Ordinances

Fortuneteller Sabrina Mitchell looks into her crystal ball and sees trouble ahead. Supervisors here passed a controversial new law last week to license a much-maligned industry that offers psychic solutions and cosmic guidance to customers, from lonely hearts to those obsessed with their futures. The ordinance applies to a broad range of practitioners, such as tarot card and palm readers and those who practice Chinese I-Ching and those who decipher Turkish coffee grounds.

The Los Angeles City Council voted Friday to draft a law prohibiting the possession of large-capacity ammunition magazines, sparking lawsuit threats from two gun rights organizations. On an 11-0 vote, the council called for an ordinance labeling the magazines a public nuisance and "an immediate threat to the public health. " Although the state already has a ban on the sale and transfer of high-capacity magazines, residents can still legally own them. Before the vote, council members described the measure as a response to a series of mass shootings, including the massacre of 26 people - many of them children - at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., in December.

Concerned about noise and air pollution, Los Angeles last week joined more than 40 California cities in restricting gas-powered leaf blowers. In one of the most aggressive local laws, Los Angeles enacted an outright ban on the blowers within 500 feet of any residence. Offenders--gardeners and homeowners--can be fined up to $1,000 or sent to jail for as long as six months.

SPRING CITY, Utah - From a pretty mountain valley, where the spirit of the pioneers who came 150 years ago lives on, one small town took a stand on guns. "All in favor?" Spring City Mayor Eldon Barnes asked at a recent City Council meeting. Four hands shot up quickly at the council table, and the three dozen or so townspeople filling rows of folding chairs looked on approvingly. In a vote of 4 to 1, Ordinance 2013-04-02 moved closer to becoming law. It encourages every individual in the town of about 1,000 to own a firearm.

Fountain Valley plans to become the first city to use a new state law aimed at cracking down on prostitution rings that operate out of chiropractic offices. The law was inspired by a string of cases in Orange County. It gives cities the power to require licensing and training for massage therapists who work for chiropractors.

The Los Angeles City Council voted Tuesday to adopt a comprehensive medical marijuana ordinance that clamps strict controls on dispensaries, which have spread with a velocity that stunned city officials and angered some residents. Settling the last controversial issue on its list, the council decided to require the stores to locate at least 1,000 feet from so-called sensitive uses, such as schools, parks, libraries and other dispensaries. The decision to reject a 500-foot setback reflected the council's intent to write the most restrictive rules that would still allow dispensaries.

The Los Angeles City Council voted unanimously Friday to make it illegal to urinate or defecate in public, a step many said was necessary to curb a growing problem of human waste on city streets. Some advocates for the homeless were outraged.

Amid criticism that Los Angeles building officials lack firm policies on expediting construction projects, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa on Wednesday proposed a change in the law to better define which projects should be fast-tracked and which should have fees waived. In a letter to City Atty.

County Supervisor Frank Schillo withdrew from the board's agenda Tuesday his proposed ordinance to outlaw spray paint used by graffiti vandals. Schillo would only say there was a scheduling problem. The Thousand Oaks-based supervisor has led an 18-month effort to ban the sale of paint sold in aerosol cans until a yet-to-be-developed anti-graffiti container can replace them.

State Controller Steve Westly on Monday endorsed a proposed ordinance, to be voted on by the City Council today, that would discourage Wal-Mart and other large retailers from opening mammoth superstores in the city. Citing a recent UC Berkeley study, Westly said low-wage workers must rely on state-funded programs for support. "Wal-Mart may save its customers some money at the checkout stand, but California taxpayers are getting the bill," Westly said during a news conference at City Hall.

It's one of the world's oldest punishments, often used in Babylon, Greece and Rome. Now city officials in Atlanta want to impose it on the oldest profession. New legislation proposed in City Hall would prohibit convicted prostitutes, pimps and "johns" from returning to certain areas of the city for any reason. In other words, banishment. "Right now, my mind's a little boggled," said Mona Bennett, programs coordinator for the Atlanta Harm Reduction Coalition, an outreach group that works with sex workers.

A Pasadena councilman is facing a recall campaign for backing an ordinance that cleared the way for negotiations to bring professional football to the Rose Bowl. Recall proponents on Thursday filed a notice of intent to circulate a petition to recall Councilman Steve Madison, said City Clerk Mark Jomsky. Under state election code, Madison has until Thursday to file a statement on why he should not be recalled for inclusion on the recall petitions. City Council members voted Nov. 19 to increase the number of large events that can be held annually at the Rose Bowl, which already is used for UCLA home football games and the annual Rose Bowl game.

A state appellate court has agreed to review Orange County's controversial law barring sex offenders from county parks and beaches, a move that may determine whether the ban - and other ordinances modeled after it - are legal. The county ordinance prohibits all registered sex offenders - even those not convicted of crimes against a child - from entering county parks, beaches and harbors without a written waiver from the sheriff. The district attorney's office has successfully urged about 16 other cities in the county to adopt versions of the ordinance, saying the law will help keep parks and seashores safe for children.

No one wants to live near a noisy, crowded boarding house whose residents are, at the least, an annoyance and, at the worst, a threat to public health and safety. City nuisance laws and zoning codes are supposed to minimize such problems, but they're not enforced consistently or effectively against bad operators. So L.A. City Councilman Mitchell Englander has been trying to craft an ordinance that would tighten laws on group homes and boarding houses. The L.A. Municipal Code currently defines a "family" as any group of people living in a residence and sharing access to common areas such as kitchens and bathrooms, a definition that offers advantages in a diverse city but makes it difficult to shut down a badly run boarding house.

SHAFTER - In this lush pocket of Kern County, where the agriculture and oil industries have long coexisted, Mike Hopkins' almond orchard has become a battlefield in a dispute that extends to the governor's office. Hopkins is standing up to the oil industry - and Gov. Jerry Brown - by filing a lawsuit against the state to bar energy company Venoco Inc. from drilling an exploratory well on his farm without a full environmental review. Venoco has the mineral rights to Hopkins' 38-acre farm.

After hearing from about 40 residents, the Laguna Beach City Council agreed last week to move forward with a controversial law that penalizes parents who allow minors to use alcohol and drugs in their homes. The so-called social host ordinance, which was sent back to city administrators for minor revisions, would require first-time offenders to take an alcohol-awareness class and levy $1,000 fines for subsequent misdemeanor-level offenses. If passed at an upcoming second reading, Laguna Beach would become Orange County's fourth city to pass such a law, following Irvine, Laguna Hills and Mission Viejo.

Hundreds of protesters and counterprotesters assembled in Riverside in response to an attempt to crack down on illegal immigration. Protesters argued against a township ordinance adopted last month that bans the hiring and housing of people who cannot verify they are legal residents. A larger group massed to support the new law. The ordinance penalizes landlords and employers who house or hire illegal immigrants.

Dare to buy red roses or a newspaper from a street vendor, and soon you could be breaking the law. At least in Oakland Park, Fla. Citing traffic safety concerns, officials in the Fort Lauderdale suburb of 42,000 tentatively approved an ordinance targeting not only panhandlers and peddlers, but the people who give to them or buy something from them. Under the ordinance initially passed last month, anyone who responds to a beggar with money or any "article of value" or buys flowers or a newspaper from someone on the street would face a fine of $50 to $100 and as many as 90 days in jail.

Los Angeles is poised to become the largest city in the nation to ban pet shops from selling dogs, cats and rabbits obtained from commercial breeders. On a 12-2 vote Wednesday, the Los Angeles City Council tentatively adopted an ordinance that officials say will target puppy mills and will prevent tens of thousands of animals from being euthanized in city shelters each year. Individuals still will be allowed to buy directly from breeders, but pet stores will be limited to selling animals obtained from shelters, humane societies and registered rescue groups.

SAN FRANCISCO - A Humboldt County Superior Court judge has struck down as unconstitutional most of an ordinance that banned non-aggressive panhandling in Arcata within 20 feet of any retail store, intersection, parking lot or bus stop, among other places. The ruling, released Wednesday, allows the North Coast town to enforce the ban under only two narrow circumstances: near unenclosed ATMs and on public transit vehicles. The college town long has been a magnet for vagrants, who congregate on its New England-style central plaza.