13.36.015 Creation of accessibility on commercial sidewalks--Related restrictions.
A. Applicability. The accessibility created and related restrictions on stationary dogs and persons lying on the sidewalk imposed by this section shall apply to all commercial sidewalks between 7:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and between 10:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. on Sundays and holidays. Commercial sidewalks as used in this section means all sidewalks in front of or adjoining any property designated on the City’s Official Zoning Map appended to the City’s Zoning Ordinance with a "C" prefix, which are listed on the Map as General Commercial, Central Commercial, Elmwood Commercial, North Shattuck Commercial, South Area Commercial, Solano Avenue Commercial, Telegraph Commercial, and West Berkeley Commercial.
B. Sidewalk Accessibility Created--Regulation of Stationary Dogs and Persons Lying On Commercial Sidewalks. This section is designed to create accessible areas on commercial sidewalks in order to ensure that the public can move freely about such sidewalks. To accomplish this end, the following prohibitions shall apply to commercial sidewalks:
1. No person shall lie upon a commercial sidewalk or upon any object on such sidewalk.
2. No more than two stationary dogs shall be permitted in any ten-foot area on a commercial sidewalk, except for guide dogs, signal dogs, or service dogs, as provided by state law.
C. Exceptions. The prohibition in subsection (B)(1) shall not apply under the following circumstances:
1. To any person lying down on a commercial sidewalk due to a medical emergency.
2. To any person utilizing an object, placed on a commercial sidewalk by the City or other public agency, in the manner in which it is intended, such as sitting on a bus stop bench or downtown plaza benches.
Nothing in any of these exceptions shall be construed to permit any conduct which is prohibited by any other provision of law. Nor shall anything in this ordinance be construed to prohibit the City from exercising its prosecutorial discretion to create tailored amnesty programs to allow persons to obtain necessary City permits.
D. Authority to Disperse Stationary Dogs in Excess of Ceiling, in Violation of Ceiling when Voluntary Compliance Declined. Whenever more than two stationary dogs are within a ten-foot area of a commercial sidewalk, the persons in control of them shall be informed of the ordinance’s requirements limiting the number of stationary dogs. Unless the persons in control of all stationary dogs cumulatively exceeding the ceiling required by this ordinance voluntarily limit the number of stationary dogs to that ceiling, they may be required to remove those stationary dogs.
E. Necessity of Warning Prior to Citation. No person may be cited for a violation of this ordinance until that person has first been warned that their conduct is in violation hereof.
F. Violation--Infraction or Misdemeanor. Violation of this section shall be either an infraction or a misdemeanor, in the discretion of the prosecutor. (Ord. 7008-NS § 1, 2007: Ord. 6531-NS § 1, 2000: Ord. 6466-NS §§ 1--3, 5, 1998)