The County of Santa Clara - SCC Public Portal

SEARCH SCCgov

AGENCIES & DEPTS

View recently adopted ordinances as of January 13, 2009 NOT YET CODIFIED OR INTEGRATED IN THIS SITE. (pdf file)

Ordinances enacted through January 13, 2009

SANTA CLARA COUNTY CODE OF ORDINANCES: CHAPTER II. RESOURCE PROTECTION

Copyrighted by SANTA CLARA COUNTY CODE & Municipal Code Corporation, 1998.

Previous heading / Next heading / Table of Contents

__________

CHAPTER II.
RESOURCE PROTECTION

ARTICLE 1.
FIRE PREVENTION

Sec. B14-21.1. General.

It shall be the duty of every person to make the suppression and prevention of fire their first consideration while using any park area. No person shall make any wasteful or negligent use of combustible materials.

(Ord. No. NS-702.89, § 2, 12-18-01)

Sec. B14-21.2. Fires.

(a) No fire shall be built, lighted or maintained within any park area except in a camp stove or fireplace provided in areas designated for such purposes.

(b) All campfires must be extinguished before leaving an area unattended.

(d) The Director may restrict fires to charcoal or gas stoves only in designated areas.

(e) Any person who violates this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.

(Ord. No. NS-702.89, § 2, 12-18-01)

Sec. B14-21.3. Fireworks prohibited.

(a) Notwithstanding any other provisions of this Code, no person shall possess or use any fireworks, model rockets, or pyrotechnic device of any description in any park area, except that a public agency situated within the County may apply to the Director for a special permit to conduct a public fireworks display in order to celebrate a historical event of great and special significance to the public agency. The Director may issue a permit and may subject such a permit to any reasonable conditions, including but not limited to the payment of fees, deposits and bonds to cover costs. Such a permit shall only authorize the use of fireworks by persons who possess valid pyrotechnic operator licenses issued by the State Fire Marshal.

(b) Any person who violates this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.

(Ord. No. NS-702.89, § 2, 12-18-01)

Sec. B14-21.4. Removal of combustible materials near fires.

Any person building a campfire shall remove all dead wood, moss, dry leaves or other combustible or flammable material a minimum of five feet from open flame so that the danger of any fire spreading shall be minimized.

(Ord. No. NS-702.89, § 2, 12-18-01; Ord. No. NS-702.91, § 2, 9-25-07)

Sec. B14-21.5. Smoking.

Smoking may be prohibited in designated park areas. Notice of such prohibition shall be conspicuously posted at the park area.

(Ord. No. NS-702.89, § 2, 12-18-01; Ord. No. NS-702.91, § 3, 9-25-07)

ARTICLE 2.
DUMPING; LITTERING; CLEANLINESS

Sec. B14-22.1. Disposal of garbage, rubbish.

(a) No person shall leave bottles, broken glass, ashes, wastepaper or other rubbish in any park area except in a receptacle designated for such purpose.

(b) No person shall leave or dump any garbage not related to authorized park use in receptacles provided for park use within a park area.

(c) No person shall dump or cause to be dumped any waste matter, garbage, dirt, rocks, vegetation or other rubbish in or upon any park property without the written permission of the Director.

(d) Any person violating Subsection (c) is guilty of a misdemeanor.

(Ord. No. NS-702.89, § 2, 12-18-01; Ord. No. NS-702.91, § 4, 9-25-07)

Sec. B14-22.2. General cleanliness of campsites and picnic sites.

All campsites and picnic sites shall be kept clean and free from rubbish and litter of any kind by the users.

(Ord. No. NS-702.89, § 2, 12-18-01)

Sec. B14-22.3. Washing and bathing.

Except at places provided for such purposes, no person shall bathe, or wash clothing or cooking utensils in any park area.

(Ord. No. NS-702.89, § 2, 12-18-01)

ARTICLE 3.
FLORA AND FAUNA

Sec. B14-23.1. Protection of foliage.

(a) No person shall pick any flowers, foliage, berries or fruit or any other natural object originating in the park without first having obtained a permit from the Director.

(b) No person shall mutilate or injure any trees, shrub, plant, fern, grass, turf, or any other natural resource in any park area.

(Ord. No. NS-702.89, § 2, 12-18-01)

Sec. B14-23.2. Gathering wood.

No unauthorized person shall cut, gather or remove any trees or branches in any park.

(Ord. No. NS-702.89, § 2, 12-18-01; Ord. No. NS-702.91, § 5, 9-25-07)

Sec. B14-23.3. Firewood.

The cutting of firewood is prohibited except by permit issued by the Director.

(Ord. No. NS-702.89, § 2, 12-18-01)

Sec. B14-23.4. Introduction of flora and fauna.

No person shall introduce any flora or fauna in any County park without written authorization.

(Ord. No. NS-702.89, § 2, 12-18-01)

Sec. B14-23.5. Exemption from Solar Shade Control Act.

The lands of the County of Santa Clara, under the custody of the Director of the Department of Parks and Recreation, are protected lands held in trust for the people of the County of Santa Clara, are exempted from the provisions of the Solar Shade Control Act which provides that any person owning or in control of property shall take action to remove or alter trees or shrubs which interfere with a solar collector or other solar energy device pursuant to Public Resources Code § 25980 et seq.

(Ord. No. NS-300.661, § 1, 3-19-02)

ARTICLE 4.
FISH; WILDLIFE

Sec. B14-24.1. State laws applicable to fishing.

In lakes, ponds or streams in any park, state laws regulating the taking of game fish shall apply.

(Ord. No. NS-702.89, § 2, 12-18-01)

Sec. B14-24.2. Fishing permitted; limited to children.

(a) The Director may designate certain ponds for fishing by minors not over the age of 12 years or under the age of five years. The Director shall designate by clear and legible signs or posters the ponds set aside for fishing by minors not over the age of 12 years nor under the age of five years.

(b) Fishing is prohibited at areas designated in Subsection (a) for all other persons.

(Ord. No. NS-702.89, § 2, 12-18-01; Ord. No. NS-702.91, § 5A, 9-25-07)

Sec. B14-24.3. Hunting, harassing or taking of wildlife prohibited.

(a) All park areas of the County are declared to be sanctuaries for wildlife of every sort and the taking, hunting or harassing of any wild bird, mammal, reptile or amphibian is prohibited. This section shall not apply to fish and other aquatic forms permitted to be taken under Section B14-24.1.

(b) As used in this section, "taking" means hunting, pursuing, catching, capturing, possessing or killing, or attempting to hunt, pursue, catch, capture, possess or kill any wild bird, mammal, reptile, amphibian or parts thereof.

(c) This section does not apply to the taking of any bird, mammal, reptile, amphibian or parts thereof by any person or persons duly appointed and authorized by the County to perform such services, and where such taking occurs while said person or persons are acting within the course and scope of the performance of such services. County may authorize such takings in the following circumstances:

(1) The taking of any bird, mammal, reptile, amphibian or parts thereof, noxious pest or vermin in order to protect the public health, safety and welfare in the control of disease transmission, or to prevent excessive damage to park facilities and to other protected fauna and flora.

(2) The taking of any bird, mammal, reptile, amphibian or parts thereof in order to humanely assist, aid and protect the animal where an emergency exists which constitutes a danger to the health, safety and welfare of such animal, and such taking is deemed necessary.

(d) Any violation of Subsection (a) of this section shall be punishable as a misdemeanor.

(Ord. No. NS-702.89, § 2, 12-18-01; Ord. No. NS-702.91, § 6, 9-25-07)

Sec. B14-24.4. Feeding wildlife.

No person shall feed park wildlife unless authorized by the Director in writing.

(Ord. No. NS-702.89, § 2, 12-18-01; Ord. No. NS-702.91, § 7, 9-25-07)

Sec. B14-24.5. Molesting livestock prohibited.

No person shall molest, harass or injure livestock in any part or portion of any park area.

(Ord. No. NS-702.89, § 2, 12-18-01)

ARTICLE 5.
GEOLOGICAL; ARCHEOLOGICAL

Sec. B14-25.1. Excavations.

No person shall dig or remove any dirt, stone, rock, archeological artifacts or other substance or make any excavation or quarry any stone or cause or assist in or set off any explosive or expansive materials within any park area without a written permit issued by the Director.

(Ord. No. NS-702.89, § 2, 12-18-01)

Sec. B14-25.2. Reserved.

Editor's note--Ord. No. NS-702.91, § 8, adopted September 25, 2007, repealed § B14-25.2, which pertained to use of metal detectors. See also the Code Comparative Table.

ARTICLE 6.
IMPROVEMENTS

Sec. B14-26.1. Disfiguring property.

No person shall cut, carve, paint, mark, paste or fasten any bill, advertisement, inscribe or otherwise disfigure any fence, wall, building, sign or monument or any other object within any park area.

(Ord. No. NS-702.89, § 2, 12-18-01)