when using a portable or temporary toilet or other facility designed for the sanitary disposal of human waste and which is enclosed from public view.

(§ 6, Ord. No. 1283, eff. February 8, 2018)

Any person violating the provisions of this chapter shall be guilty of a misdemeanor or an infraction, as determined by the City Attorney.

(§ 6, Ord. No. 1283, eff. February 8, 2018)