City of Anaheim, CA
10/08/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 10/08/2024 20:47
Anaheim updating laws for obstructions, bike issues, smoking as part of restoring public spaces
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City News - Current
Posted on: October 8, 2024
Anaheim updating laws for obstructions, bike issues, smoking as part of restoring public spaces
ANAHEIM, Calif. (Oct. 8, 2024) - Anaheim has taken the first step to update city laws on obstructing public spaces, illegally selling bikes and parts and smoking in parks and other places as part of an ongoing effort to restore public spaces.
Anaheim's City Council unanimously voted to approve the changes on Tuesday.
The additions and updates to the Anaheim Municipal Code require a second vote on Oct. 29. If approved a second time, the changes would take effect 30 days later on Nov. 28.
The changes will apply to everyone in Anaheim, including those living in homelessness.
Anaheim does more than any other city to help people out of homelessness with daily social worker outreach, substance abuse recovery, mental health and other services, emergency shelter and long-term supportive housing.
The changes are designed to address life destroying drug use, loss of use of public spaces and other unsustainable issues seen at Anaheim parks, along railways and other public spaces.
One set of changes would add provisions to the Anaheim Municipal Code prohibiting abandoned property on sidewalks and other public spaces, lying on or otherwise obstructing sidewalks, staying in medians, parkways and other landscaped areas and using bus benches, park tables and other spaces for extended sleeping or lying down.
Another municipal code addition would address bike thefts and sales in what are known as "chop shops," or makeshift bike disassembly and parts sales, often in city parks.
Anaheim sees about 250 reported stolen bikes each year with many disassembled for sale as parts.
The provisions would prohibit assembling, disassembling, selling or distributing multiple bikes, having disassembled bike frames, bikes with missing parts and multiple bike parts.
An update of the municipal code would extend the city's smoking ban to parks and restrooms as well as near bus benches, schools and day care centers. Smoking cannabis or other drugs, which is never allowed in parks, would be covered by the changes.
Anaheim Police and Code Enforcement officers would continue to have discretion with citations or arrests with a goal of gaining voluntarily compliance.
Shelter, health, housing and other services would also be offered as an alternative to enforcement of violations of the proposed changes as well as for violations of existing municipal code sections.
The goal of the proposed changes is to address some extreme impacts on parks and other public spaces and to use new laws to encourage those living on the streets and resistant to offers of help to accept them.
Even with violations that end up before a judge, help will continue to be extended as part of the Access program, an innovative collaboration between Anaheim and the courts.
The Access program brings social workers and others to court to offer case management and services as an alternative to sentencing, with accountability and jail time possible if multiple offers of help are declined.
The proposed municipal code changes follow stepped up outreach, enforcement and restoring of public spaces by the city of Anaheim.
Since September, we have cleared La Palma Park of chronic drug use, sales and other illegal activity and undertaken nightly clearing of parks afterhours, when no one is allowed in our parks.
We have added high-visibility, monitored cameras with loudspeakers at Pearson, Chaparral, John Marshall, Sage, Stoddard and Twila Reid parks.
The cameras are a visual deterrent and allow for announcements warning people about being in parks afterhours or of other unpermitted or illegal activity.
Along railways, one of the most dangerous places for anyone to be, we are clearing encampments each week working with Union Pacific Railroad.
At Nutwood Street, just west of Euclid Street, we have installed a high-visibility, monitored camera with loudspeaker to address unsafe trespassing along rail lines.
The impacts of homelessness are the top concern we hear from residents and businesses about parks and other public spaces.
We are working to ensure that parks, sidewalks, bus benches, business spaces and other places are available to everyone for their intended uses, while always providing help to those in need.
You can see all we do to address homelessness at Anaheim.net/homelessness.