Put a cork in that bottle and pack up your tent. The Citrus Heights City Council will vote tonight on a proposal to ban public drinking and camping in the city.
The proposed ordinance, which will be heard at the council's 7 p.m. meeting at City Hall, 7117 Greenback Lane, hopes to add new teeth to the Police Department's anti-vagrancy push.
"In recent months, city residents have complained about unauthorized campsites in the community," said a staff report to the City Council.
"The complaints … include concerns about alcohol and drug use, unsightly accumulation of bedding and other materials, health concerns, fire hazards and the presence of drug paraphernalia," the report said.
Under the proposed ordinance, the Police Department would have new powers to remove unauthorized campsites and fine or arrest those caught drinking in public.
For each offense, according to the proposed ordinance, an offender could be charged with a misdemeanor punishable by a maximum fine of $500 and/or up to six months in jail.
According to a memo from Citrus Heights Police Lt. Jeff Mackanin, who heads the department's community- oriented policing project, banning open containers in the city would "reduce the number of calls for service for police" as well as "keep unwanted loitering and drinking away from the parks and other public places."
Without the ordinance, the city police officers have no charge they can place against someone caught drinking in public, the memo said.
Since the department's inception in June 2006, officers have responded to 401 calls for service in city parks, Mackanin wrote.
The department also has made 287 arrests for public intoxication, he said.
The ordinance also spells out the way in which the city would dispose of property found at transient campsites in order to head off possible lawsuits from homeless advocates.
Items of value, such as jackets, bed rolls and duffel bags, would be held by the city for 90 days before either being auctioned off or disposed of, according to the proposed ordinance.
Call The Bee's Stan Oklobdzija, (916) 608-7453.
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