O2073
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Council Meeting 4-22-03 Santa Monica, California
ORDINANCE NUMBER2073 (CCS)
(City Council Series)
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA MONICA
AMENDING SECTIONS 4.68.040, 4.68.110,4.68.130,4.68.140,4.68.150, AND
4.68.180 OF THE COMMUNITY EVENTS CODE RELATING TO PERMIT CRITERIA,
PARADE ROUTES, TEMPORARY SIGNAGE, DEPARTMENTAL CHARGES, AND
INDEMNIFICATION PROVISIONS AND REPEALING CHAPTER 6.44 RELATING
TO THE CULTURAL ARTS AND CRAFTS SHOWS
WHEREAS, on May 8, 2001, the City Council adopted Ordinance Number 2008
(CCS), adding Chapter 4.68 to the Santa Monica Municipal Code, the Community Events
Code; and
WHEREAS, the Community Events Code provides a coordinated process for
managing community events to ensure the health and safety of event patrons, residents,
workers, and other visitors, to prohibit illegal activities from occurring at community events,
and to protect the rights of community event permit holders; and
WHEREAS, Santa Monica is a coastal city in a prime location, bordered by the City
of Los Angeles to the north, east, and south; and
WHEREAS, the City's land area is small, being just 8 square miles and the City's
population is approximately 90,000; and
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WHEREAS, the City's population density of 11,200 persons per square mile is the
highest among coast8fcommunities m.'.lo.. ,...,..0Junty~ arnon:O the. in the
State; and
WltCRt:AS. inaddill,ntD"~resid.ntial~ -.Iraa vetJlle.liJIbIe
place to work or visit; and
WHEREAS, on weekdays, approximately 300,000 people are present within the City
and on weekends the number swells to as high as 500,000 people; and
WHEREAS, high population density minimizes the private open space available for
residents; and
WHEREAS, 75% of the City's residents live in multifamily housing without private
backyards and gardens; and
WHEREAS, the adverse effects of density and congestion in the City are magnified
by the lack of open space; and
WHEREAS, the City has only approximately 419 acres of public open space, which
occupies approximately eight percent of the total land within the City; and
WHEREAS, most of the City's open space is concentrated at the Santa Monica
State Beach on 245 acres of land; and
WHEREM.ft.OI*i,.- i8'~.fJr.ndr.of""'lof ~...
throughout the Southern California region and beyond; and
WHEREAS, only 113 acres of land in the City is dedicated to parks; and
WHEREAS, the City's park space per capita is significantly less than most cities and
well below the national guidelines set by the National Recreation and Parks Association;
and
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WHEREAS, these parks are heavily used for a variety of purposes; and
WHEREAS, Santa Monicans are active and frequent users of the City's parks with
an average of 3 out of 4 residents visiting the City's parks almost twice a week; and
WHEREAS, 93% of the City's households with children are park users; and
WHEREAS, City parks are also frequently used by non-residents of the City; and
WHEREAS, t*k uaagers..t.....d"'otb.'...'ot ",..... induding
shape, location, and facilities; and
WHEREAS, all but one of the larger City parks are adjacent to busy streets and are
located in residential or mixed residential and commercial areas; and
WHEREAS, much of the City's park space is not available for general, passive use
because it is dedicated to special uses such as tennis courts, basketball courts, shuffle
board courts, a lawn bowling green, baseball and soccer fields, a gymnasium, a child care
center, and senior and youth centers, and other areas are dedicated to gardens and water
elements; and
WHEREAS, most of the specialized areas of City parks are heavily and constantly
used, including the City's playing fields which are utilized at three times the rate
recommended for maintenance purposes; and
WHEREAS, passive park space is also very heavily utilized by individuals who jog,
walk, read and lounge, and by informal groups who stroll, play games, chat, and have
parties and picnics in the City's parks; and
WHEREAS, organized groups, such as schools, companies, churches, and the City
itself use the City's parks for picnics, festivals, rallies and demonstrations; and
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WHEREAS, in recent years City park space, particularly in Palisades Park and in
Reed and Memorial Parks, has been regularly used by up to 26 private groups to distribute
free food to the public on a scheduled basis, which attracts large crowds and involves
significant amounts of paraphernalia and materials used to hold and serve food; and
WHEREAS, since the City's limited public space is constantly used by large
numbers of people for a variety of activities, both organized and spontaneous, community
events in parks and on other public property must be carefully managed; and
WHEREAS, the density of the City and the number of people working or visiting the
City on a daily basis significantly impacts the ability of traffic to circulate on the City's
existing street network; and
WHEREAS, the City's street network is a grid system bisected by the Santa Monica
Freeway; and
WHEREAS, streets within this network are categorized into four functional
classification types, arterial streets, collector streets, feeder streets and local residential
streets; and
WHEREAS, arterial streets are generally the commercial arteries that keep traffic
moving throughout the City and have as their primary function the movement of vehicles
into and through the City and the service of adjacent commercial land uses; and
WHEREAS, the locations of the freeway interchanges and over crossings, as well
as the inter-relationships of City streets with those of the surrounding network in Los
Angeles, causes traffic to be concentrated on the City's arterial streets; and
WHEREAS, local residential streets are designed to serve adjacent residential uses
only; and
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wHEtEAS. .........~to... ..,..l8Rging from
! . , '
34.000 to 61.000~'vehJtItt tripsl,..v wmilt'iIaII"" .. .~ tocany
2,500 average trips per day; and
WHEREAS, due to the nature of the grid system, if an arterial street is blocked or
heavily congested, traffic will be diverted onto the nearest street which is typically a local
residential street; and
WHEREAS, residential streets are overwhelmed when traffic is diverted from arterial
streets and residents' peace and quiet enjoyment are significantly impacted;.and
WHEREAS, based on traffic counts taken in April/May 1999, and analysis of traffic
generated by approved or pending development projects, fifteen intersections along arterial
streets are projected to operate at unacceptable levels of service during the morning peak
period and twenty eight intersections are projected to operate at unacceptable levels of
service during the evening peak period; and
WHEREAS, consequently, diverting traffic onto adjacent arterial streets is not
feasible; and
WHEREAS, since the arterial network already carries a significant volume oftraffic,
diverting or stopping the traffic will further deteriorate the levels of service for these
intersections and result in increased traffic into residential neighborhoods and degradation
of the vitality of commercial districts; and
WHEREAS, the City's downtown business district is particularly impacted by traffic;
and
WHEREAS, the level of service in many of the downtown intersections is currently
operating at levels of service "E" (poor level of service) or "F" (failure); and
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WHEREAS, the number of downtown intersections that have unacceptable levels
of service may triple in the near future based on traffic generated by approved but not yet
constructed projects and by projects currently under consideration; and
WHEREAS, community events are, by definition, atypical and not necessarily
anticipated by or appropriately regulated by existing citywide ordinances; and
WHEREAS, the City regulates community events for the same reasons it regulates
land uses: to protect the health, safety and public welfare by regulating traffic, noise,
aesthetics, and other impacts; and
WHEREAS, community events often require the provision of public services,
including police, fire, transportation, and public works and additional maintenance of the
facilities they use; and
WHEREAS, community events often use facilities that would otherwise be available
to the public or generate revenue to the City; and
WHEREAS, managing community events requires ensuring that these events are
compatible in size and type of use with their sites, adequate services are provided for the
events, adequate cost recovery for these services is achieved, the events do not interfere
with the City's ability to provide services to the entire community, and the impacts on
neighbors and others are minimized; and
WHEREAS, the City acknowledges that individuals and groups have the right to
engage in expressive activities in the City's public places; and
WHEREAS, the Community Events Code is designed to protect the right of people
to engage in expressive activities in the City's public places and establishes the least
restrictive and reasonable time, place and manner regulations of these activities; and
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NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA MONICA
DOES ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1 Santa Monica Municipal Code Section 4.68.040 is hereby amended
to read as follows:
4.68.040 Permit Required.
Except as otherwise provided by this Chapter or other applicable law,
rule or regulation or any permit or license issued hereunder or pursuant to
the terms of a permit, lease, or contract which has been specifically
authorized by the City Council, a Community Event Permit shall be required
to be obtained from the Community Event Committee for the following
activities:
(a) A parade, procession, march or assembly consisting of persons
animals, vehicles, or any other combination thereof, which is to assemble or
travel in unison on any public street, highway, alley, sidewalk or other City-
designated public way and which either (1) may impede, obstruct, impair or
interfere with free use of such public street, highway, alley, sidewalk, or other
public way owned, controlled, or maintained by the City or (2) does not
comply with normal or usual traffic regulations or controls.
(b) Any activity or event involving 150 or more persons on City owned,
controlled, or maintained property not subject to the requirements of
subsection (a) of this section.
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(c) Any activity or event on public property which requires the
placement of a tent, canopy, or other temporary structure if that placement
requires a permit from the City's Fire Department or Building and Safety
Division
(d) Notwithstanding the above, events at facilities located on City
property that are predominately used and approved by the Fire Department
or the Building Department as assembly spaces do not require a Community
Event Permit so long as such events do not require a street closure or traffic
diversion or require the use of other public property that does not constitute
an assembly space. For purposes of this subsection, assembly spaces
include, but are not limited to, the Civic Auditorium, the Pier Carousel, City
park buildings, and Miles Memorial Playhouse.
(e) School grounds and other property owned by the Santa Monica
Unified School District and the Santa Monica College are exempt from the
requirements of this Chapter.
(f) Long-term lessees of City owned, controlled, or maintained
property may receive an Annual Community Event Permit which authorizes
a specified number of community events at that property for the term of the
permit so long as each community event otherwise complies with the
requirements of this Chapter.
(g) Spontaneous events which are occasioned by news or affairs
coming into public knowledge less than forty-eight (48) hours prior to such
event may be conducted on the lawn of City Hall without the organizers first
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having to obtain a community event permit. If practicable, the organizers
should give notice to the City's Community Events Office at least four (4)
hours prior to the event informing the City of the date and time of the event
and providing an estimate of the approximate number of persons who will be
participating.
Events which require advance planning such as recreation events,
competition/contests/spectator sports, fairs, festivals, carnivals, ticketed
events, sales/trade shows or events which require a permit from Building and
Safety or the Fire Department for the placement of structures shall not be
considered to be spontaneous events.
Departmental service charges may still be incurred for events
undertaken pursuant to this subsection to the extent otherwise authorized by
this chapter and the administrative guidelines adopted pursuant to this
Chapter.
SECTION 2. Santa Monica Municipal Code Section 4.68.110 is hereby amended
to read as follows:
4.68.110 Hold Harmless.
Each permittee shall execute a hold harmless agreement in a form
approved by the City agreeing to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless the
City against losses and liabilities incurred from the conduct of the permittee
or its officers, employees, and agents.
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SECTION 3. Santa Monica Municipal Code Section 4.68.130 is hereby amended
to read as follows:
4.68.130 Community Event Temporary Signage
Temporary or non-permanent sign(s) identifying or pertaining to the
community event may be installed by the permit holder, or his/her designee,
within the event site as defined in the community event permit. The logo of
a commercial sponsor may be included on a small area of the temporary
sign, not to exceed one square foot or five percent of the banner area
whichever is smaller, provided said sign(s) are internally oriented. However,
the logo of tobacco sponsors shall be prohibited.
Directional signs for walks and races may be installed by the permit
holder, or his/her designee, provided that each sign is less than two square
feet in size, attached to a street light or other utility pole at a height of
between five and six feet without damaging the finish of the pole, and
installed less than two hours prior to the start of the event and removed
within one hour of the completion of the event. A plan showing the type and
location of the proposed directional signs must be submitted as part of the
community event permit application and be approved by the City. The City
may remove signs that do not meet the installation and removal
requirements of this Section and shall charge the permittee for the cost of
this removal.
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SECTION 4. Santa Monica Municipal Code Section 4.68.140 is hereby amended
to read as follows:
4.68.140 Departmental service charge.
(a) In addition to the payment ofthe non-refundable permit application
fee and as detailed in the administrative guidelines adopted pursuant to this
Chapter, a permittee shall pay the City for City departmental service charges
incurred in connection with or due to the permittee's activities under the
permit unless the event was City-produced or City co-produced.
(b) City departments shall submit the final invoices and billings for
department charges to the permittee no later than ten working days after the
expiration date of the permit.
(c) A permittee who claims an inability to pay department service
charges due to indigency may have these charges waived in accordance
with administrative regulations or guidelines adopted pursuant to this
Chapter. Application for indigent status shall be made at the time of permit
application and shall be accompanied by such relevant information and
docu mentation as may, in the opinion of the City Manager or his/her
designee, be reasonably necessary to verify such status. For purposes of
this Section 4.68.140, "indigent natural person" means:
(1) a person who is receiving benefits pursuant to the Supplemental
Security Income (SSI) and State Supplemental Payments (SSP) programs
(Sections 12200 to 12205, inclusive, of the California Welfare and
Institutions Code), the California Work Opportunity and Responsibilityto Kids
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Ad (CalWQRKs,l program (C""2 (commending ~ SeefiQb 1120001
1- . i'
Part 3 ofDMsion&ofthe Califo~ia Welfareand~ ~). the Food
S""'plGgNUnf7u.s.e. Sec.*:1...)......1\1ooo:of~Welfam
and Institutions Code.
(2) a person...... mot~ i~:.'125 ~Or ..... .....
CIImtnt'~'.~'Ine'~establis"_~~ofHlllh
andHunW.~~l.I~~'~.Aa'of
1981, as amended.
(d) An organization in which a majority of the members meet the
crIeJia. -~...... .. 8.,trllhelin.b~l(e) of," SectIDn.
may,aIsot>>e"ib."wafJ8f'Cf~"t s.....
(e) No permittee shall be required to provide for or pay for the cost of
public safety personnel to provide for the protection of a community event
and its attendees from hostile members of the public or counter-
demonstrations or for general law enforcement in the vicinity of the event.
SECTION 5. Santa Monica Municipal Code Section 4.68.150 is hereby amended
to read as follows:
4.68.150. Parade Routes.
(a) Subject to the requirements of this Chapter, a community event
permit may be issued for a march, procession, or parade in either direction
on the following streets:
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'1')OceanA--._tv+AdaI8ideDM(~eaJ,fimfts)8nd
Pica Boulevard.
(2) Commencing on Ocean Avenue at the intersection of Adelaide
Avenue (northwest City limits) and continue south on Ocean Avenue to the
intersection of Colorado Avenue, turning easterly on Colorado Avenue to the
intersection of Main Street, turning southerly on Main Street, ending at the
intersection of Main Street and Pico Boulevard.
(3) Commencing on Main Street, north of the entrance to the Civic
Auditorium parking lot and continue south on Main Street to the intersection
of Marine Street, turning westerly on Marine Street to the intersection of
Barnard Way, turning northerly on Barnard Way to the South Beach parking
lot where the parade will disband.
(4) Commencing on Main Street, north of the entrance to the Civic
Auditorium parking lot and continue south on Main Street to the Santa
Monica/Los Angeles border.
(b) Minor adjustments to the routes established in subsection (a) of
this Section may be authorized by the Community Events Committee to the
extent necessary to avoid construction or other obstructions which would
prevent the parade from proceeding on the established route.
(c) Subject to all other applicable requirements of this Chapter, this
Section does not prohibit the issuance of a community event permit for
marches or processions on other streets so long as through and cross-traffic
can be preserved and the safety of the marchers can be maintained.
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Cd) Mardhes_~SSio", may not be cop~ I-"._.i.
cl88sified by 1m City as arteriaFstreets between "'~Ot-~'a~fft.fo
e:oa"?"4.tl.M~...'f...."'lMIsine.dayi~~mtIldIcot
'PrDG8I"i8be1nt~~~ewiUt~~"';~
orJla,nnedbylm pennittee, which is occurring .$JJ8<*1..........
street upon which the march will be conducted.
, . "
~ON I. Santa Monica MuniCipal Code Section 4....181"lbeamend81~W
read as follows:
Itshall be unlawful for the permittee conductinga"'u.I1IY.~.
use the words "the City of Santa Monica" or "City of Santa Monica," to
suggest or indicate that the event is sponsored by the City or to use a
facsimile of the seal or logo of the City of Santa Monica in the promotional
materials or advertising for the event without the City's authorization,
SECTION 7. Santa Monica Municipal Code Chapter 6.44 is hereby repealed in its
entirety.
SECTION 8. 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
affect the provisions of this Ordinance,
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SECTION 9. 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, or phrase not
declared invalid or unconstitutional without regard to whether any portion of the ordinance
would be subsequently declared invalid or unconstitutional.
SECTION 10. 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 thirty
days after its adoption
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
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Approved and adopted this 22nd day of April, 2003.
J; '~d~-
State of California )
County of Los Angeles) ss.
City of Santa Monica )
I, Maria M. Stewart, City Clerk of the City of Santa Monica, do hereby certify that the
foregoing Ordinance No. 2073 (CCS) had its introduction on April 8, 2003, and was
adopted at the Santa Monica City Council meeting held on April 22, 2003, by the
following vote:
Ayes: Council members: O'Connor, Genser, Katz, Mayor Pro Tem McKeown
Feinstein, Mayor Bloom
Noes: Council members: None
Abstain: Council members: None
Absent: Council members: Holbrook
ATTEST:
-~
- \) .~.~
Maria M. Stewart, Ci~ Clerk