Illegal Fireworks
Outside of the 4th of July, setting off fireworks of any kind is illegal in the City of Gilroy. On the 4th of July, Safe and Sane fireworks are permitted in certain parts of the city only. In areas of the city with a higher risk of fire, fireworks of any kind are not permitted EVER. In April 2022, the City Council adopted a Host Liability for Illegal Fireworks ordinance to assist the City in attaining compliance regarding prohibited uses of fireworks. This ordinance allows the City to cite property owners or renters for illegal activities that occur on their property or the property they rent even if the individual/possessor of the fireworks cannot be identified. To avoid a narrow application to property owners only, the ordinance is designed to apply to any person who has the right to use, possess or occupy a public or private property under a lease, permit, license, rental agreement, or contract. Additionally, the ordinance can be applied to any person who hosts, organizes, supervises, officiates, conducts, or accepts responsibility for a gathering on public or private property.
Violations of the ordinance result in an administrative citation carrying a fine of $1,000 for the first violation and $2,000 for every subsequent violation. In July 2022, 61 administrative citations were issued, and one criminal citation was referred to the District Attorney’s Office for review and prosecution. Of the 61 administrative citations issued, 27 requested appeal hearings. Of those 27, 16 citations were dismissed on appeal and 11 were upheld.
Even with video evidence from officer body cameras and drones, it can be difficult to pinpoint the specific individual user or possessor. In cases where the fireworks were launched in the street and the specific perpetrator could not be identified, a connection could not be made to private property situs to successfully create host liability. In May 2023 the City Council will again address this ordinance to consider what we learned from the Hearing Officer from the appeal hearings and how to strengthen our ability to enforce host liability for illegal fireworks year-round and illegal use of Safe and Sane fireworks on public streets.
Downtown Parking Management Plan
The Downtown Parking Management Plan is making great progress and is over halfway complete. After a comprehensive parking data collection and existing conditions assessment last fall, several workshops and meetings were held this winter with downtown businesses, downtown residents, and the community at large to receive input on downtown conditions and potential strategies for improving parking. The feedback has been extremely valuable in helping shape the strategies, and we welcome additional input via the project website. A draft parking plan will be discussed in a public hearing study session this summer, so be on the lookout for scheduling updates and we look forward to more great community participation. Once the Downtown Parking Management Plan is adopted, depending upon its approved recommendations, an ordinance may be enacted to help the City uphold and implement provisions of the parking plan for downtown.
Mobile Vending and Sidewalk Vending
Legislation adopted at the State level in recent years has limited local jurisdictions’ abilities to regulate street vending. Notably, Senate Bill 946 (SB 946), the Safe Sidewalk Vending Act, decriminalized and legalized sidewalk vending. State legislation now allows vendors to sell food and merchandise on public sidewalks, pedestrian paths, and, in certain instances, public parks.
Currently, Gilroy City Code Chapter 16A, Peddlers, Solicitors, Vendors, and Other Transient Businesses, provides mobile vending requirements for the offering or selling of food, goods, merchandise, or services on private property, streets, parks, or other public places. Although the Gilroy City Code includes requirements for mobile vending, those requirements need to be amended to address health and safety concerns and to be in line with current State legislation for sidewalk vendors.
Under SB 946, a “sidewalk vendor” is defined as a person who sells food or merchandise from a pushcart, stand, display, pedal-driven cart, wagon, showcase, rack, or other non-motorized conveyance on a sidewalk or pedestrian path. SB 946 limits the City’s ability to regulate sidewalk vendors, but allows the City to adopt requirements regulating the time, place, and manner of sidewalk vending so long as the requirements are directly related to objective health, safety, or welfare concerns. For example, proposed standards to strengthen our City Ordinance may include requiring sidewalk vendors to properly dispose of fats, grease, and oil, to possess and display in plain view a valid permit from the Santa Clara County Health Department, a valid sidewalk vending permit and a valid city business license. Note that SB 946 explicitly states, “… perceived community animus or economic competition does not constitute an objective health, safety, or welfare concern.”
At the April 17, 2023 City Council meeting, city staff provided the Council with a report that summarized current regulations and propose standards.
Click here to view the report and
corresponding video segment of the April 17th City Council meeting. Note that mobile food trucks are a separate issue from sidewalk vending and can be addressed separately depending on Council direction.
Unhoused Camping Ban Near Schools and Critical Infrastructure
At the July 5, 2022 City Council meeting, city staff presented a report to Council regarding the challenges and issues related to enforcement of no-camping ordinances. The report discussed the 2019 Boise decision that restricts local agencies from enforcing no-camping ordinances on public property, and also discussed elaborating language provided by other courts that provides local jurisdictions some leeway, such as: “Even where shelter is unavailable, an ordinance prohibiting sitting, lying, or sleeping outside at particular times or in particular locations might well be constitutionally permissible.”
At the September 12, 2022 City Council meeting, shortly after an encampment was cleared from a large area near a school that included space below a vehicular bridge, the city attorney reported on an ordinance sought by the City of Los Angeles to ban camping near daycares and parks. The City Council directed city staff to bring back key points for a potential ordinance that would prohibit unhoused camping within 500 feet of schools, parks, daycares and playgrounds; in areas with critical infrastructure; and in locations that would restrict access to public safety or public infrastructure locations.
At the March 20, 2023 City Council meeting, the City Council directed city staff to include the following key points in a potential ordinance.
No person shall obstruct by sitting, lying, or sleeping, or by storing, using, maintaining, or placing personal property on a street, sidewalk, or other public right-of-way:
(1) In a manner that impedes passage, as provided by the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, Pub. L, No. 101-336, 104 Stat. 328 (1990), as amended from time to time;
(2) Within five hundred (500) feet of any school, daycare facility, park, or playground. This prohibition applies all year, overnight, on any weekends and weekdays, even when such facilities may be generally considered closed.
(3) Within one hundred (100) feet of critical infrastructure or emergency and urgent health and safety resources, including water wells, pump stations, sewer lift stations, water tanks, storm drain inlets and outfalls, police and fire stations, ambulance stations, hospitals and medical clinics, railways, bridges and under and over-passes.
(4) Within ten (10) feet of any operational or utilizable building entrance, exit, driveway or loading dock.
(5) Within five (5) feet of any fire hydrant, fire plug, or other fire department connection.
(6) Within the public right-of-way in a manner that obstructs or unreasonably interferes with the use of the right-of-way for any activity for which the City has issued a permit.
(7) In a manner that obstructs any portion of any street or other public right-of-way open to use by motor vehicles, including any portion thereof marked as a bike lane.
(8) In creeks or creek embankments within the city limits.
Violations of this policy involving a person who willfully resists, delays, or obstructs a City employee from enforcing this section or who willfully refuses to comply after being requested to do so by an authorized City employee would be subject to the penalties set forth in the Gilroy City code, and will be listed in detail in the upcoming proposed ordinance.
Staff is working on mapping the areas that would be affected by these policy points, and return with draft language and the map of potentially affected areas within the Gilroy city limits for review by the City Council, anticipated to be in June of 2023.
