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Home My WebLink About25- City Attorney �a CITY OF SAN BERNARDINO - REQUEST FOR COUNCIL ACTION n: James F. Penman, City Attorney Subject: Ordinance . . . Adding Section IX Narcotics and Gang-Related Crime Eviction Progam, Chapter 9.95 to Title 9 Public Peace, Morals and Welfare and Establishing Regulations Dept: City Attorney 03 [pv Applicable to Landlords Renting Property upon which Specified Drug and/or Gang Related Activities are Date: May 17, 1999 Occurring. Synopsis of Previous Council action: None w Recommended motion: ` Waive further reading and lay over for final adoption. Signature Contact person: Paula J. Coleman Phone: x5355 Supporting data attached: Ward: FUNDING REQUIREMENTS: Amount: Source: (Acct. No.) (Acct. Description) Finance: Council Notes: 75-0262 Agenda Item No. cal?/t9 STAFF REPORT Health & Safety Code §1157 1.1 provides that local governing bodies may adopt and enforce laws consistent the state code relating to drug abatement. Other cities, including Los Angeles and Buena Park have enacted _.,filar statutes that allow criminal prosecution of landlords when a landlord has been provided, by the Chief of Police, evidence of drug activity and/or gang activity and fails to start eviction proceedings against the offending tenant. The proposed ordinance provides for an appeal process if the landlord disagrees with the Police Chief's determination that illegal drug activity and/or gang-related crime is occurring on the premises. Upon the landlords failure to provide proof of initiation of eviction the landlord may be cited for an infraction. The first three citations within a 12 month consecutive period are infractions. The fourth such citation shall be filed as a misdemeanor. i j I i 3 1 ORDINANCE NO. 2 ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF SAN BERNARDINO ADDING SECTION IX. NARCOTICS AND GANG-RELATED CRIME EVICTION PROGRAM, CHAPTER 9.95 3 TO TITLE 9 PUBLIC PEACE, MORALS AND WELFARE AND ESTABLISHING REGULATIONS APPLICABLE TO LANDLORDS RENTING PROPERTY UPON 4 WHICH SPECIFIED DRUG AND/OR GANG RELATED ACTIVITIES ARE OCCURRING. 5 THE MAYOR AND COMMON COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SAN BERNARDINO 6 DO ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS: 7 SECTION 1. Section IX. Narcotics and Gang-Related Crime Eviction Program, Chapter 9.95 to Title 9, Public Peace, Morals and Welfare is hereby added to the San Bernardino 8 Municipal Code to read as follows: 9 "IX. NARCOTICS AND GANG-RELATED CRIME EVICTION PROGRAM 10 Chapter 9.95 11 Sections: 12 9.95.010 Definitions. 9.95.020 Duties of the landlord. 13 9.95.030 Administrative procedures. 9.95.040 Recovery of possession by landlord. 14 9.95.050 Enforcement 9.95.060 Penalties. 15 9.95.070 Civil Remedies Available. 9.95.080 Severability. 16 9.95.010 Definitions. 17 18 For purposes of this Chapter, the following definitions shall apply: A. `Controlled Substance' shall mean any drug, substance, or immediate 19 precursor, as listed in the Uniform Controlled Substances Act, Health and Safety Code § 11000, et. seq., 20 B. `Drug-Related Nuisance' shall mean any activity related to the possession, 21 sale, use or manufacture of a controlled substance that creates an unreasonable interference with the comfortable enjoyment of life, property and/or safety of residents of 22 the premises. Such activity includes, but is not limited to, any activity commonly associated with illegal drug dealing, such as noise, steady traffic day and night, to a 23 particular unit, barricaded units,the display or observance of weapons, drug loitering as defined in Health and Safety Code § 11532, or other drug-related occurrences which, 24 taken as a whole, tend to substantially affect or interfere with any tenant's beneficial use 25 and enjoyment of any rented property. C. `Gang-Related Crime' means any crime in which the perpetrator is a known 26 member of a gang, or any crime motivated by gang membership in which the victim or the 27 intended victim of the crime is a known member of a gang. 28 910.Ord I ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF SAN BERNARDINO ADDING SECTION IX. NARCOTICS AND GANG-RELATED CRIME EVICTION PROGRAM, CHAPTER 9.95 2 TO TITLE 9 PUBLIC PEACE, MORALS AND WELFARE AND ESTABLISHING REGULATIONS APPLICABLE TO LANDLORDS RENTING PROPERTY UPON 3 WHICH SPECIFIED DRUG AND/OR GANG RELATED ACTIVITIES ARE OCCURRING. 4 5 D. `Illegal Drug Activity' means a violation of any of the provisions of Chapter 6 (commencing with § 11350) or Chapter 6.5 (commencing with § 11400) of the Health 6 and Safety Code, or any successor provisions thereto. 7 E. `Landlord' means any owner of record, lessor, or sublessor, (including any person, firm, corporation, partnership, association of persons or other entity) who receives 8 or is entitled to receive rent for the use of any rental unit, or the agent, manager, representative or successor of any of the foregoing. 9 F. `Premises' means any rental unit and the land on which it and any other 10 buildings of a complex are located and common areas, including but not limited to, garage facilities, streets, alleyways, stairwells, elevators, and, as the context permits or requires, 11 any public or private property which is immediately adjacent to any of said areas. 12 G. `Rental unit' means any dwelling, including, but not limited to, any single and multi-family residence, duplex, and/or condominium in the City of San 13 Bernardino. This term shall also include any mobile home, whether rent is paid for the mobile home, the land upon which the mobile home is located, or both. It shall also mean 14 any recreational vehicle, as defined in California Civil Code § 799.24, if located in a mobile home park or recreational vehicle park, whether rent is paid for the recreation 15 vehicle, the land upon which it is located, or both. 16 H. `Tenant' means any tenant, subtenant, lessee, sublessee or any person entitled to use or occupancy of a rental unit, or any other person residing in the rental unit. 17 9.95.020 Duties of the landlord. 18 A landlord shall not cause or knowingly permit: 19 A. Any premises under his or her control to be used or maintained for any 20 illegal drug activity, gang-related crime, or in such manner as to constitute a drug-related nuisance; or 21 B. Any tenant to use or occupy premises under the landlord's control, if the 22 tenant commits, permits, maintains or is involved in any illegal drug activity, gang-related 23 crime, or drug-related nuisance on the premises. 9.95.030 Administrative procedures. 24 The Mayor, or his or her designee, may promulgate such administrative 25 procedures as may be necessary to implement the provisions of this Chapter. 26 27 28 910.Ord I ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF SAN BERNARDINO ADDING SECTION IX. NARCOTICS AND GANG-RELATED CRIME EVICTION PROGRAM, CHAPTER 9.95 2 TO TITLE 9 PUBLIC PEACE, MORALS AND WELFARE AND ESTABLISHING REGULATIONS APPLICABLE TO LANDLORDS RENTING PROPERTY UPON 3 WHICH SPECIFIED DRUG AND/OR GANG RELATED ACTIVITIES ARE OCCURRING. 4 5 9.95.040 Recovery of possession by landlord. 6 A. Grounds for Eviction. Notwithstanding any provision of the San Bernardino Municipal Code to the contrary, a landlord may bring an action to recover 7 possession of a rental unit upon any of the following grounds: 8 1. The tenant is committing or permitting to exist any illegal drug activity, gang-related crime, or drug-related nuisance on the premises; or 9 2. The tenant has been convicted of a crime wherein the underlying 10 offense involves illegal drug activity, drug-related nuisance activity or a gang-related crime on the premises. 11 12 9.95.050 Enforcement. 13 A. Provided the owner of record or agent thereof, and any known manager, of a premises have been served with a written notice by certified mail, return receipt requested, 14 advising that the Chief of Police has determined that the landlord is in violation of subsection A of§ 9.95.020 hereof, and has failed to comply with the provisions of that 15 Subsection within ten (10) business days of the date of service of said notice, or to file an appeal within said period as provided herein, then the City may proceed with enforcement 16 pursuant to this chapter. Notwithstanding enforcement pursuant to this chapter, the City may proceed with an action for injunctive relief or utilize any other remedy provided by 17 law to compel compliance, including but not limited to, all remedies available to abate a nuisance. 18 B. For purposes of this Section, the written notice shall also identify the 19 offending tenant(s), unit number if applicable, and the specific violation(s), and shall state the date(s) and time(s) of any observed criminal activity and any resulting arrest(s), and 20 shall further state that as to such tenant(s) the landlord is required to serve and diligently prosecute either a three (3) day notice to quit or a thirty (30) day notice to vacate. The 21 term `diligently prosecute' shall mean such prosecution by the landlord as is necessary to cause the subject rental unit to be completely vacated by all tenants who commit, permit, 22 maintain or are involved in any illegal drug activity, gang-related crime, or drug-related nuisance. No such vacated rental unit may be re-rented, leased or otherwise reoccupied by 23 the prosecuted tenant(s) prior to the expiration of a twelve (12) month period following the 24 vacation of the rental unit by the tenant(s). 25 26 27 28 910.Ord 1 ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF SAN BERNARDINO ADDING SECTION IX. NARCOTICS AND GANG-RELATED CRIME EVICTION PROGRAM, CHAPTER 9.95 2 TO TITLE 9 PUBLIC PEACE, MORALS AND WELFARE AND ESTABLISHING REGULATIONS APPLICABLE TO LANDLORDS RENTING PROPERTY UPON 3 WHICH SPECIFIED DRUG AND/OR GANG RELATED ACTIVITIES ARE OCCURRING. 4 5 C. The required notice shall also state that within said ten (10) day period, the landlord may file a written appeal of the determination of violation with the City Clerk 6 who shall cause the matter to be set for hearing before the Hearing Officer. Written notice of the date and time of said hearing shall be served by first class mail, addressed to the 7 landlord's last known business address. Following the conclusion of the hearing, the Hearing Officer may affirm, reverse, or reverse subject to conditions, the Police Chiefs 8 determination of violation. The Hearing Officer's decision shall be based upon written findings and shall be final. Any review of the Hearing Officer's decision shall be in 9 accordance with the procedures as set forth in the Code of Civil Procedure §1094.5. 10 D. In the event no appeal is timely filed or an appeal is denied, the City may immediately proceed to enforce the provisions of this Chapter against such landlord by 11 way of criminal enforcement action. 12 9.95.060 Penalties. 13 It shall be unlawful for any person to violate any provision or to fail to comply with any of the requirements of this Ordinance. Any person violating any provision of this Ordinance 14 or failing to comply with any of its requirements shall be punished as follows: 15 A. For three (3) or less violations occurring within any twelve (12) consecutive month period, a violation of this Ordinance shall be deemed to be an infraction, punishable 16 by a fine not exceeding $100.00 for a first violation, $200.00 for a second violation of the same provision within any twelve (12) consecutive month period, and a fine not exceeding 17 $500.00 for a third violation of the same provision occurring within any twelve (12) consecutive month period. 18 B. A fourth violation of the same provision occurring within any twelve (12) 19 consecutive month period shall be deemed to be a misdemeanor and upon conviction thereof shall be punishable by a fine not exceeding $1,000.00, or by imprisonment not 20 exceeding six (6) months, or by both such fine and imprisonment. 21 9.95.070 Civil Remedies Available. 22 The violations of any of the provisions of this Ordinance hereby adopted shall constitute a nuisance and may be abated by the City through civil process by means of restraining 23 order, preliminary or permanent injunction or in any other manner provided by law for the abatement of such nuisances. 24 9.95.080 Severability. 25 Should any provision, section, paragraph, sentence or words of this Ordinance be rendered 26 or declared invalid by any final court action in a court of competent jurisdiction, or by reason of any preemptive legislation, the remaining provisions, sections, paragraphs, 27 sentences, and words of this Ordinance shall remain in full force and effect. 28 910.Ord I ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF SAN BERNARDINO ADDING SECTION IX. NARCOTICS AND GANG-RELATED CRIME EVICTION PROGRAM, CHAPTER 9.95 2 TO TITLE 9 PUBLIC PEACE, MORALS AND WELFARE AND ESTABLISHING REGULATIONS APPLICABLE TO LANDLORDS RENTING PROPERTY UPON 3 WHICH SPECIFIED DRUG AND/OR GANG RELATED ACTIVITIES ARE OCCURRING. 4 I HEREBY CERTIFY that the foregoing resolution was duly adopted by the Mayor and 5 Common Council of the City of San Bernardino at a meeting thereof, held on 6 the _ day of , 1999, by the following vote, to wit: 7 COUNCIL MEMBERS: AYES NAYS ABSTAIN ABSENT 8 ESTRADA 9 LIEN 10 ARIAS 11 SC14NETZ 12 DEVLIN 13 ANDERSON 14 MILLER 15 16 17 Rachel G. Clark, City Clerk 18 The foregoing resolution is hereby approved this_day of 31999. 19 20 Judith Valles, Mayor 21 City of San Bernardino 22 Approved as to form and legal content: 23 JAMES F. PENMAN, 24 City Attorney 25 By: 26 27 28 910.Ord