Three Fresno City Council members are proposing an ordinance that would penalize people for trespassing on private business property in an effort to keep the homeless from dragging down the city’s business community.
Councilmembers Garry Bredefeld, Mike Karbassi and Tyler Maxwell are introducing the ordinance at Thursday’s council meeting.
The big picture: The proposal bans people from remaining at a business – regardless of if the location is indoors or outdoors – after they are notified to leave.
- If anyone refuses to leave, business owners would call the police to enforce the new ordinance.
- Violators would be struck with a misdemeanor and face a fine of up to $1,000 and one year in jail.
Why it matters: Currently there are no local laws that prohibit people from trespassing on private business property.
- State laws that ban trespassing have largely been unsuccessful to protect businesses, City Attorney Andrew Janz said at a press conference on Tuesday.
- Cases have been dismissed for a failure to prove that there was a “no trespassing” sign, that the location was enclosed or not enclosed and for situations where prosecutors have not been able to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that there was an intent to interfere with the businesses.
- The proposal removes those requirements and brings cases in-house to be prosecuted by the City Attorney’s Office, since they would be municipal code violations.
What we’re watching: If the city council approves the first reading on Thursday, the ordinance would come back for a final vote on Sep. 12 and take effect 30 days later.
What they’re saying: “Every person is accountable for the choices they make in life – every one of us. Those who choose to engage in drugs, criminal behavior, live on the streets, harass business owners, create unsafe and unhealthy conditions in our community must be held accountable,” Bredefeld said. “Make no mistake about it, it is a choice to reject help and live on the streets. It is our job and our responsibility as elected officials of the City of Fresno to ensure our community is healthy, vibrant and safe. It’s also our job to ensure that the rights of private property owners who do business with the public are respected and protected. This ordinance will assist us in meeting those responsibilities.”
- Maxwell said in order for Fresno to succeed, the city desperately needs a healthy business community.
- “And unfortunately, it has become more and more difficult for our businesses to achieve that success for a number of reasons,” Maxwell said. “I can’t even begin to tell you the number of phone calls my office gets from business owners who are desperately struggling to stay open that are having a hard time because of difficult individuals – not patrons – but people loitering, starting fights and sleeping in and around the businesses.”
- Karbassi, who owns a business in northwest Fresno, asked how many businesses do not even report issues to the city because it has become such a regular occurrence in recent years that they have given up.
- “It became the new norm that people could just walk in your business, they could literally defecate in front of your business if they want to,” Karbassi said. “That happened to our business, and who’s going to want to go and shop when there’s human feces in front of a business in a strip mall? That’s the reality we’re facing. Again, being homeless is not a crime, but there are certain behaviors that we just can’t tolerate anymore as a community.”
