Taft Municipal Code Ch. 1 General Offenses

It shall be unlawful for any person fraudulently to enter, without payment of the proper admission fee, any theater, ballroom, lecture, concert or other place where admission fees are charged; provided, however, that nothing herein contained shall be deemed to prohibit or restrict the free admission of police officers engaged in the performance of police duties to any public entertainment or amusement. (Ord. 694-02, 8-20-2002)

It shall be unlawful for any person to conceal knowledge of the commission of any offense or to conceal knowledge of any unlawful act as defined in this code. (Ord. 694-02, 8-20-2002)

It shall be unlawful for any person, wilfully, maliciously, intentionally or unnecessarily, to disturb the peace and quiet of another or of any neighborhood or family or religious congregation or other assembly by loud or unusual noises or indecent behavior or by offensive or unbecoming conduct or for any person to threaten, quarrel, fight or provoke an assault or battery or curse or swear or utter any obscene or vulgar or indecent language in the presence of another. (Ord. 694-02, 8-20-2002)

(A) Public Consumption and Possession. It shall be unlawful for any person to drink, otherwise consume, or be in possession of an open container, of any intoxicating beverage, on any public street, sidewalk, alley, highway, municipal parking lot, public facility, park or playground within the city unless a special event permit allows otherwise.

(B) Drinking in Vehicle. It shall be unlawful for any person to enter or remain in a vehicle while the person or any other occupant is consuming any alcoholic beverage while the vehicle is on a public street, public parking lot, alleyway, public highway, or other public place. (Ord. 694-02, 8-20-2002; amd. Ord. 854-25, 10-21-2025)

It shall be unlawful for any person to aid or assist any person to escape from lawful confinement or to assist any person to escape from the custody of any peace officer. (Ord. 694-02, 8-20-2002)

It shall be unlawful for any person to represent himself to be an officer of the city or who shall attempt to impersonate any such officer or who shall without authority perform any official act therein on behalf of an officer. (Ord. 694-02, 8-20-2002)

It shall be unlawful for any person to commit any act or fail to perform any requirement which is prohibited or required by state law, insofar as such laws are applicable to municipal government. (Ord. 694-02, 8-20-2002)

It shall be unlawful for any person to deposit, place or allow to remain in or upon any public thoroughfare any material or substance injurious to person or property. (Ord. 694-02, 8-20-2002)

It shall be unlawful for any person to store or keep outside storage of any materials which may be classified as junk adjacent to or in close proximity to any school, church, public park, public grounds, business building or residence within the city. All outside storage must be contained in an enclosed structure, consistent with the city's zoning and code requirements, which protects the contents from the elements and conceals the contents from public view.

"Junk" means any castoff, damaged, discarded, junked, obsolete, salvage, scrapped, unusable, worn out or wrecked object, thing or material composed in whole or in part of asphalt, brick, carbon, cement, plastic or other synthetic substance, fiber, glass, metal, paper, plaster, plaster of Paris, rubber, terra cotta, wool, cotton, cloth, canvas, organic matter or other substance, having no substantial market value or requiring reconditioning in order to be used for its original purpose. (Ord. 759-08, 2-5-2008)

It shall be unlawful to play, operate, or use any device known as a sound truck, loudspeaker or sound amplifier, radio or phonograph, with loudspeaker or sound amplifier or any instrument of any kind or character which emits loud and raucous noises and is attached to and upon any vehicle unless such person in charge of such vehicle shall have first applied to and received permission from the chief of police to operate any such vehicle so equipped. (Ord. 694-02, 8-20-2002)

It shall be unlawful for tractors with wheels injurious to pavement to be permitted upon the public thoroughfares unless the operator of such vehicle shall first plank such streets. (Ord. 694-02, 8-20-2002)

(A) Public Property. It shall be unlawful for any person to enter or remain unlawfully in or upon a public property, public transportation vehicle or public transportation facility, or portion thereof which is owned, occupied, or under the control of the city when the premises or any portion thereof is not open to the public.

(B) Other Property. It shall be unlawful for any person to enter any unoccupied building, open or empty lot, or other private property and create a nuisance, danger to themselves or others, such as [] without the consent of the owner, occupant or person in charge thereof. (Ord. 694-02, 8-20-2002; amd. Ord. 854-25, 10-21-2025)

It shall be unlawful for any person to allow any water to flow into or upon any public thoroughfare. (Ord. 694-02, 8-20-2002)

It shall be unlawful for any person to place or keep on any windowsill, porch or other projection above the first story of any building abutting on any sidewalk any article which might do injury by falling upon any person on the sidewalk in front of such building, unless said article be securely fastened or protected by screens. (Ord. 694-02, 8-20-2002)

It shall be unlawful for any person to engage in any physical fight, disorderly conduct, or altercation with any other person upon any private property, including the property of another, within the city, while in public view and disturbing the peace. (Ord. 854-25, 10-21-2025)

It shall be unlawful for any person to engage in any physical fight, disorderly conduct, or altercation with any other person on any public owned or operated by the city. (Ord. 854-25, 10-21-2025)

(A) No person shall contact the city’s employees, representatives, or agents in person to harass, threaten, or annoy them, including making repeated in person contacts with use of obscene language, threats of violence, threatening behavior, or with the intent to annoy.

(B) No person shall contact the city’s employees, representatives, and agents via telephone or other electronic communication to harass, threaten, or annoy them, including making repeated telephone calls with the use of obscene language, threats of violence, or with the intent to annoy. (Ord. 854-25, 10-21-2025)

(A) No person, after first being warned by an enforcement officer, shall loiter, stand, sit, or lie in or upon any public street, sidewalk, curb, crosswalk, path, trail, or walkway area so as to hinder or obstruct the free passage of pedestrians or vehicles thereon; nor shall any person block, obstruct, or prevent the free access to the entrance of any building open to the public .

(B) It is unlawful for any person to loiter, stand, sit, or lie in or upon any public street, sidewalk, curb, crosswalk, path, trail, or walkway area while also engaging in conduct which amounts to a violation of any provision of this code.

(C) It is unlawful for any person to loiter, stand, sit, or lie in or upon any public street, sidewalk, curb, crosswalk, path, trail, or walkway area in the manner and under circumstances manifesting the intent to engage in drug-related activity, defined as offenses in Chapters 6 and 6.5 of Division 10 of the California Health and Safety Code.

(D) The provisions of this section shall not apply when application would abridge the exercise of a person’s rights protected under the United States Constitution and the California Constitution, including, but not limited to, the right of free speech, right of peaceable assembly and right to object to unreasonable search and seizure. (Ord. 854-25, 10-21-2025)

(A) Smoking defined. Smoking for the purposes of this section means the inhaling, exhaling, burning or carrying of any lighted, heated, or ignited cigar, cigarette, cigarillo, pipe, cannabis, hookah, electronic smoking device, or any other combustible substance in any manner or in any form. Smoking includes the use of an electronic cigarette or any other electronic and/or battery-operated device used to deliver an inhaled dose of nicotine or other substance.

(B) Smoking at city-owned, leased, or operated facilities

1. Smoking shall be prohibited at all outdoor facilities, including parks, and all enclosed facilities, including vehicles, which are owned, leased, or operated by the city.

2. Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (B)(1) of this section, smoking is not prohibited in areas of facilities designated as smoking areas by the city manager, or his or her designee, pursuant to subsection (B)(3) of this section.

3. The city Manager, or his or her designee, is authorized to establish, and change the designated smoking area(s) for each facility. The city manager, or his or her designee, shall conspicuously post, or cause to be posted, at every designated smoking area, signs identifying that area as a location where smoking is permitted. (Ord. 854-25, 10-21-2025)

(A) It shall be unlawful for any person to appear, bathe, sunbathe, walk, or be in any public place or place open to public view in such manner so as to expose the human male or female genitals, vulva, pubis, pubic hair, cleft of the buttocks, perineum, or anus with less than a fully opaque covering, and/or to expose the nipples and/or the areola of the female breasts with less than a fully opaque covering. This provision may not be complied with by applying an opaque covering simulating the appearance of the specific anatomical part required to be covered.

(B) This Section shall not apply to children under the age of two (2) years, or females engaged in breast-feeding of an infant under the age of two (2) years old. (Ord. 854-25, 10-21-2025)

It shall be unlawful for any person other than a cart owner or its authorized representative to do any of the following acts:

(A) To remove or cause to be removed any cart from a retail establishment or a parking area without the prior written consent of the cart owner;

(B) To possess any cart that has been removed from a parking area without the prior written consent of the cart owner or retail establishment, with the intent to temporarily or permanently deprive the cart owner of possession of the cart;

(C) To alter, convert, or tamper with any cart, or remove any part or portion thereof, or to remove, obliterate, or alter any identification, including, but not limited to, any serial numbers, or to possess any cart that has been altered, converted, or tampered with or whose identification has been removed, obliterated, or altered, with the intent to temporarily or permanently deprive the cart owner or retailer of possession of the cart without the prior written consent of the cart owner; or

(D) To abandon or leave any cart, which has been removed from a business establishment or a parking facility, upon any public property or upon any private property that is not the premises of the retail establishment or the parking facility. (Ord. 854-25, 10-21-2025)

(A) Penalties. Any violation of this chapter shall constitute a misdemeanor punishable in accordance with title I, including chapters 1 and 2, of this code.

(B) Public nuisance. Any violation of this chapter shall constitute a public nuisance subject to all enforcement, including abatement procedures authorized to the city by this code and all other applicable laws.

(C) Enforcement. The city is authorized to take such actions as may be required for enforcement of this chapter. The city may enforce any violation of this chapter by any and all means available by law, including, but not limited to, civil enforcement through such means as a restraining order and nuisance abatement action for relief such as preliminary or permanent injunction, criminal enforcement, and administrative enforcement. These remedies are intended to be cumulative and may be used in conjunction with or in lieu of each other remedy. (Ord. 854-25, 10-21-2025)