City Council
MEETING DATE: 7/22/2015
TITLE:
Title
Written report required by Government Code Section 65858(D) in reference to Urgency Interim Ordinance No. 2015-162 imposing a moratorium on Collection Donation Bins
End
FROM:
Charles Green, City Attorney
Katie Podein, Deputy City Attorney
RECOMMENDATION:
Recommendation
That the City Council receive and file this written report regarding the recently adopted moratorium on collection donation bins as required by Government Code Section 65858(d).
Body
BACKGROUND:
In recent years, there has been a proliferation and concentration of collection donation bins (“CDBs”) within the City. 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. CDBs are usually placed on private property, but also are known to be placed at schools, grocery stores, gas stations, in parking lots and near businesses.
On May 13, 2015, the City Council adopted an urgency interim ordinance (“Interim Ordinance”) imposing a temporary 45-day moratorium (“Moratorium”) on the establishment, installation, placement, construction, and/or expansion (collectively called "installation") of attended and unattended CDBs. The City Council imposed the Interim Ordinance after finding that there was 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 further approvals and introduction of CDBs into the community would continue the threat to public health, safety and welfare.
During the imposition of the Interim Ordinance, City Staff collected data and studied the effects that CDBs to ensure that they are compatible with existing and future uses in the community. City Staff also reviewed the regulatory mechanisms available to control CDBs, including changes to the Municipal Code, to protect from the negative effects of CDBs.
Government Code Section 65858(d) requires that the City Council issue a “written report describing the measures taken to alleviate the condition which led to the adoption” of any moratorium. It is recommended that the City Council adopt the following as its written report.
DISCUSSION:
THE WRITTEN REPORT:
The Moratorium was adopted because the City Council perceived a current and immediate threat to the 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. More specifically, the City Council found that the threat could occur if CDBs were not properly regulated or restricted at the City level.
City Staff has made the following findings, which are now adopted by the City Council:
a.) CDBs are proliferating the City and this trend is anticipated to continue if regulation or restriction of CDBs in the City is not taken.
b.) The installation of new CDBs is incompatible with the established uses due to visual blight that jeopardizes residents’ quiet enjoyment of their homes and property, and also the potential CDBs have to devalue their homes and property. Additionally, such disturbance is likely to have a negative 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 if they are unattended, or during off hours and/or weekends if they are attended.
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.
As a result of the aforementioned findings, the City Attorney and City Staff have diligently worked together to propose an ordinance that will minimize or eliminate the negative effects of CDBs described above. If the zoning and regulatory ordinances are adopted by the City Council, then the conditions which required the adoption of the Moratorium will have been adequately addressed and the Moratorium will be effectively superseded and no longer of any force or effect.
FISCAL IMPACT:
None.
ATTACHMENTS:
None.