City to ban smoking in parks and Event Permit ordinance

By BROOKE SELF
STAFF WRITER 
Posted Feb. 12, 2015 @ 1:36 pm
Updated at 6:43 PM 

ADELANTO — The Adelanto City Council appears ready to ban all smoking in city parks and facilities after voting 5-0 Wednesday night on a first reading of a new ordinance. The sweeping ordinance also would alter the process to obtain event permits at such venues in response to a threatened lawsuit by the American Civil Liberties Union.

Ordinance No. 533 is expected to come back for a second reading and final approval at a future City Council meeting. It will then be enacted 30 days after being approved for adoption.

After a group of protesters opposed to prison expansions was denied a city permit in August and then later was cited by city code enforcement for organizing with a group of more than 50 people, the ACLU sent a letter to Adelanto demanding the changes on behalf of the group Community Initiatives for Visiting Immigrants in Confinement.

“The ACLU said according to the U.S. Constitution our park permitting process was unconstitutional for various reasons,” City Attorney Todd Litfin said. “I strenuously disagree with the ACLU (but) I really have no desire to fight the ACLU. So I’m proposing some modifications to our park permitting ordinance which will get them off my back.”

The changes include increasing the number of people from 25 to 75 that require a permit to hold an event at a city park. New guidance is also being given to the city manager with specific criteria on whether to issue or deny a permit, Litfin said.

Ordinance No. 533 received approval by the council for the first reading and is expected to come back for a second reading and final approval at a future city council meeting. It will then be enacted 30 days after being approved for adoption.

Other business at the meeting included approving funding for several Community Development Block Grant projects and a presentation by the city’s water contractor, PERC Water.

Several councilmembers took issue with $7,669 that was planned to be paid to the nonprofit Feeding America Riverside-San Bernardino Counties. Councilman Jermaine Wright hammered a director of the organization with questions and said that he didn’t believe it would serve Adelanto residents.

Councilmembers voted to reallocate the funds and divide them evenly between three programs they believed were more community-based — the Adelanto Community Resource Center, High Desert Outreach Center and San Bernardino County Library.

PERC Water Corporation Vice President Bob Nespeca gave an annual report of recent activities in the city. The company operates all of Adelanto’s water and wastewater operations. He said the city could expect to recover tens of thousands of dollars after the company performed an accounting system and water meter audit this year. According to the audit, 291 vacant accounts, 169 failed meters and 117 billing rate discrepancies were found in the city.

One man complained to the council about being charged for water services at a vacant residence he owns that does not have running water. The resident said he didn’t believe it was legal to charge for “services not rendered,” but the city attorney said it was within the city’s legal purview and that other cities have similar ordinances.

Brooke Self may be reached at 760-951-6232 or BSelf@VVDailyPress.com. You can also follow her on Twitter at @BrookeSelf or @DPEduNews.