AGENDA TITLE:
title
Public Hearing to Consider an Ordinance Amending Lodi Municipal Code Chapter 8.04 “Outdoor and Tent Assemblies,” Chapter 9.08 Article II “Trespassing And Loitering,” Section 12.04.010 “Definitions Section 12.04.060 “Required,” Section 12.12.010 “Definitions,” Section 12.12.050 “Entering Closed Areas,” Section 12.12.170 “Structures,” Section 12.12.255 “Lodi Lake Nature Area-Prohibited Activities,” Section 12.12.420 “Skate Park Regulations,” Section 12.12.430 “Violations,” and Chapter 15.52 Camp Cars and Trailer Camps to Regulate Unauthorized Camping in the City (CD)end
MEETING DATE:
October 2, 2024
PREPARED BY:
Cynthia Marsh, Deputy Director / City Planner
recommendation
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Public Hearing to Consider an Ordinance Amending Lodi Municipal Code Chapter 8.04 “Outdoor and Tent Assemblies,” Chapter 9.08 Article II “Trespassing And Loitering,” Section 12.04.010 “Definitions Section 12.04.060 “Required,” Section 12.12.010 “Definitions,” Section 12.12.050 “Entering Closed Areas,” Section 12.12.170 “Structures,” Section 12.12.255 “Lodi Lake Nature Area-Prohibited Activities,” Section 12.12.420 “Skate Park Regulations,” Section 12.12.430 “Violations,” and Chapter 15.52 Camp Cars and Trailer Camps to Regulate Unauthorized Camping in the City.
body
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
The increased presence of encampments on public property has been difficult to effectively address over the past several years. The reasons for the increase over this time period are numerous and complex. At least one aggravating factor discouraging local agencies from directly and firmly responding to the problem was the court decisions handed down by the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, including Martin v. City of Boise, 920 F. 3d 584 (9th Cir. 2019) (“Martin”) and Johnson v. City of Grants Pass, 72 F.4th 868 (9th Cir. 2023) (amended opinion and order denying rehearing) (“Grant’s Pass”). The Martin and Grant’s Pass decisions of the Ninth Circuit restricted the City of Lodi, other cities in California, and the western United States.
The premise of these decisions was that enforcement of local ordinances prohibiting public camping by people who are unhoused violated the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution and past Supreme Court precedent. The Eighth Amendment, as applied to states and their political subdivisions by the Fourteenth Amendment, provides in relevant part that “cruel and unusual punishments” shall not be “inflicted.” The Court relied on at least two United States Supreme Court cases to find that enforcement of commonplace restrictions on public camping constitutes cruel and unusual punishment because it punishes the status of the individual for being homeless. (Robinson v. California, 370 U.S. 660 (1962) (drug addiction is a status) and Powell v. Texas, 392 U.S. 514 (1968) (alcoholic punished for being drunk in public).
The Martin and Grant’s Pass decisions created confusion and prevented enforcement in many cities. Cities lacked clarity about what may be permissible in enforcing straightforward laws prohibiting conduct, like camping, and not arresting someone based solely on their claimed status which was the reasoning of Robinson and Powell. The confusion was further exaggerated as Martin and Grant’s Pass required, as a predicate to enforcement of public camping laws, the availability of shelter beds for the individual such that he/she had a place to satisfy the human function of sleeping. While the decisions suggested that municipalities could still enforce reasonable time, place and manner restrictions (e.g. blocking access to a sidewalk), the lack of clarity in the decisions and aggressive and expensive lawsuits made that enforcement option less attractive and financially risky.
Current Enforcement Pracitices in Lodi
Notwithstanding recent court decisions, the City of Lodi consistently maintained a robust enforcement operation utilizing existing encroachment and loitering ordinances. This effort involved nearly all City Departments, including the City Attorney’s Office, Lodi Police Department, Lodi Fire Department, Community Development, Public Works, and Parks.
The City’s Attorney’s Office navigated case law, procedural issues, and handling of criminal prosecutions and administrative code enforcement efforts, including attending hearings and reviewing inspection and abatement warrants. Of the 1,067 criminal prosecutions handled by the City Attorney’s Office from November 2023 through August 2024, 94% (1,000) were related to violations tied to homelessness, including loitering, public urination, panhandling, open burning, sewage disposal, and so on. Until recent court cases, 72-hour noticing was required for encampment clean-ups, a parameter that all departments have worked within.
tThe Lodi Police Department (LPD) created a Transient Outreach Team, working with an assigned Community Liaison Officer (CLO), along with two part-time retire annuitants (one assigned as a mental health liaison), and nine other officers on the team ranging from the rank of officers to Corporal who work eight shifts per month on overtime. The team works with several community outreach groups, with the mission of the CLO program being facilitation of access to services for those who are housing-challenged and want to improve their living conditions. While the team responds to approximately 100-175 calls per service per month, they work with mental health services, post and cleanup encampments, tag and post illegally parked vehicles, attend community meetings, and work with Community Improvement and the City Attorney’s office on abatement and enforcement as needed. Of LPD’s total calls for service in 2023 (51,207) and 2024 (48,746), 16.8% were related to homeless issues in 2023, and 24.7% in 2024 - a 47% increase in calls for services related to homelessness.
The Lodi Fire Department responded to 528 calls for service in 2023 related to homelessness, 759 calls in 2024, and an projected approximately 950 calls in 2025. The cost of responding to these types of calls related to address homeless issues has grown an average of 48% per year FY2023 to FY2025, with the majority of the calls requesting Emergency Medical Services (EMS).
With many encampments being set up in public parks, the Parks, Recreation, and Cultural Services Department provided cleanups in parks 260 days per year, and 350 days per year at Hutchins Street Square, taking a total of 9,020 department hours in FY2023-2024. The Parks Department does not have a specific crew nor specific equipment and vehicles assigned for homelessness clean-ups. Daily clean-ups are handled by general maintenance staff, taking away from other duties, and costing staff time, equipment, vehicles, safety equipment and hauling/dump fees, with estimated daily clean-ups estimated to cost $1,100. Encampment clean-ups planned in advance utilize increased staff time, as well as utilization of additional equipment to haul garbage, such as tractors, dump trucks, utility vehicles, pickup trucks and dump trips to Waste Management - costing an average of $1,400 per planned clean-up.
Public Works experienced increased costs related to homeless operations. In FY2023-2024, encampment clean-ups cost Public Works $108,875, with 389 staff hours. Thus far, in FY2024-2025, Public Works has spent 150 staff hours through August on 99 clean-ups, with $16,219 in costs for the first two months of the fiscal year.
The Community Development Neighborhood Services Division secured grant funding for a temporary Access Center, where people experiencing homelessness can be redirected and connected with services. In FY2023-2024, the temporary Access Center, operated by contracted nonprofits and volunteers, served 39,577 meals, provided 19,053 showers, counted 29,407 check-ins (15,980 overnight check-ins, with 347 unduplicated persons counted through the HMIS data collection software system used by all homeless providers receiving federal funds. During this period of time, 34 homeless transitioned to other programs, 23 people transitioned to housing, 27 became employed, 18 were connected to behavioral health, 170 were connected to medical services, 16 were reconnected with family members, 4 started educational programs, 9 were referred to other programs, and 11 detoxed while at the temporary Access Center. In addition, the Department supports the Safety Ambassador program, where ambassadors work three shifts with at least one vehicle on patrol 24/7, generally focusing on the core of the city. The ambassadors often interact with unsheltered persons and provide resources for assistance, such as the Access Center. In addition to the temporary Access Center, projects are in the works to address homelessness, including the permanent Access Center, along with Reimagined Housing on Main. In the Community Improvement Division, there are currently eleven open cases on private property for clean-ups, cases that began as reactive enforcement actions.
THE CURRENT SITUATION
Unfortunately, the United States Supreme Court failed to take the Martin case for review and the confusion around homeless encampments and local enforcement efforts continued. However, early this year, the Supreme Court accepted the Grant’s Pass case for review and oral argument on the case was heard in April 2024. In June 2024, the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that cities can enforce laws that prohibit public camping and sleeping without violating the Eighth Amendment.
Following the Supreme Court decision in Grants Pass, on July 25, 2024, Governor Gavin Newsom issued Executive Order N-1-24, encouraging local jurisdictions to take action “with urgency” to remove homeless encampments from public spaces, “prioritizing those encampments that most threaten the life, health, and safety of those in and around them.”
The Point in Time (PIT) Count is a biannual survey of homeless people that takes place in January. In 2024, the PIT Count for Lodi was held on January 29th. Volunteers gathered at a meeting place in the morning and then went to areas where homeless people congregate to conduct a head count and ask questions. They then reported back to Continuum of Care (CoC) staff at the meeting place. The recent PIT count found 262 unsheltered individuals and 152 sheltered, for a total of 416 homeless individuals in the City of Lodi. The city experienced the second-highest Point in Time count among San Joaquin County’s seven incorporated cities, and an increase of 54 (+26%) unsheltered and 8 (+6%) sheltered individuals experiencing homelessness over Lodi’s prior PIT count in 2022.
|
Lodi PIT Count Year |
Unsheltered |
Sheltered |
Total |
% Unsheltered Increase Over Prior Year |
|
2022 |
208 |
144 |
352 |
+50% |
|
2024 |
262 |
152 |
416 |
+26% |
The growth of encampments mirrored the increase in unsheltered homelessness. Due to the health and safety concerns caused by an increase in homelessness, and in light of new tools enabled through the Grants Pass decision and the Governor’s Executive Order, enhancing restrictions on camping within the City is advisable to ensure the safety and well-being of the community. The proposed ordinance would be an exercise of City authority to protect critical infrastructure and benefit public health, safety, and welfare.
Proposed Ordinance and Changes
The proposed ordinance conforms to the current law in California and Supreme Court precedent. It emphasizes the protection of city assets such as waterways, parks and other public spaces using reasonable time, place and manner restrictions. Additionally, the proposed ordinance establishes specific protocols for the encampment abatement process to ensure proper notice; it identifies the types of items that must be secured for later retrieval and those which may be destroyed; it provides for the level of documentation of items removed or destroyed; and it allows for reasonable retrieval of those items removed from an encampment. Finally, it allows for an expedited abatement process upon certain findings by the City Manager.
Proposed ordinance changes include:
• Camping definitions added in multiple chapters of the Lodi Municipal Code.
• Expressly prohibits camping on public property.
• Describes basic encampment clean-up process.
• Adds property storage requirements.
• Reiterates that private property clean-ups are the responsibility of the owner.
• Allows private property owners to also post for “no camping.”
• Expressly includes encampments in “encroachment” definition.
• Expressly states that camping would also be illegal within encroachment area.
• Expressly lists camping would be illegal in closed park areas.
• Expressly calls out that camping would be illegal in nature areas.
• Calls out that encampments are not allowed at skate parks.
• Describes illegal camps in the section with camp cars and outdoor assemblies without permits.
• States that dogs may not run at large in encampments.
There is no clear remedy for the complicated problem of homelessness generally and managing the evidence of such in homeless encampments on public property. The proposed ordinance provides additional tools to more quickly and formally respond to encampments as they are becoming established on City property and to document, for the City’s legal protection, the means employed to abate these areas.
STRATEGIC VISION:
7H. Public Safety: Address strategic safety problem areas in the community.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The Ordinance provides additional tools for Community Improvement and Police Officers to use to abate certain conditions in violation of Lodi Municipal Code and improve overall public health and safety. Initial efforts will utilize existing staff and therefore have no fiscal impact. Should enforcement of this new code become priority, there may be opportunity costs associated for staff in Community Improvement, Police and the City Attorney’s office.
FUNDING AVAILABLE:
Not applicable.
_______________________________________
John Della Monica
Community Development Director
_______________________________________
Scott R. Carney
City Manager