FILE NO.

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ORDINANCE NO.

[Emergency Ordinance - Emergency Response In Parks]

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Emergency ordinance authorizing the use of park property for temporary shelter and

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other measures in response to the COVID-19 pandemic; directing the Recreation and

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Park Department to report to the Board of Supervisors with a list of potential locations

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for such uses; and waiving contrary provisions in Administrative Code Chapters 79

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and 79A and Charter Section 4.113, if and to the extent applicable.

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NOTE:

Unchanged Code text and uncodified text are in plain Arial font.
Additions to Codes are in single-underline italics Times New Roman font.
Deletions to Codes are in strikethrough italics Times New Roman font.
Board amendment additions are in double-underlined Arial font.
Board amendment deletions are in strikethrough Arial font.
Asterisks (* * * *) indicate the omission of unchanged Code
subsections or parts of tables.

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Be it ordained by the People of the City and County of San Francisco:

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Section 1. Declaration of Emergency under Charter Section 2.107.

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(a) Section 2.107 of the Charter authorizes passage of an emergency ordinance in

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cases of public emergency affecting life, health, or property, or for the uninterrupted operation

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of any City or County department or office required to comply with time limitations established

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by law. The Board of Supervisors hereby finds and declares that an actual emergency exists

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that requires the passage of this emergency ordinance.

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(b) San Francisco is facing an unprecedented public health crisis due to the COVID-19

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pandemic. With the Board’s concurrence, the Mayor declared an emergency on February 25,

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2020, and has issued a series of executive orders to keep residents safe and to respond to

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the emergency. Also, the County Health Officer has issued Order No. C19-07, replaced most

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recently by Order C19-07c on April 29, 2020, directing residents to stay safely in their homes

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and practice social distancing, and to require persons to self-isolate if they have contracted

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the disease or are vulnerable to it.

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(c) This ordinance addresses two challenges that the City continues to face with

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respect to COVID-19. The first is that thousands of City residents cannot realistically comply

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with orders to shelter in their homes, because they are homeless and without shelter. In the

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resolution in File No. 200406, the Board of Supervisors found that unsheltered persons are

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sleeping outdoors in encampments with insufficient hygiene and sanitation and inadequate

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physical distancing, which is posing a serious challenge to the City’s COVID-19 mitigation

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efforts. The City is trying to house these persons in vacant hotel rooms, but it is essential to

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put other strategies in place and explore all possible options, including the option of temporary

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shelter in parks. The second challenge is to find additional locations where the City can

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provide testing and other emergency services related to COVID-19. It is insufficient to provide

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these services only in hospitals. Medical facilities are overburdened, and many residents are

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fearful of contracting the disease from hospital visits. Medical services must be safely

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available to all residents, and there are parks all across the City that can potentially be used

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for these purposes. Of course, parks must also remain available for outdoor exercise, but

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some parks are closed or restricted in other ways due to the pandemic, and areas within

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certain parks can potentially be re-purposed without unduly interfering with existing

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recreational uses.

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(d) For these reasons, the Board of Supervisors finds it is essential to expeditiously

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plan for and establish temporary sites in the parks for unsheltered people and to slow the

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spread of COVID-19.

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Section 2. Finding of Park Purpose.

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San Francisco has a long history of using parks to respond to emergencies. For

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example, tens of thousands found temporary shelter and medical care in Golden Gate Park

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and other City parks after the 1906 Earthquake, and in 2016, the City established a temporary

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shelter in the County Fair Building in Golden Gate Park to protect homeless residents from the

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El Niño storms. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, cities across California such as Los

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Angeles and Long Beach, as well in other parts of the country, are finding it is necessary and

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appropriate in this emergency to provide temporary shelter and medical care in their public

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parks. Consistent with this history and with the current practice of many other cities, the

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Board of Supervisors finds it is necessary and appropriate and in the public interest to use

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park property in the City’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. All existing or prior uses of

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park property to assist in the response to COVID-19 are hereby ratified.

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Section 3. Temporary Shelters and Other Uses.

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(a) The Board of Supervisors hereby recognizes the authority of the Recreation and

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Park Department (RPD) to allow temporary shelters and other emergency response sites on

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park property during the COVID-19 emergency. In exercising that authority, RPD shall

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consult with, and may authorize such sites to be operated by, the Department of Public Health

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(DPH), the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing (HSH), and/or the Healthy

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Streets Operations Center (HSOC). Each shelter site shall provide adequate space between

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each tent or other living area to allow for social distancing, meals, drinking water,

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handwashing stations, bathrooms, and sanitation. Each shelter site shall also have a safety

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plan and shall receive 24/7 staffing, and may provide access to such other services as the

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City determines may be necessary and practically feasible to maintain the health and safety of

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those at the site and in the surrounding neighborhood.

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(b) RPD shall prepare a written report that identifies locations on park property where it

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may be possible to establish shelter sites, as well as other types of sites that DPH, HSH or

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HSOC may advise are necessary for City’s emergency response such as testing sites. The

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report shall take into account factors such as (1) the proposed use; (2) the size, topography,

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and other features of the location that bear on the ability to provide adequate hygiene and

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sanitation and to accommodate social distancing at the location; (3) the degree to which the

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proposed use would interfere with existing recreational uses at the site; and (4) such other

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factors as RPD may deem appropriate. RPD shall submit the report to the Board of

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Supervisors by May 18, 2020, or three days after the effective date of this ordinance,

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whichever is later, and shall also post a copy of the report on its website.
(c) This ordinance shall not affect any requirement to perform environmental review, in

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the event such a requirement applies with respect to a proposed use of park property. Upon

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approving a proposed use, RPD shall provide public notice of the approval on its website.

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RPD shall consult as necessary with DPH, HSH, and HSOC with respect to the operation and

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eventual closure of the sites.

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Section 4. Suspension of Existing Laws.

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It is necessary to address the emergency conditions described above, notwithstanding

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any City law to the contrary, which is hereby suspended if and to the extent in conflict with this

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emergency ordinance. Further, the Board of Supervisors hereby suspends Charter Section

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4.113, if and to the extent Section 4.113 would otherwise restrict the use of park property as

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set forth herein. The Board of Supervisors also suspends Administrative Code Chapters 79

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and 79A, which impose certain notice requirements prior to approval of City projects, if and to

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the extent those Chapters would otherwise apply.

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Section 5. Undertaking for the General Welfare. In enacting and implementing this

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emergency ordinance, the City is assuming an undertaking only to promote the general

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welfare. It is not assuming, nor is it imposing on its officers and employees, an obligation for

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breach of which it is liable in money damages to any person who claims that such breach

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proximately caused injury.

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Section 6. Severability. If any section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase, or word of

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this emergency ordinance, or any application thereof to any person or circumstance, is held to

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be invalid or unconstitutional by a decision of a court of competent jurisdiction, such decision

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shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions or applications of the ordinance. The

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Board of Supervisors hereby declares that it would have passed this ordinance and each and

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every section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase, and word not declared invalid or

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unconstitutional without regard to whether any other portion of this ordinance or application

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thereof would be subsequently declared invalid or unconstitutional.

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Section 7. Effective Date; Expiration. Consistent with Charter Section 2.107, this

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emergency ordinance shall become effective immediately upon enactment. Enactment occurs

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when the Mayor signs the ordinance, the Mayor returns the ordinance unsigned or does not

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sign the ordinance within ten days of receiving it, or the Board of Supervisors overrides the

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Mayor’s veto of the ordinance. Once enacted, it shall remain in effect for 60 days, unless

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reenacted as provided by Section 2.107. If not reenacted, it shall expire on the 61st day after

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enactment.

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 Section 8. Supermajority Vote Required. In accordance with Charter Section 2.107,

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passage of this emergency ordinance by the Board of Supervisors requires an affirmative vote

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of two-thirds of the Board of Supervisors.

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APPROVED AS TO FORM:
DENNIS J. HERRERA, City Attorney

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By:

/s/
MANU PRADHAN
Deputy City Attorney

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