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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPUB SFTY CMSN - 10/17/07 � � CITY OF PALM DESERT �-��--� � � ADJOURNED REGULAR PUBLIC SAFETY COMMISSION MEETING . APPROVED MINUTES Wednesday, October 17, 2007 —2:00 p.m. Administrative Conference Room I. CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order at 2:00 p.m. by Chairman James Butzbach. II. ROLL CALL Present: Absent: Vice Chair Gloria Kirkwood Commissioner Martin Nethery Commissioner James Larsh Commissioner Rick Lebel (arrived at 2:25 p.m.) Chairman James Butzbach Also Present: Councilman Jim Ferguson Councilmember Cindy Finerty Sheila R. Gilligan, ACM/Community Services Division Lauri Aylaian, Planning Director Hart Ponder, Code Compliance Manager Frankie Riddle, Director of Special Programs Robert Hargreaves, Deputy City Attorney Lt. Frank Taylor, Palm Desert Police Department Division Chief Dennis Dawson, Riverside County Fire Department Mary P. Gates, Recordin Secretary �IT� COUI�ICI'L :t3C'1'1�iiv�r �'P����D , _ T3ENI�f� -- �iE�"S�.�ED�i��_.__ OTHER_ — �'���.'�P�G ;��'�'� ��1 -a,�-G� ___..�-- --_ � �,`'Yr'�,: ��t"G US_ i�s?t�'tt7.i:.�'�..r5, , ��L�,, t; ' St>,1 __ �(��.?:>� N:;� -��-��__-------- v� ------ _ �1��i:ia':.'a� Z.f l —_— �B�T.�,�r�: _�:�,�_._____..-,-. - VEz 7�IL;�� EY: V�K..1, �'�'1 C�ric��.n�l o:� .C�-:�-e ��-�� Ci�y Cl.e�rk' s Of�ice APPROVED MINUTES ADJOURNED/REGULAR PUBLIC SAFETY COMMISSION MEETING OCTOBER 17, 2007 III. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS None IV. CONSENT CALENDAR A. Minutes of the Public Safety Commission Meeting of September 12, 2007 Rec: Approve as presented. Upon motion by Commissioner Larsh, second by Vice Chair Kirkwood, the Consent Calendar was approved as presented by a 4-0 vote, with Commissioner Nethery ABSENT. Y. CONSENT ITEMS HELD OVER None VI. NEW BUSINESS A. Palm Desert Fire Services Monthly Report for August 2007 Commissioner Larsh moved to, by Minute Motion, receive and file the Palm Desert Fire Services monthly report for August 2007. Motion was seconded by Vice Chair Kirkwood and carried by a 4-0 vote, with Commissioner Nethery ABSENT. B. Palm Desert Special Enforcement Teams Monthly Statistics for September 2007 Commissioner Larsh moved to, by Minute Motion, receive and file the Palm Desert Special Enforcement Teams monthly statistics for September 2007. Motion was seconded by Vice Chair Kirkwood and carried by a 4-0 vote, with Commissioner Nethery ABSENT. . 2 APPROVED MINUTES ADJOURNED/REGULAR PUBLIC SAFETY COMMISSION MEETING OCTOBER 17, 2007 C. Traffic Team Report for September 2007 -- Includes Traffic Collision Statistics for August 2007 and Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Statistics for September 2007 Lt. Taylor noted the large traffic collision that occurred recently on Fred Waring Drive between Portola Avenue and Deep Canyon where a vehicle rolled several times, ejecting one of the passengers, who then passed away. The District Attorney's Office charged the driver with felony drunk driving with extensive injury and vehicular manslaughter. They were also looking at possibly filing second degree murder charges. The driver pled guilty at his first hearing and would be sentenced. Vice Chair Kirkwood moved to, by Minute Motion, receive and file the Traffic Team Report for September 2007. Motion was seconded by Commissioner Larsh and carried by a 4-0 vote, with Commissioner Nethery ABSENT. D. Business District Team Report— September 2007 Vice Chair Kirkwood moved to, by Minute Motion, receive and file the Business District Team report for September 2007. Motion was seconded by Commissioner Larsh and carried by a 4-0 vote, with Commissioner Nethery ABSENT. E. Request for Acceptance of Cal COPS (Supplemental Law Enforcement Services Funding — SLESF) Grant Award Mrs. Gilligan noted that this matter was scheduled for public hearing before the City Council at its meeting of October 25, 2007. Commissioner Larsh moved to, by Minute Motion, concur with the Police DepartmenYs proposal and recommend to the City Council acceptance of the Cal COPS (Supplemental Law Enforcement Services Funding — SLESF) Grant Award of $100,000 to be used to cover the cost for the 2007 Holiday Theft Suppression Program, the purchase of one Honda Police motorcycle and ancillary equipment to replace an aging BMW Police motorcycle, and the acquisition of necessary equipment to support front line law enforcement services. Motion was seconded by Vice Chair Kirkwood and carried by a 4-0 vote, with Commissioner Nethery ABSENT. 3 APPROVED MINUTES ADJOURNED/REGULAR PUBLIC SAFETY COMMISSION MEETING OCTOBER 17, 2007 VII. CONTINUED BUSINESS A. Consideration of Palm Desert Municipal Code Chapters 9.24 (Noise Control) and 9.25 (Multiple Responses to Loud Parties and Gatherings) — Continued from the Meeting of September 12, 2007 The following is a verbatim transcript of this portion of the Minutes: � JB Chairman James Butzbach SRG Sheila R. Gilligan, ACM/Community Services JL Commissioner James Larsh BH Deputy City Attorney Bob Hargreaves HP Code Compliance Manager Hart Ponder GK Vice Chair Gloria Kirkwood LA Planning Director Lauri Aylaian FT Palm Desert Police Lt. Frank Taylor RL Commissioner Rick Lebel JB Now under Continued Business is the Consideration of Palm Desert Municipal Code Chapters 9.24 (Noise Control) and 9.25 (Multiple Responses to Loud Parties and Gatherings). This has been continued from the September 12, 2007, meeting. SG As you can tell from your packets, staff has been busy working with the City Attorney on making... JL Is the last one we got the final? SG I think it's the last one that Mary emailed to you. JB It was emailed yesterday... JL I think I have three different ones here. JB So chuck them out. BH Hart, you want to run with this one? HP You know what? Lt. Taylor and Code Enforcement have been involved in various noise problems after hours, different clubs and businesses. What we've 4 APPROVED MINUTES ADJOURNED/REGULAR PUBLIC SAFETY COMMISSION MEETING OCTOBER 17, 2007 done is we've taken the opportunity to really look at what other jurisdictions have been doing, what has been successful with the State...and Commissioners, what you have before you is something that City staff and the Police Department feel is the best possible tool that we could have to be able to address these after hour noise violations. And there are a number of things that we've addressed there, and it includes not only noises that are associated with public activities, but we're also maintaining things in there like stationary noise sources, like a loud pool pump, things that may need a decibel meter. But we're also using what the courts seem to be very comfortable...prima facie violations where...you can tell by the complaints we've received and the situations that we've had that we can line up the witnesses, we can line up staff's testimony, and we can be able to go forward with a good case if we can't correct it on the voluntary level. This actually reflects other noise ordinances that we've had, like the barking dog noise ordinance, we wind up prima facie situation where you can tell iYs a problem, we've had residents come to testify before the court, and we have never lost a case. So iYs really based on firm foundation of what the court has come to expect when we have to go into enforcement mode, and iYs also taken...we've also taken some other things from other jurisdictions that we have seen work, and we're very confident about it. And we ask for your support. JB Jim, do you have any comments? JL We had some comments at the last meeting, and it looks like some of them that were addressed by Rick were addressed in here, that he and...l think iYs an ordinance that is encompassing and catches a lot of areas, and I think it's a good ordinance. JB Gloria, do you have any comments? GK I agree. I think that some of the things that we addressed last time seems like they went ahead and added them, and I think it's an ordinance that is definitely something we need to see enforced. JL There is some latitude there so...l mean, at your discretion. And there's also that area we get to where we have to take further action. I think it's good. NOTE: COMISSIONER LEBEL ARRIVED AT 2:25 P.M. JB Over the last several years, a number of municipalities have been introducing such ordinances. I went online with several cities I was familiar with and studied their ordinances, and I think some of the key ingredients in ours far exceed what other cities have on their books. So it is a good piece of work. I know iYs been gone over, fine-tuned, re-edited several times. I think it's a good piece of work. Does the City Attorney's office have any comments about the work? 5 APPROVED MINUTES ADJOURNED/REGULAR PUBLIC SAFETY COMMISSION MEETING OCTOBER 17, 2007 BH I understand that there's been an incredible amount of work, both on the staff level and the different departments. I have not been directly involved in the effort. Dave Erwin and another associate were, so they were the ones who were bringing it forward. I'm here to try to answer questions if you have them, but my understanding is it reflects not only the experience of our own people but the experience of other jurisdictions that have attempted to (inaudible) these problems. LA I'd like to add just from a staff standpoint that one of the things about the noise ordinance that we're talking about is that it is designed to work in tandem with one of the other ones that we're looking at here, which allows the City to recoup costs for repeated violations, so the two of them really are meant to dovetail and to work together with each other and cover kind of a broad range of situations. And on each of these, we would...the staff recommendation would be that you recommend to the City Council that these be approved substantially as to form. I think there are a couple I's that still need to be dotted and Ys crossed that we'd like to address, but as far as...we'd like your approval and recommendation regarding the policies established in these. JB Just, you know, one area, Lt. Taylor, that I was look at was that if...and this would include a residential home or apartment building...if deputies are called out to a loud disturbance at 11 o'clock at night and just, you know, go out, advise, shut it down, what have you, take names, and they leave, and three hours later iYs cranked back up, does this qualify under the response that you could recover particularly...whether you shut it down or there is some type of an arrest or complaint filed at that time, or do we have to live with the posting of the property so to speak. FT Well, I think from looking...l'd have to defer to the City Attorney on that. LA The property is posted on the first...the first time an officer visits, the property is posted at that time. If they are called back in half an hour or a day, iYs still... JB It still applies. JL How long does that posting stay there? LA I'm sorry? 6 APPROVED MINUTES ADJOURNED/REGULAR PUBLIC SAFETY COMMISSION MEETING OCTOBER 17, 2007 JL How long does that posting stay there, because you're into the next day. LA Yes, and that I would have to double check on. But the intention was that if it is the same event that is being responded to...in other words, technically, you could (inaudible) the intent is that it would qualify as multiple responses. HP And remember, too, it won't just be the posting. We'll subsequently look at the property records and make sure the property owner will also get it through other means. So iYs going to be a process where we will prove that notification was served and posted. JL Even though the owner is not there? HP That is correct. JB Could I have the Commission Secretary note that Commissioner Lebel has arrived, please. JL And that he was late. JB I know in reading the Minutes from the previous meeting, Commissioner Lebel had some very good questions and thoughts about this, and I'd like to defer to Rick to see if those questions have been satisfied. RL They have been. JB Okay JL So you read through this, and you're satisfied? RL Yes, I did. LA And I will clarify that...l just checked on it...if you respond to the same premises more than once in a 60-day period... JL Oh, okay. LA So thaYs a heck of a wedding that goes on. That would also cover, for instance, a night club or something if you have to come out more than once. JB This is applicable, though, that the posting has to remain in place or if it disappears...not like removing the Coroner's seal, but... 7 APPROVED MINUTES ADJOURNED/REGULAR PUBLIC SAFETY COMMISSION MEETING OCTOBER 17, 2007 FT From a law enforcement perspective, all our calls for service are recorded, so iYs just a matter of.... JB That would be in the CAD system? FT It's done by address in the database, so we can go to the address and find (inaudible) LA It does say on the face of the notice that it must remain in place for 60 days or else there's a $100 penalty associated with removal. JL Oh, okay. JB Is there a motion from the Commission? GK We are making a motion to go ahead and make a recommendation to the City Council to go ahead and approve the overall ordinance? JL Or are we sending it to the City Council for... JB We're sending a recommendation to the Council to adopt. GK Okay, I'll make that motion. JB Okay RL Second JB It's been moved and seconded to direct staff to forward this matter to the City Council with recommendation for approval of an ordinance adopting Chapter 9.24 of the Palm Desert Municipal Code (Noise Control ordinance) and an ordinance adopting Chapter 9.25 of the Palm Desert Municipal Code under multiple responses to loud or unruly parties, gatherings, or other similar events. Those in favor of that motion please signify by saying "aye". G K Aye JL Aye RL Aye JB Aye. Any opposition "no"....so recommended. 8 APPROVED MINUTES ADJOURNED/REGULAR PUBLIC SAFETY COMMISSION MEETING OCTOBER 17, 2007 B. Consideration of Palm Desert Municipal Code Chapter 5.100 Relative to Entertainment Permits (Continued from the Meeting of September 12, 2007) The following is a verbatim transcript of this portion of the Minutes: Key: JB Chairman James Butzbach BH Deputy City Attorney Bob Hargreaves LA Planning Director Lauri Aylaian JL Commissioner James Larsh HP Code Compliance Manager Hart Ponder RL Commissioner Rick Lebel GK Vice Chair Gloria Kirkwood SRG Sheila R. Gilligan, ACM/Community Services JB Item Number B under Continued Business is Consideration of Palm Desert Municipal Code 5.100 Relative to Entertainment Permits. This was also continued from the meeting of September 12, 2007. BH Mr. Chairman, again I'm going to defer to staff who has been working so diligently on this. LA The entertainment permit is (inaudible) last meeting there were some minor suggestions that were made by the Commission, and we've attempted to incorporate them. The intent of this ordinance is to establish a process by which businesses that serve as entertainment venues are required to come in and get a license to operate as an entertainment venue, and when they have special events that would accommodate additional patrons or additional guests that cross a threshold where we would require additional protection on behalf of the City...in other words, assignment of additional police officers (inaudible), they would have to come in and get a separate temporary use permit or temporary special event permit for those events. So this would get existing businesses to come in and get entertainment permits to operate on a year-round basis and then make a separate trip in if they're going to have special events. I think that this will give us better enforcement tools, especially for events that have large crowds attending them where we don't always get the amount of notice that we would like and we don't always have the staff ready to respond and the tools at hand. 9 APPROVED MINUTES ADJOURNED/REGULAR PUBLIC SAFETY COMMISSION MEETING OCTOBER 17, 2007 JB Existing forms of entertainment are grandfathered in? LA No, they're not. They would all... JB They'd have to go through the process? LA Correct. JL Everybody's going to have to go through it? LA Yes JL The ones along Highway 111 ... LA Yes JL All of them LA Anything that qualifies under the definition of entertainment, which covers bars, lounges, all kinds of special events and gatherings...anybody that offers, you know, live music or... JB It runs anywhere from a single individual to a large band, so to speak? LA I think iYs focused on businesses, you know, commercial enterprises that...l don't see this as a single individual. JL It sounds like you've targeted any night spot or restaurant that stays open after ten... LA Pretty much night clubs is what we're looking at. JB Well, a homeowner that's having, say, a wedding reception in their home, and they hire a band or outside disc jockey for that home, does that come under this... LA Not under the entertainment... JB Not under the entertainment...this falls back to the noise ordinance. LA Yes. 10 APPROVED MINUTES ADJOURNED/REGULAR PUBLIC SAFETY COMMISSION MEETING OCTOBER 17, 2007 JL Oh, back to the noise. HP And the reason being is that is considered a non-commercial activity, and the tools are in place where the Sheriff and anybody who responds has the authority to address things like this. JB Thank you. Rick, any comments? RL Unless I missed it, I didn't notice provision for the payment of fees for law enforcement services like we had in the... (inaudible) RL We did do that under the multiple responses to loud and unruly parties... LA This would not require the payment of fees for law enforcement for an entertainment permit. This again is what they've kind of operate under year- round. If they apply for the special permit, and that requires additional law enforcement, that is where we would require that they reimburse the City. RL Okay, I see it now. JL So you've taken care of the ownership situation if the applicant...a lease situation. Do they still have to get some permission from the owner of the property? LA Yes, I believe so. JL Under Section 12, if the applicant is not the owner of the property (inaudible) the applicant shall submit a notarized statement signed by the property owner. ThaYs all they have to do? LA Typically that would be a landlord/tenant situation where you have (inaudible) JB Gloria, did you have any comments or thoughts? GK No...thank you. (inaudible) RL There is one typo on page 12...page 12, subsection E2... 11 APPROVED MINUTES ADJOURNED/REGULAR PUBLIC SAFETY COMMISSION MEETING OCTOBER 17, 2007 LA "IeasY'? RL Yes...should be "least" LA Thank you. RL Other than that, it appears again that staff has incorporated all of our prior comments, and I really appreciate that. JB Good observation. The Chair would entertain a motion. RL I make a motion to recommend to the City Council for consideration for adoption of Ordinance Chapter 5.100 Entertainment Ordinance in the City of Palm Desert. GK Second RL It's been moved and seconded to direct staff to forward this matter to the City Council with recommendation for approval of an ordinance adopting Chapter 5.100 of the Palm Desert Municipal Code relative to entertainment permits in the City of Palm Desert. Those in favor please signify by saying "aye" GK Aye JL Aye RL Aye JB Aye...any opposition "no"...hearing none, so recommended. SRG I saw Captain Thetford at noon, and he said to tell you thank you, thank you...we've been working on this for a while, and he had a part in it as well. JB Again, kudos to staff, Hart, and the City Attorney's office for all the diligence and hard work... JL And now 30 days after City Council... SRG It goes to the City Council on the 25th...did Dave not say that it would be an urgency ordinance? LA We did have discussion at the last meeting... 12 APPROVED MINUTES ADJOURNED/REGULAR PUBLIC SAFETY COMMISSION MEETING OCTOBER 17, 2007 SRG And he said that we would then follow up with a regular adoption of the ordinance for second reading, and then it would go into effect 30 days after the second reading. Then they would adopt it as an urgency ordinance that goes into effect immediately. JB Immediately, correct. That's good.......There is no Old Business pending.... VIII. OLD BUSINESS None IX. REPORT ON CITY COUNCIL ACTION (S) Councilman Ferguson expressed his appreciation to both the Police Department and Fire Department for their assistance with the recent golf tournament. He said this event was a "big shot in the arm" for Palm Desert. Chairman Butzbach added that Lorena Ochoa was very happy to receive the City's proclamation declaring "Lorena Ochoa Day" in the City of Palm Desert. It hung on the wall at BigHorn during the tournament, and she had it with her when she boarded her plane. X. REPORTS AND REMARKS A. Comments by Public Safety Commissioners Commissioner Lebel noted that he had received the revised COPS manual and felt staff had done a great job on it. Vice Chair Kirkwood agreed and thanked staff for forwarding it to the Commission members. Chairman Butzbach thanked the City Council for hosting the recent Committee/Commission appreciation brunch at Desert Willow. 13 APPROVED MINUTES ADJOURNED/REGULAR PUBLIC SAFETY COMMISSION MEETING OCTOBER 17, 2007 B. Update on the Citizens on Patrol Program Ms. Riddle noted there were currently 15-16 new COPS members, with the possibility of two additional in the near future. The program was very active and growing. Members were out in the community on patrol and assisted both in the recent Fred Waring traffic accident and the accident on Highway 74. They would also be providing assistance with the Golf Cart Parade and an event at the Senior Center. C. Legislative Update Mrs. Gilligan noted that Ms. Scully was out of the office but had left a note with the legislative update. She said SB964 was vetoed by the Governor, and the House voted 603-4 to extend the moratorium on the internet rather than create a tax for it. D. Comments by Police and Fire Departments Chief Dawson noted the black tape over the Fire Department badges and stated that a house caught fire in Monterey County, 12 miles south of Carmel off of Pacific Coast Highway. One of the bulldozers rolled, and a heavy equipment operator, who was new to California Fire, was trapped underneath and died. The black badges were in his honor. He noted that Chief Travis Witten would be retiring on December 28, 2007. He noted that last week was Fire Prevention Week, and the primary thrust in Palm Desert was in the schools as well as the Mini Muster program through the Palm Desert Historical Society. Lt. Taylor noted that one of the Honda motorcycles should be out on the street next week, and he would bring it to the next meeting for the Commissioners to see. He added that the Department was in the process of interviewing for Palm Desert's new K-9 Officer, and it was hoped this officer would be in school the first week of January. He also updated the Commission on the recent incident at Palm Desert High School where the campus was on lockdown for part of the morning. 14 APPROVED MINUTES ADJOURNED/REGULAR PUBLIC SAFETY COMMISSION MEETING OCTOBER 17, 2007 E. Comments by Staff 1. 11 th Annual Peace Officers and Public Safety Appreciation Luncheon to be held on Tuesday, November 20, 2007, at the Hyatt Grand Champions Resort in Indian Wells Mrs. Gilligan noted that the Police Department had multiple nominees for awards, and it would be nice to have members of the Public Safety Commission present at the luncheon. She asked the Commissioners to let Mrs. Gates know if they planned to attend. XI. ADJOURNMENT Vice Chair Kirkwood moved to adjourn the meeting at 2:55 p.m. Motion was seconded by Commissioner Larsh and carried by a 4-0 vote, with Commissioner Nethery ABSENT. � � � ����� Mary P. Ga es, Recording Secretary 15