Tehachapi Municipal Code Ch. 9.04 Offenses Against Public Peace

A. Every person who rides, pushes, uses or operates a skateboard or any similar device on any of the streets described in this section, sidewalks or either side thereof, and other property in any manner or speed is guilty of an infraction provided such sidewalk or property is posted notifying the public of such prohibition:

1. Tehachapi Boulevard between Mulberry Street extended and Snyder Avenue;

2. "F" Street between Mulberry Street and Robinson Street;

3. "E" Street between Mulberry Street and Robinson Street;

4. "D" Street between Mulberry Street and Mill Street;

5. "C" Street between Mill Street and Pauley Street;

6. Mill Street between Maple Street and Tehachapi Boulevard;

7. Pauley Street between "E" Street and Tehachapi Boulevard;

8. Curry Street between "C" Street and Tehachapi Boulevard;

9. Green Street between "D" Street and Tehachapi Boulevard;

10. Robinson Street between "E" Street and Tehachapi Boulevard;

11. Anita Drive from Snyder Avenue for a distance of four hundred feet east thereof;

12. Sidewalks adjacent to the Senior Citizens Center located at the southeast corner of South Hayes and East "F" Streets;

13. All church and hospital parking lots and other paved areas provided the owners thereof agree therewith and request such restrictions and enforcement in writing;

14. All other streets, sidewalks and property hereafter designated by a resolution of the city council.

B. Every person who rides or operates a bicycle or tricycles on any of the following described sidewalks and other property in any manner or speed is guilty of an infraction, provided such sidewalk or property is posted notifying the public of such prohibition; the sidewalks on either side of the following streets and the other property described as follows:

1. Tehachapi Boulevard between Mulberry Street extended and Snyder Avenue;

2. "F" Street between Mulberry Street and Robinson Street;

3. "E" Street between Mulberry Street and Robinson Street;

4. "D" Street between Mulberry Street and Mill Street;

5. "C" Street between Mill Street and Pauley Street;

6. Mill Street between Maple Street and Tehachapi Boulevard;

7. Pauley Street between "E" Street and Tehachapi Boulevard;

8. Curry Street between "C" Street and Tehachapi Boulevard;

9. Green Street between "D" Street and Tehachapi Boulevard;

10. Robinson Street between "E" Street and Tehachapi Boulevard;

11. Anita Drive from Snyder Avenue for a distance of four hundred feet east thereof;

12. Sidewalks adjacent to the Senior Citizens Center located at the southeast corner of South Hayes and East "F" Streets;

13. All church and hospital parking lots and other paved areas provided the owners thereof agree therewith and request such restrictions and enforcement in writing;

14. All other sidewalks and property hereafter designated by a resolution of the city council.

C. Every person who rides or operates a motorcycle, motor-driven cycle, motorized bicycle, moped, motorized quadricycle, motorized tricycle, or motorized scooter, all as defined hereinafter, in any area of the City posted as prohibiting same is guilty of an infraction.

D. Every person who rides a motorcycle, motor-driven cycle, motorized bicycle, moped, motorized quadricycle, motorized tricycle, or motorized scooter, all as defined hereinafter, upon real property belonging to, or lawfully occupied by, another and known not to be open to the general public, without the consent of the owner, the owner's agent, or the person in lawful possession shall be guilty of an infraction.

E. As used in Sections D and E of this Section 9.04.010, the following terms shall have the following meanings: the term "motorcycle" shall have the same meaning as in California Vehicle Code Section 400; the term "motor-driven cycle" shall have the same meaning as in California Vehicle Code Section 405; the terms "motorized bicycle" and "moped" shall have the same meanings as in California Vehicle Code Section 406; the terms "motorized quadricycle" and "motorized tricycle" shall have the same meanings as in California Vehicle Code Section 407;and the term "motorized scooter" shall have the same meaning as in California Vehicle Code Section 407.5.

(Ord. 03-03-668 § 1, 2003; Ord. 89-05-560 § 1, 1989: Ord. 20 § 22, 1910)

Any person who opens and leaves any gate extending across or upon any sidewalk so as to be an obstruction to persons passing on such sidewalk, is guilty of a misdemeanor.

(Ord. 20 § 15, 1910)

A. It shall be unlawful for any person to sleep in a vehicle, as defined in Tehachapi Municipal Code section 10.02.010(U), or recreational vehicle, as defined in Tehachapi Municipal Code section 10.16.005 and including house trailer and motor home, whatsoever for habitation:

1. Between the hours of nine p.m. and six a.m. on any public or private street, parking lot, or unimproved or vacant lot within the City of Tehachapi; or

2. At any time within a one block radius of any edge of a lot containing a park or a licensed school, pre-school, or daycare facility within the City of Tehachapi.

The foregoing shall not apply to a private parking lot or unimproved lot in which the property owner has obtained a conditional use permit from the city to allow for sleeping in the parking lot or unimproved lot. Nothing herein shall be construed to prohibit camping in public campgrounds pursuant to a permit or license authorized under federal, state, or local statute or ordinance. Nothing herein shall be construed to prohibit the allowable parking and sleeping in recreational vehicles described in Chapter 10.16 of the Tehachapi Municipal Code if all legal requirements therein are met. Nothing herein precludes the enforcement of any other related laws that the City of Tehachapi is authorized to enforce.

B. As used in this section:

1. Block is defined as five hundred feet.

2. Habitation means more than one of the following activities and when it reasonably appears, in light of all the circumstances, that a person is using a vehicle as a place of residence or accommodation: possessing inside or on a vehicle items that are not associated with ordinary vehicle use, such as a sleeping bag, bedroll, blanket, sheet, pillow, kitchen utensils, cookware, cooking equipment, bodily fluids; obscuring some or all of the vehicle's windows; preparing or cooking meals inside or on a vehicle; sleeping inside the vehicle; leaving of litter, rubbish, or waste in or around the vehicle; having furniture or equipment in or around the vehicle, such as chairs, tables, umbrellas, or portable cooking equipment; leaving, storing, or otherwise discarding of human wastes inside the vehicle or in the vicinity of the vehicle.

3. Public street shall mean and include, without limitation, streets, roads, highways, alleys, sidewalks, parkways, bridges, culverts, drains, and all other facilities and areas necessary for the construction, improvement and maintenance of streets and roads.

C. Any person, firm, or corporation violating any provision of this ordinance shall be fined not less than twenty-five dollars for the first violation, fifty dollars for the second violation, and seventy-five dollars for any subsequent violations, and a separate offense shall be deemed committed on each day during or on which a violation occurs or continues. A violation of this section is punishable as a misdemeanor or chargeable at the district attorney's or city prosecutor's discretion. The enforcement officials provided in subsection E of this section may also deem the violation an infraction in their discretion when enforcing this section.

D. If any portion, subsection, sentence, clause or phrase of this section is for any reason held by a court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, such a decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of this section. The city council hereby declares that it would have passed this ordinance and each portion or subsection, sentence, clause and phrase herein, irrespective of the fact that any one or more portions, subsections, sentences, clauses or phrases be declared invalid.

E. This section may be enforced by Peace Officers of the City of Tehachapi and by the City of Tehachapi employees specified in Chapter 1.16 of the TMC.

F. Nothing in this section shall be construed to affect, supersede, or otherwise prevent enforcement of provisions under other provisions of the Tehachapi Municipal Code, California State Law, or other law enforceable by the city or to prevent the city from commencing administrative, civil, or criminal proceedings for nuisance abatement, injunctive relief, or other methods of enforcement available under law.

(Ord. No. 13-04-713, § 1, 8-19-2013; Ord. No. 22-03-768, § 2, 1-18-2022)