BILL NUMBER: SB 450 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 1, 2013
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 1, 2013
INTRODUCED BY Senator Galgiani
(Coauthor: Assembly Member Olsen)
FEBRUARY 21, 2013
An act to add Section 152.5 to the Welfare and Institutions Code,
relating to personal property.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 450, as amended, Galgiani. Unattended collection boxes.
Existing law regulates the placement of unattended collection
boxes and requires specified information, including the name,
address, and telephone number of the collection box owner and
operator, to be displayed on the front of each collection box.
Existing law also requires a person or public or private
entity that finds and takes possession of any personal property of
another to inform the owner, if known, and return it
authorizes a city, county, or city and county to declare a collection
box that is in violation of these provisions a public nuisance and
to abate the nuisance .
This bill would authorize a city or county to provide, by
ordinance or resolution, immunity from civil liability to an owner
of private property, or his or her authorized agent, when the owner
or agent removes a collection box placed on the owner's property if
the ordinance or resolution includes specified provisions, including
the requirement that the owner or agent that has
adopted a local ordinance regulating or permitting the placement of
unattended collection boxes, as specified, to impose a charge on the
owner or operator of a collection box that is in violation of the
ordinance for the reasonable costs of its removal and storage if the
county or city removes the collection box under the local ordinance.
The bill would require the city or county to send a
written notice of removal and charge to the address
displayed on the collection box 5 days prior to removal.
The bill would also require that the ordinance or resolution
include a provision that immunity from civil liability will not be
granted to an owner of private property, or his or her authorized
agent, who removes the collection box when he or she has given
written consent for the collection box to be placed on the property
and the consent has not been rescinded, as specified, and a provision
that an owner of private property, or his or her authorized agent,
who causes the removal of a collection box, or otherwise disposes of
it, despite valid written consent from the property owner at the time
of removal, is civilly liable to the owner or operator of the
collection box for the greater of 4 times the amount of the towing
and storage charges or $1,000, unless removal is necessary to comply
with local zoning ordinances. authorize the city or
county to sell or dispose of the collection box and its contents if
the collection box owner or operator does not pay the charge.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 152.5 is added to the Welfare and Institutions
Code, to read:
152.5. Notwithstanding Section 2080 of the Civil Code, a city,
county, or city and county may, by ordinance or resolution, provide
immunity from civil liability to an owner of private property, or his
or her authorized agent, who removes a collection box placed on the
owner's private property if the ordinance or resolution includes all
of the following provisions:X
152.5. (a) A city or county that has adopted a
local ordinance regulating or permitting the placement of unattended
collection boxes, which includes a provision that authorizes the city
or county to remove a collection box that is in violation of the
ordinance, shall impose a charge on the owner or operator of the
collection box for the reasonable costs of its removal and storage if
the county or city removes the collection box pursuant to the local
ordinance.
(a) An owner of private property, or his or her authorized agent,
who
(b) A city or county that causes
the removal of a collection box shall send a written notice of
removal and charge to the address that is conspicuously
displayed on the front of every collection box pursuant to Section
151. That notice shall be mailed five days prior to removal and
include the current location of the box. This subdivision shall not
apply if no address appears on the front of the collection box.
(b) Except as provided in subdivision (c), an owner of private
property, or his or her authorized agent, shall not have immunity
from civil liability if he or she has given written consent for the
collection box to be placed on the private property.
(c) An owner of private property, or his or her authorized agent,
who has given written consent for the placement of a collection box
on the owner's private property, may rescind his or her consent by
providing written notice of the rescission to the collection box
owner or operator. For purposes of this subdivision, consent shall be
deemed rescinded 10 calendar days after the owner of private
property mails a written notice of rescission, via certified mail to
the address displayed on the collection box pursuant to Section 151.
(d) (1) An owner of private property, or his or her authorized
agent, who causes the removal of a collection box to a storage
facility, or otherwise disposes of a collection box, despite valid
written consent from the property owner at the time of removal, shall
be civilly liable to the owner or operator of the collection box for
four times the amount of the towing and storage charges, or one
thousand dollars ($1,000), whichever is greater.
(2) Paragraph (1) shall not apply to make a person liable for
removal of a collection box where removal is necessary to comply with
enforcement of applicable permitting, zoning, or other local
ordinances.
(c) If the owner or operator of the collection box does not pay
the reasonable costs of removal and storage to the city or county,
the city or county may sell the collection box and its contents or
dispose of it in any other manner.