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HomeMy WebLinkAboutORD 10-18 Prohibiting Needle Exchange ProgramsORDINANCE NO.10-18 AN URGENCY MEASURE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF ORANGE ADOPTING AN INTERIM ORDINANCE PROHIBITING THE OPERATION OF NEEDLE EXCHANGE PROGRAMS WITHIN THE CITY OF ORANGE. WHEREAS, Section 65858(a) of the California Government Code authorizes the City Council to adopt, as an urgency measure, an interim ordinance prohibiting any uses which may be in conflict with a contemplated zoning proposal which the City Council, planning commission or planning department is studying to protect the public health, safety and welfare; and WHEREAS, in a letter dated August 6, 2018, the City Orange (City) was notified that the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) authorized the Orange County Needle Exchange Program ("OCNEP") to provide mobile needle exchange services in the City of Orange commencing on August 6, 2018; and WHEREAS, OCNEP is permitted to operate its mobile needle exchange program NEP") in the City of Orange on Tuesday and Friday afternoons in an area of the city that is adjacent to the Santa Ana River Recreational Trail which until recently was inhabited by a transient population, many of which were injection drug users; and WHEREAS, there has been no communication from OCNEP as to how they would use its mobile units in the City, such as, where they would park or where its clients would park; and WHEREAS, OCNEP became the first needle exchange program in Orange County when it was approved for operation in the City of Santa Ana by CDPH in 2016. The City of Santa Ana terminated this program citing public health risks caused by a sharp increase in discarded syringes at the Santa Ana Civic Center, including in the Santa Ana Library; and WHEREAS, the application filed by OCNEP promises a better collection method but fails to enumerate what any collection program would look like or guarantee anything close to 100% syringe recovery; and WHEREAS, Government Code Section 38771 authorizes the City, through its legislative body, to declare certain actions and activities a public nuisance; and WHEREAS, pursuant to the City's police power, as granted broadly under Article XI, Section 7 of the California Constitution, the City Council has the authority to enact and enforce ordinances and regulations for the public health, safety and welfare of the City and its residents; and WHEREAS, City staff is requesting the moratorium in order to provide time for City staff to ask for more information from OCNEP and the State about NEPs and study whether such use is appropriate in the City and if so, in what zones such use should be allowed, if at all; and WHEREAS, the City Council determines, by a four -fifths vote, that this urgency ordinance is a matter of citywide importance and necessary for the immediate preservation and protection of the public health, safety or welfare of the community. NOW THEREFORE, the City Council of the City of Orange hereby ordains as follows: SECTION I: The recitals of the facts as set forth in this Ordinance are true and correct, constitute the basis for this Ordinance, and are incorporated herein by this reference. Based on those facts, the City Council finds, determines and declares that this Ordinance is necessary as an emergency measure for the immediate preservation of the public health, safety or welfare pursuant to Section 65858(a) of the California Government Code. Accordingly, this Ordinance shall become effective immediately upon adoption by a four -fifths vote. SECTION II: For the period of this interim ordinance, or any extension thereof, the commencement, establishment or use of any property for a needle exchange program shall constitute a public nuisance and shall be considered a prohibited use in any zoning district of the City. Neither the City Council nor City Staff shall approve any use interpretation, permit, license, certificate of occupancy, zoning code or general plan amendment allowing the operation and/or establishment of a needle exchange program. A violation of this Ordinance shall be punished as provided for in Sections 1.08.010 and 1.08.020 of the Orange Municipal Code. SECTION III: For purposes of this ordinance the following terms and phrases shall be interpreted and construed as defined in this section: NEEDLE EXCHANGE PROGRAM shall mean a program as described and defined in California Health and Safety Code Section 121349. SECTION IV: The City Manager shall prepare a report, pursuant to California Government Code Section 65858 (d), describing the measures taken to alleviate the condition, which led to adoption of this Ordinance for presentation to the City Council no later than ten (10) days prior to the expiration of this Ordinance. Ordinance No. 10-18 2 SECTION V: The subject Urgency Ordinance is exempt from the provisions of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) per State CEQA Guidelines Sections 15060(c)(2), 15060(c)(3) and 15061(b)(3) because it will not result in a direct or reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment, because there is no possibility it will have a significant effect on the environment, and it is not a "project", as defined in Section 15378 of the State CEQA Guidelines. SECTION VI: If any section, subdivision, paragraph, sentence, clause or phrase of this Ordinance is for any reason held to be invalid or unconstitutional, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of this Ordinance. The City Council hereby declares that it would have passed this Ordinance, and each section, subdivision, paragraph, sentence, clause and phrase thereof, irrespective of the fact that any one (or more) section, subdivision, paragraph, sentence, clause or phrase had been declared invalid or unconstitutional. SECTION VII: A summary of this ordinance shall be published once within fifteen (15) days after this interim ordinance is passed, in a newspaper of general circulation, published and circulated in the City of Orange. The City Clerk shall post in the Office of the City Clerk, a certified copy of the full text of such adopted interim ordinance along with the names of those City Council members voting for and against the interim ordinance in accordance with Government Code 36933. This interim ordinance is effective immediately, but shall be of no further force and effect 45 days from the date of its adoption unless it is subsequently extended in accordance with the provisions of Section 65858(a) of the California Government Code. ADOPTED this 1 Ith day of September 2018. oe r TERresd E. Smith,Mayor" City of Orange ATTEST: Mary E. hy, ity Cler , City o Or ge Ordinance No. 10-18 STATE OF CALIFORNIA COUNTY OF ORANGE CITY OF ORANGE I, MARY E. MURPHY, City Clerk of the City of Orange, California, do hereby certify that the foregoing Ordinance was introduced at the regular meeting of the City Council held on the 11 th day of September 2018, and was duly passed and adopted the same day, by the following vote, to wit: AYES: COUNCILMEMBERS: Alvarez, Whitaker, Smith, Murphy, Nichols NOES: COUNCILMEMBERS: None ABSENT: COUNCILMEMBERS: None ABSTAIN: COUNCILMEMBERS: None ZA / Mary E. ity Clerk, City age Ordinance No. 10-18 4