This chapter shall be referred to as the "Major Retail Center Security Ordinance."
(Ord. 1085 § 2, 2014)
The purpose of this chapter is to establish minimum security standards for major retail centers that will deter crime, aid in arrests and support law enforcement investigations and prosecutions, and ensure the health, safety, and well-being of the city's residents and visitors.
(Ord. 1085 § 2, 2014)
For purposes of this chapter, the following words and phrases shall have the meaning respectively ascribed to them by this section:
"Enterprise"
means any kind of business operation whereby goods, services or any entertainment of any kind or type are offered to the general public, and includes retail, eating and drinking establishments, personal services (e.g., hair and nail salons), banks and movie theaters.
"Major retail center" or "center"
means a destination center consisting of a clustering or grouping of twenty or more enterprises having any or all of the following characteristics:
A. 
Enterprises are connected by party walls, partitions, canopies or similar features;
B. 
Some or all of the enterprises are located in separate buildings that are designed as a single commercial group sharing common parking areas and vehicular ways that are connected by walkways or other access ways;
C. 
Enterprises are under the same management or association for the purpose of enforcing reciprocal agreements controlling management or parking; and/or
D. 
Enterprises are structurally designed in an integrated fashion around or along the sides of a promenade, walkway, concourse or courtyard.
"Operator"
means the owner of the major retail center and the individual, firm, corporation, partnership, unincorporated association or legal entity legally authorized by the operator under a management agreement to lease commercial space or manage the operation of the major retail center.
"Parking area"
means all that area associated with a major retail center, whether unenclosed or enclosed on one or more levels, which is used for or intended for the off-street parking of motor vehicles, and including parking stalls, spaces between stalls, access aisles, fire lanes, driveways and roadways leading to and from the parking stalls, walkways between or adjacent to parking stalls and loading zones adjacent to parking stalls or otherwise accessible to the public.
"Security guard"
means a person who possesses valid credentials evidencing security guard registration with the Bureau of Security and Investigative Services of the California Department of Consumer Affairs.
(Ord. 1085 § 2, 2014)
Any major retail center with a gross leasable area in excess of two hundred thousand square feet shall be subject to the provisions of this chapter.
(Ord. 1085 § 2, 2014)
The following minimum security requirements shall apply to all centers to which this chapter applies:
A. 
A minimum of two security officers shall be on duty during the hours of operation described in subsection B. The minimum number of security officers may be reduced to one officer when the percentage of enterprises open for business is fifteen percent or less of the total leased space in the center.
B. 
Patrols shall commence no later than one-half hour before the first enterprise opens for business and shall terminate no sooner than one hour after the last enterprise closes. Patrols shall be scheduled as frequently as necessary to effectuate the purpose of this chapter and may be accomplished on-foot or in marked vehicles.
C. 
In the event a center contains an enterprise that is open for twenty-four hours a day, at least one security officer shall patrol during the overnight hours commencing one hour after the last enterprise closes for business and one-half hour before the first enterprise opens for business.
D. 
Security officers shall be in uniform while on duty and shall be equipped with a radio communication device connected to a base of operation and capable of making 9-1-1 emergency phone calls.
E. 
All vehicles used for patrol service shall be duly marked and identified on their doors as security vehicles with flashing-amber-rotating lights clearly visible to the general public.
(Ord. 1085 § 2, 2014)
A. 
The requirements of this section shall apply to centers with more than one thousand parking spaces.
B. 
Video surveillance systems ("surveillance systems") with at least four high-resolution surveillance security cameras that can reproduce and store retrievable digital color images from a digital video recorder or other comparable media shall be installed for maximum coverage of the center's parking area. Surveillance systems shall be maintained in proper working order at all times and shall be in operation twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.
C. 
The digital video records captured by surveillance systems ("recorded images") shall be stored on CD-Rs or DVD-Rs and maintained in good viewing order for thirty days after recording. Recorded images shall be dated and time stamped, and all CD-Rs and DVD-Rs used to store recorded images shall be marked with the date the media was recorded. Additional minimum technological standards required for surveillance systems shall be established by implementing procedures, approved by the city manager, which shall effectuate the purposes of this chapter. Such procedures shall be amended as needed to ensure the city's requirements are consistent with current technology.
D. 
The placement of surveillance systems cameras shall be approved by the city manager, in coordination with law enforcement officials, and shall be based upon a site assessment.
E. 
Surveillance systems shall be subject to regular inspection by the city at reasonable times to determine if the system conforms to the requirements of this chapter and the implementing regulations. If the surveillance system does not so conform, the operator shall take immediate steps to bring the system into conformance.
F. 
The center shall provide a copy of recorded images to law enforcement officers immediately upon request and to the city upon receipt of written request.
G. 
Signs shall be posted that provide notice of surveillance monitoring. The number and location of signs and the aesthetics for the signage (i.e., size, design, content, etc.) shall be described in the implementing regulations, and shall be consistent with the city's sign regulations.
(Ord. 1085 § 2, 2014)
A. 
Any operator violating any provision of this chapter or any condition imposed by the implementing regulations approved by the city manager shall be guilty of an infraction in compliance with Title 14 of this municipal code.
B. 
In lieu of issuing an infraction citation, pursuant to Chapter 14.80, the city may issue an administrative citation, to any operator responsible for committing, causing or maintaining a violation of this chapter. Nothing in this section shall preclude the city from also issuing an infraction citation upon the occurrence of the same offense on a separate day.
C. 
Any provision of this chapter may be enforced by injunction issued by the courts upon a civil suit brought by the city of Rancho Mirage.
(Ord. 1085 § 2, 2014)