In its ongoing efforts to bolster public safety—and public perception—a divided Redding City Council voted Tuesday to make it illegal to sit, sprawl, sleep or camp on sidewalks in the downtown area or any other business district.
Whether police officers will be available to enforce the new “sit-lie” ordinance is still in question.
The council voted 3-1, with Mayor Francie Sullivan dissenting and Councilwoman Missy McArthur absent, to adopt the ordinance. The ordinance makes it a crime to sit or lie on sidewalks between the hours of 7 a.m. and 10 p.m. Violators, after an initial warning, could be subject to a $75 fine.
Redding resident Justin Babb questioned the wisdom of adopting the law, telling the council that it would place a larger burden on police and saddle offenders with fines they won’t be able to pay.
“Is this an end-all, be-all answer? No,” Councilman Brent Weaver said in moving to adopt the ordinance. However, in combination with revamped police patrols, additional code enforcement officers and the ongoing Public Safety Blueprint project, the ordinance “is a real positive.” He added that the ordinance is intended to target behavior, not people.
Weaver added that a similar ordinance in Chico has worked well, based on a conversation he had with Chico’s mayor. “The mayor was emphatic” that it was a boon for the city, especially in the downtown area. “It took some education and getting the word out, but now it’s known that downtown is not the place to go to camp out.”
In expressing her support, Councilwoman Kristen Schreder said she is concerned about the safety of pedestrians and the ability of business owners to operate safely. She described the sit-lie ordinance as a tool for law enforcement.
“We have loitering laws already,” Sullivan said, “what we don’t have is officers to enforce them,” noting that the Redding Police Department is still having to cover 60 square miles with seven officers on any one shift.
Violations of the sit-lie ordinance will be a low priority call that will lead to “tremendous frustration” for those reporting offenders and expose the police to more criticism, Sullivan said.
According to his staff report to the council, Police Chief Rob Paoletti said his department has received numerous complaints about a growing number of people, often with dogs, who sit or lie on sidewalks with personal belongings strewn about.
“These actions threaten the safety of pedestrians, especially the elderly, disabled, vision-impaired, and children. To many residents and visitors this activity leads to a perceived degradation of the downtown’s and other business districts’ quality of life, and negatively impacts the economic vitality of the businesses in front of which these individuals station themselves,” the report says.
In other action Tuesday, the council addressed:
Business Improvement District
Following a sometimes heated exchange between council members and a pair of downtown business owners, the council voted 3-1 to disband the downtown Redding Business Improvement District (BID).
Councilman Gary Cadd, who said his colleagues were “jumping the gun,” cast the lone dissenting vote.
Created in 1997 at the request of downtown merchants, the BID provided the city with the means to assess some 300 merchants to fund various marketing and promotional efforts. The assessments, totaling about $31,000 a year, are administered by the Downtown Redding Business Association (DRBA).
The matter came to a head last month at the March 3 meeting when Councilwoman Schreder sought to terminate the city’s agreement with the DRBA. She said complaints from business owners and her own investigation into DRBA’s records, finances and bylaws, coupled with less-than-forthcoming responses from DRBA officers David Gerard and Vint Stevenson, prompted her to seek the termination.
The DRBA, in turn, retained Redding attorney Walt McNeill, who informed the council at its March 17 meeting that the BID assessments may be in violation of Proposition 26, the 2010 California law that requires a two-thirds majority vote to impose any fees or taxes.
The council met in closed session to discuss the potential threat of litigation, a move that prompted protests from the DRBA that the council had violated California’s open-meeting laws.
A closer look at the BID revealed that it was established—by a consultant selected by the DRBA—using elements of both the Parking and Business Improvement Area Law of 1989 and the Property and Business Improvement District Law of 1994.
As a result, the hybrid BID “puts us at risk,” said City Manager Kurt Starman, who went on to urge the council to disband the BID. If business owners want to reestablish it, they can follow the 1994 law.
The matter will be the subject of a public hearing at the council’s May 5 meeting, at which time the council is expected to vote to give written notice to the DRBA of its intent to end its agreement.
Public safety sales tax
The council voted 4-0 to accept a report from the Greater Redding Chamber of Commerce indicating the chamber’s support of a sales tax dedicated to supporting public safety. In a companion vote, the council asked city staff to research the implications of declaring an emergency in order to put any proposed tax on the November 3 ballot rather than having to wait until November of 2016.
Medical marijuana
The council briefly discussed Mayor Sullivan’s interest in clarifying the city’s ordinance allowing outdoor cultivation of medicinal marijuana. The ordinance currently limits cultivation to 100 square feet of canopy per patient for a maximum of three patients per residence.
Sullivan said a specific limit on the number of pot plants would be easier to understand and enforce, and suggested a maximum of six plants per residence. Councilman Cadd countered with a motion to prohibit all outdoor cultivation.
Once it became clear that a 2-2 split was imminent (with Cadd and Weaver aligned with no outdoor grows and Sullivan and Schreder pushing for simpler regulations), the council voted 4-0 to return the matter to staff for additional research.
Jon Lewis is a freelance writer living in Redding. He has more than 30 years experience writing for newspapers and magazines. Contact him at jonpaullewis@gmail.com.
