(a) Purpose. Public places within the City of Thousand Oaks should be readily accessible and available to residents and the public at large. The use of these areas for camping purposes or storage of personal property interferes with the rights of others to use the areas for which they were intended. Such action can constitute a public health and safety hazard which adversely impacts public property, neighborhoods and commercial areas. The purpose of this section is to maintain public places within the City of Thousand Oaks in a clean and accessible condition, to prevent the accumulation of trash and debris, and to reduce the risk of both structural and brush fires.
(b) Definitions. Unless the particular provisions or the context otherwise requires, the definitions contained in this section shall govern the construction, meaning and application of the words and phrases used in this section.
(1) "Camp" means to pitch or occupy camp facilities; or to use camp paraphernalia, for living purposes in an outdoor area. The act of sleeping on its own does not constitute camping.
(2) "Camp facilities" include, but are not limited to, tents, huts, unapproved shacks or temporary shelters.
(3) "Camp paraphernalia" includes, but is not limited to, tents or tent-like structures, cots, beds, hammocks or personal cooking facilities and similar equipment. This definition shall not include blankets, sleeping bags or bedrolls.
(4) "Open Space" means any parcel or area of land or water which is essentially unimproved and devoted to an open space use, allowing uses only as listed in Section 9-4.2105, and which is designated on the local open space plan as any of the following:
(i) for the preservation of natural resources;
(ii) for the managed production of resources;
(iii) for outdoor recreation;
(iv) or public health and safety.
(5) "Public place" means public property, improved or unimproved, and includes, but is not limited to, open space, parks, plazas, parking lots, highways, streets, bridges, alleys, driveways, sidewalks, and walkways.
(6) "Store" means to put aside or accumulate for use when needed, to put for safekeeping, to place or leave in a location.
(c) Unlawful camping. It shall be unlawful for any person to camp, occupy camp facilities or use camp paraphernalia in any public place, except as otherwise provided in this section.
(d) Storage of personal property in public places. It shall be unlawful for any person to store personal property, including camp facilities and camp paraphernalia, in any public place, improved or unimproved, except as otherwise provided by the City Council, or except by permission of the property owner. Nothing herein shall be construed to allow storage where otherwise prohibited by this Code.
(e) Cooking. No person shall cook food in any public place, except as otherwise allowed by the Municipal Code or by specific permit. This section shall not prohibit cooking in areas designated for such purposes.
(f) Approved uses. This section shall not limit or be construed to limit the use of public parks, public open space, City streets, parking lots or other public property for such use of camp facilities and camp paraphernalia which use is specifically authorized by the property owner.
(g) Property Removal. Designated City employees may remove personal property unlawfully stored or found on public places as outlined in subdivision (b)(5) above or found in an unlawful encampment as follows.
(1) The location of any personal property including camp facilities and paraphernalia shall be noticed as follows:
"It is illegal to store personal property on a public place such as public open space, parks and parking lots. If this personal property is not removed within 72 hours of the date of this posting, THE PERSONAL PROPERTY SHALL BE DEEMED INTENTIONALLY ABANDONED AND SUBJECT TO REMOVAL AND POSSIBLE DESTRUCTION."
(2) City personnel may remove any personal property unlawfully stored or remaining in a public place after the posting period has expired.
(3) Personal property which has been abandoned, poses an imminent threat to public health or safety, is contraband or which is evidence of a crime shall not be subject to the above notice requirements and shall be removed immediately by City personnel or police and stored or destroyed according to the provisions below.
(h) Personal Effects.
(1) Personal effects for purposes of this chapter 5-8.08, means personal property consisting of the following items.
(i) Medication, medical devices, eye glasses or other prescription lenses;
(ii) Sleeping bag or bed roll which is sanitary and non-verminous;
(iii) Tents in usable and reasonably good condition;
(iv) Clothes stored in a manner protecting them from the elements, which are not unsanitary, soiled, or verminous;
(v) Non-perishable food items; and
(vi) Personal property with an estimated individual fair market value of at least Fifty no/100ths ($50.00) Dollars.
(2) At the time of removal of unlawfully stored or remaining personal effects in the encampment, City personnel shall conspicuously post and date a notice either at the exact location from which the personal effects were removed or at another nearby location giving the following information.
(i) A list of personal effects removed;
(ii) A telephone number for information on retrieving personal effects;
(iii) An address where the personal effects are temporarily stored;
(iv) The length of time during which the personal effects may be claimed.
(3) Following removal of unlawfully stored or remaining personal effects, City personnel shall do the following:
(i) Maintain an inventory identifying the personal effects; where the personal effects were approximately located; and the reasonable value of each item;
(ii) Place the removed personal effects in containers labeled in a manner facilitating identification by City personnel and owner and which reasonably protect such property from damage or theft; and
(iii) Store removed personal effects in an area designated by City for a period of ninety (90) days.
(4) Personal property stored by the City which is claimed within ninety (90) days from removal shall be released to the person claiming ownership providing they identify the property and the approximate location where the property was left.
(5) Disposition of property.
(i) Property which remains unclaimed after 90 days may be dedicated for public use or may be given to a local nonprofit agency for charitable use.
(ii) All other unlawfully stored or found personal property removed from an unlawful encampment is deemed intentionally abandoned and may be summarily abated and destroyed.
(§ 1, Ord. 1299-NS, eff. October 23, 1997, as amended by § 1, Ord. 1495-NS, December 18, 2007; § 1, Ord. 1663-NS, eff. July 12, 2019)