HomeMy WebLinkAboutAGENDA REPORT 2006 0802 CC REG ITEM 09HMOORPARK CITY COUNCIL
AGENDA REPORT
TO: Honorable City Council
FROM: Jeff Matson, Captain �A
DATE: July 25, 2006 (CC Meeting of 08/02/06)
ITEM 9.14'
rih, Council Meeting
.&.: `A- 6 .
SUBJECT: Consider Ordinance of the City Council of the City of Moorpark
Adding Chapter 9.32 to the Moorpark Municipal Code Pertaining to a
Social Host Ordinance Which Will Impose a Fine For Persons
Hosting Gatherings of Underage Drinkers
SUMMARY
The Ventura County Sheriff's Department in cooperation with the Ventura County
Behavioral Health Department has taken the lead countywide to urge all cities in
Ventura County and the County of Ventura to adopt a social host ordinance to combat
underage drinking. Currently eight cities in the county have adopted or will shortly adopt
a social host ordinance, as has the County of Ventura. The purpose of this ordinance is
to discourage underage drinking at private gatherings where most underage drinking
occurs. A violation of this ordinance would be a civil penalty only and does not
constitute a criminal violation.
BACKGROUND
Alcohol is the drug of choice for youth and the leading contributing cause of death
among teenagers. It is involved in the deaths of more teens than all other illicit drugs
combined —by a four -to -one ratio. Underage drinking is a factor in nearly half of all teen
automobile crashes and 50 to 65 percent of youth suicides. Alcohol abuse is also linked
to a large number of sexual assaults, homicides, suicides and fatal injuries involving
teens. It is also a major factor in unprotected sex among youth. All of these problems
are magnified by early onset of teen drinking: the younger the drinker, the worse the
problem. Nationally, the social cost of underage drinking has been estimated at $53
billion including $19 billion from traffic crashes and $29 billion from violent crime.
When underage youth drink, they tend to drink more heavily and recklessly than adults.
National research indicates that most underage drinking takes place in private settings,
such as home parties. The occurrence of such parties is harmful to the underage
persons themselves and a threat to public health, safety, and general welfare. To
reduce binge drinking by our youth, access to alcohol in private settings must be
addressed.
4)00261
Honorable City Council
August 2, 2006 Regular Meeting
Page 2
Under current law, problems associated with parties where alcoholic beverages are
served to or consumed by underage persons are difficult for law enforcement to prevent
or disperse. When held responsible for encouraging or tolerating underage drinking,
hosts will be more likely to properly supervise or stop such conduct at parties held on
property under their control.
The intent of this Ordinance is to protect the health, safety, and the welfare of our youth.
An Ordinance that imposes liability on property owners and other responsible persons
for the nuisances created by underage drinking at parties is an important step in
deterring and preventing such parties. The attached ordinance provides a mechanism to
hold hosts financially responsible for the costs of responding to gatherings on private
property where underage persons are consuming alcohol.
DISCUSSION
The City of Moorpark consistently ranks as the safest city in the county and one of the
safest cities for its size in the state. Underage drinking remains a concern in our
community. In Moorpark, calls for service with respect to loud and unruly house parties
increased from 310 in 2004 to 337 in 2005.
In 2005, approximately 13% of underage drivers involved in collisions in Moorpark were
found to be under the influence of alcohol. In Moorpark, consistent with the national
average, two thirds of sexual assaults occur within a house party setting. Underage
drinking is also a contributing factor in violent assaults. The adoption of a social host
ordinance will assist in diminishing underage drinking and hold those who condone this
activity among our youth accountable.
The proposed ordinance is similar to the Ventura County Social Host Ordinance. It
provides that a party or gathering with two or more underage persons present and
where alcohol is available, may subject the host of the party to a civil fine. Although the
ordinance focuses on adults hosting underage drinking gatherings, the host may also be
a juvenile, as well as a renter, lessee or owners of the property or the parent of a
juvenile. If a juvenile is the responsible party then the parents or guardians of that
juvenile will be jointly and severally liable for the response costs incurred pursuant to
this ordinance. To incur liability for response costs imposed by this ordinance, the
responsible person for the loud or unruly gathering need not be present at such
gathering. This ordinance therefore imposes vicarious as well as direct liability upon a
responsible person. The ordinance also allows for recovery of response costs for any
subsequent responses to the same residence or other private property within a twelve
month period. The ordinance also allows for the police to order the gathering to be
dispersed.
000262
Honorable City Council
August 2, 2006 Regular Meeting
Page 3
STAFF RECOMMENDATION
Introduce Ordinance No. for first reading.
2. Schedule second reading and adoption for August 16, 2006.
Attachment: Draft ordinance
0002G3
ATTACHMENT
ORDINANCE NO.
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE
CITY OF MOORPARK, CALIFORNIA, AMENDING
TITLE 9, PUBLIC PEACE, MORALS AND WELFARE
TO ADD CHAPTER 9.32 SOCIAL HOST
REQUIREMENTS TO THE MOORPARK MUNICIPAL
CODE
WHEREAS, it is in the City's interest to protect the public from underage
drinking and set standards for fines; and
WHEREAS, at its meeting of August 2, 2006, the City Council considered
an ordinance to establish rules, procedures and fines for underage drinking as an
amendment to Title 9, Public Peace, Morals and Welfare specifically adding
Chapter 9.32 Social Host to the Moorpark Municipal Code.
NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF
MOORPARK DOES ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Chapter 9.32 of the Moorpark Municipal Code is hereby added,
in its entirety, as shown in Exhibit A.
SECTION 2. If any section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase, part of
portion of this ordinance is for any reason held to be invalid or unconstitutional by
any court of competent jurisdiction such decision shall not affect the validity of
the remaining portions of this ordinance. The City Council declares that it would
have adopted this ordinance and each section, subsection sentence, clause,
phrase, part of portion thereof, irrespective of the fact that any one or more
sections, subsections, sentences, clauses, phrases, parts or portions be declared
invalid or unconstitutional.
SECTION 3. This ordinance shall become effective thirty (30) days after its
passage and adoption.
00026,q
Ordinance No.
Page 2
SECTION 4. The City Clerk shall certify to the passage and adoption of this
ordinance, shall enter this ordinance in the book of original ordinances of the City
of Moorpark, shall make a minute of the passage and adoption thereof in the
records of the proceedings of the City Council at which the same is passed and
adopted, and shall, within fifteen (15) days after passage and adoption thereof,
cause the same to be published once in the Moorpark Star, a daily newspaper of
general circulation, as defined in Section 6008 of the Government Code, for the
City of Moorpark, and which is hereby designated for that purpose.
PASSED AND ADOPTED the day of 2006.
Patrick Hunter, Mayor
ATTEST:
Deborah S. Traffenstedt, City Clerk
000265
Ordinance No.
Page 3
EXHIBIT A
TITLE 9
PUBLIC PEACE, MORALS AND WELFARE
CHAPTER 9.32
SOCIAL HOST ORDINANCE
Sections:
9.32.010 Short Title.
9.32.020 Legislative Findings.
9.32.030 Purposes.
9.32.040 Definitions.
9.32.050 Responsibility for Proper Property Management.
9.32.060 Penalties for Violation of Ordinance.
9.32.070 Recovery of Response Costs.
9.32.080 Billing and Collection.
9.32.090 Reservation of Legal Options.
9.32.100 Request for Administrative hearing.
9.32.110 Severabi I ity.
9.32.120 Protected Activities.
9.32.010 Short Title.
This Ordinance shall be known as the "Social Host Ordinance."
9.32.020 Legislative Findings.
The City Council finds as follows:
a. The City of Moorpark, pursuant to the police powers delegated to it by the
California Constitution, has the authority to enact laws, which promote the
public health, safety and general welfare of its residents;
b. The occurrence of loud or unruly gatherings on private property where
alcoholic beverages are served to or consumed by underage persons is
harmful to the underage persons themselves and a threat to public health,
safety, quiet enjoyment of residential property and general welfare;
c. Any unruly gathering shall constitute a public nuisance, as an immediate
threat to public health and safety, quiet enjoyment of residential property and
general welfare;
d. Underage persons often obtain alcoholic beverages at gatherings held at
private residences or at rented residential and commercial premises that are
under the control of a person who knows or should know of the underage
service and /or consumption. Persons responsible for the occurrence of loud
or unruly gatherings on private property over which they have possession or
000266
Ordinance No.
Page 4
control have failed to ensure that alcoholic beverages are neither served to
nor consumed by underage persons at these parties;
e. Landlords have failed to prevent the occurrence or reoccurrence of loud or
unruly gatherings, including those where alcoholic beverages are served to or
consumed by underage persons, on private property they lease to tenants,
which seriously disrupts the quiet enjoyment of neighboring residents;
f. Problems associated with loud or unruly gatherings at which alcoholic
beverages are served to or consumed by underage persons are difficult to
prevent and deter unless the City of Moorpark Police Department/Ventura
County Sheriff 's Department has the legal authority to direct the host to
disperse the gathering;
g. Control of loud or unruly gatherings on private property where alcoholic
beverages are served to or consumed by underage persons is necessary
when such activity is determined to be a threat to the peace, health, safety, or
general welfare of the public;
h. Persons held responsible for abetting or tolerating loud or unruly
gatherings will be more likely to properly supervise or stop such conduct at
gatherings held on property under their possession or control;
i. In the past and present, law enforcement, fire and other emergency
response services personnel have and are required to respond, sometimes
on multiple occasions, to loud or unruly gatherings on private property at
which alcoholic beverages are served to or consumed by underage persons,
and responses to such gatherings result in a disproportionate expenditure of
public safety resources of the City of Moorpark, which are underwritten by
general municipal taxes paid to the City by its taxpayers and residents and
delaying police responses to regular and emergency calls to the rest of the
City.
j. The intent of this Chapter is to protect the public health, safety, quiet
enjoyment of residential property, and general welfare, rather than to punish.
An ordinance that imposes strict liability on property owners and other
responsible persons for the nuisances created by loud and unruly gatherings
is necessary to deter and prevent such gatherings. Persons who actively and
passively aid, allow or tolerate loud or unruly gatherings shall be held strictly
liable for the nuisances created by such gatherings and the costs associated
with responding to such gatherings. Any such gathering as defined by this
ordinance shall be deemed to be a public nuisance.
9.32.030 Purposes.
The purposes of this Chapter are:
a. to protect public health, safety and general welfare;
b. to enforce laws prohibiting the service to and consumption of alcoholic
beverages by underage persons; and
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Ordinance No.
Page 5
c. to reduce the costs of providing police, fire and other emergency response
services to loud or unruly gatherings, by imposing a civil fee against social
hosts and landowners (including landlords) for the recovery of costs
associated with providing law enforcement, fire and other emergency
response services to loud or unruly gatherings, including those where
alcoholic beverages are served to or consumed by underage persons.
9.32.040 Definitions.
For the purposes of this Chapter, the following terms shall have the
following meanings:
a. "Alcohol" means ethyl alcohol, hydrated oxide of ethyl, or spirits of wine,
from whatever source or by whatever process produced.
b. "Alcoholic beverage" includes alcohol, spirits, liquor, wine, beer, and every
liquid or solid containing alcohol, spirits, wine, or beer, and which contains
one -half of one 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. "Response costs" means the costs associated with responses by law
enforcement, fire and other emergency response providers to loud or unruly
gatherings, including but not limited to:
1. salaries and benefits of law enforcement, fire or other emergency
response personnel for the amount of time spent responding to, remaining
at, or otherwise dealing with loud or unruly gatherings, and the
administrative costs attributable to such response(s);
2. the cost of any medical treatment to or for any law enforcement, fire or
other emergency response personnel injured responding to, remaining at
or leaving the scene of a loud or unruly gathering; and
3. the cost of repairing any city /county equipment or property damaged,
and the cost of the use of any such equipment, in responding to,
remaining at or leaving the scene of a loud or unruly gathering.
d. "Juvenile" means any person under eighteen years of age.
e. "Underage person" means any person under twenty -one years of age.
f. "Loud or unruly gathering" means a party or gathering of two or more
persons at or on a residence or other private property upon which loud or
unruly conduct occurs. Such loud or unruly conduct includes but is not limited
to:
1. excessive noise:
2. excessive traffic;
3. obstruction of public streets or crowds that have spilled into public
streets;
4. public drunkenness or unlawful public consumption of alcohol or
alcoholic beverages;
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Ordinance No.
Page 6
5. service to or consumption of alcohol or alcoholic beverages by any
underage person, except as permitted by state law;
6. assaults, batteries, fights, domestic violence or other disturbances of
the peace;
7. vandalism;
8. litter; and
9. any other conduct which constitutes a threat to public health, safety,
quiet enjoyment of residential property or general welfare. A loud or unruly
gathering shall constitute a public nuisance.
g. "Responsible person" means a person or persons with a right of
possession in the residence or other private property on which a loud or
unruly gathering is conducted, including, but not limited to:
1. an owner of the residence or other private property;
2. a tenant or lessee of the residence or other private property;
3. the landlord of another person responsible for the gathering;
4. the person(s) in charge of the residence or other private property; and
5. the person(s) who organizes, supervises, officiates, conducts or
controls the gathering or any other person(s) accepting responsibility for
such a gathering.
If a responsible person for the gathering is a juvenile, then the parents or
guardians of that juvenile and the juvenile will be jointly and severally liable
for the response costs incurred pursuant to this Chapter. To incur liability for
response costs imposed by this Chapter, the responsible person for the loud
or unruly gathering need not be present at such gathering resulting in the
response giving rise to the imposition of response costs. This Ordinance
therefore imposes vicarious as well as direct liability upon a responsible
person.
h. "Residence or other private property" means a home, yard, apartment,
condominium, hotel or motel room, or other dwelling unit, or a hall or meeting
room, whether occupied on a temporary or permanent basis, whether
occupied as a dwelling, party or other social function, and whether owned,
leased, rented, or used with or without compensation.
9.32.050 Responsibility for Proper Property Management.
Every owner, occupant, lessee or holder of any possessory interest of a
residence or other private property within the City of Moorpark is required to
maintain, manage and supervise the property and all persons thereon in a
manner so as not to violate the provisions of this Ordinance. The owner of the
property remains liable for such violations regardless of any contract or
agreement with any third party regarding the property.
O0026t►
Ordinance No.
Page 7
9.32.060 Penalties for Violation of Chapter.
a. It shall be a violation of this Chapter for any responsible person to
conduct, aid, allow, permit or condone a loud or unruly gathering at a
residence or other private property.
b. Notwithstanding any provision of Chapter 1.16 to the contrary, the City
may issue and administrative citation for any violation of this Chapter with a
fine of $1,000 (unless another fine amount is set by City Council resolution for
any violation of this Chapter), which fine amount shall be in addition to any
recovery of response costs that might be imposed under Section 9.32.070.
c. Any second, third or subsequent violations of this ordinance are payable
whether or not the responsible person for such loud or unruly gathering is
different from the responsible person for any prior loud or unruly gathering at
the residence or other private property.
d. The fine and any response costs imposed is a "rolling schedule" meaning
that in calculating the costs payable the City shall count backward starting
from the date of the most recent loud or unruly gathering to determine how
many prior loud or unruly gatherings have taken place at the residence or
other private property in question during the statutory twelve -month period. A
warning given pursuant to this Chapter shall remain in effect for the residence
or other private property at a given address until a full twelve -month period
has elapsed during which there have been no response to a loud or unruly
gathering at that residence or other private property.
e. The fines set forth in this Section may be appealed pursuant to Section
9.32.100. The payment of any such fines shall be stayed upon any timely
appeal.
9.32.070 Recovery of Response Costs.
When law enforcement, fire or other emergency response provider
responds to a loud or unruly gathering at a residence or other private property
within the City of Moorpark within a twelve month period of a warning given to a
responsible person for a loud or unruly gathering, all responsible persons shall
be jointly and severally liable for the City's costs of providing response costs for
that response and all subsequent responses during the warning period.
When a law enforcement, fire or other emergency response provider
official makes an initial response to a loud or unruly gathering at a residence or
other private property within the City of Moorpark, the official shall inform any
responsible persons) for the gathering at the scene that:
(a)The official has determined that a loud or unruly gathering exists; and
(b) Responsible person(s) will be charged for any response costs required for
subsequent responses to the scene for a loud or unruly gathering within a twelve-
month period.
000270
Ordinance No.
Page 8
Only one warning will be given to a responsible person(s) pursuant to this
Section before the City of Moorpark assesses response services costs pursuant
to this section. If a responsible person cannot be identified at the scene, the
official may issue a warning to one or more persons identified in Section 9.32.040
(g) and /or subsequently return to the residence or other private property and
issue the warning to a then - present responsible person. Warnings given to
responsible persons who do not reside at the residence or other private property
in question shall be delivered by first -class or certified mail.
9.32.080 Billing and Collection.
The amount of response costs shall be deemed a debt owed to the local
entity by the responsible person held liable in Section 9.32.070 for the loud or
unruly gathering and, if a juvenile, by the juvenile's parents or guardians. Any
person owing such costs shall be liable in a civil action brought in the name of
the city for recovery for such fees, including reasonable attorney fees.
Notice of the costs for which the responsible person is liable shall be
mailed via first -class or certified mail within fourteen (14) days of the response -
giving rise to such costs. The notice shall contain the following information:
a. the name of the person(s) being held liable for the payment of such costs;
b. the address of the residence or other private property where the loud or
unruly gathering occurred;
c. the date and time of the response;
d. the law enforcement, fire or emergency service provider who responded;
e. the date and time of any previous warning given pursuant to this Chapter
and /or previous responses to loud or unruly gatherings at the residence or
other private property in question within the previous twelve- months; and
f. an itemized list of the response costs for which the person(s) is being held
liable.
The responsible person must remit payment of the noticed response costs
to the City of Moorpark within thirty (30)days of the date of the notice. The
payment of any such costs shall be stayed upon a timely submission of a request
for an Administrative Hearing made pursuant to Section 9.32.100.
The failure of any person to pay a fine or penalty assessed shall be
collected pursuant to Chapter 1.16 Administrative Citation, Section 1.16.090
Collection of unpaid fines and penalties.
9.32.090 Reservation of Legal Options.
Nothing in this Chapter shall be construed as a waiver by the City of
Moorpark of any right to seek reimbursement for actual costs of response
services through other legal remedies or procedures, including Noise in
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Ordinance No.
Page 9
Residential Zones, Chapter 9.28, Section(s) 9.28.010, 9.28.020, 9.28.030 and
9.28.040. The procedure provided for in this Ordinance is in addition to any other
statute, ordinance or law, civil or criminal. This Ordinance in no way limits the
authority of peace officers or private citizens to make arrests for any criminal
offense arising out of conduct regulated by this Ordinance.
9.32.100 Request for Administrative Hearing.
Any person receiving an administrative citation may contest the citation
pursuant to Chapter 1.16 Administrative Citation, Section 1.16.100, Section
1.16.110, Section 1.16.120 and Section 1.16.130.
9.32.110 Severability.
If any provisions of this Chapter or its application to any person or
circumstance are held invalid, the invalidity does not affect other provisions or
applications of this Chapter that can be given effect without the invalid provision
or application, and to this end the provisions of this Chapter are severable.
9.32.120 Protected Activities.
This Chapter shall not apply to activities protected by articles 1, section 4
of the California Constitution or the 1St or 14th Amendment of the United States
Constitution.
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