Resolved by the Commission of the City of Battle Creek:
That Ordinance No. 11-2016, which was introduced on August 16, 2016, entitled:
The City of Battle Creek has constitutionally recognized authority and interests in avoiding compromises of public safety; preventing crime; protecting the City’s retail trade; maintaining property values; protecting and preserving quality of the City’s neighborhoods, commercial districts and urban life; preserving safety and general esthetics; relieving congestion on sidewalks; and removing obstructions impeding public access to public spaces.
The City held two public workshops on July 19 and 26, 2016 in which it invited and heard public comment relating to in-person solicitations and related problems.
During that comment period at the July 19 workshop, officials provided testimony and facts concerning the role of loitering near certain retail establishments in supporting and fostering gang-related and/or violent crime, as well as in diverting law enforcement resources away from other crime prevention and enforcement activities during important enforcement times.
During that comment period, residents and officials provided testimony and facts concerning the negative impact of loitering around sensitive areas such as the entryways to public buildings in maintaining residents’ safety, security, and free and open access to public spaces; discussing the need to implement this proposed, limited measure to protect the City’s efforts and substantial investment in maintaining healthy neighborhoods and business conditions, which help to support the community’s economic stability; and discussing the inability to remedy the harms effectively through existing or alternative ordinances.
Ordinance #11-2016, introduced August 16, 2016, is the narrowest measure that, in the judgment of the Commission of the City of Battle Creek, can remedy the identified harms under all the circumstances that the City, the community, and its residents face. Now Therefore,
The City of Battle Creek Ordains:
Section 1. An ordinance to amend Chapter 618, Disorderly Conduct, by adding Section 34, Loitering, and amending 618.01(b), as are attached and made a part hereof.
Section 2. Should any section, clause or phrase of this Ordinance be declared to be invalid, the same shall not affect the validity of the Ordinance as a whole, or any part thereof, other than the part so declared to be invalid.
Section 3. All ordinances or parts of ordinances, in conflict with any of the provisions of this Ordinance, are hereby repealed, saving any prosecution, criminal or administrative appeal pending on, or violation cited on or before the effective date of this ordinance, which shall remain subject to the ordinance provision existing at the time of the alleged violation.
Section 4. This Ordinance shall take effect ten (10) days from the date of its adoption, in accordance with the provisions of Section 4.3(B) of Chapter 4 of the City Charter.
be adopted, with scrivener's errors corrected.
I, Victoria Houser, City Clerk of the City of Battle Creek, hereby certify the above and foregoing is a true and correct copy of a Resolution adopted by the Battle Creek City Commission at a Regular meeting held on September 6, 2016.
Victoria Houser
|