ORDINANCE NO. 1675
AN URGENCY ORDINANCE AMENDING ORDINANCE NO. 1673 OF THE CITY OF SAN CLEMENTE FINDING THAT EXIGENT CIRCUMSTANCES RELATING TO IMMEDIATE THREATS TO THE PUBLIC HEALTH, SAFETY, AND WELFARE REQUIRE AMENDMENT TO ORDINANCE NO. 1673 RELATING TO ENFORCEMENT OF THE PROVISIONS OF SAN CLEMENTE MUNICIPAL CODE CHAPTER 8.86 PROHIBITING CAMPING ON PUBLIC PROPERTY, EXCEPT AS PERMITTED HEREIN
WHEREAS, On May 21, 2019 the City Council of the City of San Clemente adopted an urgency ordinance based on immediate threats to public health, safety, and welfare providing for an exception to the provisions of San Clemente Municipal Code Chapter 8.86, which prohibits public camping on all City property, to permit camping on property designated there pending the provision of emergency shelters in San Clemente; and
WHEREAS, the City Council hereby incorporates by reference the recitals in said Urgency Ordinance and the record of decision connected therewith; and
WHEREAS, California Government Code Section 36937 empowers cities to adopt, by four-fifths vote, an urgency ordinance, which is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health or safety; and
WHEREAS, for the reasons enumerated in Ordinance No. 1673, the adoption and immediate enactment of that ordinance and this ordinance are immediately necessary for the avoidance of additional damage to public facilities, the preservation of the public health, safety, and the prevention of greater health, welfare, and safety risks to people in San Clemente experiencing homelessness and the general public; and
WHEREAS, in connection with the adopting of Ordinance No. 1673 and this Ordinance, the City Council anticipates that the urgency conditions giving rise to their adoption are likely to be abated within one year’s time; and
WHEREAS, the City Council desires to amend Ordinance No. 1673 with this Ordinance so that it expires and is of no further effect on June 30, 2020.
NOW, THEREFORE, the City Council of the City of San Clemente does ordain as follows:
Section 1. The recitals above are each incorporated by reference and adopted as findings by the City Council.
Section 2. Section 9 of Ordinance No. 1673 is hereby amended to read as follows:
“This Urgency Ordinance is enacted pursuant to Government Code Section 36937 for the immediate protection of the public peace, health and safety. This Ordinance shall take effect immediately upon its adoption and shall expire on June 30, 2020”.
Section 3. The City Council hereby enacts this urgency ordinance under section 36937, subdivision (b), of the California Government Code, which allows the City to adopt an urgency ordinance by not less than a four-fifths vote, for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health or safety, subject to the findings herein.
Section 4. If any section, subsection, subdivision, paragraph, sentence, clause or phrase added by this Ordinance, or any part thereof, is for any reason held to be unconstitutional or invalid or ineffective by any court of competent jurisdiction, such decision shall not affect the validity or effectiveness of the remaining portions of this Ordinance or any part thereof. The City Council hereby declares that it would have passed each section, subsection, subdivision, paragraph, sentence, clause or phrase thereof irrespective of the fact that any one or more subsections, subdivisions, paragraphs, sentences, clauses or phrases are declared unconstitutional, invalid or ineffective.
Section 5. This Ordinance is not subject to the California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”). An activity does not require environmental review under CEQA unless the activity has potential to cause a significant effect on the environment. (State CEQA Guidelines, § 15061(b)(3).) A project is thus exempt from CEQA where “it can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility that the activity in question may have a significant effect on the environment.” (State CEQA Guidelines, § 15061(b)(3).) Here, the City’s adoption of this Ordinance is not subject to CEQA because there is no possibility that the adoption of this Ordinance may have a significant effect on the environment. (State CEQA Guidelines, § 15061(b)(3).) In particular, the City’s adoption of this Ordinance merely amends Ordinance No. 1673 to clarify that Ordinance No. 1673’s provisions will expire on June 30, 2020. This Ordinance does not authorize the construction of any project or any other activity that could potentially cause a significant effect on the environment. Indeed, this Ordinance will have no physical impact on the environment at all; it merely makes clear that Ordinance No. 1673 will sunset on June 30, 2020.
Moreover, Ordinance No. 1673, as amended by this Ordinance, is categorically exempt from CEQA under State CEQA Guidelines section 15304, which categorically exempts minor public alterations in the condition of land where the alteration does not involve the removal of healthy, mature, scenic trees. Here, Ordinance No. 1673, as amended by this Ordinance, provides for a temporary minor alteration of public land by providing for use of certain vacant property owned by the City as alternative shelter for the homeless and as the exclusive public property available to the homeless for camping purposes. The adoption of this Ordinance will not result in any new construction and will not involve the removal of any trees.
Furthermore, Ordinance No. 1673 is statutorily exempt from CEQA as its constitutes a “specific action necessary to prevent or mitigate an emergency,” as noted when the City adopted Ordinance No. 1673. (Pub. Res. Code, § 21980(b)(4); State CEQA Guidelines, § 15269.)
Section 6. This Urgency Ordinance is enacted pursuant to Government Code Section 36937 for the immediate protection of the public peace, health and safety. This Ordinance shall take effect immediately upon its adoption.
Section 7. The City Clerk shall certify the adoption of this ordinance and shall cause the same to be posted as required by law.
APPROVED AND ADOPTED this 18th day of June, 2019.
ATTEST:
_______________________________ ___________________________
City Clerk of the City of Mayor Pro Tem of the City of San
San Clemente, California Clemente, California
STATE OF CALIFORNIA )
COUNTY OF ORANGE ) ss.
CITY OF SAN CLEMENTE )
I, JOANNE BAADE, City Clerk of the City of San Clemente, California, hereby
certify that Urgency Ordinance No. 1675 was duly passed and adopted at a regular meeting of the City Council held on the 18th day of June, 2019, and said ordinance was adopted by the following vote:
AYES: FERGUSON, HAMM, WARD, MAYOR PRO TEM BANE
NOES: NONE
ABSENT: NONE
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and affixed the official seal of the City of San Clemente, California, this 18th day of June, 2019.
__________________________
CITY CLERK of the City of
San Clemente, California
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
__________________________
CITY ATTORNEY
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