REPORT TO THE CITY COUNCIL January 11, 2018 FROM: Councilmember Baines Vice President Soria SUBJECT ..Title Actions pertaining to the Parade and Other Special Events Ordinance, FMC �� 14-2401 - 14-2419: 1. BILL - (For Introduction and Adoption) - An Emergency Ordinance Amending various sections of Article 24 of Chapter 14 of the Fresno Municipal Code, relating to parades and other special events. (Requires 5 affirmative votes) 2. ***RESOLUTION - Establishing designated parade routes. (Subject to veto) 3. ***RESOLUTION - Waiving fees for certain parades. (Subject to veto) ..Body RECOMMENDATIONS It is recommended the Council adopt the amendments to the Parade and Other Special Events Ordinance, Fresno Municipal Code sections 14-2401 - 14-2419, adopt the resolution establishing parades routes in Downtown and Tower District, and adopt the resolution waiving parade fees for certain parades. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The proposed amendments are necessary to bring the Parade and Other Special Events Ordinance, FMC �� 14-2401 - 14-2419 (the Parade Ordinance) into conformity federal and state constitutional standards for parade and special event permitting schemes. The proposed resolutions establish "parade routes" in Downtown and Tower District, and waive the permit application fee, and the crowd and traffic control fee, for certain parades. This Ordinance is presented to the Council as an emergency ordinance because there are a number of affected events scheduled for early 2018. Passing this Ordinance on an expedited basis will better serve the public and protect the City and citizen participants during the course of these upcoming events. BACKGROUND The proposed amendments update the Parade Ordinance to make it more consistent with federal and state constitutional requirements, and include the following changes: * The purpose of the ordinance is being expanded to expressly include managing the health and safety concerns at special events, prohibiting illegal conduct at such events, protecting the rights of special event permit holders, and enabling the City to recoup its actual costs while not overburdening free speech activities; * A permit will not be required for parades, marches, and demonstrations on City sidewalks where all participants comply with all laws; * A permit will not be required for spontaneous events, to be conducted on the grounds of City Hall, prompted by news or affairs coming into public knowledge less than forty-eight hours prior to such event; * Adding a definition of "expressive activities," which allows the Parade Ordinance to specifically address free speech concerns; * The definition of "parade route" requires the routes to be published on the City's website, along with the number of officers to be assigned to the route, and the cost of the route; * The amount of time prior to special events permit applications must be filed to be considered is being decreased (for special events along parade routes, the advance filing requirement is being shortened from twenty-two days to ten days prior to the event, and for all other special events, the advance filing requirement is being shortened from thirty days to fifteen days prior to the event); * City staff will be required to take action on applications for the use of parade routes in two City-business days, and four City-business days for all other applications; * Application fees and crowd and traffic control fees for expressive activity events are required to be waived for indigents and organizations which have membership meeting the criteria for indigent status; * The grounds for denial of an application are being expanded to include situations where an applicant fails to comply with any conditions of approval, or fails to pay for damage previously caused to City-property; * The Chief of Police is prohibited from considering the perspective of the speaker in establishing conditions for special events; * Applicants are provided the right to appeal any fees associated with a permit condition, and provides for a right to appeal directly to the City Manager. * A permittee's obligation to indemnify the City is limited to damages or injuries proximately caused by actions of the permittee; * Insurance requirements may be waived if the applicant produces satisfactory evidence that complying with the insurance would preclude the proposed event from occurring; * Council is authorized to establish by resolution additional parade routes and fee waiver programs for expressive activities; and * The penalty for violation is being lessened from a misdemeanor to an infraction and a fine to be set forth in the Master Fee Schedule, and the City Attorney is authorized to prosecute any violations as either an infraction or administrative citation. If adopted, these amendments will authorize the Council to establish fee waiver programs for expressive activities, and to designate parade routes within the City. One resolution would exempt the following parades from the permit application fee, and the crowd and traffic control fees: * The Annual Downtown Fresno Christmas Parade; * The Annual Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration; * The Annual Veterans Day Parade; * The Annual Pride Parade; * The Fresno Juneteenth Celebration; * The Annual Mardi Gras Parade; * The Annual Cesar Chavez Parade; and * The Annual Chinese New Year Parade. The other resolution designates the following as parade routes: * A route in Downtown, beginning at "P" Street and Tulare Avenue, proceeding along "P" Street to Fresno Street, then along Fresno Street to "M" Street, then along "M" Street to Tulare Street, then along Tulare Street to 1800 Tulare Street; * A second route in Downtown, to proceed along Fulton Street between Tuolumne Street and Inyo Street; and * A route in the Tower District, to proceed along Olive Avenue between Palm Avenue and Maroa Avenue. Staff is directed to specify the number of officers to be assigned to each route, and then to publish to the City's website: the routes, the number of officers assigned thereto, and the crowd and traffic control fees associated with each route. As a condition of receiving federal transportation funding, the City is now required to follow the guidelines established by the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD), which requires hard closures of streets used for parades and other special events. This frequently results in increased costs to parade organizers, who are required to contract with a traffic management company. In an effort to encourage neighborhood events, the City is exploring ways to provide barricades at no or decreased cost for specified special events. ENVIRONMENTAL FINDINGS This is not a project for CEQA purposes. LOCAL PREFERENCE Local preference is not applicable because this item does not involve an award of a contract. FISCAL IMPACT There is no direct fiscal impact from passing this ordinance. However, there are fees and fines associated with this ordinance, which will impact revenues depending upon the number of applications processed, and the number of citations issued.