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(a) It shall be unlawful for any person to smoke, carry or possess a lighted cigar, cigarette, or pipe, or to smoke tobacco or any other similar substance in any form, or to ignite any match or mechanical lighter on or in any wharf, pier, dock, bulkhead, or marine facility; provided, however, that tobacco may be smoked in any area or space on or in any such place or structure, that may be set apart for such purpose by the joint action of the Chief of the Fire Department and the Board of State Harbor Commissioners, and clearly so designated by duly posted signs; but any such permission to smoke in a designated area or space may be withdrawn at any time by like joint action. Provided, however, that in every area or space set apart as a space or area within which smoking is permitted, in accordance with the provisions of this Section, there shall be provided at least one approved fireproof container filled with sand for every three hundred square feet or fraction thereof of floor area for the purpose of depositing cigarettes or cigar butts, tobacco, matches and other material which may be productive of starting fires and at least one approved portable fire extinguisher for every five hundred square feet or fraction thereof of said floor area, which fire extinguisher shall be at least two and one-half gallon capacity or at least one quart capacity if said fire extinguisher is of the carbon tetrachloride type.
(b) It shall be unlawful for any person to smoke, carry or possess a lighted cigar, cigarette, or pipe, or to smoke tobacco or any other similar substance in any form, or to ignite any match or mechanical lighter on any vessel moored at any wharf, pier, dock, bulkhead, or marine facility; provided, however, that tobacco may be smoked in any area or space that may be set apart for such purpose on any such vessel by the joint action of the Chief of the Fire Department and the master of said vessel, and clearly so designated by duly posted signs; but, any such permission to smoke in a designated area or space may be withdrawn at any time by like joint action; and provided further, that in no case shall smoking be permitted
(1) On weather decks,
(2) When loading or discharging explosives,
(3) In cargo spaces,
(4) When gas freeing ship's tanks or when loading in bulk any liquid inflammable cargo having a flash point of 80° F. or below.
(Amended by Ord. 2692, Series of 1939, App. 4/26/44)
It shall be unlawful for any person to use an open flame of any character or an electric arc, excepting only when said open flame or electric arc is necessarily employed in the making of repairs, alterations, or structural changes on or in any wharf, pier, dock, bulkhead or marine facility or within any hatch, hold or other space wherein cargo of any character is or may be kept or stored in any vessel on or within the limits of the City and County of San Francisco.
(Added by Ord. 2692, Series of 1939, App. 4/26/44)
The Chief Engineer of the Fire Department, in conjunction with the Chief of the Division of Fire Prevention and Investigation, is hereby authorized and given full power and authority to make all necessary rules and regulations, not in conflict with the provisions of Sections 55 and 55.1 of this Chapter, providing for the use of any open flame or electric arc when the same are used in the making of repairs, alterations, or structural changes on any wharf, pier, dock, bulkhead or marine facility or within any hatch, hold or other space wherein cargo of any character is or may be kept or stored in any vessel on or within the limits of the City and County of San Francisco, and providing for the safe and proper fire protection for any area or space, including any office or lunchroom, wherein smoking is permitted in accordance with Section 55 of this Chapter.
(Amended by Ord. 2692, Series of 1939, App. 4/26/44)
Any person who shall violate any of the provisions of Sections 55, 55.1 and 56 of this Article, or any rule or regulation made by the Chief of the Fire Department in conjunction with the Chief of the Division of Fire Prevention and Investigation, under authority hereof, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be punished by a fine of not exceeding $500, or imprisonment in the County Jail for not more than six months, or by both such fine and imprisonment.
(Amended by Ord. 1691, Series of 1939, App. 4/26/44)
The Municipal Recreation Concrete Pier at the Aquatic Park shall be exempt from the provisions of Sections 55 and 57 of this Article, except those provisions contained in Section 56 of this Article.
(Added by Ord. 1.075, App. 10/11/38)
(a) It shall be unlawful for any person, firm or corporation, occupying or having charge or control of any premises, to place or cause to be placed, or suffer to remain upon the sidewalk, or upon the half of the street in front of such premises, any Article or substance which shall obstruct the passage of such street or sidewalk.
(b) It shall be unlawful for any person, firm or corporation to enter into a lease, rental agreement or contract of any kind, written or oral, with or without compensation, for the use of any street or sidewalk.
(c) As an alternative to any other fines or penalties applicable to a violation of this section, any person, firm or corporation who is in violation of this section shall be subject to an administrative penalty not to exceed $300 for each violation. The administrative penalty shall be assessed, enforced and collected in accordance with Section 39-1 of this Code.
(Amended by Ord. 169-87, App. 5/4/87; Ord. 87-03, File No. 030482, App. 5/9/2003)
The provisions of Section 63(a) of this Article shall not apply to:
(a) Goods or merchandise in actual course of receipt, delivery or removal;
(b) Lamp posts or hydrants, erected by permission of the Director of Public Works;
(c) Any tree, plant or shrub planted in the sidewalk area, or any boxed or potted tree, plant or shrub set on the sidewalk area when the containers are not attached to the building;
(d) Watering troughs placed by permission of the Director of Public Works upon sidewalks for the accommodation of the public;
(e) Bicycle racks or motorcycle racks placed upon the sidewalks by permission of the Director of Public Works and of the adjoining property owners for the accommodation of persons using such bicycle or motorcycle, the same not to exceed three feet in width and three feet in height and to be entirely devoid of advertising matter; provided, that motorcycle racks shall be supplied with a metallic pan for the purpose of catching oil drippings;
(f) Hitching posts placed by permission of the Director of Public Works upon sidewalks, in accordance with pattern indicated in the design approved by and on file in the office of said Director;
(g) Sockets to be placed upon the outer line of the sidewalk within the curb line for the support of flagpoles to be used for the display of flags. The said sockets shall be approved by, and installed under the supervision and to the satisfaction of, the Director of Public Works;
(h) "A" boards or advertising signs, placed and displayed by authorized representatives of the Armed Forces of the United States, in aid of their respective recruitment programs;
(i) A display stand placed on the sidewalk, within a certain area as set forth in Sections 153 and 183-1 of Article 5.3 of the Public Works Code, for display of fruits and vegetables or nonfood merchandise. The display stand shall be approved by, placed under the supervision of, and maintained under conditions established by, the Director of Public Works.
(Amended by Ord. 523-83, App. 11/4/83)
(a) Findings.
(1) San Francisco is a dense, urban environment that, like many large cities, experiences both heavy motor vehicle traffic on streets and heavy pedestrian traffic on sidewalks, particularly in areas with concentrated commercial businesses and other facilities open to the public.
(2) Reducing traffic congestion on City streets and maintaining a smooth flow of pedestrian traffic and access to authorized commercial businesses and other facilities on public sidewalks are essential to public safety, thriving neighborhoods and a vital economy in the City.
(3) The need to control pedestrian and commercial traffic is greatest during the hours of operation of businesses, shops, restaurants, and other organizations and commercial enterprises, when streets and public sidewalks are congested, and when City residents are most likely to use their neighborhood sidewalks.
(4) Various entities, including for example, restaurants, hotels, apartment buildings, schools, religious institutions, health care facilities, and adult and child day care facilities, have significant numbers of customers or patrons who are picked up or dropped off by motor vehicles. These entities may request that the City, through its Municipal Transportation Agency (''MTA"), establish a "white zone," which is a passenger loading area at the street curb fronting the entity. White zones require payment of a fee, a public hearing and approval by the City's Traffic Engineer.
(5) By facilitating access to businesses, shops, organizations and services, white zones reduce the number of vehicles double parked on City streets and obviate the need for drivers to circle blocks in search of a parking space in order to drop off or pick up passengers. White zones serve an important role in reducing traffic congestion, improving vehicular and pedestrian safety, and reducing motor vehicle emissions.
(6) An individual's placement of physical items, including, but not limited to, materials, objects, substances, or articles of personal property on a white zone curb or on a sidewalk adjacent to a white zone, can prevent or impede a passenger's ability to enter or exit a vehicle stopped in the white zone, or his or her unobstructed passage across the sidewalk between the white zone and the adjacent building, which in turn endangers the safety of motor vehicle passengers and other members of the public seeking to use these zones, especially seniors, individuals with a disability, including individuals with mobility, vision, or hearing impairments, and children and their parents or guardians, and frustrates the very purposes of the white zone.
(7) Existing laws that prohibit the intentional, willful or malicious obstruction of pedestrians on sidewalks do not adequately address the safety hazards, disruption and impediments to pedestrian and vehicular traffic that blocking access to white zones and sidewalks adjacent to white zones causes.
(b) Definitions. For purposes of this section, the following terms shall have the following meanings:
(1) ''Adjacent Sidewalk" shall mean that portion of a sidewalk located next to a White Zone Curb, and extending across the sidewalk to the back of curb line as depicted in the City's official record of sidewalk widths, bounded at either end of the White Zone Curb by a line perpendicular to the curb and extending to the back of curb line as depicted in the City's official record of sidewalk widths.
(2) ''Business or Facility" shall mean any commercial, noncommercial, or nonprofit enterprise providing goods or services, including, but not limited to, stores, shops, offices, schools, religious institutions, places of entertainment, health care facilities, child and adult day care facilities, hotels, and apartment buildings. Except for public schools and public health care facilities, ''Business or Facility" shall not include any building owned by a governmental entity and used for governmental purposes.
(3) "Obstruct" shall mean to either: a) place any physical items, including, but not limited to, materials, objects, substances, or articles of personal property on a White Zone Curb or an Adjacent Sidewalk; or b) suspend any physical items, including, but not limited to, materials, objects, or articles of personal property over a White Zone Curb or an Adjacent Sidewalk so that the lowest edge of the material, object or article is at a height of less than seven feet above the White Zone Curb or Adjacent Sidewalk. For purposes of this Section, a person, and anything worn or carried by a person, shall not constitute an obstruction.
(4) "White Zone Curb" shall mean the curbside edge of a sidewalk designated as a passenger loading zone that the Municipal Transportation Agency has painted white.
(c) Prohibition. It shall be unlawful to Obstruct a White Zone Curb or Adjacent Sidewalk in front of any Business or Facility at any time during which use of the parking space adjacent to the White Zone Curb is restricted to passenger loading and unloading.
(d) Exceptions. The prohibition in Subsection (c) shall not apply to the placement of:
(1) Any property placed on or affixed to an Adjacent Sidewalk by a governmental entity, a public utility, or the Joint Pole Authority, including but not limited to telephone, electrical and light poles, traffic control and directional signs and devices, parking meters, fire hydrants, emergency call boxes, United States Postal Service mail receptacles or boxes, public transportation shelters, benches and identifying signs, bicycle racks, and bicycles stored in such racks;
(2) Any property or equipment that the City authorizes in accordance with the Public Works Code or under any permit from, or regulations or orders issued by, the Director of Public Works;
(3) Physical items on a White Zone Curb or Adjacent Sidewalk in the course of operating or patronizing a commercial establishment conducted on an Adjacent Sidewalk pursuant to a sidewalk use permit;
(4) Physical items on a White Zone Curb or Adjacent Sidewalk in the course of participating in or attending a parade, festival, performance, or similar event conducted in the street or on a public sidewalk pursuant to and in compliance with a street use or other applicable permit; or
(5) Any personal property required by a person for personal mobility or medical purposes.
(e) Notification. A peace officer may not cite a person for violating this Section unless the person engages in conduct this Section prohibits after a peace officer has notified the person that the conduct violates this Section.
(f) Penalty. Any person violating Subsection (c) of this Section shall be guilty of an infraction and shall be punished by a fine not to exceed one hundred dollars ($100) for a first violation, two hundred dollars ($200) for a second violation of Subsection (c) within a year of a first violation, and five hundred dollars ($500) for each additional violation of Subsection (c) within a year of a first violation.
(g) Other laws and orders. Nothing in this Section shall be construed to permit willfully and substantially obstructing the free passage on the sidewalk of any person in violation of State or local law.
(h) Disclaimer. In undertaking the adoption and implementation of this Ordinance, the City is assuming an undertaking only to promote the general welfare. The City is not assuming, nor is it imposing on its officer and employees, an obligation for breach of which it is liable in money damages to any person who claims that such breach proximately caused injury.
(i) Severability. If any subsection, sentence, clause, phrase, or word of this Section be for any reason declared unconstitutional or invalid or ineffective by any court of competent jurisdiction, such decision shall not affect the validity or the effectiveness of the remaining portions of this Section or any part thereof.
It shall be unlawful for any person, firm or corporation to place or pile, or cause to be placed or piled, any lumber or timber to a greater height than 35 feet measured vertically from the general level of the ground on which it is placed or piled.
(Added by Ord. 1.075, App. 10/11/38)
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