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Council approves introduction of ordinance to address unlawful behavioral nuisances
Summary
First reading introduced of proposed ordinance creating a behavioral‑nuisance code chapter to allow the city to abate properties where recurring unlawful or disruptive conduct occurs; staff said the tool uses civil remedies in addition to criminal enforcement.
The Folsom City Council on Aug. 12 introduced and conducted the first reading of an ordinance (No. 1355) to add Chapter 8.39 — “Unlawful Behavioral Nuisances” — to the municipal code.
City Attorney Steven Wong told the council the ordinance is intended to target recurring behaviors on property that materially interfere with neighbors’ health, safety or peaceful enjoyment — examples cited include sale and use of illegal controlled substances, hostile or threatening interactions, and other illegal activities observed in public view. The ordinance would create an administrative and civil pathway to abate a property, including administrative citations, appointment of a judicial receiver for the property, cost recovery through property liens and potential judicial foreclosure.
Wong emphasized the approach supplements criminal enforcement: "Most of those bad behaviors are already addressed by state laws," he said, but some matters are not prioritized for prosecution and criminal remedies may not resolve ongoing neighborhood harms. He noted the civil standard of proof for abatement is preponderance of the evidence rather than beyond a reasonable doubt.
City Manager Whitmire and other staff said the proposal is designed to give code enforcement and law enforcement additional tools to address repeat nuisances and to coach property owners toward compliance. Councilmembers discussed examples of recurrent problems they have encountered, including long‑running generator noise and unpermitted construction; staff said generator/noise and many property maintenance matters are already addressable under existing code and that the behavioral ordinance is focused on harder‑to‑resolve conduct.
The motion to introduce the ordinance passed unanimously among members present (Leary, Raffel, Kozlowski and Mayor Sarah Aquino); Rorba was not present. As a first reading, the ordinance will return to council for subsequent readings and any further revisions.
