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HomeMy WebLinkAboutOrdinance 1861 (Social Host Ordinance)CLERK'S CERTIFICATE I, JEANNE M. LEONCINI, Clerk of the City of San Rafael, and Ex -Officio Clerk of the Council of said City, do hereby certify that the foregoing Charter Ordinance No. 1861 entitled: "AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF SAN RAFAEL ADDING NEW CHAPTER 8.19 TO THE SAN RAFAEL MUNICIPAL CODE ENTITLED `SOCIAL HOST ORDINANCE"' is a true and correct copy of an Ordinance of said City and was introduced at a REGULAR meeting of the City Council of the City of San Rafael, held on the 17th day of September, 2007, a SUMMARY of Ordinance No. 1861 was published as required by City Charter in the NL RIN INDEPENDENT JOURNAL, a newspaper published in the City of San Rafael, and passed and adopted as an Ordinance of said City at a REGULAR meeting of the City Council of said City, held on the 1 st day of October, 2007, by the following vote, to wit: AYES: COUNCILMEMBERS: Cohen, Heller, Miller, Phillips and Mayor Boro NOES: COUNCILMEMBERS: None ABSENT: COUNCILMEMBERS: None WITNESS my hand and the official seal of the City of San Rafael this 3rd day of October, 2007 JEAE M LEONCINI City Clerk SUMMARY OF ORDINANCE NO. 1861 AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF SAN RAFAEL ADDING CHAPTER 8.19 TO THE SAN RAFAEL MUNICIPAL CODE, ENTITLED "SOCIAL HOST ORDINANCE." The City Council is adding Chapter 8.19, the "Social Host Ordinance", to the City of San Rafael Municipal Code. This new Chapter establishes a prohibition of loud and unruly gatherings where underage persons are permitted to consume alcoholic beverages and provides for fines and penalties as well as cost recovery, for violations. For a copy of the complete text of the Ordinance amending the Municipal Code, please contact the City Clerk at 485-3066. Copies of the complete Ordinance containing this Municipal Code addition are also available for public review as of Wednesday, September 26, 2007, at the San Rafael City Clerk's Office, 1400 Fifth Avenue, 2"a Floor, Room 209, during regular business hours, 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. SUMMARY OF AMENDMENT TO MUNICIPAL CODE This Ordinance adds Chapter 8.19, "Social Host Ordinance", to the San Rafael Municipal Code. The new ordinance: 1) prohibits persons from hosting unruly gatherings on their property where underage persons are allowed to consume alcoholic beverages; 2) establishes civil, criminal and administrative sanctions for violators; and 3) allows the City's police department to recover from the violator the cost of the department's response to such unruly gatherings. PUBLICATION A summary of this Ordinance shall be published and a certified copy of the full text of this Ordinance shall be posted in the office of the City Clerk at least five (5) days prior to the Council meeting at which it will be adopted, October 1, 2007. This Ordinance shall be in full force and effect thirty (30) days after its final passage, and the summary of this Ordinance shall be published within fifteen (15) days after the adoption, together with the names of the Councilmembers voting for or against same, in the Marin Independent Journal, a newspaper of general circulation published and circulated in the City of San Rafael, County of Marin, State of California. Within fifteen (15) days after adoption, the City Clerk shall also post in the office of the City Clerk, a certified copy of the full text of this Ordinance along with the names of those Councilmembers voting for and against the Ordinance. kI RT J. RO, M a�or ATTEST: J M. LEONCM, City Clerk The foregoing Ordinance No. 1861 was read and introduced at a regular meeting of the City Council of the City of San Rafael on Monday, September 17, 2007, and was ordered passed to print by the following vote, to wit: AYES: Councilmembers: Cohen, Heller, Miller, Phillips & Mayor Boro NOES: Councilmembers: None ABSENT: Councilmembers: None and will come up for adoption as an ordinance of the City of San Rafael at a regular meeting of the City Council to be held on the 1 st day of October, 2007. h. JE E M. LEON INI, City Clerk ORDINANCE NO. 1861 AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF SAN RAFAEL ADDING NEW CHAPTER 8.19 TO THE SAN RAFAEL MUNICIPAL CODE ENTITLED "SOCIAL HOST ORDINANCE." THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SAN RAFAEL DOES ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS: DIVISION 1. WHEREAS, a recent County of Marin survey revealed that the rates of underage and binge drinking within the County currently surpass the state and national average; and WHEREAS, the County survey also indicated that 75% of teenagers who drink alcohol often drink at private house parties; and WHEREAS, the City Council finds that in too many cases, persons having possession or control of private property who are responsible for social gatherings on that property have failed to ensure that alcoholic beverages are neither served to, nor consumed by, underage persons at these gatherings; and WHEREAS, the occurrence of social gatherings on private property where alcoholic beverages are served to or consumed by underage persons leads to increased occurrences of social problems such as excessive noise, vandalism, traffic obstructions, driving while intoxicated by underage drinkers, and consequent damage, injury and death, and therefore is harmful to the underage persons involved and a threat to public health and safety, quiet enjoyment of residential property and the general welfare; and WHEREAS, the City Council finds that problems associated with social gatherings where alcoholic beverages are served to or consumed by underage persons are difficult to prevent and deter unless the San Rafael Police Department has the legal authority to direct the host to disperse the gathering and to cite the responsible persons; and WHEREAS, City police officers have in the past been required to respond to unruly gatherings on private property at which alcoholic beverages are served to or consumed by underage persons, and have also received multiple service calls in the same calendar year concerning unruly gatherings at the same property. Such calls for service result in a disproportionate expenditure of public safety resources and delay official responses to other calls in the rest of the City; and WHEREAS, based upon these findings and for these reasons, the San Rafael City Council declares that unruly gatherings on private property where alcoholic beverages are served to or consumed by underage persons are a threat to the public peace, health, safety and general welfare, and a public nuisance as they affect at the same time the entire San Rafael community as well as the neighborhoods in which they occur; and WHEREAS, the City Council, pursuant to the City's police powers under Article XI, Sections 3 and 5 of the California Constitution, and the City Charter established pursuant to such sections, has the authority to enact and enforce laws that promote the public health, safety and general welfare of its residents; and WHEREAS, an ordinance that imposes liability on property owners and other responsible persons for gatherings that allow underage drinking is necessary to deter and prevent such gatherings. Persons who actively and passively aid, allow, or tolerate such gatherings should be held liable for permitting such gatherings, the nuisances created by them and the costs associated with responding to them. 2 NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SAN RAFAEL DOES ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS: DIVISION 2. Chapter 8.19, entitled "Social Host Ordinance," is hereby added to the San Rafael Municipal Code, to read in its entirety as follows: SOCIAL HOST ORDINANCE 8.19.010 -- Title. This chapter is entitled and shall be known as the "Social Host Ordinance." 8.19.020 — Purposes. The occurrence of social gatherings on private property where alcoholic beverages are served to or consumed by underage persons leads to increased occurrences of social problems such as excessive noise, vandalism, traffic obstructions, driving while intoxicated by underage drinkers, and consequent damage, injury and death, and therefore is harmful to the underage persons involved and a threat to public health and safety, quiet enjoyment of residential property and the general welfare, and a public nuisance as they affect at the same time the entire San Rafael community as well as the neighborhoods in which they occur. City police officers have in the past been required to respond to unruly gatherings on private property at which alcoholic beverages are served to or consumed by underage persons, and have also received multiple service calls in the same calendar year concerning unruly gatherings at the same property. Such calls for service result in a disproportionate expenditure of public safety resources and delay official responses to other calls in the rest of the City. An ordinance that imposes liability on property owners and other responsible persons for gatherings that allow underage drinking is necessary to deter and prevent such gatherings. Persons who actively and passively aid, allow, or tolerate such gatherings should be held liable for permitting such gatherings, the nuisances created by them and the costs associated with responding to them. 8.19.030 -- Definitions. For the purposes of this chapter, the following definitions shall apply: A. "Alcohol" means the definition of "alcohol" in Section 23003 of the California Business and Professions Code, as amended from time to time. As of the adoption of this chapter, Section 23003 defined "alcohol" to mean "ethyl alcohol, hydrated oxide of ethyl, or spirits of wine, from whatever source or by whatever process produced." B. "Alcoholic beverage" means the definition of "alcoholic beverage" in Section 23004 of the California Business and Professions Code, as amended from time to time. As of the adoption of this chapter, Section 23004 defined "alcoholic beverage" to mean " alcohol, spirits, liquor, wine, beer, and every liquid or solid containing alcohol, spirits, wine, or beer, and which contains one-half of 1 percent or more of alcohol by volume and which is fit for beverage purposes either alone or when diluted, mixed, or combined with other substances." C. "City" means the City of San Rafael. D. "Juvenile" means any person under eighteen years of age. E. "Response costs" means the costs associated with responses by City police officers and other emergency services providers to unruly gatherings including but not limited to: 4 1. Salaries and benefits of such public safety personnel for the amount of time spent responding to, remaining at, or otherwise dealing with unruly gatherings, and the administrative costs attributable to such response(s); 2. The cost of any medical treatment or workers compensation benefits for any such public safety personnel injured responding to, remaining at or leaving the scene of an unruly gathering; 3. The cost of repairing any City equipment or property damage, and the cost of the use of any such equipment, in responding to, remaining at or leaving the scene of an unruly gathering; and 4. Any costs recoverable in accordance with California Civil Code Section 1714.9. F. "Responsible person" means a person or persons with a right of possession of the residence or other private property in the City at which an unruly gathering may occur, including, but not limited to, the following: 1. Any owner of the residence or other private property, meaning the record owner of the title to property as of the time of the unruly gathering, wheresoever that person or entity may currently reside; 2. A tenant or lessee of the residence or other private property; 3. The person(s) exercising control over the residence or other private property at the time of the unruly gathering; and 4. The person(s) who organizes, supervises, officiates, hosts, conducts or controls the unruly gathering or any other person(s) accepting responsibility for such gathering. A responsible person for the unruly gathering need not be present at such gathering. G. "Underage person" means any person under twenty-one years of age. 5 H. "Unruly gathering" means a party or gathering of two or more persons at a residence or other private property in the City at which alcoholic beverages are being served to or consumed by any underage person, when that party or gathering is also being conducted in such a manner as to constitute a substantial disturbance of the quiet enjoyment of private or public property in the neighborhood due to the occurrence of such disturbances as excessive noise, excessive traffic, obstruction of public streets by crowds or vehicles, public drunkenness or unlawful public consumption of alcohol or alcoholic beverages, assaults, batteries, fights, domestic violence, vandalism, littering, and any other disturbances of the peace or conduct that constitutes a threat to public health, safety, quiet enjoyment of residential property or general welfare. 8.19.040 -- Duty of responsible persons. It is the duty of responsible persons to not knowingly host, permit, or allow an unruly gathering at a residence or other private property in the City concerning which the responsible person has a right of possession specified in Section 8.19.030(F) and to take all reasonable steps to prevent the consumption of alcoholic beverages by any underage person at gatherings at such residence or other private property. Reasonable steps required pursuant to this section include, but are not limited to: controlling access to alcoholic beverages at the gathering; controlling the quantity of alcoholic beverages present at the gathering; verifying the age of persons attending the gathering by inspecting drivers' licenses or other government -issued identification cards to ensure that underage persons do not consume alcoholic beverages while at the gathering; and supervising the activities of underage persons at the gathering. 6 8.19.050 -- Unruly gatherings on private property unlawful. It is unlawful and a public nuisance for any responsible person to knowingly host, permit, or allow an unruly gathering to occur at private property in the City concerning which the responsible person has a right of possession specified in Section 8.19.030(F). For purposes of this chapter, a responsible person knowingly hosts, permits or allows an unruly gathering whenever the responsible person is aware an underage person has consumed an alcoholic beverage at an unruly gathering, or reasonably should have been aware an underage person has consumed an alcoholic beverage at such a gathering had the responsible person taken all reasonable steps to prevent consumption of alcoholic beverages by underage persons in accordance with Section 8.19.040. It shall be prima facie evidence that the responsible person knew or should have known of both the unruly gathering and the consumption of alcoholic beverages by underage persons at the gathering if the responsible person is present on the property at any point during the gathering. To the full extent permitted by law, owners of properties as defined in Section 8.19.030(F)(1) shall remain responsible persons liable for violations of this chapter on such property regardless of any contract or agreement regarding the property that purports to provide otherwise. 8.19.060 -- Hosting by juvenile. In the event that a juvenile hosts an unruly gathering at a residence or other private property in the City in violation of this chapter, then the juvenile and the parents or guardians of that juvenile will be jointly and severally liable for any penalties and response costs imposed pursuant to this chapter, whether or not such parents or guardians have or had knowledge of the unruly gathering. 7 8.19.070 -- Violations; Penalties. Any violation of this Chapter shall be deemed to be a public nuisance, and may be enforced either as an infraction or as a misdemeanor, by an administrative citation pursuant to chapter 1.44 of this Code or by any other remedy available to the City under this Code, or under State law. All such remedies shall be alternative to or in addition to or in conjunction with, and not exclusive of, one another. The election of remedies shall be at the sole discretion of the City. 8.19.080 -- Recovery of response costs. A. Where a criminal or administrative citation has been issued for a violation of this chapter, then the responsible persons shall be liable for the response costs for public safety personnel in connection with the violation, as provided in this section. B. When the police respond to an unruly gathering at a residence or other private property within the City and a police officer issues a citation, the officer shall provide a copy of the citation to any identified responsible person(s) at the property informing them that: 1. An unruly gathering exists; and 2. The responsible person(s) are liable and will be charged for any response costs incurred for the response to the property for the unruly gathering. 8.19.090 -- Payment of response costs, request for hearing. A. If response costs are assessed pursuant to this chapter in connection with the issuance of an administrative citation for a violation, all responsible person(s) shall be notified in writing of the amount of the assessment within ten (10) business days after issuance of the citation for the violation. Any response costs assessed shall be due and payable within thirty (30) days after the date of the assessment notice. A person assessed for response costs pursuant to this section may request a hearing thereon by filing a Request for Hearing concerning the assessment with the City Finance Department within ten (10) days after the date of the assessment notice. If a hearing has been requested to contest the underlying administrative citation, the hearing on the assessment shall be heard at the same time. If no hearing has been requested to contest the underlying administrative citation, the hearing on the assessment shall nevertheless be held by an Administrative Hearing Officer pursuant to the hearing procedures provided in chapter 1.44 of this code for hearings on administrative citations. The decision by the Administrative Hearing Officer on whether to uphold the assessment in whole or in part shall be final, provided that an appeal to the Marin County Courts from the decision of the Administrative Hearing Officer concerning a decision on the underlying administrative citation pursuant to Section 1.44. 100 may also review the decision by the Administrative Hearing Officer concerning the assessment. Such response costs shall be a debt owed to the City which may be recovered by the City in a civil action, in which the City shall be entitled to recover its costs and reasonable attorneys' fees. B. If response costs are assessed pursuant to this chapter in connection with the issuance of a criminal citation for a violation, such response costs shall be sought by the City as restitution in connection with the criminal proceedings involving the violation. 8.19.100 -- Imposition of liens or special assessments. In addition to any other remedy provided by law, the City may enforce any liability for response costs assessed pursuant to this chapter by special assessment on the real property where the violation occurred, to be collected by the Marin County Tax Collector as more specifically set forth in Government Code Section 38773.5. 9 8.19.110 -- No mandatory duty of care. This chapter is not intended to impose, and shall not be construed or given effect in a manner that imposes upon the City, or any officer, employee, agent, or representative of the City, a mandatory duty of care toward persons or property within or without the City limits, so as to provide a basis of civil liability for damages, except as may otherwise be imposed by law. DIVISION 3: If any section, subsection, sentence, clause or phrase of this Ordinance is for any reason held to be invalid, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of this Ordinance. The Council hereby declares that it would have adopted the Ordinance and each section, subsection, sentence, clause or phrase thereof, irrespective of the fact that any one or more sections, subsections, sentences, clauses or phrases be declared invalid. DIVISION 4: A summary of this Ordinance shall be published and a certified copy of the full text of this Ordinance shall be posted in the office of the City Clerk at least five (5) days prior to the Council meeting at which it is adopted. This Ordinance shall be in full force and effect thirty (30) days after its final passage, and the summary of this Ordinance shall be published within fifteen (15) days after the adoption, together with the names of those Councilmembers voting for or against same, in the Marin Independent Journal, a newspaper of general circulation published and circulated in the City of San Rafael, County of Marin, State of California. 10 Within fifteen (15) days after adoption, the City Clerk shall also post in the office of the City Clerk, a certified copy of the full text of this Ordinance along with the names of those Councilmembers voting for or against the Ordinance. - / 4 I';LI ALBERT J. BO O, Mayor ATTEST: PANNE M. LEA!CM,�CiClerk The foregoing Ordinance No.1861 was read and introduced at a Regular Meeting of the City Council of the City of San Rafael, held on the 17th day of September, 2007 and ordered passed to print by the following vote, to wit: AYES: Councilmembers: Cohen, Heller, Miller, Phillips and Mayor Boro NOES: Councilmembers: None ABSENT: Councilmembers: None and will come up for adoption as an Ordinance of the City of San Rafael at a Regular Meeting of the Council to be held on the I" day of October, 2007. JWANNE M. LEON , City Clerk 11