50A - EMERGENCY ORD - CAMPING & STORAGE CIVIC CENTER

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Emergency Ordinance: Amending and Adding New Sections to Santa Ana Municipal Code Chapter 10, Article 10, Related to Storage of Property, Prohibition of Animals, Vehicle Access and Services in the Civic Center Area October 3, 2017 Page 2 On September 6, 2016, the City Council adopted Resolution No. 2016-073 after closely examining the homeless conditions and declared a public health and safety homeless crisis in the Civic Center Area. On September 20, 2016, the City Council approved the Civic Center Safety and Security Enhancement program prepared in collaboration with the County of Orange and input provided by City bargaining groups. Included in the program are nine points which have been implemented or in progress. Progress on the Civic Center and Security Enhancement program was presented to the City Council on May 2, 2017. Attached is an update on the progress of the program as of September 27, 2017 (See Exhibit 2). Conditions in the Civic Center have steadily worsened since the City Council declared a crisis and now threaten to overwhelm the City's ability to manage them with its current resources, including limited Parks and Police Department staff assigned to keep maintenance and order in the area. The homeless individuals in the Civic Center have erected shade structures and tents and more recently have begun to accumulate various household items, including mattresses, propane stoves, sofas, desks and area rugs, among other items. Law enforcement officers have cited an increase in narcotics use and sales and physical and sexual assaults occurring within the encampment areas which are not visible or easily accessible to law enforcement officers due to the shade structures and tents and excessive crowding. Law enforcement also report increased instances of having to intervene in personal altercations between homeless individuals. In the past year, the City has received numerous written and verbal complaints about the conditions in the Civic Center Area from: 1) Citizens coming to the area to conduct business; 2) Employees of the City and the County of Orange coming to and going from work; 3) State and federal representatives charged with managing the nearby buildings; 4) The Chief Executive Officer and Jury Commissioner of the Orange County Superior Court; and 5) The President of the law Library Board of Trustees regarding the Orange County Public Law Library and conditions in the Civic Center (See Exhibit 3) The complaints have identified significant health, safety and welfare concerns, including: • Employees having to walk over human waste and .through make -shift encampments filled with litter and used hypodermic needles; • An increase in used and discarded hypodermic needles found in the Santa Ana Library, where children, often unaccompanied, are often the primary patrons. The Santa Ana Library reported, as of August 2017, finding 101 needles since January 2017 (see attached Exhibit 4) placing its employees and patrons at risk of disease or injury; 50A-2