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HomeMy WebLinkAbout11/19/2024 Item Public Comment, Rowley Sandra Rowley < To:E-mail Council Website Subject:SUBJECT: Public Comment for Items not on the Agenda Attachments:ordupdate -roof.pdf This message is from an External Source. Use caution when deciding to open attachments, click links, or respond. SUBJECT: Proposed Amendment to Chapter 9.13.030 of the Municipal Code Dear Mayor Stewart and Members of the Council, See attached. Residents for Quality Neighborhoods requests you vote to agendize this item prior to March 2025 so that there will be consequences for individuals who decide to congregate on residential house, garage and/or shed roofs, and that these consequences will be in effect before St Fratty’s Day. St Fratty’s Day is less than four months away. Although the City Manager and staff have been working with Cal Poly to shut down (or at least mitigate) this made-up holiday, we know from Mardi Gras experience that some participants will find a way to disregard messaging and circumvent barriers in order to congregate and party on our residential streets. One of the unfortunate “traditions” is for students to gather on top of residential roofs. Students have no knowledge of the 2015 roof collapse and neither the City nor, especially, Cal Poly has reminded them via photos, news reports and President Armstrong’s subsequent, videoed, town-hall type meeting with students about the collapse and concomitant injury that occurred at that time. Roofs are not constructed to bear the weight of multiple individuals. A collapse can result in injury to those who fall and to those who may be inside – and in damage and great expense to property owners, and potential liability for property owners and the City. San Luis Obispo does not have an ordinance that addresses this activity. The only mention in our municipal code of people on the roof is in conjunction with a declared unruly gathering. We request that congregating on the roof, with the exceptions noted, be in itself declared an unruly gathering. The attached recommendation addresses this request. Further request you direct staff to agendize this item in sufficient time for it to be discussed and, if approved, enacted at least two weeks before the anticipated St Fratty’s Day. Thank you for your time and your consideration of this request. Sincerely, Sandra Rowley Chairperson, RQN 1 1 Residents For Quality Neighborhoods proposed Ordinance Amendments 9.13.030 Unruly gatherings prohibited. A. It shall be unlawful and constitute a public nuisance, as defined in Chapter 8.24, for any responsible person(s) to cause or allow an unruly gathering to occur on any private property within the city. An unruly gathering may be abated by the city by all reasonable means including, but not limited to, an order requiring the unruly gathering to be disbanded, the issuance of citations, and/or the arrests of any law violators under any applicable local laws and state statutes. B. It shall be unlawful and a violation of this chapter for any person to attend or participate in an unruly gathering in a manner that contributes to the unruly gathering by engaging in conduct that causes a substantial disturbance of the quiet enjoyment of private or public property in a significant segment of an immediate neighborhood, or presents a threat to the health, welfare, and safety of those in attendance, responding enforcement personnel, or nearby residents or properties, as defined in Section 9.13.020(E). (Ord. 1621 § 2, 2015: Ord. 1546 § 1 (part), 2010) C. It shall be a Misdemeanor for any person to stand, sit, or lie on a roof that is not designed for human occupation at the same time as three or more persons stand, sit, or lie on that roof; provided however that this provision does not apply to any licensed roofing or building contractor or tradesmen or employee of a licensed roofing or building contractor or handyman hired by the property owner or property manager, or the owner performing inspections, demolition, installation or repair of that roof or of appurtenant systems such as air conditioning, heating, gutter, skylights, solar or utility systems on and inside that roof. The City Attorney and Prosecutor shall prosecute any violation of this subprovision of section 9.13.030 as a Misdemeanor and shall not prosecute such a violation as an infraction or as a civil citation. 9.13.060 Enforcement. A. Any citation issued for an unruly gathering as defined in Section 9.13.020(E) shall be deemed to be prima facie evidence of a violation of the provisions of this chapter for purposes of administrative enforcement. B. Any violation of this chapter shall be a misdemeanor and is subject to criminal, civil or administrative enforcement as provided in this code. Each hour such violation is committed or is permitted to continue shall constitute a separate offense and may be punishable as such. C. If administrative enforcement is initiated in accordance with Chapter 1.24, penalties shall be assessed against all responsible persons, and individuals liable for the city’s intervention to abate an unruly gathering pursuant to Section 9.13.050, in the following amounts: 2 1. The initial violation of this chapter will result in a penalty in the sum of seven hundred dollars against responsible persons, other than the owner(s) of the property who was not present and responsible for the gathering, and/or individual attendees as provided in Section 9.13.050(C). 2. Subsequent violations of this chapter in any twelve-month period following the date of the first violation will result in a penalty of one thousand dollars against responsible persons, other than the owner(s) of the property who was not present and responsible for the gathering. 3. The person(s) who owns the property where the unruly gathering took place will be assessed a penalty of five hundred dollars, provided the owner(s) was not present during the gathering, and proper notice of a prior violation at the property was provided to the owner pursuant to Section 9.13.040. 4. The initial violation of this chapter by an individual present and contributing to the unruly gathering, as provided in Section 9.13.050(C), will result in the assessment of penalty in the sum of three hundred fifty dollars. A second violation of this chapter by the same individual within one year of the initial violation will result in the assessment of a penalty in the sum of seven hundred dollars and each subsequent violation within one year of the initial violation will result in the assessment of a penalty in the sum of one thousand dollars. 5. The administrative citation penalties provided herein shall be in addition to any other penalties imposed by law for particular violations of law committed during the course of an unruly gathering. D. Continued Violations. Once a peace officer has determined there has been a violation of this chapter, the owner(s) of the property where the violation occurred may be subject to administrative action for allowing a subsequent violation of this chapter to occur on the property, provided the property owner has received notice as required by Section 9.13.040, and at least fourteen days have elapsed since the date the notice was mailed to the property owner(s). The city may defer or delay administrative action against any property owner who can demonstrate due diligence in preventing future unruly gatherings, such as evicting those responsible for such gatherings. (Ord. 1621 § 5, 2015: Ord. 1546 § 1 (part), 2010) E. Upon a peace officer observing commission of a Misdemeanor described in section 9.13.030, C., offenders shall be detained, arrested by said peace officer and charged by the San Luis Obispo City Attorney and Prosecutor with the Misdemeanor violation. If the defendant was observed by the detaining or arresting peace officer violating any other law (such as being intoxicated in public, resisting a lawful order of a peace officer, or disturbing the peace) the City Attorney and Prosecutor shall include such additional charges in the Information as Misdemeanor charges.