Item 5: Ordinance on Downtown Public Safety Zones

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Following the July 21 public hearing, City Council discussed several possible changes to the proposed ordinance. Staff and the City Attorney’s office have developed the following attachments and draft motions to correspond to the various options that Council may choose: Attachment A is the proposed ordinance version A creating a Downtown Public Safety Zone and providing for exclusion from the zone for 90 days upon an order issued by the municipal court judge after arrest or citation for certain offenses committed within the zone and exclusion from the zone for one year upon conviction of certain offenses committed within the zone. Attachment B is Version B of the ordinance, providing for exclusion from the zone only after conviction of one of the offenses listed in Attachment F. Attachment C is the City Manager’s recommendation – Ordinance Version C, a revised version of the exclusion ordinance versions previously presented for council consideration. This version is designed to focus on those offenses that are the most problematic in the downtown area. Attachment D is an ordinance creating the offense of Violation of Downtown Public Safety Zone Restrictions. If the council chooses to adopt version A or B of the exclusion zone ordinance, Attachment D would provide a mechanism for the police to cite excluded persons if they enter the downtown public safety zone in violation of their exclusion order or variance. The offense of violation of downtown public safety zone restrictions is very similar to second degree trespass. If the council chooses to adopt version A or B of the ordinance, the council should also direct the City Manager to bring back the ordinance creating the offense of Violation of Downtown Public Safety Zone Restrictions for a public hearing in September. If the council adopts Version C of the ordinance, it will not need to act separately on Attachment D. Attachment E provides a map of the proposed Downtown Public Safety Zone that includes the area generating the greatest number of complaints and calls for service. This version of the map includes the addition of the block to the west of 7th Avenue and Lincoln Street. Motion 3, included in Attachment G would expand the boundary of the Downtown Public Safety Zone to reflect the boundaries as shown in this map and include the block bounded on the north by 7th Avenue, on the West by Lawrence Street, on the south by 8th Avenue and on the east by Lincoln Street. Attachment F is the list of offenses that trigger exclusion from the Downtown Public Safety Zone, categorized by severity. Category 1 includes felonies and person offenses; Category 2 consists of drug offenses and criminal mischief; Category 3 consists of property offenses; and Category 4 consists of other miscellaneous offenses. Attachment G is a list of motions requested by councilors and includes motions to expand the boundaries of the zone, reduce the list of offenses that trigger exclusion, exclude only upon conviction, include a two year sunset in the ordinance and direct the City Manager to draft a report on activities in the zone and present the report to the Police Commission which will forward it to the council. The attached motions are structured so that councilors can move the motion number rather than reading the entire motion. For example, a councilor could “move motion 6,” rather than moving to delete Category 2 offenses from the ordinance and then reading all the listed offenses. Z:\CMO\2008 Council Agendas\M080811\S0808115.doc