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HomeMy WebLinkAbout11-19-24x Town Council Additional Packet DocsSec. ______. – Loitering. (a) As used in this section: (1) “Loiter” shall mean to stand around or remain, or to park or remain parked in a motor vehicle, at a public place or place open to the public and engage in any conduct prohibited under this section. “Loiter” also means to collect, gather, congregate or be a member of a group or a crowd of people who are gathered together in any public place or place open to the public and to engage in conduct prohibited under this section. (2) “Public place” shall mean any public street, road, or highway, alley, land, sidewalk, crosswalk or other public way, or any public resort, place of amusement, park, playground, public building or ground appurtenant thereto, school building or school grounds or public parking lot, or private parking lot or any other publicly owned parking lot, or the area in front of or adjacent to any store, shop, restaurant, or other place of business. (b) In accordance with Section 15.2-926, Code of Virginia, as amended, it shall be unlawful and a class 3 misdemeanor for any person to loiter at or in a public place in the following manner: (1) To interfere, impede or hinder the free passage of pedestrian or vehicular traffic; (2) To threaten or do physical harm to another member or members the public; (3) To threaten or do physical harm to the property of another member or members of the public; or (4) To create clearly, by words, acts or other conduct, a present danger of a breach of the peace or disorderly conduct. Notes Modeled on City of Galax loitering ordinance, with the constituent components arranged to occupy only one code section. Subs. (a) – Enacts § 89-1 of the Galax ordinance. All changes intended to be stylistic only. Subs. (b) – Enacts § § 89-2 and 89-3 of the Galax ordinance. All changes intended to be stylistic only except for the one noted below. Section 89-2(B)(5) of the Galax ordinance is not included because of serious questions about its constitutionality. That section on its face gives a police officer authority to tell any person at any time to move along, subject only to the constraint that the officer has “exercised his discretion reasonably under the circumstances in order to preserve and promote public peace and order.” This limitation likely does not cabin enforcement discretion sufficiently to pass constitutional muster. See Chicago v. Morales, 527 U.S. 41, 64 (1999) (plurality opinion) (striking down city loitering ordinance that did not enact “sufficiently specific limits on the enforcement discretion of the police”). Page 1 of 2 Sec. ____. - Camping on public sidewalks and rights-of-way within the town. It shall be unlawful and a class 1 misdemeanor for any person within the town to camp on any town-owned street, sidewalk, alley, or other public rights-of-way. To camp is defined as the performance of living accommodation activities such as sleeping, lying down and making preparations to sleep (including the laying down of bedding, sleeping bag, or other sleeping matter, for the purpose of sleeping), storing personal belongings, making any fire, or using any tent or shelter or other structure. This section does not apply to a person who is on a town-owned property, street, sidewalk, alley, or other public rights-of-way if the person is: (1)On such property street, sidewalk, alley, or other public rights-of-way because of a medical emergency; (2)Participating in or viewing a parade, festival, permitted public event, performance, rally, demonstration, or other similar activity; (3)Sitting within a bus stop zone while waiting for public or private transportation; (4)Camping on a public property, sidewalk, alley, or other public rights-of-way as part of an event approved in writing by the town manager or his or her designee; or (5)Operating or patronizing a licensed business or establishment with approved outdoor seating adjoining the physical structure of the business. It is an affirmative defense to prosecution for a violation of this section for lying down if a person is lying down and is obstructing the right-of-way but is lying down as the result of a physical manifestation of a disability, whether or not such disability is observable. Page 2 of 2 Notes This ordinance is adapted from a similar ordinance passed by the City of Bristol and the City of Roanoke. Penalty – Bristol’s ordinance makes camping a class 1 misdemeanor, whereas Roanoke makes it class 4. The town should consider what punishment it prefers. Definition of “to camp” – modified for clarity and to reduce redundancy. Affirmative defense – the model ordinance states, “It is an affirmative defense to prosecution for a violation of this section for lying down if a person is lying down and is obstructing the right-of-way but is lying down as the result of a physical manifestation of a disability, not limited to visual observation.” The last portion of this language, after the comma, is not comprehensible, and so we have tried to follow what we believe is its intended meaning. we may be misunderstanding it, however. Comment Some anti-camping ordinances give a grace period (24 hours) after which the encampment will be cleared. Some other ordinances also state that the town will inform social services before it clears an encampment. The town should consider whether it wants similar provisions. Here is language from the City of Grants Pass, Oregon’s encampment ordinance, which the Supreme Court found constitutional this year: City of Grants Pass Municipal Code § 5.61.050. Removal of Campsite on Public Property (Ord. 19-5752) Upon discovery of a campsite on public property, removal of the campsite by the Police Department may occur under the following circumstances: A. Prior to removing the campsite, the City shall post a notice, 24-hours in advance. B. At the time a 24-hour notice is posted, the City shall inform a local agency (delivering social services to homeless individuals) of the location of the campsite. C. After the 24-hour notice period has passed, the Police Department is authorized to remove the campsite and all personal property related thereto.