O2451City Council Meeting: December 10, 2013 Santa Monica, California
ORDINANCE NUMBER 2451 (CCS)
(City Council Series)
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA MONICA
AMENDING SANTA MONICA MUNICIPAL CODE CHAPTER 6.112 CLARIFYING
STREET PERFORMANCE PERMIT REGULATIONS AND RULES GOVERNING THE
STREET PERFORMANCE LOTTERY SYSTEM FOR THE PIER.
WHEREAS, street performers enrich the ambiance of Santa Monica's unique
and stimulating public spaces, and their presence in the City's most popular spaces
reflects Santa Monica's commitment to the arts and to the free exchange of ideas; and
WHEREAS, despite their value to the community, street performance occurring
on crowded public thoroughfares can jeopardize public safety and welfare by blocking
traffic, impairing emergency ingress and egress, creating unfair competition and
adversely affecting aesthetics; and
WHEREAS, the City of Santa Monica has worked since the late 1980's to create
and refine street performance laws which recognize performers' value to the
community, respect constitutional rights, protect the free flow of pedestrian traffic and
the safety of residents, workers, and visitors in crowded public places, shield local
businesses from unfair competition, and preserve the aesthetic qualities of public
spaces; and
WHEREAS, in order to address the needs and concerns of the City's residents,
performers, visitors, merchants, and public safety personnel, the City has undertaken
revisions to its performance and vending laws many times since they were first adopted;
and
WHEREAS, a street performer's permit may be suspended, revoked or denied, if
the performer violates applicable laws or regulations; and
WHEREAS, in certain cases of serious performance violations, such as violations
that significantly affect public safety, prompt enforcement action (e.g. permit
suspension, revocation or denial) must be taken to protect public safety while at the
same time ensuring that the performer's constitutional rights are protected; and
WHEREAS, the Pier is a long, narrow space, only 35 feet wide at some points,
with ingress and egress at only one end; and
WHEREAS, the City conducts three lotteries per day to allocate performance
locations on the Pier; and
WHEREAS, the lottery provides performers fair and equal opportunity to perform,
while at the same time ensures that circulation on the Pier's limited deck space is not
compromised; and
WHEREAS, disruptions of or disregard for the lottery process undermines this
public process, deprives law abiding performers with fair and equal opportunity to
perform and jeopardizes public safety.
NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA MONICA
DOES ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Santa Monica Municipal Code Section 6.112.040 is hereby
amended to read as follows:
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6.112.040 Performance permit.
(a) To receive a performance permit, a person must complete and file with the
City a performance permit application on a form approved by the City. The applicant
must provide the following information:
(1) The applicant's name;
(2) The applicant's address;
(3) Proof of the identity of the applicant. This identification must contain a
photograph of the applicant. Acceptable forms of identifications shall include, but not be
limited to, a driver's license, student identification card, or passport;
(4) A detailed description of the nature of the act to be performed;
(5) A detailed description of any instrument(s) or prop(s) which will be used by
the performer(s);
(6) A minor under the age of sixteen shall provide a copy of an entertainment
work permit issued to the minor by the Department of Industrial Relations of the State of
California and shall identify the responsible adult(s) who will be with the minor at all
times that the minor is performing;
(b) The performance permit will be issued annually commencing on January 1st
of each calendar year;
(c) Upon receipt of a written application for a performance permit, a
performance permit shall be approved within three business days of the filing of a fully
completed application, unless one of the following findings is made:
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(1) The applicant has knowingly made a false, misleading, or fraudulent
statement of fact to the City in the application process;
(2) The application does not contain the information required by this Chapter;
(3) The applicant has not satisfied the requirements of this Chapter.
(d) In addition to requiring compliance with all provisions of this Chapter, the
City may condition the approval of a performance permit on the applicant's
compliance with other provisions of the City's Municipal Code which are applicable to
the performance.
(e) The City may revoke or suspend a performance permit upon the
commission of the second violation either of this Chapter, Chapter 3.74 of this Code, or
of permit conditions within a six -month period, or one violation of the same if the
violation posed serious risks to public safety, or one violation relating to a false,
misleading, or fraudulent statement of fact in the performer's permit application. In any
such case, the permit holder shall have the right to appeal from a decision of the City to
revoke or suspend any permit in accordance with Chapter 6.16 of this Code. A
performer's permit may be suspended for up to four months. If the performance permit
of any performer is suspended, no new permit shall be issued during the period of
suspension. Notwithstanding the above, if a performer's permit is suspended as a result
of a false, misleading, or fraudulent statement of fact in the performer's permit
application, the permit shall not be reinstated until the false, misleading or fraudulent
statement is corrected by the performer. Any revocation of a performer's permit shall be
for six months unless the performer previously had a performance permit revoked and
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the new violations of this Chapter or permit conditions relate to public safety, in which
case, the permit shall be revoked for twelve months. No new permit shall be issued
during a revocation period. The City may establish administrative regulations to assist in
the implementation of this Section.
(f) No application for a performance permit or the renewal thereof shall be
accepted unless the application is accompanied by a payment of a nonrefundable
annual fee in an amount to be set by resolution adopted by the City Council.
(g) The performance permit shall include a photograph of the performer, shall
not be assignable or transferable, and shall contain the permit number of the applicant
and the year in which the permit expires. Each performer in a group shall obtain his /her
own separate performance permit.
(h) A replacement performance permit may be obtained upon payment of a
nonrefundable fee in an amount to be set by resolution adopted by the City Council.
(i) A performer shall clearly display his or her permit while performing, and shall
allow inspection of the permit by any City police or fire official on request.
Q) The City Council may by resolution adjust the noise limitations established in
this Chapter during public holidays.
(k) When an applicant requests a performance permit application, the City shall
also give the applicant a document which summarizes the rules and regulations
concerning street performances in the City. This document may be, but is not required
to be, a copy of this Chapter.
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SECTION 2. Santa Monica Municipal Code Section 6.112.060 is hereby
amended to read as follows:
6.112.060 Special regulations for the Pier.
In addition to the requirements of Sections 6.112.030 and 6.112.040, no
performer shall perform on the Pier outside of an enclosed building in violation of the
following requirements:
(a) Except as provided in subsection (d) of this Section and subsection (q) of
Section 6.112.030, no performer shall perform except during the following time periods:
(1) Eight a.m. Monday through Thursday to one a.m. of the following day.
(2) Eight a.m. on Friday to one a.m. the following Saturday.
(3) Nine a.m. on Saturday and Sunday to one a.m. of the following day.
(b) No performer shall perform within sixty feet of any special event authorized
by the City.
(c) No performer shall:
(1) Perform after 1:00 p.m. at the same location that he /she was performing
prior to 1:00 p.m. or within one hundred fifty feet of that location.
(2) Perform after 4:00 p.m. at the same location that he /she was performing
prior to 4:00 p.m. or within one hundred fifty feet of that location.
(3) Perform after 7:00 p.m. at the same location that he /she was performing
prior to 7:00 p.m. or within one hundred fifty feet of that location.
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(4) Perform on the Pier in any specific location or within one hundred fifty
feet of that location for more than three hours in any six -hour period. The time required
to set up and to remove any instruments, props, equipment, or other items shall be
considered part of the performance for purposes of this subdivision.
(5) Perform within fifty feet of any other performance or any vendor when
performing in the General Performance Area.
(6) Perform within thirty -five feet of any other performance or any vendor
when performing in the Center Performance Area or the Breezeway Performance Area.
(7) Perform at a distance greater than ten feet from the north railing of the
Pier when performing in the Center Performance Area.
(8) Perform at a distance greater than ten feet from the north or south
railings of the Pier when performing in the Breezeway Performance Area.
(9) Perform at a distance greater than seven and one -half feet in either an
east or west lateral direction from one of the stars that the City has painted on the Pier
surface to effectuate the spacing requirements of this Section and to ensure that the
maximum number of performance locations are provided consistent with spacing
requirements. A lottery or voucher system may be implemented to allocate performance
locations and ensure that all performers participating therein have a fair and equal
opportunity to perform or obtain preferred performance locations. At the times that a
lottery or voucher system is implemented, the distance requirement of subsection (c)(1)
through (4) of this Section shall not apply. Administrative Regulations may be
established by the City to specify additional requirements, including the conduct and
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timing of the lottery or voucher system, the maximum time period and location in
advance of the lottery or voucher distribution that the performers can line up, and the
duration of the permit, consistent with the provisions of this subsection (c)(9) of this
Section and any other relevant provisions of the Municipal Code.
(10) Fail or refuse to comply with the City's administrative regulations.
(11) Disrupt or impede the City's operation of the lottery.
(d) Notwithstanding subsection (a) this Section, no performer shall perform in
the General Performance Area, which is adjacent to the Carousel Building, except
during the following time periods:
(1) Eight a.m. to ten p.m. Monday through Thursday.
(2) Eight a.m. to twelve a.m. (midnight) on Friday.
(3) Nine a.m. to twelve a.m. (midnight) on Saturday.
(4) Nine a.m. to ten p.m. on Sunday.
SECTION 3. Any provision of the Santa Monica Municipal Code or
appendices thereto inconsistent with the provisions of this Ordinance, to the extent of
such inconsistencies and no further, is hereby repealed or modified to that extent
necessary to effect the provisions of this Ordinance.
SECTION 4. If any section, subsection, sentence, clause, or phrase of
this Ordinance is for any reason held to be invalid or unconstitutional by a decision of
any court of competent jurisdiction, such decision shall not affect the validity of the
remaining portions of this Ordinance. The City Council hereby declares that it would
have passed this Ordinance and each and every section, subsection, sentence, clause,
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or phrase not declared invalid or unconstitutional without regard to whether any portion
of the ordinance would be subsequently declared invalid or unconstitutional.
SECTION 5. The Mayor shall sign and the City Clerk shall attest to the
passage of this Ordinance. The City Clerk shall cause the same to be published once
in the official newspaper within 15 days after its adoption. This Ordinance shall
become effective 30 days from its adoption.
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
MARSHA JOUE MOUTRIE
City Attorney
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Approved and adopted this 10th day of December, 20113..,
, L
Y
Kevin McKeown, Acting Chair
State of California )
County of Los Angeles ) ss.
City of Santa Monica )
I, Sarah P. Gorman, City Clerk of the City of Santa Monica, do hereby certify that
the foregoing Ordinance No. 2451 (CCS) had its introduction on November 26,
2013, and was adopted at the Santa Monica City Council meeting held on
December 10, 2013, by the following vote:
Ayes: Councilmembers: Davis, Holbrook, Vazquez, Winterer
Acting Chair McKeown
Noes: Councilmembers:' None
Absent: Councilmembers: Mayor Pro Tern O'Day, Mayor O'Connor
A summary of Ordinance No. 2451 (CCS) was duly published pursuant to
California Government Code Section 40806.
ATTEST:
S&V,4 1 6-
Sarah P. Gorman, City Clerk