Municipal Code Amendments
An excellent quality of life is what Dana Point residents, businesses and visitors have come to expect. The City helps achieve this by maintaining its public assets like streets, sidewalks and parks, as well as ensuring the community is safe through proactive and community-based policing strategies.
One of the best tools our Sheriff’s deputies have in helping to ensure an outstanding quality of life in Dana Point is the City’s municipal code, which works in tandem with state law to keep Dana Point clean, peaceful and safe. Included in the municipal code are the nuisance-related sections that address those things that can create a public nuisance, like excessive noise, fires, trash and debris and unsafe or disorderly conduct.
From time to time, it is necessary to update portions of the Dana Point Municipal Code to keep it current with issues that can affect our quality of life. The City Council recently went through a process to study disorderly conduct addressed in our Municipal Code and adopted new language to more acutely address nuisance behavior in Dana Point.
The new ordinance clarified and amended the City’s regulations relating to public nuisance behavior including Loitering and Disorderly Conduct, Gambling, Public Intoxication, Aggressive Solicitation, Prohibiting Removal or Possession of Shopping Carts, and Evictions from City Property or City Parks. Most of the regulations already applied to city parks and recreation facilities and the City Council deemed it appropriate to include enforcement of nuisance behavior city-wide on public property and in public areas, including sidewalks, streets, alleys and parks. Language was also added to clarify any portions that appeared vague and fulfill specific requests from law enforcement.
In addition to the new ordinance covering public nuisances, the City Council just last week had a first reading of an ordinance pertaining to fires. Much like the nuisance ordinance, the City Council is looking to include enforcement city-wide, add additional restrictions, special permit language and references to the California Fire Code. The second reading of this is Ordinance will take place October 16th.
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