Centro De La Comunidad Hispana De Locust Valley v. Town of Oyster Bay

• Citation: 128 F.Supp.3d 597
• Decision Date: 03 September 2015
• Docket Number: No. 10–CV–2262 (DRH).,10–CV–2262 (DRH).
• Parties: CENTRO DE LA COMUNIDAD HISPANA DE LOCUST VALLEY; and the Workplace Project, Plaintiffs, v. TOWN OF OYSTER BAY; John Venditto, Town Supervisor of the Town of Oyster Bay, Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Eastern District of New York

128 F.Supp.3d 597

CENTRO DE LA COMUNIDAD HISPANA DE LOCUST VALLEY; and the Workplace Project, Plaintiffs,

v.TOWN OF OYSTER BAY; John Venditto, Town Supervisor of the Town of Oyster Bay, Defendants.

No. 10–CV–2262 (DRH).

United States District Court, E.D. New York.

Signed Sept. 3, 2015.

Latinojustice PRLDEF, by: Alan Levine, Esq., Elizabeth Joynes, Esq., Jackson Chin, Esq., New York Civil Liberties Union Foundation, by: Corey Stoughton, Esq., Arthur Eisenberg, Esq., Jordan S. Wells, Esq., New York, NY, for the Plaintiffs.

Sinnreich Kosakoff & Messina LLP, by: Jonathan H. Sinnreich, Esq., Timothy F. Hill, Esq., Central Islip, NY, Goldberg Segalla LLP, by: Christopher Kendric, Esq., Garden City, NY, for the Defendants.

MEMORANDUM & ORDER

HURLEY

, Senior District Judge:

In 2009, the Town of Oyster Bay passed an ordinance prohibiting persons standing within or near a public right-of-way from stopping or attempting to stop vehicles to solicit work, and drivers from stopping to solicit employees or accept a solicitation of employment. On May 18, 2010, plaintiffs Centro De La Comunidad Hispana De Locust Valley ("Centro") and the Workplace Project ("Workplace") (collectively "Plaintiffs") commenced this action against defendants Town of Oyster Bay (the "Town") and John Venditto ("Venditto"), its Supervisor, (collectively "Defendants") challenging the ordinance on various constitutional grounds. Presently before the Court is Plaintiffs' motion for summary judgment to permanently enjoin the ordinance from going into effect as unconstitutional. The motion is granted because, as explained infra, the Ordinance suffers from constitutional overbreadth.

BACKGROUND

The following facts are drawn from the parties' Local Civil Rule 56.1

Statements and evidentiary submissions and are undisputed unless otherwise noted.

I. The Ordinance and its Terms

On September 29, 2009, the Town enacted the ordinance at issue in this case, Chapter 205–32 of the Code of the Town of Oyster Bay, Solicitation from Streets and Sidewalks Prohibited (the "Ordinance"). The Ordinance reads as follows:

A. Legislative intent.

It is the intention of the Town Board to protect the health, safety and welfare of motorists and pedestrians using public rights-of-way within the Town of Oyster Bay, and persons standing in close proximity to said public rights-of-way, from the dangers of obstruction, distraction and delays of traffic caused by the solicitation of employment by pedestrians from or directed to operators or occupants of motor vehicles while utilizing the Town's public rights-of-way, or by the offer of employment to pedestrians by the operators or occupants of motor vehicles while utilizing the Town's public rights-of-way.

B. Definitions.

EMPLOYMENT—Services, industry or labor performed by a person for wages or other compensation under any contract of hire, written or oral, express or implied.

PERSON—Any individual, company, corporation, association, business or legal entity.

PUBLIC RIGHT–OF WAY—All of the areas dedicated to public use for public street purposes and shall include roadways, parkways, highways, streets, medians, sidewalks, curbs, slopes and areas of land between the sidewalk and the curb which are also known as utility strips, except for lawful public parking areas.

SOLICIT OR SOLICITATION—Any request, offer, enticement, or action which announces the availability for or of employment, or a request, offer, enticement, or action which seeks to offer or secure employment. Examples of behavior which constitute solicitation of employment include but are not limited to waving arms, making hand signals, shouting to someone in a vehicle, jumping up and down, waving signs soliciting employment pointed at persons in vehicles, approaching vehicles, standing in the public right-of-way while facing vehicles in the roadway, or entering the roadway portion of a public right-of-way for purpose of seeking employment. A solicitation shall be deemed complete when made whether or not an employment relationship is created, a transaction is completed or an exchange of money or property takes place.

C. It shall be unlawful for any person standing within or adjacent to any public right-of-way within the Town of Oyster Bay to stop or attempt to stop any motor vehicle utilizing said public right-of-way for the purpose of soliciting employment of any kind from the occupants of said motor vehicle.

D. It shall be unlawful for the operator of any motor vehicle utilizing a public right-of-way within the Town of Oyster Bay to stop or stand within or adjacent to said public right-of-way or any area designated as either a traffic lane or a no standing or stopping zone for the purpose of soliciting employment or accepting a solicitation of employment from a pedestrian.

E. Nothing contained herein shall be construed to prohibit the following:

(1) Service related activities such as taxicabs, limousine service, public transportation vehicles, towing operations, ambulance service and similar uses.

(2) Nothing shall prohibit a business or property owner from soliciting employment at or upon the property owner's private property, provided however that automobiles, recreational vehicles, trailers, trucks and other vehicles do not constitute a business property exempt from the provisions of this act.

F. Penalties for Offenses.

(1) Any violation of this section is punishable by a fine of not more that $250.00 for each offense.

[Levine Decl. Ex. 1.]

II. Events Leading Up to the Adoption of the Ordinance

It is undisputed that for several years prior to the passage of the Ordinance, day laborers have gathered in the Town of Oyster Bay along a four block stretch of Forest Avenue in Locust Valley between Tenth and Fourteenth Streets, but particularly at the intersections of Forest Avenue with Twelfth and Thirteenth Streets. [Defs. 56.1 at ¶ 88.] Forest Avenue is a two lane road, running east-west through the hamlet of Locust Valley, with a parking lane on the north side of the road adjacent to the westbound traffic lane. [Id. at ¶¶ 3, 4.] The number of day laborers on Forest Avenue varies with the season and time of day; typically there is between 20 and 30 day laborers although the number has reached as high as 50 at a time. [Id. at ¶ 92.]

The Town of Oyster Bay held a Town Board meeting on March 31, 2009. According to the minutes of that meeting, during the public comment portion some members of the public, including residents of Locust Valley and the Town of Oyster Bay, commented on the impact of day laborers soliciting work on Forest Avenue. [Levine Declar. Ex. 2 at 11, Stip. of Fact 7; Levine Declar. Ex. 14.] One member of the public commented that day laborers urinate and defecate on the property, make it impossible to walk on the sidewalks, are unsafe and unsightly, and chase cars down the street thinking they contain potential employers. [Levine Declar. Ex. 14.] Another stated that contractors are stopping to pick up the day laborers and causing traffic to back-up. [Id. ] Another recounted how his nine year old son takes the bus to school and is constantly moving from street to street to avoid day laborers. [Id. ]

On May 26, 2009, the Town held a public hearing on a proposed ordinance to address the issue of day laborers and employers along Forest Avenue. [Levine Declar. Ex. 2 at 11, Stip. of Fact 8; Levine Declar. Ex. 15.] As evidenced by the transcript of the hearing, residents spoke both for and against the ordinance. [Levine Declar. Ex. 15 passim. ] Some residents complained that day laborers caused traffic problems and interfered with families walking down the street to go to school bus stops and otherwise walking on the streets. [Id. at 21, 42, 60–62, 65, 94] Other residents, as well as Supervisor Venditto, commented about day laborers being undocumented. [Id. passim. ]

Prior to the enactment of the Ordinance, although the exact time frame is unclear, Justin McCaffrey ("McCaffrey"), the Town's Commissioner of the Department of Public Safety,¹ visited the Forest Avenue shape-up site² between 15 and 20 times to observe the conditions and activities taking place there. [Sinnreich Declar. Ex. C at ¶ 4.] Although he visited the location at different times of day, he concentrated his visits in the morning hours, remaining in place for a period up to 20 minutes, as well as driving by periodically during the day. [Id. ] According to McCaffrey, what he observed was "the daily operation of an organized outdoor labor market"-organized in the sense that "it was clear that this ‘shape-up’ site was an established and pre-arranged location for the meeting up of large numbers of day laborers seeking casual employment, and potential employers of such individuals." [Id. at ¶ 5; see also Sinnreich Decl., Ex. D (Maglio Aff.) at ¶ 4.] While the number of individuals varied with the season and time of day, he observed in excess of 20 to 30 individuals at one time, reaching a peak of approximately 50. The majority of these individuals congregated at the street corners of the northerly intersection of 12th and 13th streets with Forest Avenue. [Sinnreich Declar. Ex. C at ¶ 6i.] He "observed situations where, because of the large number of such individuals crowding at the street corners blocking the drivers' line of sight, drivers attempting to exit from the side streets onto Forest Avenue had to inch out their vehicles in order to attempt the turn onto Forest Avenue, often having to nose out all the way into the moving traffic lanes before they could safely navigate a turn." [Id. at ¶ 6ii; see also Sinnreich Decl., Ex. D (Maglio Aff.) at ¶ 6ii.] He also saw "numerous instances of vehicles slowing down and stopping in the moving traffic lanes of Forest Avenue in order to engage day laborers in extended discussions, usually at the drivers' window." [Sinnreich Declar. Ex. C at ¶ 6iii; see also Sinnreich Decl. Ex. D (Maglio Aff.) at ¶ 6v.] Vehicles stuck behind these stopped vehicles would pass them by crossing the double center...