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CARS:SM:se:parkusel Santa Monica, California
city Council Meeting: September 8, 1992
STAFF REPORT
TO:
Mayor and City Council
FROM:
city Staff
SUBJECT:
Recommendation to Direct the City Attorney to Draft
an Ordinance Establishing Policies Regarding
organized Group Activities in City Parks
INTRODUCTION
This report recommends that the City Council direct the city
Attorney to prepare an ordinance establishing policies regarding
organized group activities in city parks.
BACKGROUND
At its meeting of August 13, 1992, the Recreation and Parks
commission approved a Commission Subcommittee report that
outlined general guidelines and more specific suggestions on how
to better regulate group activity in City parks. The Commission
found that extensive areas of city parks are being informally
reserved for private parties, organized programs and events.
These and recurrent group uses tend to monopolize areas within
the parks, restricting or discouraging access by the general
public. Overuse of particular sites for such activities tends to
destroy turf and ornamental planting.
Park use policies and ordinances from other cities were reviewed
to determine the nature and extent of public open space
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regulation commonly imposed in Southern California communi ties.
The
Commission
subcommittee
considered
this
research
in
formulating its suggestions.
The full Commission accepted the subcommittee's recommendations
and further reinforced the subcommittee's intent that the
specific elements of an ordinance be consistent with the
fOllowing policy statement:
It is the policy of the City of Santa Monica to preserve the
City's parks and recreation areas in good condition for the
use and enjoyment of City residents and the general public,
and to control activities which monopolize areas within the
parks, discouraging or restricting access to others. In
general, use of any open space should be on a first-come,
first-served basis and the right of individuals to use the
parks for recreational and expressive purposes should be
protected.
Further, the Commission identified specific elements that could
be incorporated into a final ordinance, contingent upon review by
the City Attorney's Office. These proposed elements are attached
to this staff report.
DISCUSSION
An ordinance governing organized activities of groups of 25 or
more individuals in City parks is consistent with practices in
other Southern California cities.
An appropriately developed
ordinance would:
1) provide reasonable procedures to govern
group uses that tend to restrict or discourage access by the
general public, 2) protect park open spaces from recurrent uses
they were not designed to withstand, preserving the City's
investment in park improvements, 3) exempt groups of 24 or less
from permit provisions, and 4) provide preference to city
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residents, who may reserve space farther in advance than
non-residents.
The Cultural and Recreation Services Department currently
administers permitting procedures for use of athletic fields and
park buildngs. Recreation staff and Park Rangers from the Police
Department resolve on-site permit disputes, and would provide the
"enforcement" arm of the proposed permitting process. No
additional staff resources should be necessary to implement the
ordinance. A permit fee schedule would be developed for review
by the Recreation and Parks Commission and adoption by the City
Council. The fees envisioned by the Commission would cover
reasonable costs associated with permitting and favor City
residents.
As a part of the necessary legal review in preparation of an
ordinance, the following issues should be considered:
1) Inclusion of conditions sufficiently broad so as to eliminate
the need for administrative exemptions.
2) Clarification of what uses are absolutely prohibited and what
uses are accceptable only by permit.
3) Inclusion of a provision that would require posting of a
cleaning deposit or bond for groups beyond a certain size and
proof of insurance at a certain level for various categories of
activity.
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4) The advisability of developing a broad ordinance encompassing
a range of public open space uses versus an ordinance with a
narrower focus, restricting recurrent uses only.
FISCAL/BUDGETARY IMPACT
There is no immediate budgetary impact from this proposed Council
action.
However, when an ordinance and fee schedule are
approved, the necessary budgeting of projected revenues will be
requested.
RECOMMENDATION
The city staff recommends that the city Council direct the city
Attorney to prepare an ordinance establishing policies regarding
organized group activities in city parks, considering the
recommendations of the Recreation and Parks commission; and to
direct staff to return with a resolution establishing a schedule
of fees for permits required by the ordinance.
Prepared by:
Susan McCarthy, Acting Director of CARS
Suzanne ata, Assistant Director of CARS
Attachment
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Attachment
RECREATION AND PARKS COMMISSION RECOMMENDATION
The Recreation and Parks Commission recommends that the City
Council adopt an ordinance prohibiting certain activities and
practices in the parks and granting authority to the Director of
Cultural and Recreation Services to issue permits and recommend
reasonable fees for certain uses of park space by groups of
twenty-five or more individuals. The ordinance should include
the following parameters and elements.
Ordinance Elements
Roping off or otherwise establishing a boundary or perimeter for
exclusive use of an area of a park should be prohibited, absent a
City permit.
The use of mechanical equipment such as merry-go-rounds, moon
bounces, ferris wheels and other amusement rides, and the
erection of tents should be prohibited in the parks as currently
are the use of drums and percussion instruments, vehicles, and
beasts of burden.
The distribution of food to the public, defined as any operation
or undertaking for the purpose of offering, distributing, or
dispens ing , with or without charge, food and/or beverages for
consumption by the public should be prohibited absent a contract,
lease or other agreement for a concession approved by the City
Council, or a permit issued by the Director of Cultural and
Recreation Services.
Use of the specially designated picnic areas in Clover, Marine,
and Palisades Park, and the pergola and Inspiration Point in
Palisades Park should be available on a reserved basis, by permit
from the Cultural and Recreation services Department. (If,
through the acquisition of additional park space or the
improvement and modification of parks, similar areas are created,
the Director of Cultural and Recreation Services should be
enabled to extend the reservation process to those areas.)
The Director of Cultural and Recreation services should be
directed to issue permits for activities controlled under these
provisions unless one or more of the following findings are made:
1. The activity is proposed for an area or space which is not
designed to withstand the type of use proposed.
2. The activity is currently provided for at other sites within
the city.
3. The activity will entail an extraordinary expense to the City
to provide crowd control, clean-up or other essential
services.
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4. The area has been reserved for another activity or use on the
day and hour(s) requested.
5. The organizer of the activity does not possess the necessary
licenses, permits or certificates to conduct the activity or
is otherwise not in compliance with laws and regulations
governing the activity.
6. The activity would occur more frequently than once a month.
7. The duration of the activity would exceed a maximum of four
hours.
Exceptions to the above guidelines should be waived only by
special agreement approved by the Director of cultural and
Recreation Services. Application for permits under this
ordinance should be made not more than 90 days before the
proposed activity by City residents and not more than 30 days by
nonresidents.
The Director of Cultural and Recreation Services should be
authorized to refer any application for permit to any other city
Department, Division or Committee, including, but not limited to
Parking and Traffic, Business License, Risk Management, POlice,
or the Special Events Team, for investigation and report, as may
be necessary for evaluation of the application.
Appropriate language should be included to ensure that the
provisions of the ordinance do not restrict City sponsored
activities such as the Farmer's Market and do not override the
existing procedures for issuing permits for use of athletic
fields and park buildings.
Fees
The Director of Cultural and Recreation Services should be
required to present to council a fee schedule approved by the
Recreation and Parks Commission, for adoption by resolution. The
Commission specifically envisions a fee schedule which would
exempt small groups (up to 24) from paying any fee for a permit.
The fees should cover routine expenses of issuing the permit,
posting the reserved area, and limited post-event clean-up. All
permit applicants should sign a statement assuming responsibility
for repair of damage or extraordinary Clean-up occasioned by
their activity.
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