Report to Mayor and City Council
Tuesday, September 15, 2020
Discussion
SUBJECT:
Title
CONSIDER INCREASING LITTERING VIOLATIONS IN THE CITY DUE TO INFLUX OF PERSONAL PROTECTION EQUIPMENT BEING DISPOSED OF IN THE CITY (CITY COUNCIL)
Body
I. SUMMARY
This item is being brought at the request of Councilmember Cedric Hicks after learning that the City of Los Angeles passed a motion to increase its fine for littering to $250.
There is growing concern over masks and gloves worn as personal protective equipment to reduce the spread of COVID-19 being discarded in retail parking lots, parks, walking paths, and sidewalks. Staff has provided an assessment of local cities’ administrative violations to compare current littering fines.
II. RECOMMENDATION
Recommendation
CONSIDER the request to increase littering violations in the City.
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III. ALTERNATIVES
CONSIDER another alternative that Council deems appropriate.
IV. BACKGROUND
Since the Covid-19 pandemic began, the use of disposable Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) has increased exponentially. With the increase of PPE, a noticeable and unwelcome side effect has been an increase in litter throughout the City.
The City discourages littering by having established fines for an initial offense and repeat offenses as well as code enforcement for all applicable environmental laws.
The City’s schedule of administrative citations for littering is $100.00, $200.00 and $500.00.
Other nearby cities are utilizing equivalent efforts to combat rubbish issues and have assigned administrative fines that are equivalent to the City of Carson’s fines.
|
CITY |
1st Violation |
2nd Violation |
3rd Violation |
|
Compton |
$100.00 |
$200.00 |
$500.00 |
|
Bellflower |
$100.00 |
$200.00 |
$500.00 |
|
Manhattan Beach |
$100.00 |
$200.00 |
$500.00 |
Neither the City of Torrance nor the City of Long Beach use administrative citations. Both cities use their police departments to issue misdemeanor criminal citations for littering.
V. FISCAL IMPACT
The fiscal impact will be based upon increased administrative citations issued for littering violations.
VI. EXHIBITS
N/A
Prepared by: City Manager's Office