City Council
MEETING DATE: 5/13/2015
TITLE:
Title
An Interim Urgency Ordinance Of The City Council Of The City Of Cathedral City Pursuant To California Government Code Section 65858 Imposing A Temporary Moratorium On The Establishment, Installation, Placement, Construction And/Or Expansion Of Attended And Unattended Collection Donation Bins, To Take Effect Immediately Upon Adoption.
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FROM:
Charles R. Green, City Attorney and Katie Podein, Deputy City Attorney
RECOMMENDATION:
Recommendation
Staff recommends that the City Council ("City Council") act upon the following: an interim ordinance, as an urgency measure pursuant to California Government Code Section 65858, imposing a temporary moratorium on the establishment, installation, placement, construction and/or expansion of attended and unattended collection donation bins, to take effect immediately upon adoption, and if it so desires to adopt said Interim Ordinance.
Body
BACKGROUND:
In recent years, the City has seen a proliferation and concentration of attended and unattended collection donation bins ("CDBs"). CDBs are defined as portable, attended or unattended bins or storage pods or containers for the reverse vending of salvageable personal property including, but not limited to, furniture, household items, appliances, clothing, books and other such related items, installed on both private and public property. Usually, the CDBs are placed on private property, with agreement from the property owner. The CDBs are also placed at schools, grocery stores, gas stations, in parking lots and near businesses. The operators of the CDBs can be run by organizations that do not always operate locally and/or operate for a profit. Due to poor labeling on the CDB, it can be difficult for the public to clearly determine who the organization is and how they will actually utilize the donated goods. In some cases, these organizations resell the items for a profit, either locally or outside of the City.
CDBs can attract graffiti, scavenging and illegal dumping near and surrounding the CDBs at any time if they are unattended, or during off hours and/or weekends if they are attended. Oftentimes, CDBs fail to be emptied in a timely manner and people will continue to stack donations on or next to the CDBs or fill them to overflowing. Many of the CDBs and the areas around the CDBs are not properly or consistently maintained which has resulted in blighted conditions in many areas of the City. These unmaintained CDBs can become public nuisances in the community.
The Cathedral City Municipal Code's stated policies and objectives for future land use and development in the City are "to protect the public health, safety and general welfare of the residents and to provide economic and social benefits from an orderly planned use of land resources." (CCMC Section 9.02.010.) The continued establishment, installation, placement, construction, and/or expansion of CDBs may result in potential conflict with some of the policies and objectives of the Cathedral City Municipal Code. The City Staff desires to initiate a study of the effects of CDBs in the City and a review of the regulatory mechanisms available to regulate CDBs, including changes to the Municipal Code, to protect the public health, safety, and/or welfare from the negative effects of CDBs. Until such time that the City concludes its review and adopts new regulatory controls, the installation of such CDBs and their resulting negative effects will continue to pose a current and immediate threat to the public health, safety and/or welfare.
Pursuant to Government Code Section 65858, a city may adopt an interim ordinance prohibiting any uses that may be in conflict with a contemplated general plan, specific plan, or zoning proposal that the legislative body, planning commission or the planning department is considering or studying or intends to study within a reasonable time.
DISCUSSION:
PURPOSE OF THE ORDINANCE:
Adoption of this interim urgency ordinance ("Interim Ordinance") will place a temporary moratorium ("Moratorium") on the establishment, installation, placement, construction, and/or expansion (collectively called "installation") of CDBs. The City Staff is currently undertaking the review, formulation and adoption of possible new regulations regarding the use of CDBs. During this necessary review process, the City Staff is concerned that absent the adoption of an emergency moratorium on the installation of CDBs, CDBs will conflict with potential contemplated changes to the City's regulatory schemes and will frustrate the realization of the goals of the study and regulatory scheme. Such establishments or expansions could result in blight and enforcement issues.
THE PROPOSED MORATORIUM:
If the City Council adopts the Interim Ordinance, the Moratorium would apply to all zoning district and public rights-of-way within the City. The Interim Ordinance provides, "Within all areas situated in the City of Cathedral City, State of California, including, but not limited to, all public rights-of-way and each and every zone and zoning district, there shall be a temporary Moratorium in effect, commencing on the effective date of this Interim Ordinance, prohibiting the installation of any and all CDBs described above, and/or the issuance of permits for installation of such CDBs, notwithstanding other existing zoning provisions and regulations of the City."
Without the proposed Moratorium on CDBs, operators will continue to install and operate the CDBs in the City prior to the adoption of additional regulations. Therefore, should the Council adopt the Interim Ordinance, the proposed Moratorium will be in effect until permanent regulations are adopted by the City Council.
FINDINGS:
In order to adopt the Interim Ordinance, the City Council must make findings supporting that the Moratorium is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public health, welfare and safety. The attached Interim Ordinance sets for the City Council's findings, should it adopt the Interim Ordinance, that there is a current and immediate threat to public health, safety and welfare resulting from the approval of business licenses, use permits, variances, building permits, or any other applicable land use or zoning entitlement or approval, for CDBs, and that such approvals and any further introduction of CDBs into the designated areas would result in a threat to public health, safety and welfare, for the following reasons:
a. CDBs are proliferating the City. Further, the City Council can reasonably anticipate this trend to continue if swift action is not taken.
b. The installation of new CDBs will likely conflict with, and be incompatible with, the established uses due to visual blight that will likely jeopardize residents' quiet enjoyment of their homes and property, and also potentially devalue their homes and property. Such disturbance could also have a dramatic effect on the peaceful atmosphere that characterizes the City.
c. CDBs have become and are likely to continue to become a public nuisance since they can become a target for scavenging, graffiti and illegal dumping.
d. CDBs have been and are likely to continue to be placed in inappropriate or illegal locations such as code-required parking spaces, code-required setbacks, or City rights-of-ways.
e. CDBs placed in parking lots can restrict sight-lines and affect vehicle circulation and safety, including pedestrian safety.
f. For the aforementioned reasons, the City must further collect data and study the effects that CDBs have in the community to ensure that they are compatible with existing and future uses in designated areas.
ADOPTION AS AN INTERIM ORDINANCE:
Government Code Section 65858 provides that the City may adopt an ordinance that takes effect immediately when adopted for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health or safety, provided the ordinance contains a declaration of the facts constituting the urgency, and is passed by a four-fifths vote of the City Council. The proposed Interim Ordinance qualifies for urgency adoption because the amendments are necessary for the immediate preservation of the public health and safety.
CEQA:
In regards to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), there is no possibility that the adoption of this Interim Ordinance may have a significant adverse effect on the environment [14 CCR 15061(b)(3)] because this ordinance will reduce the possibility of such effects by limiting the range and intensity of new uses possible in the areas it covers and restricting new uses to those of a type which are more compatible with the established character of those areas.
FISCAL IMPACT:
Adoption of this Interim Ordinance is not anticipated to have any significant fiscal impact on the City.
ATTACHMENTS:
Interim Ordinance