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HomeMy WebLinkAbout50A - ORD HANDBILLSREQUEST FOR COUNCIL ACTION CITY COUNCIL MEETING DATE: AUGUST 6, 2007 TITLE: ORDINANCE PROHIBITING DROP OFF OF UNSOLICITED HANDBILLS AT A HOME CITY MANAGER RECOMMENDED ACTION CLERK OF COUNCIL USE ONLY: APPROVED ^ As Recommended ^ As Amended ^ Ordinance on 151 Reading ^ Ordinance on 2n° Reading ^ Implementing Resolution ^ Set Public Hearing For CONTINUED TO FILE NUMBER Adopt an ordinance prohibiting the drop off of handbills at a home where the resident has notified the distributor that such handbills are unwelcome. DISCUSSION On July 24, 2007 the Council Neighborhood Improvement/Code Enforcement Committee requested preparation of a proposed ordinance regulating unwelcome handbills dropped off at residences. The ordinance would provide that handbills cannot be distributed at a home where the resident has posted a notice that handbills are unwelcome. The use of direct advertising at residences, avoiding the mails, has grown as postage rates have increased, particularly for oversized mail. Federal law prohibits placing these handbills in a mailbox. These handbills, door hangers and direct ads are being placed on the door knobs, under mats, on driveways and front yards throughout the city, regardless of whether they are welcome or unwelcome. Many of these handbills blow away onto city streets, creating litter and making neighborhoods look less desirable. Additionally, while individuals going on vacation may stop mail delivery, there is no way to stop the accumulation of residential handbills on a front stoop which may indicate to a potential housebreaker that no one is home. The proposed ordinance would prohibit handbills from being dropped off in front of a home where there has been posted on the property a small notice on or near the front door stating "no handbills" or "no solicitors." Giving written notice to a handbill distributor would also be sufficient for the resident to opt out of any handbills being left on the property by that distributor. 50A-1 Residential Handbill Ordinance August 6, 2007 Page 2 The ordinance would apply to all printed or written materials regardless of their content. The only exceptions would be mail (including other delivery services such as Federal Express or UPS) and legal notices. Due to existing severe constraints on the city's community preservation staff, this ordinance would empower each resident who has given notice that handbills were not welcome to bring an action in small claims court against any distributor who ignores the "no handbills" notice. The Council would declare in the ordinance that unwelcome handbills left at a home constitute a public nuisance. Environmental Impact Categorical Exemption No. ER 2007-115 has been adopted for this ordinance. FISCAL IMPACT There is no fiscal impact associated with this action. 2~~ i Jay Trevino Exe utive Director Planning & Building Agency BK:rb rb:repor[e/handbill ordinance 50A-2 b k:7/31 /07 ORDINANCE NO. NS-XXX AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA ANA ADDING ARTICLE IX TO CHAPTER 17 OF THE SANTA ANA MUNICIPAL CODE RELATING TO PROHIBITING THE DISTRIBUTION OF HANDBILLS AT RESIDENCES WHERE THE RESIDENT HAS DECLINED THEIR RECEIPT THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA ANA DOES ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS: Section 1. The City Council of the City of Santa Ana hereby finds, determines and declares as follows: A. This Ordinance is necessary to establish reasonable and uniform, content neutral regulations that will reduce the adverse effects upon the residents of the City of the distribution of printed or written material left on residential doorsteps in defiance of the resident's expressed desire not to receive them. The public health, safety and welfare of the City requires the enactment of this Ordinance. B. Further, this Ordinance is necessary in order to preserve the City from the potential adverse effects of the distribution of unsolicited printed or written material on private premises contrary to the expressed desire of the resident including burglary, littering, the prevention of the blighting of neighborhoods and the maintenance of property values, protecting and preserving the quality of the City's neighborhoods, and the protection of the City's quality of life. Experience in this City, as well as in other portions of central Orange County such as the Cities of Anaheim, Costa Mesa and Fullerton, which all have similar ordinances, have demonstrated that such activity has objectionable effects in residential areas. C. The June 13, 2007 Los Angeles Times reports that due to recent and upcoming increases in postal rates, particularly for oversize mail, and higher response rates, delivery of materials to residential doorsteps and doorknobs may be a more attractive option for advertisers than mail service. 50A-3 D. Unlike mail service, vacationers have no way to stop the distribution of printed or written materials being left on their doorstep while they are away. Studies performed by other cities and courts have concluded that "the unauthorized depositing of literature on private property creates a serious police problem in that occupants of such property are unable to control such unauthorized depositing and the accumulation thereof is an advertisement to the criminally inclined that the property is unoccupied." E. The courts of this state have agreed that the problem of accumulating litter in residential areas is a major concern for cities, and the goal of the reduction of litter throughout the community is a legitimate and an increasingly urgent government objective. F. Courts have traditionally respected the right of a resident to bar, by order or notice, dissemination of handbills on the resident's property. Under this Ordinance, the right to distribute printed or written material is restricted only by an affirmative act of the resident giving notice of the determination that no printed or written material be left on his or her doorstep. Courts have held that: "To hold less would tend to license a form of trespass and would make hardly more sense than to say that a radio or television viewer may not twist the dial to cut off an offensive or boring communication and thus bar its entering his home." G. Pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act, a categorical exemption (No. ER 2007-115) has been adopted with respect to this Ordinance. Section 2: Article IX is added to Chapter 17 of the Santa Ana Municipal Code to read in full as follows: ARTICLE IX. RESIDENTIAL HANDBILLS Sec. 17-140. Purpose. A. The City has a compelling need to prohibit the distribution of printed or written materials on private premises in defiance of the previously expressed will of the resident. Prohibiting distribution of printed or written material, in defiance of a resident's expressed desire not to receive them, strikes an appropriate accommodation between the rights of distributors to solicit willing 50A-4 listeners and the rights of residents to refuse to receive printed or written material at their private homes. B. This Ordinance is also aimed at decreasing the adverse effects of the distribution of unsolicited printed or written material on private premises. The prohibition against delivering printed or written material contrary to the expressed desire of the resident will decrease the amount of litter created by such at private homes which the resident has declined to receive them. The prohibition against delivering printed or written material contrary to the expressed desire of the resident will further aid in the prevention of crime by avoiding an accumulation of printed or written material that may otherwise alert a potential housebreaker that the residence may be unoccupied. Sec. 17.141. General Provisions. A. It shall be unlawful to distribute, deposit, place, throw, scatter, cast, peddle, pass out, give away, or circulate any printed or written literature of any kind whatsoever on any private property devoted to a residential use within the City when the intended recipient thereof, or the owner, occupant, or resident of any property where such literature is left or intended to be left, has notified the distributor or disseminator of such material that they do not wish to receive any literature. B. For purposes of this section, the following shall be deemed to be adequate and sufficient notice to the distributor or disseminator of such material: 1. Posting on or near the front door or main entrance of the property with a clearly visible sign or other notice stating, in effect, "No Handbills", "No Solicitors," or words of similar meaning, or; 2. Written communication to the distributor or disseminator of such material. C. The provisions of this section shall not apply to: 1. The distribution of the United States mail or printed or written material delivered by personal messenger or common carrier; 2. The posting of any notice required by law or order of a court of competent jurisdiction; or 3. The delivery of any printed or written material to any person who has requested delivery of the same. 50A-5 Sec. 17-142. Enforcement. A. A distributor or disseminator that continues the acts prohibited by section 17-141 of this Code after being notified in the manner indicated in said section is hereby declared to create a public nuisance. B. An owner, occupant or resident that has notified a distributor or disseminator in the manner described in section 17-141 of this Code shall have a cause of action against any distributor or disseminator that continues to illegally distribute or disseminate material in violation of this Article. C. In the absence of persuasive evidence to the contrary, the person or entity which benefited from the illegal distribution or dissemination of the printed or written material shall be presumed to be the person or entity which is responsible for the illegal distribution or dissemination of the same. D. This remedies set forth in this section are in addition to all other remedies which the City may have to enforce this Article. Section 3. If any section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase or portion of this ordinance is for any reason held to be invalid or unconstitutional by the decision of any court of competent jurisdiction, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of this ordinance. The City Council of the City of Santa Ana hereby declares that it would have adopted this ordinance and each section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase or portion thereof irrespective of the fact that any one or more sections, subsections, sentences, clauses, phrases, or portions be declared invalid or unconstitutional. ADOPTED this day of , 2007 Miguel A. Pulido Mayor APPROVED AS TO FORM: Joseph W. Fletcher, City Attorney 50A-6 By: Benjamin Kaufman Chief Assistant City Attorney AYES: Councilmembers NOES: Councilmembers ABSTAIN: Councilmembers NOT PRESENT: Councilmembers CERTIFICATE OF ATTESTATION AND ORIGINALITY I, PATRICIA E. HEALY, Clerk of the Council, do hereby attest to and certify that the attached Ordinance No. NS-XXX to be the original ordinance adopted by the City Council of the City of Santa Ana on ,and that said ordinance was published in accordance with the Charter of the City of Santa Ana. Date: Clerk of the Council City of Santa Ana 50A-7 50A-8