City Council Poised to Crack Down on Public Encampments at Wednesday Meeting

Urgency ordinance would clear the way for city to follow through on governor's executive order following June Supreme Court decision; supervisors expand Industrial Safety Ordinance

The City Council is expected to vote at Wednesday’s meeting on an urgency ordinance that would tighten regulations against homeless encampments in public places and beef up enforcement provisions.

The council held discussions in April and May about the regulations, directing staff to draft an ordinance “prohibiting encampments near critical infrastructure locations and regulating conduct at the Martinez Intermodal Facility,” according to a staff report for Wednesday’s meeting. “The consensus was to strengthen existing regulations to protect public health, safety and welfare.”

The staff report notes that in the wake of a June decision by the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that clearing encampments from public spaces does not constitute “cruel and unusual punishment,” Gov. Gavin Newsom issued an executive order calling on local governments to pursue such removals.

Although the Martinez Municipal Code prohibits camping on public property between 11 p.m. and 8:30 a.m. and, for the most part, forbids the maintaining of campsites at any time, violations can be issued to people only if they are (1) informed of the whereabouts of homeless shelters within Contra Costa County; (2) shelter is available; and (3) they refuse to stay in the shelter.

The urgency ordinance before the council on Wednesday would remove those limitations, as allowed by the 6-3 Supreme Court decision that overruled a lower court ruling restricting cities from punishing people for sleeping outside if they have nowhere else to go.

Martinez’s proposed ordinance amendment cites language from Newsom’s emergency order encouraging cities to “take action with the urgency this crisis demands to humanely remove encampments from public spaces.”

The Supreme Court ruling in Grants Pass v. Johnson, however, came under heavy criticism from advocates for the unhoused, including the American Civil Liberties Union, with Kath Rogers, staff attorney at the ACLU of Southern California, saying:

This Supreme Court ruling — decimating a half century of precedent — continues in the shameful tradition of choosing to remove unhoused people from public view rather than provide our community members with what they actually need: affordable housing.

The additional amendments proposed in the ordinance include:

• Updated definitions and clarification of terms;

• Prohibition of storage of personal property on public property;

• Prohibition of obstruction of access to public property (with specified exceptions);

• Creation of a new summary abatement procedure after required notice;

• Clarification of existing regulations regarding consumption and possession of alcoholic beverages in public places;

• Repeal of Chapter 9.56 prohibiting sleeping in vehicles;

• Adding a new Chapter 12.45 creating an Order to Vacate public property and an appeal procedure therefrom

As an urgency ordinance, at least four of the five council members must vote yes for it to become law. The staff report from City Manager Michael Chandler and police Chief Andrew White recommends council approval, saying:

Updating the City’s Municipal Code to reflect existing law and in support of the Governor’s Executive Order N-1-24, will enable the City to protect and preserve lives and infrastructure, ensure the provision of vital police services, advance Contra Costa County’s efforts to increase the supply and use of emergency shelters by providing an additional enforcement tool to address nuisance activity, and protect public health and safety during severe weather and fire season.

Wednesday’s City Council meeting starts at 7 p.m. at the council chamber at City Hall and will also be accessible via Zoom. The agenda can be found here: https://granicus_production_attachments.s3.amazonaws.com/martinez/8e8a5b7bab21e1e39b49b3c61d7e14720.pdf?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery

Supervisors expand Industrial Safety Ordinance

The Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors last week expanded its Industrial Safety Ordinance to cover tank terminals that store large quantities of flammable liquids, but the inclusion of one such facility lying within the city of Martinez remains up in the air.

In a news release announcing the vote by the supervisors, Contra Costa Health said:

A tank terminal facility in the city of Martinez – in addition to industrial facilities located within the city’s boundaries – would also meet the county ordinance’s criteria for regulation, according to an initial survey conducted by CCH, but would require the city to enact a similar ordinance.

The tank terminal in question is the Transmontaigne facility located at 2801 Waterfront Road.

The City Council held a study session last year on the idea of creating its own Industrial Safety Ordinance but hasn’t decided whether to proceed down that path.

Asked last week about the matter, Mayor Brianne Zorn responded that the city is “still evaluating what components of the county’s ordinance would be the most protective of the health and safety of the Martinez community.”

The county ordinance already covers PBF Energy’s Martinez Refining Co., which is scheduled to give a regular quarterly update on its operations to the City Council on Wednesday.

According to a PowerPoint of Wednesday’s presentation, the refinery will highlight strides it has made in improving safety and reducing hazardous releases following a spate of incidents in late 2022 and throughout 2023.

According to recap of its recent refinery turnaround operation in the PowerPoint, MRC had no recordable injuries, process safety events or flaring during the shutdown procedures (minor flaring was reported during the re-start). It also says that it did not exceed reportable emissions limits.

Another slide in the presentation indicates that MRC has the fifth-best record for process safety in the United States out of more than 90 refineries.

The Bay Area Air Quality Management District issued six incident reports in 2023 pertaining to MRC; it has been the subject of no such reports in 2024, according to the air district’s website.

More City Council tidbits:

Also of note on Wednesday’s City Council agenda:

• The council is set to approve a construction contract with DRS Marine Inc. for up to $2,567,653 to renovate the Martinez Municipal Fishing Pier (DRS was the lowest of seven bidders for the project, according to a staff report).

• The council will hear a presentation on the state of the Contra Costa Community College District, which is headquartered in Martinez. A PowerPoint of the presentation can be found here: https://legistarweb-production.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/attachment/pdf/2858331/Presentation_-_State_of_the_Contra_Costa_Community_College_District.pdf

• It will hold a discussion on proposed updates to the brick monument entryway signs and new light pole banners throughout the city. The goal of the proposed updates, according to a staff report, is to “showcase our community assets.”

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