REQUEST FOR CITY COUNCIL ACTION
SUBMITTED TO: Honorable Mayor and City Council Members
SUBMITTED BY: Oliver Chi, City Manager
PREPARED BY: Chris Slama, Director of Community & Library Services
Subject:
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Approve for introduction Ordinance No. 4228 to amend Chapter 13.10 of the Huntington Beach Municipal Code Prohibiting the Storage of Personal Property on Public or Private Property
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Statement of Issue:
The existing Huntington Beach Municipal Code (HBMC) Chapter 13.10 requires modification to prevent the storage of personal property within public spaces and upon publicly owned and maintained property, and to facilitate its removal when warranted. Additionally, while private property owners currently have the ability within and upon their property to remove and dispose of stored or abandoned items, there is currently no specific criminal statute to bring enforcement action.
The storage of personal property within public spaces in Huntington Beach, including but not limited to parks, beaches, and sidewalks, is not consistent with the intended public use(s) of these locations, and the presence of unknown and potentially dangerous items creates an undue public safety concern for the users of these public spaces. The City of Huntington Beach responds regularly to quality of life complaints from residents related to the storage of personal property in public places including visible trash, discarded and clearly abandoned property, as well as unusable and unwanted property. In addition, hypodermic needles and syringes have been discovered among this property. Currently, City employees are limited in their ability to remove this property unless it is clearly refuse, or is soiled or otherwise contaminated to the degree that it poses a public health risk.
Lastly, the current HBMC does not provide sufficient clarity related to enforcement, and is insufficient in ensuring the removal of stored property is conducted appropriately and within the law. The pr...
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