HomeMy WebLinkAbout1974-1626 CURFEW ON PARK USE. ORDINANCE NO. /626
AN ORDINANCE relating to public parks; declaring the public necessity
for imposing a curfew on park us.e and for enacting
regulations and provisions pertaining to park use;
prohibiting park use with intent or purpose to commit
an unlawful act; imposing a park curfew and making
exceptions thereto, and specifying conditions precedent
to a conviction for the violation thereof; providing
a penalty for violations; and enacting Chapter 13.20,
"Park Curfew", and Sections 13.20.010, 13.20.020,
13.20.030 and 13.20.040 as a new chapter and new sec-
tions of the City of Yakima Municipal Code.
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY OF YAKIMA:
Section 1. Chapter 13.20, "Park Curfew", and Sections 13.20.010,
13.20.020, 13.20.030 and 13.20.040 thereof are hereby enacted as a
new chapter and new sections of the City of Yakima Municipal Code,
which chapter and sections shall read as follows:
"CRAPTER 13.20
PARK CURFEW
13.20.010 Declaration of necessity. The City Council
of the City of Yakima takes notice and does hereby find that
the public parks in the City of Yakima have been for several
years past and now are subject to occupancy and use at night-
time hours and in such a manner so as to disturb and interfere
with the right to the quiet enjoyment and us.e of private resi-
dential properties in the vicinity of the various city parks;
and the Yakima City Council further finds that the unregulated
occupancy and use of public parks, particularly during night-
time hours, constitutes a public nuisance so that the preser-
vation of the public health, comfort, safety, order and general
welfare requires that the use, occupancy and congregation of
persons in public parks be subject to the curfew imposed, and
the regulations and provisions enacted by, this chapter.
13.20.020 Using park with unlawful intent or purpose.
It shall be unlawful for any person to enter upon or remain
in any public park owned by the City of Yakima with the intent
or for the purpose of committing any unlawful act.
13.20.030 Park curfew imposed—exceptions; park postin&
and warning as conditions precedent to conviction.
A. It shall be unlawful for any person to enter upon
or remain in any public park owned by the City of Yakima
between the hours of 12 o'clock midnight and 6 o'clock
a.m. during the months of April through August, inclusive,
of any year, or between the hours of 11 o'clock p.m.
and 6 o'clock a.m. during any other month of any year,
unless the presence of such person in a park during
prohibited hours is authorized by a park use permit
issued pursuant to Section 13.16.100 of the City of
Yakima Municipal Code or otherwise is incidental to
an activity or function conducted by or under the
• auspices of the Department of Parks and Recreation
of the City of Yakima.
B. No person shall be convicted for violating
the curfew imposed by this section unless such violation
occurred in a park conspicuously posted around its
boundaries with signs warning against entry into or
remaining in the park during prohibited hours.
C. No person shall be convicted for violating
the curfew imposed by this section unless, prior to
being arrested, such person was warned by a police officer
of the curfew violation and was thereafter afforded a
reasonable opportunity to vacate the park premises.
13.20.040 Penalty for violation. Any person convicted
of violating any provision of this chapter shall be punished
by a fine not to exceed Two Hundred Fifty Dollars ($250.00)
or by imprisonment in the city jail facility for a period not
to exceed ninety (90) days."
Section 2. This ordinance shall be in full force and effect
• thirty days after its passage, a roval and publication as provided
Y y PP P P
by law and by the City Charter.
PASSED BY THE CITY COUNCIL, signed and approved this /9V4
day o g# , 19 71 .
/
Mayor
ATTEST
Cis Clerk
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